1 Timothy
4 – 6
Verse 4:1 opens with a warning we all need to heed:
But even so, the Spirit very
clearly tells us that in the last times some will abandon the true faith
because of their devotion to spirits sent to deceive and
sabotage, and mistakenly they will end up following the
doctrine of demons.
For some reason we think Satan will present evil to us and it
will be obvious. Think about it Hitler was able to get a nation to do some of
the most heinous acts in the name of Jesus. It will be difficult for those who
are weak in faith to distinguish between what is from Satan and not God. That
is the key to studying and reading scriptures, we need to know when we are
presented a false Jesus.
Think about how you’d answer for doing this. Would you say
“I was deceived; you can’t hold that against me”? Then God would reply “I gave
you a study guide to me, yet you obviously did not read it or you would have
known.” Yes we are accountable for deception as much as knowingly disregarding scripture,
the question is would deception cost us salvation?
Verse 5:1 is starting to mean something to me:
Respect an elderly man. Don’t speak
to him sharply; appeal to him as you would a father. Treat younger men as
brothers,
As I get older I often wonder why I would deserve respect of
anyone. I often get called out by my children for hypocrisy and wonder why I do
things yet say others. I can think of many younger who I agree with totally and
many older I think of as fools. I think Paul is saying respect your elders, not
necessarily follow them. Honestly, I think this gets abused so often that means
we must accept what is said without question.
This got abused in the 60’s with the “don’t trust anyone
over 30” mantra.
Verse 6:5 warns us about works:
and these people constantly bicker
because they are depraved in their minds and bereft of the truth. They think
somehow that godliness is the way to get ahead.
We cannot move ahead because of what we do, but at the same
time I often wonder if we fall behind because of what we don’t do. Think about
this a little, is it a greater sin to do evil not knowing or to know and still
do it? Some would say a sin is a sin of equal proportion, but some scripture
imply that sinning with knowledge is worse. In this instance is NOT actually
doing what is required worse that doing it for status? Both are wrong and both
I believe have consequences, just have no idea what they are. Go DO …