Please take your Bible and turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4, we return to our series, expositional series, going through Paul's first letter to Timothy. Now we've reached the halfway point of this letter. 1 Timothy chapter 4, we'll read verses 1 through 5. But the Spirit explicitly says that in a later time, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 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 and prayer. As we ended chapter three a few weeks back, Paul stated the mission of the church in chapter three in verse 15, that it is to uphold and hold forth the truth. We saw the confession of truth that the church is to uphold and hold forth in verse 16 of chapter 3, in that portion of a hymn, ancient hymn that Paul cites there in the end of chapter 3. Paul now reminds Timothy and the Ephesian church through Timothy of the present opposition that the church faces as the preserver of truth. Again, if you turn just back over to the first chapter, in the first chapter Paul introduces what is going on in The Ephesian church, when he is writing to Timothy, he has left Ephesus to go on and likely writes this letter from Macedonia and leaves Timothy behind as his apostolic representative to deal with some of the problems and disorder that had happened within the church. In chapter 1, verse 3, we read, as I urge you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines. nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. Then look down to verse 19 of chapter 1. Keeping faith, he tells Timothy, and a good conscience, which some, within the Ephesian church have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among those are Hymenaeus and Alexander who I have handed over to Satan so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. This is what is going on in the church at Ephesus. And then in chapters 2 through 3, as we have been studying, We see the effect of these false teachers and their false doctrines within the church at Ephesus, a church which was grounded and rooted in the truth, the church where Paul came to Ephesus and he labored there teaching them the word of God for three years. And then we see, as he had predicted in Acts chapter 20, as he gathers the Ephesian elders at Miletus, tells them of this impending A situation of false teachers coming in and invading that church. And we see it sadly coming to pass here in this letter. We see the issues of disorder within the church and how they worship. We see the disorder in the roles of men and women in the church in chapter two. And then even with the roles of the leaders and the deacons and elders and their qualifications in chapter three. Now, in Chapter 4, Paul returns to the character and content of the false teachers that have risen up from within and infiltrated from without, as we just saw him introduce in the first chapter. Now, in Chapter 4, he gives more careful attention to these false teachers and the nature of their false teaching. The key phrase in this passage comes to us in Verse 1. Some will fall away from the faith. We call this apostasy. Paul tells Timothy of the inevitability that some, not all, that some will apostatize. Behind every instance then of apostasy is an unbelieving heart persuaded by false doctrine from false teachers. Behind every false teacher who blasphemes the name of God, who holds forth some error or heretical doctrine are those who have been influenced by the father of lies himself, the devil. The devil, as we know, hates the truth. He hates all who stand for the truth, especially the church. So Paul giving the very mission of the church in chapter three, verse 15, and then that confession of truth that the church upholds. And he is thinking about this great work of truth being held out into the world by the church. He is now reminded of the opposition that the church faces in regards to this mission. And he knows that behind all of this is the great adversary of the church, the devil himself. He is the great adversary of the church and attacks its ministry in a host of ways. He schemes, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11 tells us. He snatches away the truth when it is even proclaimed in church gatherings. Matthew chapter 8 verse 13 tells us. He deceives. We see this in the very first book of the Bible in the garden as he takes the form of a serpent and deceives Eve. We see this In Revelation chapter 12 verse 9, of him being the great deceiver, he corrupts, 2 Corinthians 11 3 tells us. He leads astray, Matthew 24 11 and verse 24, Revelation 20 verse 20. All with the hope of seeking to devour his victims as a roaring lion, 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 tells us. Satan is a master counterfeiter. He disguises himself, scriptures tell us, as an angel of light. And he is most active within the framework of religion. He influences men with his lies, who then spread his lies to others, who then organize false religions and cults and traditions and worldly philosophies built upon perversions of the truth. He attacks Christianity by infiltrating churches with his lies to poison the minds of men with deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. I believe it's in 1 Corinthians 10. somewhere around there that Paul speaks about the Gentiles and their idol worship. All throughout the Old Testament it talks about the idols not being gods. They're non-existent. They're nothing. They're inanimate objects. But behind those who are worshipping these false idols, they are worshipping demons. Demons are inciting this worship from sinful men and women. So we see when it comes to false doctrines, false teachers, it is no small issue. It is no insignificant issue at all. Within the mission of the church then, in its relation to the truth, we must know the truth and to guard against false doctrine that stands in opposition to the truth. False doctrines are no trivial matter and must be dealt with swiftly and aggressively. The witness of the gospel and the souls of men are at stake and we cannot afford to be ignorant of his devices. I love what John Calvin has to say about this ministry of truth that is to be upheld in the church, especially from its leaders. He writes, the pastor ought to have two voices. one for gathering the sheep, and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The scripture supplies him with the means of doing both, for he who is deeply skilled in it will be able both to govern those who are teachable and to refute the enemies of the truth. That is the work of pastoral ministry, gathering in the sheep, feeding them God's word, and any who would oppose God's word to ward them off, to guard and protect them from those lies. Timothy, who was left at Ephesus to restore order in the church affected by these false doctrines, was learning this firsthand. He was seeing what was going on there. So he was to warn the church of the great apostasy which was to occur, which was even happening before him as he was stationed there at the church in Ephesus. He was to call them to guard against the doctrines and practices promoted under that apostasy. So in contrast to the mission of the church in upholding the truth, the confession of truth that the church upholds, we read in verse 1, In contrast to the mission of truth, the spirit explicitly says that in later times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. So the first thing we identify here in this passage is the spirit who is spoken about. Who is this spirit? There's a capital S there in the first verse. It is referring to the Holy Spirit. What does it tell us about the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit explicitly says, He speaks. Holy Spirit, again, as a reminder to us, is not an it and not an impersonal force. The Holy Spirit is a third person of the Trinity. He speaks, and He speaks with authority. He speaks clearly. The Spirit explicitly says, Paul writes, This is a source of prophecy that has come to the Apostle Paul, whether this was a prophecy that was communicated directly to him at some previous time or made known to him. As the Holy Spirit had revealed such times of apostasy, even in our Lord's ministry, when our Lord spoke forth and said that there would be false prophets that would come in to deceive But this source of prophecy has come to the Apostle Paul. He is very aware of it. And it implies direct communication by the Spirit. What does the Spirit say? He says this, that in later times, some will fall away from the faith. These later times, some think it's best to translate later times as in the last days or last times between Christ's first and second coming. or we can translate it as later seasons. These are short periods of time that follow earlier ones. We saw this again in our Lord's ministry when he spoke prophetically about false prophets coming in to deceive even the elect. Paul speaks of this next period of apostasy, apostasy coming in periods of time throughout church history. And he says, was imminent. Remember, just a short while ago, he spoke in Acts chapter 20, verse 29 to the Ephesian elders that there was coming a time when there would be wolves, savage wolves that would arise from within the church and from without. And now this is actually beginning to happen all through the spirits revealing this truth to the Apostle Paul. And he tells them that they will fall away, that some will fall away. This is the word that we get for our English word apostasy, to depart, to desert, or withdraw from one's position to what? will fall away from the faith. Now, this faith that is mentioned here is not to personal saving faith, as if someone can lose their salvation, but to the truth of the gospel, the content of the gospel, the body of Christian truth, of core Christian doctrine, such as the ones we just read of in chapter three and verse 16. Principles and practices derived from such truth. And he tells us that there will be some that will deny this truth, They'll suppress this truth and eventually exchange the truth for the lie, as Romans chapter 1 tells us. Instead of glorifying God, they will worship self and promote this religious belief system to others to do the same. What caused will cause these people to apostatize. to depart from the faith. He tells us here in this verse, paying attention to deceitful spirits, giving heed to, paying mind to deceiving spirits, either referring to these false teachers themselves, who are under the influence of evil spirits, or to the evil spirits themselves. Evil spirits being unclean spirits, demons, as we read about in the New Testament. These are the spiritual agents of Satan himself. They are most active in the religious realm. In our series through Mark's Gospel, we have seen that early on in our Lord's ministry, His public ministry, that they are active within the synagogues, within these gatherings of worship. You have demons possessing people. They come in, draw people away from the truth, deceive them, and lead them into error, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. They also give heed not only to deceiving spirits, but to teachings of, those teachings that are suggested by demons, that these false teachers then spread. The way they go about leading them into error by these Demonic doctrines. Hold your place there in 1st Timothy chapter 4 and turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, where we see this given more detail about the work of Satan and his minions, demons, and deceiving, leading away from the truth into error. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. Look at verse 3. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. You see that work of deception from Satan himself. Verse 4, for if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit, see that word, same word there, which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. You're saying you pay so easily attention to these false doctrines, to these false teachers, to this different spirit, to this different gospel that comes forward. You are so quick to listen and to pay it and give it the time of day to listen to these things. Look at verse 13. For such men who go around deceiving like Satan in the garden, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Do you see how Satan works? disguises himself. No wonder, he tells us in verse 14, 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. You can turn back to 1 Timothy chapter 4. You see the character and nature of how Satan, how demons, and then those who they influence go about. They don't come out showing everything that they have that opposes the truth. They come resembling the truth, resembling this externalism of righteousness, self-righteousness before the people, disguising themselves as workers of righteousness, but all behind them, as Christ said, they are full of dead men's bones. But how? How do they go about it? Influencing these sinful men to teach and promote lies instead of the truth? We found this in the next verse in verse 2. By means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron from the spirit and what the spirit is revealing to Paul, now to these false teachers themselves. The Greek can be literally translated here in verse 2, through men that disguise themselves. Do you see that same parallel and similarity to that passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 11? Men that disguise themselves as morally upright or righteous, but are really those who speak lies. They're so morally corrupt that they operate from a principle of falsehood in the form of religion. As teachers of the law, we read in 1st Timothy chapter one. They go around teaching God's law. As leaders in the church. What's wrong with these people? How could they put on this outward form of religion, just like we see of the Pharisees in our Lord's day, put on this outward form of religion of self-righteousness, but then speak lies and are hypocritical liars, Paul writes. Well, he tells us, having been seared, speaking of a past event, having been seared in their conscience as with a branding iron and remaining in that state, perfect tense, their consciences have been cauterized. That's the literal word in the Greek that is used here. Cauterizing can refer to the medical procedure of taking a hot iron to a wound to stop bleeding or to prevent infection, hardening the skin and then deadening the nerves around that wound. Or, and I think this has more truth as far as the context to what he means by this act of cauterization, metaphorically speaking, to branding slaves on the forehead, signifying ownership. They would take a hot iron, take that slave, and they would place it upon the forehead, signifying who that slave belonged to. These false teachers are the instruments of Satan himself. demonic powers. But either way, what is true about these false teachers, by their lies, by their outward form of religion, but our hypocritical liars, their shamelessness, is that they have lost all sensitivity or beyond all feeling when it comes to their consciences. They are at peace. They are audacious with their outward form of religion. Meanwhile, they are living lives of wickedness and sin. Think of the false religions in our day and age. Think of those that are in places of leadership in these false religions. And then think of the lives and the scandal of wickedness in their lives that follow this outward form of religion. It was true in our Lord's day. It was true in the times of the apostles. It is true in our day. Nothing has changed. This is their character, but what about their demonic teachings? This is who they are. He pulls back the veil and says, this is who these false teachers are at their very core. But what are they teaching? Verse three, they are men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. They are forbidding to marry, in the Greek, and commanding to abstain from foods, abstinence from sex and food, which we call asceticism, denying physical pleasures, thinking that by denying these physical pleasures, they are increasing and gaining great godliness and spirituality. This is not true righteousness. This is man-made religion, self-righteousness. This is what we've referred to as legalism. But these things don't happen today, right? This was in the first century. Saying that some should be celibate, some should refrain from eating certain foods. It's present in our day, is it not? The false religions of our days, where you have the same things constructed within these man-made religions. God created and instituted marriage. Sex finds its legitimate fulfillment in the marriage relationship. Hebrews 13 verse 4, marriage is to be held in honor among all. Likewise, food is designed by God to nourish our bodies and is to be enjoyed as the portion which God blesses us with for our labor. Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 24, chapter 5 verse 18 tells us this explicitly. But these false teachers have bound the consciences of these people to this ascetic way of life. But then we come in the third place, not only speaking about the spirit, but then about the false teachers. Now to the faithful who are there in Ephesus, those who are to withstand these false teachers and their demonic doctrines, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. Marriage, sex, food are God's good gifts to us. Every good gift, every perfect gift comes down from who? From the Father of Lights. The Father himself. to us as gifts to be received. And we can partake in them with thankfulness to God Himself. Listen to those words there. Look at those words, rather. As those who believe. Who are those who believe? Believers. Literally, in the Greek, the faithful. It's the same word that we have for faith. The faithful. What is their character? Look at this verse. They know the truth. Those who believe are described as those who have full knowledge of the truth. Epigenosko is the word for knowledge here. Experiential knowledge. They have been presented with the truth or the proclamation of the truth in the gospel. They have understood the truth, believe the truth by faith, and then have experienced the truth in their lives. This truth is the objective truth of the gospel. I like how in Vine's New Testament dictionary writes what gives a definition for truth in this sense. Listen, the truth is this. The truth is taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ. and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles, and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers, even among Christians. What is the truth? It is the truth about God, about Christ, about how we have salvation in Christ, and then the duties of man and respect now to God and to Christ in this converted state. In other words, believers are those who know what we believe and why we believe it. Having an accurate grasp of biblical truth, that is what it means for the word knowledge there, you have an understanding of the truth, an accurate understanding of the truth. What does it do to the believer when they are faced with false doctrines from false teachers, false ideologies? The truth frees the conscience to enjoy things that are given by God. The truth prevents it from being taken captive, as Paul wrote in Colossians chapter two, taken captive by philosophy and empty deception according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world. I love what Charles Spurgeon has to say on this subject of false teaching and when Christians are confronted with it. Listen to the words. If a crooked stick is before you, you need not explain how crooked it is. Lay a straight one down by the side of it, and the work is well done. Preach the truth, and error will stand abashed in its presence. It's the work of every pastor, of every preacher, and of every Christian. Falsehoods, lies, philosophies, deceptions come at us every day, all day, not only through religious systems, it comes to us through our social media feeds. It comes to us through the television. Winds of different doctrines, new teachings, new ideas. you hold firm to the truth, you will see the error of all of these men and all of these false doctrines. Look at verse 4, Paul now explaining to the faithful, to the believers who know the truth, explaining to them the truth, instructing them in this truth, And then how that truth is to find its fruit in their lives. Verse four, for everything created by God is good. Amen? 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. Truth frees the conscience. And prayer sets it apart to the glory of God. For everything created by God is good. That is what God has pronounced good, is to be regarded as good, not as evil. Genesis chapter one. He pronounced it good. All that he created, good. Acts chapter 10 to Peter, when Peter was confronted with living this life of following the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic law. And he has this vision that says, do not call things that are unclean, clean that are call unclean for whatever he has pronounced clean is clean. And nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. Here's the instruction to the believer. when it comes to marriage, when it comes to sex, when it comes to food, in this particular context, everything God has created is for our good and enjoyment. That is the God whom we serve. It is not to be prohibited as if there were virtue in abstaining from marriage and sex and food. The only condition is receiving food or drink, or even marriage for that matter, with gratitude as a gift of God. And when we receive our food and drink with a spirit of thanksgiving, what happens? When we come before that meal each and every day, and we receive it with a grateful heart, as God giving it to us as a gift to us to enjoy, for our enjoyment, what happens? Look again at verse four here, or the end of verse five, rather. For it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. In other words, when we receive these things with thankful hearts as gifts from God, it is set apart for our use, for our good, for nourishment, The means in which it is set apart is by the Word of God and prayer. Now, we are not to see these two things as separate from themselves, but joined together. The Word of God is what God teaches us in Scripture about marriage. It's honorable. Food and drink, that it's nothing that goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of a man that defiles him, Christ taught us. When we have that Word of God and that knowledge of that truth and that grasp of the truth retained in our minds, retained in our hearts, it comes forth in what? Prayer. The Word of God forms our prayers themselves. The word that Paul uses here for prayer is not the usual term that he uses for prayer. It's the Greek word entuxis. It is a technical term for approaching a king, seeking the presence of God himself, the hearing of God himself. It can be referred to as interceding for others. So think of it when it comes to food. Think about those times our Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry In those two instances specifically of feeding the multitudes, the loaves and the fish, what did he do? He took them. He looked up to heaven. He blessed them or gave thanks to God for these gifts. When we pray for our meals, especially in our family gatherings and the father prays for the meal for his family, he is interceding on behalf of others for this gift that he is receiving. When prayers are used in marriage ceremonies, we do the same thing. They are to include references from scripture. You can turn to passages, and you can write this down. We won't turn there for the sake of time. Psalm 103, verses 1 through 3. Psalm 106, verse 1. Psalm 145, verse 15 and 16. Look at the example, as I mentioned, of our Lord's ministry and blessing the food and giving thanks for the food. Paul, in Acts chapter 27, verse 35, when he's on the ship there, he takes the bread, he breaks it, he gives thanks, and then they partake of it. Whether therefore you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, even eating our daily meals. The word of God itself is to form our prayer. We have some great examples throughout church history of this pattern of prayer. This is where we build and find our pattern of prayer over meals from this principle here in 1 Timothy 4, verse 5. There is a book written that many of you are familiar with. It's called A Way to Prayer, A Method of Prayer for Prayer, written by Matthew Henry. And that's his whole objective in that book, is to show you to take scriptural truths and pray God's word back to him in prayer for the various circumstances of life. I've printed out a copy of one of his prayers for a meal on the back table there to the right of the coffee station. And I took the liberty of going through one of his prayers before a meal and each petition Each request, each praise in there, I've taken and I've found the scriptural reference and put it underneath and footnoted it there for you to show how every line of the prayer that he gives, a short paragraph of prayer before a meal, and he lists, comes straight from scripture. There is another document that comes from the fourth century called the Apostolic Confessions. It was not written by the apostles, interestingly enough, because from that title, Apostolic Confessions, but it gives us an instruction manual, church order and worship and practice. And they have one of the earliest forms of prayer, of saying grace, of blessing a meal, and I've listed that in that little printout there as well. So in opposition to these false teachers, we are to receive these gifts from God and we sanctify them by giving thanks back to God and then praying and blessing the things that are before us, whether it's marriage, whether it's food. So in closing, a few final thoughts to bring this all together for us today in 21st century America. What does this look like in our culture? Well, you're well aware that there are cults and false religions all around you. You've likely passed by some of them on the way here to our church service. Denominational traditions in the last century, and even today, bind the consciences of people with prohibitions in drinking, and smoking, and dancing, and cards, and movies, and attire, and so on, all in the name of righteousness, self-righteousness. Today, it's not only asceticism, which is still alive and well, but it's an onslaught of progressive ideologies and worldly philosophies that are being entertained by church leaders. ministries and organizations, issues such as social justice, systemic racism, cultural Marxism, liberation theology, gender affirmation, homosexuality, reproductive justice, have all seeped in from the culture into the church and have tainted pulpits across our land, poisoning minds with their demonic doctrines and pagan beliefs binding men's consciences with this self-righteous activism. So what is the antidote then to apostasy, to being swept away by these false teachers and their false doctrines? We've seen it in this passage. It is an intense devotion to the truth of God's Word. It is that blessed man in Psalm chapter 1. holding fast to the gospel of grace, to Christ as the solid rock. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 16 tells us of the work of pastors and their pastoral ministry, teaching and preaching, seeking to grow Christians in the truth so that they would be stabilized in their faith as they live out the Christian life. It is not by works of self-righteousness that we have favor with God, it is by his mercy, Paul writes to Titus, that we are saved. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Christ said himself, to the false teachers of his day, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. not an outward form of religion, not because you're the seed of Abraham, not because you have all of these outward ceremonial washings that you will be free. You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. And the truth is embodying in a person, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. He has come to give us life and life more abundantly. so that our minds, our consciences would not be bound to some externalism, outward form of religion, so that we can enjoy all that God has given us for His glory. That is why pastoral ministry is to be rooted and marked by sound doctrine. All throughout this letter, Paul refers to the importance of sound doctrine, sound preaching in the ministry of every local church. Why? Because what you believe will inevitably determine how you live. We want you to know the truth so that you can live a life enjoying all that God has given to you, physically and spiritually. The scriptures must ever be the church's only and all-sufficient standard of faith and practice. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word which comes to us with fresh conviction, with freshness of its truth to us. We see that we live in days no different from the time of Timothy and the Apostle Paul. We know that there is lies and falsehoods all around us being promoted by the devil himself and even through false teachers and false religions. Help us to devote ourselves to the truth that we would be marked as those who are the faithful who know the truth, and who know how to respond to these false teachings, all with a goal of enjoying the relationship that we have with you that is rooted in Christ, that we might glorify you in all that we do, all of our days. In Christ's name we pray, amen.