Seasons of False Teaching

115 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ” The use of the word “times” here in the phrase “latter times,” is significant because it speaks of “seasons” or periods of time (rather than a single era of history) when people will depart from the faith as they give ear and credence to false teachings. One only has to look at church history to see the ebb and flow, the rise and fall of this phenomena. It's like the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. It was hot and heavy for a period of time (40 days) and then the devil backed off for a while. Lu 4:13 says, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” These “latter times” are marked by a rise in people falling away from the faith because they give heed (hold their minds toward) the false teachings of deceiving messengers. These “false teachers, (deceiving spirits) are not outsiders. They rise up in the church and if possible deceive even the elect! The Apostle John wrote about these deceiving spirits, calling them “antichrists” who had appeared already in his day, and would continue to appear in the last hour, in which he and we now live! He said in 1Jo 2:18,19 “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. These little false teachers are only prepping us for the big show, the final apostasy that comes before the end. This is scary stuff! How do ordinary Joes, like you and I guard against falling for these deceptions? Two things. First of all, Jesus withstood the deceptive temptations of the devil by using the Word of God. “It is written!” He said, and secondly, John reminds us to continue with him and the other apostles, “if they had been with us, (he said) they would have continued with us.” In other words, stick with the basic teachings of the Apostles! My friend deceptive teachings are here. They rise and fall like the tides. Fight them with the Word of God and if you need to, circle back and continue with John and the other Apostles as you cling to their apostolic teachings!