“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (14) But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” 2 Timothy 3:13 - 14
God’s warnings must be heard, remembered, and steadfast held to our hearts. Christians, no matter how strong we are in the Lord and God’s word of Truth, we are still subject to falling. As Paul wrote “by the grace of God I am what I am” 1 Cor. 15:10 we are only as strong as God’s grace. We must pray for God’s grace everyday because it is only His grace that keeps us strong in the Lord. Paul spoke of his strength in the Lord and then ended verse 10 with these words, “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” It is God’s Holy Spirit that delivered us to the point of being a good servant and it is God’s grace that must keep us. God teaches us His word; He controls so much of our ability to be Godly in Christ all by the amount of grace given. Humility is our understanding our variability in this flesh and that the slightest amount of pride only destroys us. We must constantly be aware of the very fact that if God allows us to fall into heresy we will fall. You may wonder why would God allow such a thing, it is because we brought it upon our self. We ought not put ourselves in a fire if we do not want to be burned, and we should not partner with deceivers if we do not want to be deceived. God has warned us over and over not to be associated with unbeliever’s or deceivers, because we are variable to seduction. 2 Corinthians 6:14, 17 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” Deceivers are Satan’s servants on this earth and God said they are so powerful that they can deceive each other which is very clear in time we are in. We may ask, “why would God allow us to fall by their deception”? In all of history God has allowed His people to fall, why did Adam and Eve sin, God allowed it, and it is the same reason God allowed so many other servants to fall into sin. I knew a Pastor in my younger ministry, I do not remember his name nor will I say from where he lived. But I spent much time on the internet reading his work because he was a 5 point Sovereign Grace, Landmark pastor with a lot of great writings. Then I received a notice that he had fallen from the truth, he had been deceived, and was no longer believing what he spent so many years teaching. I found his email address and sent him an email asking why he no longer believed what he once wrote, he replied that he had met a preacher that used some scripture in Matthew (I do not remember the verse exactly) but this preacher totally changed his thinking. Many of men I talked to about him just wrote him off as not truly saved and therefore he fell. But it made me think how easily we can be deceived by deceivers. Imagine if he had never associated himself with that deceiver he may have never fallen. God warned us in 2 John 7-11 “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” Paul wrote in verse 14 of our text, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” Deceivers are very powerful, so much so that they can bring down some of the greatest men we know. If we disobey God who is to say that God will not allow us to fall to their deception. We are responsible for our actions in this life, and as Ministers, Pastors, and Teachers, we are responsible to lead and be examples and not put ourselves in variable positions to be deceived. The power of deceivers is as strong as God allows Satan to make them, and sometimes God allows to play in Satan’s dens of deception and even fall from the truth, and it is us that will answer in judgment. We all need to know our limits, and understand that we live, move, and have our being by God’s grace. Our strength in only in the grace of God, and we must pray as David did many of time in the Psalms “Lord keep me from sin” because only He can. Disobeying God will never go good for any of us, therefore, we need to “come out from among them, and be ye separate”. God help us!
