As Paul the
apostle gave instructions to Timothy his “son in the faith”
concerning the church located in Ephesus, he was very clear when he
wrote, “in the latter times some would depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” Paul
knew there would be those who would infiltrate the church, depart
from the church and then follow after misleading and erroneous
“spirits” and teachings that
were directly from “devils”.
In chapter four and verse two of his letter to Timothy, Paul shares
the actions of those who would follow such evil where we read:
Speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
The
verse begins, “Speaking lies in hypocrisy;” Paul
began with, “Speaking lies” or “teaching and
pontificating falsely” “in hypocrisy” or “the acting
of a stage player and dissimulation which means falsification,
deception and deceit”. These who were following “seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils” would speak as though they
were one way and secretly were quite another.
The verse goes on to say, “having
their conscience seared with a hot iron;” Paul
went on to add, “having their
conscience”
which in Greek is “kaustēriazō
idios syneidēsis” which
means the
“soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad,
prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one and
condemning the other which pertains or belongs to one's self”
“seared with a hot iron” which
again is the Greek word “kausteriazo”
and means “to mark by branding or in a medical sense, to cauterize
and remover by cautery”. In other words, the very souls of those
who pontificate “doctrines, falsehoods and lies” of
“devils”
are so calloused and hardened in their consciences that they don't
even know they are lying when they speak.
When
we consider these words of Paul, we may think of those whom we have
come across who tell their lies so often they believe them
themselves. The interesting part of Paul's words is that these people
were infiltrating the church. They were so calloused in their
consciences they believed their devilish doctrines, and they were
busy about having others believe them as well. We call this
“apostate”. They
once believed the truth, and now were denying it and pontificating
their lies to others as well. We must keep in mind that the Holy
Spirit of God inspired Paul the apostle as he wrote to Timothy, and
the warnings given to Timothy are ones we should heed today. There
has never been a time in history where knowing the word of God is
more important than now. Falsehoods and lies straight from “devils”
are being promoted as truth
today just as it was in Paul's day. We must keep ourselves aligned
with Jesus Christ and the word of God to know when someone is so
“seared” or
cauterized in their “conscience”
that they don't even realize the words they speaking are lies from
“devils”. May the
Lord Jesus keep us close to His side, and may He help us to know His
word so well we will never be deceived by the lies.
Next
time Paul continues to share about this apostate group of people, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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