Introducing Apostasy
2 Timothy 4:1-5
April 4, 2010
Last time we studied this letter from Paul,
We came to the climax of the letter.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
Paul clearly spelled out the reason for this letter.
He is explaining the expected conduct of the church.
There are expected standards of conduct for the bride of Christ, and Paul is writing to reveal what those standards are.
And tonight he continues.
Only tonight he reveals to Timothy
Why stating the expected godliness is easier than achieving it.
And the reason, or course, is the threat of apostasy.
This fourth chapter has but one theme and purpose.
And that purpose is to stir up Timothy
To be on his guard against apostasy and to keep it from happening.
After introducing apostasy here in the first 5 verses,
Paul gets very pointed to Timothy.
1 Timothy 4:6 “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.”
Timothy was called to challenge the threat and danger of apostasy head on.
Later Paul say:
1 Timothy 4:10 “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”
And that provides and indicator that even when surrounded
By a congregation of supposed Christians,
We still need to focus on the truth of salvation.
We don’t know what people have so far only given lip service to Christ, but who still genuinely need salvation.
They are in danger of apostasy and true salvation is the only thing that can prevent that.
1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
The calling here is for Timothy
To commit to preaching the word of God,
As this is the only truly effective tool he has
To keep apostasy from occurring.
The preaching of the word of God, is the “God-ordained” method of true evangelism.
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
It is the preaching of the gospel that brings the salvation of the lost.
And therefore Timothy could do no better in his battle to prevent apostasy
Than to lead his congregation to genuine salvation,
And to do this by faithfully preaching God’s Word.
And so you get the point of the chapter.
It is all about dealing with the threat of Apostasy.
And in our text tonight we see the basics of apostasy introduced.
If you have ever wondered what apostasy is, and how it occurs, that is specifically what Paul reveals to Timothy in our text tonight.
We can easily break it down into 3 main points about apostasy.
#1 APOSTASY IS REAL
1 Timothy 4:1
If there was ever a verse that was clear about the reality of apostasy, this is it.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith,”
Not only does this verse do a great job of revealing Paul’s dependence on the Holy Spirit to write Scripture, but it also indicates how strongly the Holy Spirit was indicating the threat of apostasy.
“the Spirit explicitly says”
If Paul was in danger of missing something that the Holy Spirit was saying, he certainly wasn’t going to miss this.
To Paul, the Holy Spirit seemed to be overly adamant in declaring this fact.
This was an urgent message.
This was a definite message.
“that in later times some will fall away from the faith.”
First of all, you need to know that apostasy
Has always been a threat to God’s people.
Deuteronomy 13:1-4 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘ Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”
Even Moses warned of the threat of apostasy back before the children of Israel even entered the Promised Land.
And sadly Moses turned out to be truly prophetic.
The children of Israel seemed to have barely settled in the land before they started worshiping other gods.
Several of the kings that we have studied even followed in that pattern.
We remember Jehoash, the king who was raised by Jehoiada the priest, but who later in life turned against the faith, even killing the sons of the man who raised him.
We certainly remember Amaziah, who we called the “Half-Hearted King”.
Scripture says of him:
2 Chronicles 25:27 actually says that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD.
And so Moses was certainly right to warn about apostasy.
It has always been a threat.
But what the Holy Spirit is signifying to Paul is that
Even though apostasy has always been a threat,
“in later times” the problem is really going to get serious.
Peter revealed the same:
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
Peter also warned his followers that false prophets would arise and that they would bring about a great apostasy.
But the New Testament even seems to carry it one step further.
For as Paul and Peter both warned of the coming threat of apostasy; by the time Jude wrote his letter coming false prophets had already arrived.
And you will notice that the Spirit had the same urgency to Jude that He had to Paul.
Jude 3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
The ones Peter and Paul said would come, Jude says have arrived and they are denying Jesus and leading others to do the same.
Apostasy is a very real threat in Scripture.
Certainly Jesus dealt with it.
After feeding the 5,000 and then walking on water.
The days events end with this shocking revelation.
John 6:60-66 “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”
That was a great day of apostasy.
And of course we saw that Jesus dealt with the ultimate apostate
That you and I know as Judas.
And the point to all the illustrations is this.
• If Moses dealt with apostasy…
• And Jesus dealt with apostasy…
• And Paul dealt with apostasy…
• And Peter dealt with apostasy…
• And Jude dealt with apostasy…
• And Timothy was going to deal with apostasy…
THEN YOU AND I CAN CERTAINLY EXPECT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.
We are naïve to think that we can just get people to walk an aisle,
Pray a prayer, jump in the baptistery, and then just act like we never have to worry about that person again.
Genuine salvation is most certainly secure and can never be undone.
But we must come to grips with the fact
That not all salvation experiences are genuine salvation,
And therefore we must constantly guard against apostasy.
We must never lose our passion for salvation.
We must never stop preaching and teaching what salvation truly is.
We must never just take the souls of men for granted.
For there most certainly are those among us whose salvation is not genuine, and it is our desire to challenge that phony salvation and lead those men and women into the truth.
Apostasy is too real a threat for us to stop.
“the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith,”
And in this first verse Paul even explains how that happens.
If you are curious how a person can one day profess to know Christ, and then on the next day turn away from the faith, Paul explains how that happens.
“paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,”
To state it very simply, they get deceived.
Whether you realize it or not, demons are extremely evangelistic as well.
And while we should never take the salvation of others for granted, the demons most certainly do not.
Just because a person claims Christianity doesn’t mean
That the demons stop trying to win that person back.
And they way they do that is with deception.
They lie to those professing believers and try to get them to believe what is false.
And if they can start to get people to believe wrong, then they are one step closer to getting them to deny what is right.
I certainly don’t have time to state all the ways in which the truth is perverted today, but you do clearly see Paul’s point:
APOSTASY IS REAL
It occurs in the lives of men and women who get deceived and begin to believe what is false, thus denying what is true.
If you are tempted to put the threat of apostasy on the back burner; please understand that the Holy Spirit doesn’t, Paul doesn’t,
And we should not either.
Apostasy is real.
#2 APOSTASY IS PROMOTED
1 Timothy 4:2
I just told you that demons are very evangelistic,
Even over those who claim to believe.
Verse 2 reveals the puppets they use to purvey their deceptive truths.
We know them as false teacher and false prophets.
And these are the men who are being used of Satan to spread his deceptive lies.
Demons spread their lies “by means of the hypocrisy of liars”.
The main three qualifications that Satan looks for
In one to be a false prophet.
1) Must be a hypocrite.
2) Must be a liar.
3) Must be indifferent.
Hypocrites are especially successful in Satan’s plans because their lifestyle is very deceptive.
A hypocrite is one whose inside does not match their claim on the outside.
Jesus pegged the Pharisees and scribes as hypocrites and described them in this way:
Matthew 23:25-26 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”
A hypocrite is a great deceiver because often times they look the most devout, while in reality they are the least devout.
But because their costume is so good, people are deceived by their message.
Satan uses hypocrites in his scheme.
But he also uses liars.
And why wouldn’t he?
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
And so it only stands to reason that Satan would employ liars in his deceptive scheme.
He loves to use people who look devout, but who speak deception.
2 Corinthians 11:12-15 “But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
Satan has a literal army of false prophets who love to spread his heresy.
And perhaps the worst of all attributes is their indifference.
“seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,”
What this means is that not only are these men deceptive in appearance…
Not only are they spreading lies that will condemn men…
THEY DON’T EVEN CARE THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees?
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
They don’t even seem to care that they are destroying the souls of men.
Their conscience has been seared.
Their ability to discern right from wrong has been lost.
And it doesn’t even bother them to do what they do.
They are hypocrites
They are liars
They are indifferent
And these are the men that the demons use to promote apostasy.
AND LET ME TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE AT WORK!
If we sit back in our proclamation of truth
We are only losing ground
Because the army of Satan is in no way sitting back
In his proclamation of heresy.
Scripture is full of illustrations and admonitions
Concerning the tireless work of false prophets.
2 Timothy 3:1-8 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.”
We spoke a moment ago about Jude’s warning about these men.
Jude goes on to explain them:
Jude 11-16 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”
And Jude indicates why they are so passionate.
“for pay” they do this.
“following after their own lusts”
“flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”
These men love the world, and they use the office of false prophet
To help them attain it.
• The Pharisees did it for glory.
• Judas did it for money.
• Some do it for sex.
But all false prophets eagerly fulfill their calling because of the present pay off.
Paul even warned the Ephesian elders in the book of Acts
To make sure that they did not slip into this role.
Acts 20:28-30 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
See the temptation for earthly praise and glory is so strong that even true prophets can begin to work for Satan if they begin to love themselves too much.
I tell you that because I want you to
Realize what we are up against in our battle against apostasy.
Not only is it a real threat, but it is also heavily promoted.
Satan has no shortage of false prophets who are doing everything they can to lead people away from the truth and after themselves.
This is not a small problem in the remote parts of the world.
This is a major problem today.
• Our very own church members are in danger of being led astray.
• Our children are in danger of being led astray.
• We ourselves are in danger of being led astray.
We must realize the problem and take it seriously.
Apostasy is real
Apostasy is promoted
#3 APOSTASY IS SUBTLE
1 Timothy 4:3-5
Here Paul gives an example of some of the teaching that the apostates use.
And I must admit for the first 100 times I read this text,
This gave me great difficulty.
Because in my brain I expected Paul to sound the alarm of false prophets and then say something like this:
“by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who deny Jesus claiming that He is not God, and instead promote worship of the trees and protection of the environment as our only hope of salvation.”
But that is not what Paul did.
When he listed an example of the heresy that these hypocritical liars promote he didn’t list anything as drastic as that.
Instead Paul listed a very subtle deception.
“men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods”
It seems minor doesn’t it?
It seems a little petty.
It is one of those arguments that would commonly fall under the heading of “Is this a hill on which to die?”
Some have asked me if getting fired at Crawford
Over women teachers was worth it.
RIB ISSUES VS. SPINE ISSUES
And she is right in what she said.
Just make sure you understand the difference between a rib and the spine.
A “rib issue” is one that is not clearly defined in Scripture.
Should we sing hymns or choruses?
Do we believe the rapture comes before or after the tribulation?
Should the church van be a Ford or a Chevy?
They are “rib issues” because Scripture does not specifically address them.
And they are not worth a division.
But those spine issues are any issue that Scripture is clear about.
And none of those can be compromised.
Not even the ones that seem insignificant.
Matthew 5:18-19 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Well, the issue Paul refers to here is definitely a “spine” issue
Because it deals with things that have been clarified in God’s Word.
They may seem like minor things, but they aren’t because God clarified them.
One is marriage.
Created by God, endorsed by God, and even necessary for the continuance of the human race.
The other is food.
Also created by God, and even declared clean by Jesus.
And so while the battle may seem silly, it isn’t
Because the teaching flies in the face contrary to what God has said.
“which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”
And as is always the case there is a much larger issue at stake.
What looks like a disagreement over marriage and food is really Satan trying to get a legalistic foothold in a person’s life.
Colossians 2:20-23 “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
Legalism was the danger.
Men would glorify themselves by supposing that their abstinence made them more pleasing to God.
But that is a lie and one that leads into full blown works salvation and legalism.
You may remember that this is why Paul was so upset at the Galatians.
Their minor little issue involved circumcision.
Should they are shouldn’t they?
But the problem was it was being taught as essential to the faith, and it isn’t.
That is why Paul told the Galatians:
Galatians 1:6-9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
Please understand.
EVEN A SMALL DEVIATION FROM THE TRUTH
IS STILL A DEVIATION FROM THE TRUTH,
AND EVERY DEVIATION FROM THE TRUTH IS DANGEROUS.
I’ve heard it said that the best lies are 90% truth.
The issue before Timothy was just a little disagreement about marriage and food, but if Timothy didn’t get a handle on it,
It would lead to full blown apostasy.
And then Paul reveals why their doctrine is wrong.
(Something every believer should be able to spot)
(4-5) “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”
And you understand this.
How could someone teach that marriage or food is evil when Genesis clearly says that it is good?
Furthermore how can any good thing which is given to us by God be evil, especially if we receive it with gratitude?
Paul was revealing why their doctrine was wrong.
“for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”
In other words.
These things are declared good to us because God’s word says they are good and because the gratitude we offer in prayer is glorifying to God.
So do not let their little deception pull the blinders over people’s eyes.
And what this indicates to us is that apostasy is subtle.
I’ve always liked
2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”
And I’ve always liked Peter’s use of the word “even”.
“even denying the Master”
That means that not all destructive heresies go so far as to deny the Master.
Some destructive heresies still confess Jesus as Lord.
But they are destructive heresies none the less.
What this does for us is indicates the severe threat
That apostasy poses to the church.
There is an army of demons
Who have enlisted an army of false prophets
Who are doing everything they can to get people
To believe a lie, any lie, even a subtle one.
Because when they get people to believe one lie, it is easier to get them to believe another one, until they eventually lead them completely away from the faith.
And because of this reality, Paul is calling Timothy to stand upon the truth.
To preach the truth, to read the truth, to enforce the truth, to live the truth, and to do everything he can to make sure the salvation of his congregation is genuine.
1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
Tonight I hope to encourage you as well, to not take salvation for granted, but to make it the passion of your life, not only to make sure that you are in the faith, but that those around you are as well.
Make it your passion to promote truth and to unmask deception.
Jude encouraged his people about this very thing:
Jude 20-23 “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”
This is our calling as well.
Defend and protect the truth and you will defend and protect the church.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
