And doctrines of demons. It's a real thing. Deceiving spirits are seduced, misleading, leading into error.
So this is the method. That the enemy uses, seducing. Flattery. There's so many of these false teachers that have risen throughout church history and so often it's They know more so much more than everyone else and I need to come with my special revelation that I'm sharing that only God has shown me that only God has shown me and everyone needs to bow down to this new teaching that only God has shown me and everyone needs to bow down to this new teaching that
I've shown me and everyone needs to bow down to this new teaching that I'm coming with.
It's seducing, it's deceiving. And the other. It says the doctrines of demons.
So the method is the seduction. The seducing spirit, deceiving spirits, and then the content is doctrines of demons.
Not, not doctrine, about demons. But doctrine that comes directly from. Demons from the enemy.
Now, you may think, well, what would that be exactly? What would that be? Here's an example, Genesis 3.
A good place to start is words that come out of the devil's mouth. That would be a good place to start.
Yeah. Genesis 3. Beginning in verse one.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden.
And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden.
God has said you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely.
Die. Think about that. Dctrine of straight from the devil.
You can disobey God without any consequence. That's a lie of the enemy. You can disobey God and live.
That's a lie. You can rebel against him and get away with it. That's a lie.
But you know that's that's what the world tells us every day. And then you goes on.
Verse 5.
For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil or the King James says you will be as gods.
There's another lie. You will be like God, you will be as God. So those are those are some lies of the enemy.
Now, Someone fell for that lie in church history, Joseph Smith. You know, teaching demons. Use a human agent to promulgate their They're teaching.
So speaking, so back there in First Timothy.
Was used by the enemy to to share. To promote false teaching.
Speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, verse 2 of First Timothy 4.
But so here's some examples. So. He claimed that God told him to marry multiple women. His first wife was not happy about it.
You can imagine. Then he claimed to receive another revelation from God that she would be destroyed if she did not go along with it.
So, And the whole time, I think about someone like Joseph Smith and how easily how dark our hearts are.
Here's somebody that, he. Created this huge elaborate. Scheme where he developed these tablets that had some ancient text on it.
It was Reformed Egyptian. That no one has ever seen before. No one ever, there's nobody that could.
Translated except him with his rose colored glasses. He had these special glasses that he put on and he could translate this message from God.
No one else could understand it. No one else could. Could do that and here's someone who knows What he's saying is a lie.
Yet continues to push it and to see. Millions of people. So that's really what we're talking about.
This is exactly what this is talking about.
So we need to be aware. Of enemies devices. Here's something else a little more contemporary.
Aaron Rogers. So he grew up as a Christian or at least in a Christian family that we know of.
But he has been promoting psychedelics. Hallucinogenics. It's called Ayahuasca.
So now that's not a town in northern Wisconsin.
That is a hallucinogenic that you take and you have a experience. And so he was actually discussing his experiments with this drug in an interview and he was talking about it.
He said that when he took this he was actually aware of another presence. In his consciousness. Another presence was there.
And when he comes out of this experience, he is enlightened. He has an enlightened view of religion.
Suddenly, and he rejected organized religion. Now when people say that, rejecting organized religion, usually they're saying I don't believe any doctrine, right?
I'm getting rid of doctrine. I don't want any kind of thing that any doctrine. That's usually what they mean by that.
So suddenly Jesus, Buddha, Allah. They're all the same, they're all connected.
So that's another example. I would say that that presence that he felt is a is a seducing spirit.
It's something that it was actually. The Lord. He forbid any kind of hallucinogenic drugs.
In fact, that's one of the, I think it's sorcerer. Pharmacia.
Is the the word for that? So it opens up our mind, our spirit to other influences. Also in the news he's been seeing UFOs lately and that's a whole other topic.
So continuing back and first Timothy. So now what are the some of the things that Paul talks about here?
As far as some of these. Doctrines of demons. Verse 3.
Now this may seem a little anti-climactic. We talked about all these major doctrines that are being under attack the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and then Paul gives these examples forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with Thanksgiving.
By those who believe in all the truth. So, forbidding to marry, having restrictions. On marriage and your diet.
That's interesting. You would think that that's where the enemy would go. To deceive people.
One thing about this is in interesting these false teachers I'll come with a false authority. And forbid these things to people.
So they reject the authority of the Word of God. But they set themselves up as the authority and now they can make these pronouncements to people.
And. Just on a side note. There's there's things that maybe people have convictions about.
But you can't. Like impose them on others. So we need to be careful about that. Imposing our own convictions on people, especially if it's something that's not clear in Scripture.
But anyway. So these false teachers they take out of authority. They make these restrictions. But see, this is very subtle, isn't it?
It's very subtle. Now, early in the earlier in the book, that we read in first Timothy.
Paul was instructing Timothy to look out for these men that were misapplying the law. They were imposing the law and there was the restrictions on people.
Using adherence to the law to find acceptance from God. So in order to really be accepted by God, you need to do this and do that and do this and do that.
So there's list of these Old Testament rules. You need to do these things in order to be justified from your sin.
Or to be right with God. So now we see here in this. Section, it's almost promoting this asceticism.
And this was something that was. Happened with the Gnostics. At the time. Promoting this kind of these ideas that well if you really want to be a Christian or you want to serve the Lord or be accepted by him, you have to perform these.
Or reject these kind of outward pleasures. And you need to not get married. You need to.
Stop eating certain kinds of foods if you really want to be holy. So it's almost this spiritual hierarchy, creating this idea of clergy and laity.
And Paul, Paul. Lumps this in with all these ideas of. Demonic teachings. So again, it's very subtle.
I think this is this is why if I need to add anything to my salvation Good works, anything.
I am diminishing. The person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that doesn't that sound like something the enemy would want to do? Diminish the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, make him smaller.
Make him not as needed but you know you can do all these good works and you're OK. Take a look at Galatians 2
Galatians chapter 2 now verse 20 is one that we were very familiar with. Verse 20 I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself.
For me, that's the mystery of godliness that I was talking about before. Verse 21.
I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes to the law, then Christ died in vain.
So if I can find some sort of righteousness outside of Christ, then why did he die?
That's a direct assault on the Lord Jesus Christ. The teaching and who he is and what he's done.
So this is incredibly important to Paul. I mean, he wrote whole books about this, rejecting this idea of a mixture of law and grace or faith in works.
This is very important. So forbidding to marry.
And also this abstaining from certain foods. Abstaining from certain meats. Well, this is not vegetarian.
If someone wants to be vegetarian, go ahead. Right, and that's not what this is about.
This is about having a spiritual aspect. Of what I eat, somehow I'm pleasing God or displeasing God based upon what I eat.
Now in the old covenant, God separated, he set apart his people. From the Gentile nations.
By things like their diet. He did that. Today, what separates us is the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us.
It's not what we eat or what we drink. God created food to be enjoyed. And Eaton received with Thanksgiving.
It says verse 4. For every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused. If it is received with Thanksgiving.
Now, this doesn't mean that you have to eat everything that's put in front of you.
So we went to many years ago, the Kellers and our family went to Storybook. And they found this snapping turtle in the lake.
And they brought it out and they killed it and the woman cooked in the kitchen cooked it up and served it.
The snapping turtle. So it was being passed around and people were eating it and I looked at it like I don't know what that is I mean it's like these chunks like what is that his head is that his foot what is that?
So I refused it. So that's OK. Refusing food. But the thought here is for religious reasons, I'm refute, no, I can't eat that because of.
I'm going to displease God if I eat that, right? That's the idea.
Now this was something that was really drilled into the heads of of the the Jews. Think about. You were not to have interactions with the Gentiles, the Gentile family, maybe next door.
You would see them cooking food and it was. I mean, you probably gagged yourself thinking about what they're eating.
And that kind of helped you keep away from them. So it was something that was really part of their existence.
But then you see here an axe, take a look at x 10 real quick.
Peter. Has to go while the Lord is directing Peter to go and meet with Cornelius, a Gentile home.
Are you kidding? I can't do that.
And then it says here. Acts 10 verse 9 the next day as they went on their journey and drew near the city Peter went up to the house top to pray about the sixth hour.
When he became very hungry, he wanted to eat, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open and an object like a great sheet bound.
At the 4 corners descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts creeping things, birds of the air.
And a voice came to him, rise Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything uncommon or unclean.
And a voice spoke to him again the second time what God has cleansed. You must not call common.
This was done 3 times and the object was taken into heaven again. So. God had to show this to him 3 times for him to get it.
That it's OK to go to meet with this Gentile and to even eat his food and later on we see an axe he's loving the table of the Gentiles and eating their food.
So. And it says every creature of God is good and nothing is to be received. And nothing is to be refused.
For it is received with Thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.
So if you want to eat bugs, go ahead and eat bugs. You want to eat that?
Who's slimming up from the underneath the rock. Go ahead. But so we're told here though.
To pray, right? That's why we pray for our meals. We pray for our meals.
Because it says it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. That's a good, that's what we need to do as believers.
We pray for our food. So, verse 6.
Now here, so Paul now is turning back to Timothy. He's directing him specifically he's saying if you instruct the brethren in these things.
You will be a good minister. Of Jesus Christ. So what things? Everything that we've been reading.
So. Back from chapter 3 at the end of chapter 3 all the way through what we just read. These things.
So Paul is saying you need to continue to teach these things. Continue to preach. The good doctrine continue to Expose.
The false doctrine and the doctrines of demons. Point it out, let people know what it is.
Because people will get deceived.
Remind each other, we need to remind each other of the wonderful truths of the gospel and that's what we do every Sunday at the Lord's Supper.
We remind each other of the truth of the gospel. Not everyone does that. We have a precious time every Sunday when we can do that.
Be on the lookout for false doctrine. Don't just swallow everything you see or hear. You know, a new book comes out and the Christian publishing goes wild over some new book.
Careful.
It says here if you instruct a brethren in these things you will be a good minister or good servant.
So obviously, you know, Timothy was a teacher, he instructed. But all of us have a place in this.
To be reminding each other and encouraging one another in the truth. Take a look at Hebrews 10.
Hebrews 10.
This is a well known verse, Hebrews 10 verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope.
Without wavering, for he who promised is faithful, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see.
The day approaching.
So it's something that we all participate in. When someone has a wrong perspective. When the enemy is trying to discourage us.
When when false teaching is making having an effect on people We need to stand for each other. Understand we're in a war.
The enemy is dropping leaflets. On us every day. Every day there are leaflets flying around and things that we read and see.
That would cause us to doubt the truth. It's it's meant to demoralize us.
It's meant to divide us. It's meant to have us just give up.
He's the accuser of the brethren. How often, maybe you wake up in the morning and you're like, oh.
I'm not good enough for this. I'm not in a good place. Struggling, you know, who am I?
I failed. I've failed so bad yesterday. How often does memories from the past just come into your mind?
That's the enemy. Here's a wonderful. A quote from a man, John Favel.
He was from the 1,006 hundreds. From his wonderful book, The Fountain of Life. I'd recommend everyone to read it.
It's a little bit older and it's syntax, so. And I'll read it here.
He says, happy were it. If Christians in perplexity and distress would turn their eyes from the defects in their obedience.
To the fullness of Christ. And see themselves complete. In him. Turning our eyes away from the defects of our obedience, right?
So we never met, we can never measure up. There's always going to be something, someone that we fail or disappoint.
We're always going to. Have a defect. In our obedience. No one is perfect.
But get your eyes off of that. Don't dwell on that. It says instead look to the fullness of Christ.
And see yourself complete in him. That's where we want to be. That's where we want to be encouraging one another.
In these things.
So verse 6. First Timothy 6, sorry, verse 4, chapter 4, 6. If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister or servant of Jesus Christ.
Nourished. In the words of faith and the good doctrine which you have carefully followed nourished.
We need to be nourished. And look at this. Contrast, but we talked earlier about the doctrines of demons and here we have the good doctrine.
That's where we need to be dwelling and nourished on the words of faith and the good doctrine.
We need to be nourished. And we're hungry. Hungry. I've used this example before.
But it's appropriate. You ever have you ever gone to the grocery store hungry?
You end up buying a bunch of junk. I do. You know, you just, oh, that looks good.
That looks good. And you end up, you know, the other day I went to the store, I think I was just getting salsa.
Or something. And maybe chips or something, I don't know, something. I was only supposed to get, go and get 2 things.
I ended up like ice cream. Cookies like Eric, because I was hungry. So when we're hungry, we grab anything that we think will satisfy.
When we're hungry. If we're nourished and we're full. And then we can go out into the world and you know what I don't need that.
No I'm good. That's the way it is spiritually. I don't need that.
I have been filled. With the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm enjoying his presence in my life right now.
That thing over there, it doesn't tempt me. It doesn't even tell me because I'm full.
So remind me to eat before I go to the grocery store. But that's what we need to do in our spiritual lives.
We need to be in the Word of God. And see, notice there's 2 things here. In order to be nourished.
The words of faith and good doctrines. So there's 2 things. The word of faith is just being in the Word of God, reading the Word of God.
And then sit under good doctrine. Teaching, we need teaching. We need gifted teachers. The Lord has given.
Teachers to the church. And we need to be instructed. It's a gift. Someone who is able to take these words and put it in ways that make sense and we can apply in our lives and put things together that we never saw before.
That's what a teacher does.
That's what, then we need that. We need that. We need each other. And we can't, you know, yes, we can go off on our own and read our Bible and that's great but we also need teaching.
Verse 7.
But reject profane and old wives fables and exercise yourselves towards. Godliness. So a couple of things about this.
So we're not talking about whether you should go swimming after you eat. That's not what we're talking about.
With old wives fables. And old wives do not have a monopoly on bad advice.
Okay. Earlier in the book we saw that the men were teaching Jewish fables and they were getting people off base and they were, taking up so much time with genealogies and these sorts of fables and myths.
And Paul said, get back to the Word of God, get back to the Word. And in the same way the women were doing the same thing.
Maybe they were getting together and they were talking and sharing. Stories and it was all really getting people off.
Of what they should be dwelling on and thinking about. Now, this fables and myths.
Stories that get handed down and spread. There was a lot of things, the Gnostics and and Mystical Jews.
Would would have these this kind of mythology. Every culture has mythologies. Every culture shares stories. That we hand down.
And some are not good. You know, some are made up stories, but people treat them as real.
And that's something that we need to be careful of as believers. Get back to the Word of God.
I know this is true, right? I read this, I know this is true. Maybe something that you see on Facebook, it could be true, it might not be.
But I know this is, I know this is true. So I'm going to stick with this.
Here's some examples that, and I've used this before. Some some myths that have kind of made their way into the church that people believe, something that happened Charles Darwin supposedly had a deathbed conversion.
That it's something that Christians have spread throughout many generations, many people, and it's just not true.
There's a lot of reasons to say that evolution is wrong. So we don't need, that's a great story.
I'd love to have that as a story that he actually got converted on his deathbed but he didn't.
His wife was a believer she didn't like. Evolution if he was converted she would have known about it and she would have said something but in fact she said no it's not true That's just one example.
Another example is something that kind of makes its way through Christian circles. Here's an example. This happened.
Think in the nineties. There was there's a evangelist in India, Boxing.
I don't know if you, know boxing. So there was a story about. In his funeral procession, car driving down there was a ray of light, it was cloudy, array of light came through the clouds and followed the car as he drove.
It was just one of those things that people here and they say all that's great that's you know he was a servant of God it wasn't true.
So those are the kind of things that we share and tell each other to try and encourage each other. You know what?
This is true. This is true. The Word of God. Another story that kind of gets handed down.
There's an old Christian couple driving down the road and there's a hitchhiker.
They, they pick him up. They usually don't pick up hitchhikers, but this time they just, they do.
And he sits in the car and he starts talking about the Lord's coming back. And they said, well, yes, we know the Lord's coming back.
We're believers. We just came from church. He's like, no, but he's coming back soon and then disappears.
It was an angel. Now maybe some of you heard some things like that before. But again.
This, I know this is true, right? I know this is true. So these are some of the things that these fables that kind of make their way through Christian circles.
We need to focus not on these experiences and stories, but on the Word of God. We know that's true.
Verse 8. So he's says reject these things but exercise yourselves toward godliness. Exercise.
So this is the word where we get gymnasium from. So this is exercise. Exercise ourselves toward godliness.
For bodily exercise profits a little. But godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
So bodily exercise profits a little. It's not demeaning bodily exercise. That's a good thing.
This is actually about time.
It's not about quality, it's about time. It's profitable for a short period of time for your life.
After after your life All of your exercise isn't going to do you any good at all. Gone.
But it is a good thing, it is profitable in this life. But it's only for a short period of time.
What is profitable for now and for eternity is godliness, exercising ourselves in godliness.
Spiritual exercise. Reading the Word of God, praying. Being with Lord's people. Going to Tulsa Fest.
That was both. That was both spiritual exercise and physical exercise. That was both. And that's a great thing.
So it's profitable in all things it says. Now bodily exercise maybe improve certain things about your life.
Maybe it strengthens your heart, maybe it gives you muscle tone, maybe it helps with your. Emotions and these kind of things, that's certainly true.
Godliness is profitable for all things. Every aspect of your life. Godliness will will improve.
And I'm not seeing health and wealth here. I'm saying that your spiritual your spiritual life will profit.
So, finishing up here.
For bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. So that's a common phrase of Paul uses.
He uses it about this. That we need to be exercised in godliness. No godliness is God's perspective, God's.
What God wants, being consistent with what God wants in your life. That's godliness. And then here, verse 10.
What will end this portion. For this, for to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach.
So there's a labor involved, it's agony. That's the the Greek word we get the word agony from.
There's a labor in this. Pursuit of godliness. We suffer reproach. This and this path.
Because we trust in the living God. Who is the savior of all men. Especially of those who believe.
These things command and teach. So what does that mean? He's the savior of all men.
He, so I won't turn to him, but real John 1, 29 and John 442, he is the savior of the world.
What Jesus Christ did in the cross is is enough to save. The whole human race. He is the savior of the world.
He is the Savior of all man, but Only those who believe are saved.
So he is available. His salvation is available to all. He is the savior of the world.
But it is only available to those. It is only effective in those that have believed put their faith. In him.
So that will end. This portion and
Remember to lay hold of these truths that the mystery of godliness. It's something that be pursuing and knowing and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ, what he's done for us.
And not get distracted with these things of the world, these pamphlets that fall from the sky that would try to discourage us.
We need to be together. Involved with each other. So that we can reject and resist.
Those messages from the enemy. So let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you for all that he's done for us. Help us, Lord, to. Walk in that reality, help us to know it more and more every day, help us to not get distracted.
With the things of this world but help us to keep our eyes upon you, help us to keep. Our eyes fixed on the fullness of Christ and know that we are complete in Him.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.