Sermon Central
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"The Way To Preach When Apostasy Comes Into The Church" Series
Contributed by Gordon Weatherby on Jul 7, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: The early church dealt with false teachers telling the church that certain foods and even marriage and sexual relations within marriage were sinful and should be avoided. This message deals with Paul's approach in coaching Timothy to deal with this.
THE WAY TO PREACH WHEN APOSTASY
COMES INTO THE CHURCH
Dorn Ridge, July 07, 2013
The following link will take you to an MP3 recording of this sermon: http://chirb.it/q4DEp9
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Jesus said: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
2.) As grand as the prophecy of God is, for 2,000 years Satan has repeatedly given his worst to defeat the Church of Jesus Christ.
3.) Today I want us to look at the instruction the Apostle Paul had given to the young man Timothy in regards to some of Satan’s false teachings that had crept into the church, and how that today we can use those same tools in our battle against the prince of darkness.
I. DURING THE LATER DAYS APOSTASY WOULD COME INTO THE CHURCH. [VERSES 1-3]
1.) The Spirit of God had predicted this would happen.
A.) Certainly more than one of the books of the New Testament predict that Anti-Christ, and also anti-Christian influences would come into the church.
B.) The apostle Paul had earlier warned this very same Church of Ephesus on this very matter.
ba.) Acts 20:28-30
C.)Paul said to Timothy that some would abandon the faith.
ca.) Even worse than abandoning their faith, some who would do so would be doing it by the influence of Satan and his demonic world.
cb.) 1 Timothy 4:1
cc.) Sadly, in every age of the church, Satan and his demons have been at work to destroy the work and ministry of Jesus Christ.
cca.) What better means than by giving the church a false doctrine that supposedly will bring one closer in his relationship with God.
cd.) The influence here in this passage is through hypocritical liars in the church moved by the demons of hell.
cda.) Verses 1b-2
2.) Satan will promote that which will draw men from Christ.
A.) 1 Timothy 4:3
B.) Teachings forbidding people to marry.
ba.) One of the teachings that would come into the church that would be a powerful force in leading people astray was a doctrine that people should not marry.
bb.)When Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, something was going on within the church which we do not know the details of today.
bba.) Whatever it was, Paul advised that under “the present circumstances” it was better to not marry and remain in their present state.
bc.) In the early church one of the groups of false teachers that had come into the church were the Gnostics who felt anything of the physical was evil.
bd.) If anything of the physical is evil, then by that logic so also the physical bodies we possess, and therefore sexual relations between a man and woman, even in the holy bonds of marriage were considered by some to be unholy, and even defiling to your being.
be.) The result and conclusion of this line of thinking is that a person will become more holy and more Godly and more dedicated to God if marriage and the sexual relations between a man and woman are taken out of the equation.
bea.) This same false teaching has since been adopted by others in the history of the church.
beb.) For some individuals this can be beneficial spiritually particularly if chosen by an individual as his own desired act of dedication toGod.
bec.) Reality though, is that for many who try and live this type of life this is not the case.
bed.) Rather than individuals becoming more spiritual and Godly, sometimes the very opposite will happen..
bed-1.) It is God himself who gave these natural desires, and not everyone has the power to go against the God-given desires and inclinations of the heart, even for the Kingdom of God.
bed-2.) The result is they are led into sexual sin, and by the guilt of their actions they are drawn further from God.
bed-3Over the history of the church, this doctrine has repeatedly planted seeds which have led some to greater sin, instead of bringing men closer to God.
C.) Paul describes another false teaching was to abstain from certain foods.
ca.) Under the Old Testament dispensation, God had classified some foods as being unclean..
caa.) When God chose the Jewish people they were chosen to have higher standards than the rest of the world even in their diets.
cab.) Certainly the standards of God even in the diet is much higher than those of the world.
cab-1.) Today, we may not follow standards of diet as rigid as what the Jewish people would have, but our diets today would be more in line with the diets of the Jewish people than with the diets of the Gentiles of the ancient world.
cab-2.) This was impressed on me a few years ago when was reading through some of the recipes online that were common in the 14 and 1,500’s. Things like Blood pudding calling for a pint of sheep blood, a pint of cream, and other ingredients cooked together.
