Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:1-5
In general, you could say that the principles about how to behave in the church of God are based on one fundamental principle both in the Old Testament and New Testament which is stated by the Lord in the Gospel: love God and love your neighbour.
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
So, these about two commandments which are in both the Old and the New testaments, Jesus says, On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. And these should be what is guiding the new being, the new work which is coming into being within the church of the living God.
You find that these principles go right through the teaching of the New Testament and come out in Paul’s writings like in Romans chapter 13 verse 8 where he says,
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. Romans 13:8-10
In Romans 12:10 it says,
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; Romans 12:10
Those verses really don’t need any interpretation. They speak for themselves and that’s how we should live within the body of the Messiah.
Obviously, it doesn’t always work out like that. Things can go wrong in churches. Has anybody here seen things going wrong in churches? You probably have if you’ve been a Christian for a while, just as they can go wrong in all institutions. And why do they go wrong? Because, basically, churches are made up of sinners sinners saved by Grace but still people who have come from a sinful human nature.
You find that quite a lot of Paul’s writings are directed towards churches where things were going wrong and needed correction, especially Corinthians. As I say, churches are made up of sinners saved by Grace and undergoing the process of what we call ‘sanctification’.
Sanctification means we’re moving from the person we were before we became a Christian towards the person who God wants us to be. And, ultimately working towards the time when we’ll be glorified in Heaven and become completely free from sin.
Has anybody yet arrived at being completely free from sin? No. Nor have I.
So it’s a process which is going on and there’s an ongoing process which we’re all in which is a battle between serving the Spirit and serving the flesh. Some are further on than others along the path of sanctification, and sometimes we go on and then we fall back again. And we can see that pattern happening in our own lives.
Some have come from backgrounds which are the very opposite of what you might hope to find in a church. Paul writes of the past condition of some of the people in the Corinthian church saying, he says,
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
You were sinners but now you are sanctified in Jesus Christ. Now, you may have been a drunkard, you may have been sexually immoral, you may have been a thief but you shouldn’t stay like that. And that’s one of the big problems which happens in churches. People don’t totally change from the person they were before. Sometimes, even the church doesn’t encourage you to change and so things can go wrong in churches.
A preacher was once asked: ‘Where can I find a perfect church?‘ He answered, ‘You won’t find one but if you should find one and want to join it, don’t do it because it won’t be perfect anymore‘.
The church exists in a fallen world and so it has to contend with the world, the flesh, and the devil, all of whom are trying to convert or subvert and neutralize the church’s influence from within even while the church is trying to influence the fallen world to repent and turn to Jesus.
And we have to be aware that these things are happening and they happened in the first church. They’re happening now as well and we have to be on our guard against those things which are going to come in to destroy and to spoil the church from within.
Again, they always go back to the central principle that ‘you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, and you should love your neighbour as yourself.
Paul warned that there were going to be false teachers who would come, false doctrine. He provides frequent warnings about false teaching coming into the church, denying the Lord, serving the interests of men or of the organization, or even of money rather than God. He had a word for the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20 verse 27 where he said,
I’m not shun to declare to you the whole council of God therefore take heed to yourselves and to
27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to 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. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. Acts 20:27-31
Notice it says men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. My purpose is not to make you disciples of Tony Pearce. God forbid! We want to make you disciples of Jesus Christ. You have to learn from Him, not learn from men.
One can see in some churches, especially in big churches, how people end up following the man rather than the Lord and the purpose of these savage wars is to draw away disciples after themselves and then to teach some things which are contrary to the scriptures.
Paul says that’s going to happen particularly in the last days. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 he says,
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 1 Timothy 4:1-2
So, one of the features of the last days is that you can have people teaching things which are coming from a departure from the faith, an apostasy, and also giving heed to doctrines of demons and deceiving spirits all of which is pretty serious. If you have doctrines coming at you from the demons rather than from God, then you can have people really being led astray.
I’ve been a Christian for 50 years and I’ve seen those things happening in certain churches. And so Paul charges Timothy in his second letter Timothy chapter 4 verse one saying,
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5
People are going to be turned aside to fables. What are fables? Fables are basically made up stories which are not true. Therefore, you’re going to find people teaching things which they’ve made up themselves and which are not true, they’re not based on the truth. You’ve got lots of churches teaching fables.
One of them is a prosperity teaching which tells you that if you give a £100 to the preacher, you’re going to get £1,000 back. It’s a fable. Then, they find someone who gives a testimony to it (probably a made-up story). You have lots of things happening in churches which are actually deceiving people with made-up stories which are not true and getting them away from the basic message of the Gospel that we’re calling upon people to repent and believe the Gospel and to follow Jesus.
So, we have to contend for the faith. I mentioned this scripture last time I spoke. It’s from Book of Jude and says,
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 1:3-4
So we’re going to have people teaching things which are against what God says, teaching even lewdness, denying the only God, the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. You’ve got churches today which are affirming homosexual practice even allowing sexual immorality both of which are condemned by God.
So you have things which are coming into churches which are against what God says and we have to contend earnestly for the faith. We have to contend for the truth, and we have to affirm the things which are spoken by the Lord and continually bring the church back to the apostles’ doctrine, to loving God and loving your neighbour as yourself.
