1 Timothy 4:1-2 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.”

The Holy Spirit

Who is this Spirit? He is the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of our triune God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. And when Jesus lived on the earth he promised his followers that after his departure that he would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them, to be God living within them, reminding them of all things taught by Jesus, counseling, guiding, directing, exhorting, and encouraging them in their walks of faith in obedience to the Lord. All who are of biblical faith in Christ have the Spirit of God living within them.

Later Times

And what are the “later times”? From what I understand, the later times began with the birth of Jesus Christ, and so we are now living in those later times. And personally I believe we are nearing the end of those later times. So many things prophesied in the Scriptures regarding these last days are increasing in severity and are being revealed before our eyes. And one of the most notable, I believe, is this abandoning the faith in Christ to follow after deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by hypocritical liars.

Times Past and Present

Just as a point of reference, and I know I have mentioned this multiple times, but I was born on the last day of 1949, so I am 76 years old. And when I was growing up, in the gathering of the church I was brought into as an infant, they taught death to sin and obedience to God as part of what it means to be a Christian. They taught holy living, moral purity, uprightness, godliness, honesty, and faithfulness as necessary components of the Christian life and practice. And sin was to be done away with in our lives.

And that remained true most of the time I lived on the earth, at least in the church gatherings I attended. And I may have been late in realizing this, but all of a sudden things began to shift right around 1999, that I could see. And there became a strong focus on entertaining the crowd, and doing what they could do to “draw in large crowds of people from the world.” And so they began slowly and carefully dismantling the gospel taught us in the Scriptures to make it less offensive and more appealing to the ungodly of the world.

Sin Made Acceptable

Sin was now becoming acceptable, and the gospel was being reduced to a mere profession of faith in Christ with no repentance (turning from sin) and no obedience to God required, even if sometimes recommended, and other times dismissed entirely. And we were being encouraged to “stay in your own lane” and to not present people with the truth of the gospel, for it might offend them, and thus they would not want to attend these gatherings of “the church” which were/are a creation of human flesh, and not of God.

And all sinners were being invited into the gatherings of the church, and their sins were not being cast out, but embraced. And please understand what I am saying here. The church is not these buildings and institutions of human origin being marketed to the world. The church is the body of Christ, the people of God, and our gatherings are to be for mutual encouragement and strengthening in our walks of obedience to the Lord. They are not to entertain the world and to coddle people in their sins and to encourage sin.

Love is Speaking Truth

And this is not to say that if a non-believer should come into one of our fellowships that we should cast them out. No! We should love them. But in no way should we embrace their sin, which is what so many people are doing today under the guise of being loving and kind. No! It is not loving nor is it kind to embrace people in their sin. Our job is to share with them the truth of the gospel and how Jesus died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we will, by faith in him, walk in obedience to his commands.

And our job is to go out into the world and to preach the gospel to the people of all nations, teaching them to OBEY God’s commands, not to coddle them in their sins, and definitely not to approve of their sins. So many people are afraid to confront anyone in their sins for fear of losing them as possible bodies to fill up their chairs or pews in their buildings and to grow their numbers in their gatherings. Love all people? YES! But love is not lying to them. Love is not accepting their sin. Love teaches them the truth.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

In Harmony

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Love each other truly. Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil. Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor. Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction; Praying faithfully.
Honor one another. Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people who are found in need.
Do not be conceited. Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion in humility.
Keep your tongue from evil. Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another. Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous; listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil – is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear. Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord. Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another. Live in harmony.

Influenced by Hypocritical Liars
An Original Work / July 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love