We looked at the first five verses last Sunday which say, this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such, turn away. Last Sunday, we saw that that is describing false religion, false preachers. And remembering that, we pick up with verse six today. It says, For of this sort, everything we just read in the first five verses, for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers' lusts. Of this sort. are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lust. Silly means foolish. Women means wives. All right, when you look these words up in a concordance, it's very important to do that. That word women means a wife, a betrothed woman, a woman who is supposed to be married to another. All right, read into this for the spiritual application. All these things are written for spiritual reasons. A woman who is supposed to be looking to another, a woman who is supposed to be leaning on another, But she's been taken captive by the wiles of the spiritual fornication of false religion. That's what this word talks about. Led away by false religion. In everything that Paul is saying to Timothy here, he is telling Timothy, stay on Christ. All right, that's what he's saying. Now, I've told you that before. We've been in 2 Timothy for a while now. I've said that many times, and I'm going to keep saying it. The title of every Bible study that we could have from this book, 2 Timothy, could be, I could title every one of them, Stay on Christ. That's what he's telling Timothy, okay, you're about to be the pastor of Ephesus. Stay on Christ. Be warned of everything that's going to be around you and all this influence that's going to be on you and on the people you preach to. Stay on Christ. Stay on Christ. He's going to say the same thing in chapter 4 when we get to it. Look at chapter 4, verse 1. He said, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead, the living and the dead, at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all patience, long-suffering, and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. They'll be turned to things that sound more pleasing to the ears, things that sound more pleasing to the flesh, things that creep in and lead the captive. Look back at chapter three. Verse six, he said, for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins. I just told you it's important to look up these words. I'll let me explain why I believe this will, uh, You'll see the importance of what I'm telling you here. This is what it's like to study for a Bible study like this. The word laden in the Greek concordance and remember that word I said concordance not commentary but concordance. All right. The word laden. in the concordance is word number 4987. You don't need to know that, but that's what it is. All the words in this book are given a number, word by word, and it's number 4987. Laden means to heap together, to heap on, to overwhelm one with a heap of anything. It is another form of word number four, six, seven, three. Forget that. But it's another form of word number four, six, seven, three, which means an urn, a coffin, a receptacle for carrying the dead. You see the importance of seeing both of those? You'd never get that from just laden with sins. But laden with sins means completely with death death it goes on to say led away that means led away led astray with divers lusts that means with different with a multitude of desires that are forbidden forbidden what is forbidden with God What is forbidden with God? Here's the answer. Idolatry. Idolatry. Worshipping, looking to, believing on anything other than Christ. Religion is full of it. Religion is full of idolatry. Religion is so full of things and symbols and statues and all kinds of things that people look to and they worship it. Oh, you see this holy item right here? You know, you got holy water or holy this or holy that. That's idolatry. All that stuff needs to be gotten rid of and it needs to be Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ alone. The disciples said one time, they were on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the Lord was talking to Moses and Elijah. And when that was over, they said, Lord, let us make three tabernacles. We're gonna make one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And God the Father, it says a cloud overshadowed them. Can you imagine that cloud? He said, absolutely not. This is my beloved son, hear him, hear him. Those disciples hit the dirt. So do you know what the father was saying to them, those disciples in that moment? Stay on Christ, stay on Christ. Verse 6, 2 Timothy 3 verse 6, for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Ever learning, learning, learning, learning, never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. That describes so many poor, sad people. Now, is he talking about the false preachers right here or is he talking about these poor, foolish, dead followers of the false preachers? He's talking about both. Our Lord called them blind leaders of the blind. He said they're both going to fall into the ditch. Let them go. Leave them alone. Paul is telling Timothy here, you don't want to be a blind leader. And you don't want to be a leader of the blind. There's a real warning here. There's a real warning here. How can we guard against it? Stay on Christ. Stay on Christ. Verse 7, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, the truth. Turn with me over to John 14. John 14, verse four. Our Lord said to the disciples, and whither I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. The truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He said, I am the truth. Paul warned Timothy that false religion is ever learning. We're going to have seminars and we're going to have, you know, this and that, ever learning something. but never able to come to a knowledge of Christ, the truth, the truth. If we don't know the truth, then we don't know the way and we don't know life. The way of life is Christ, the truth. Look at John 8, John chapter 8. Verse 28, then said Jesus unto them, when you have lifted up the son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me. The father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Freedom, liberty. You know, those Jews, the Jews, We're followers of the law. That's what we see in America today in false religion. Followers of the law. We're followers of Christ. God's people are followers of Christ. And he told those Jews, if you ever come to know the truth, that truth is going to set you free. That freedom, that liberty, that salvation is in knowing Christ. Knowing the truth, this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God. Now who is gonna know Christ the truth? Who will know him? The answer is all of God's people will. All of them. Look at John 6. Verse 45. John 6, verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. That's who will come to know the truth. Verse 44 says, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Whoever the Father draws to Christ, That's who will come to know the truth. Verse 37, all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. That's who will be taught of God the truth. Look with me at Matthew 11. Matthew 11 verse 27. All things are delivered unto me of my father. And no man knoweth the son but the father. Neither knoweth any man the father save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. If a man or a woman is ever going to know God, If a man or a woman is ever gonna know Christ, then God has to reveal Christ. God has to reveal himself to that man or woman. And if God is going to reveal Christ to a man or a woman, God is going to put a desire in that man or woman to have Christ revealed to him or her. God is gonna make that man or woman desire for God to reveal Christ to them, to him, to her. They'll have a desire to seek the Lord like we looked at last Wednesday night. Christ will be made all to them. Christ will become the one thing needful. As far as eternal life goes, as far as heaven goes, eternity goes, let me just ask this question. What else do you need besides Christ? What else do you need? Nothing. Nothing. He's the one thing needful. The problem for false religion, false religious teachers, false religious followers is Christ is not enough. That's the problem. Christ is not enough. They've never seen the glory and the beauty of Christ as being enough. They're led away because he's not their one thing needful. He's not their pearl of great price. They're laden with the death of sin because Christ has never delivered them and quickened them from the death of their sin. Verse 28 right here, our Lord said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I'll give you rest. Religion is not the remedy. Morality is not the remedy, Christ is the remedy. The blood and righteousness of Christ alone is the remedy. That's the truth. That's the truth. Men and women spend their lives searching for the answer and the remedy in this religion, in that religion. They're studying this denomination's beliefs and that denomination's beliefs. You know, maybe this is the issue. Maybe that is the issue. Searching, searching, searching. Let's see what Dr. So-and-so has to say about it. He's got a new book out. What about the Reverend Doctor, you know, Mr. Whoever. The whole time, through the whole process, they're missing Christ. They are missing Christ. What does Christ have to say about it? What record has God the Father given concerning his son? I have a lot of books in my study, okay? This is a Bible study. A lot of people call it the Sunday school, and so this is some schooling, I think. This fits the category. I have a lot of books in my study. I have a lot of commentaries on the scripture. I have a lot of people want to give me books and give me commentaries on the scripture, and that's fine. I welcome them. I will look at them, I will glance at them. But those books and those commentaries are no substitute for the scripture. They are not. A lot of the time, if not most of the time, and I do mean this, I don't care what man, there's a lot of men who I love and respect, I don't care what name we fill the blank with, most of the time the commentaries confuse matters. They really do. You'll walk away a little bit more confused than when you started. Sometimes the Lord has really given a man something good to say but one old preacher used to say this. He used to say the Bible will shed a lot of light on those commentaries. Right. People will get commentaries hoping that they will shed light on the Bible. Usually they don't. God's word is clear in what he has written. It really is. God's word is clear. If he says it, even if you don't understand it, he means it. Even if you don't think it fits your theology, your doctrine, if he said it, it's so. It's like, well, how do I make sense out of that considering this? Well, I'll get to that, all right? I'll get to that. Man's opinion on the word usually muddies the word. Now, I completely understand this. Okay, this is a common question. It's a common thought. This is one that I have asked myself and searched for myself. This is very, very common, okay? But I am asked from time to time for, you know, what book recommendation would I have for somebody to read to better understand the scriptures? And honestly, here's my answer. I don't have one. I just don't have one. I do not recommend reading a book to better understand the scriptures. Go to the source. Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I've grabbed a commentary and put it back on the shelf and thought, man, I wish I hadn't read that. Go to the source, go to the word of the source in reading and in prayer. And I wrote this in my notes and I second guessed, should I say this? Yes, okay? Read a passage and then pray to the Lord, asking him to open your eyes to it. Ask him to reveal the truth of it to you. Honestly, that's all that I do. That's all that I do. Quite often, you know, we go through books. We'll go through, we're going through 2 Timothy right now. And you'll notice that we get sidetracked for a little while. And, you know, I do have other messages from other places that I bring and I feel led to bring. And usually it's because I don't know what to say about 2 Timothy right now. I've read the next few verses, and I literally, you know, I read truce breakers, incontinent, you know, fierce, you know, this and that, and I think, well, how do I preach Christ from that? And I don't know what to say about it. So you know what? That's not our message this week. And for weeks, I'll beg the Lord, open this, reveal this to me. And then, you know, the Lord will let me see a picture of Christ and then we have a message from it. Well, I'm nobody, I'm nothing special. All of God's people have the same access to the throne of God Almighty. Read a passage and then pray to the Lord and ask him to reveal it to you. If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it. If any man lacks faith, let him ask God for it. You know, people say, my faith, I just need to get more faith. Don't turn here, ask God for it. If any man lacks understanding, go to God over it. Go to God over it. That same preacher, that same old preacher that said the Bible will shed a lot of light on those commentaries, this is what he said. He said, you get a Bible and a dictionary and you'll have all the books you need. And that's so. That is so. That dictionary is called a concordance. Not a commentary, but a concordance. All that a concordance is is dictionary definitions of these words. There are some words that society used to use in the 1950s 1940s and 1800s, that we still use that word today, it just doesn't mean the same thing. And the question is, you may read a word in this and say, well, I know what that means. The only problem is that's not what the Spirit of God meant in the inspiration at that time it was written. So it's important to look it up in a dictionary and see what did that word originally mean at that time. I do, from time to time, glance at books that men have written, but I take it with a grain of salt. And that's just what I want to pass along to you. You all are welcome to go grab a book out of my study. You're welcome to take it with a grain of salt. Take it with a grain of salt. You can't count on books that men have written as being truth. You just can't. There's only one book of truth. One book. Go with me to Ecclesiastes 12. I'll close with this. Two books before Isaiah. Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 9 says and moreover because the preacher was wise He still taught the people knowledge. Yea, he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. Every word in this book right here was given from one shepherd. These are the words of Christ. They're concerning Christ. They came from Christ, the spirit of Christ. Verse 12 says, and further, by these, my son, be admonished. Of the making of many books, there is no end. People just keep writing books and writing books and writing books. And much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. and keep his commandments. Keep to, stick to his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man and God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. Stay on Christ. That's what he's saying. That's what the wisest man on this earth was inspired to say, stay on Christ, stay on Christ. If we are going to be ever learning, all right? If we are going to be ever learning, then as Peter said, this is how he finished his epistle, all right? This is the last verse of his epistle. He said, grow in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. If God will allow us to keep our learning right there, God will teach us the truth. He really will.