The Apostle Paul urgently warned his young protégé

in the first Timothy of the extensive damage false teachers can do within a church.

How do you recognize those wolves in sheep's clothing, and what should our response be to false teaching?

We'll hear the answers today on Truth for Life as Alastair Begg continues our study in 1st Timothy.

Back in 1st Timothy 4, the falling away is a falling away from faith, and it is a falling away from the faith.

The Spirit of God not only tells us what is going to happen, but also tells us when it will happen.

It will happen in later times.

This is a similar phrase to what you find in 2 Timothy 3.1, where Paul says there will be terrible times in the last days.

When Paul uses this phrase both here in 1st Timothy 4 and then again in 2 Timothy 3, he is referring to the time inaugurated by the arrival of Jesus,

which will be consummated by the return of Jesus. Hence Hebrews 1.1.

God has spoken in the past in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to his by his son.

In these last days, the writer of the Hebrews in the first century says, in these last days, that was 2000 years ago for goodness sake.

All I know is that these times, and Peter understood it when the folks came and said, look, everybody is drunk and that place has gone hog wild in Jerusalem.

We don't know what is going on. Peter stands up and says, no, no, no, these guys are not drunk. This is what the prophet Joel said in the last days.

I will pour out my spirit upon all people. When was that? For century Jerusalem.

What is going to happen? People will fall away. When will it happen? It will happen in later times.

It was clearly relevant to the people in Paul's day, in Timothy's day, if it wasn't, then why would he give them the specific instructions concerning verses 3, 4, and 5?

Why would he tell them in verse 6 that you will be a good pastor if you tell people about these things? Because it was pressingly relevant.

Because there's never a season when men and women do not face the temptation to turn away from the living God and turn to myths and genealogies.

If you're still with me, what we said was that there is an authority by which he speaks, that there is a clarity with which he speaks.

He speaks to the what issue, the falling away apostasy. He speaks to the when issue by addressing the matter in later times.

And he speaks to the how issue, still in verse 1, by pointing out that the ultimate cause of this abandonment is that people follow deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons.

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