Beware of Evil Men
Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:3Devotional Series: Conflict with the Whore
Teaching: Conflict With The Whore pt. 5 (SUN_AM 2021-02-14) by Pastor Star R Scott
It’s by our fruits that we’re known. So, we can spout all the proper doctrine we want, we can show a form of godliness, we can keep all of the rules, but do you know the power of God, personally, over sin in your life? Sin shall no longer have dominion over us. The true church is a church that walks free from sin’s power. I’m not saying that sins will not manifest in our lives. I’m saying that it is not prominent, it is not dominant, praise God! It’s something that we are no longer familiar with. We don’t love it; it’s not part of us. We hate what we used to love, the Scripture says. The false prophets will let us know that that’s not even really an issue. You want to know why? Because from before the foundations of the world, you were the elect of God, and He chose you, and you are eternally secure. And no matter what you do, you’ll never know judgment or wrath because God has sovereignly predestined you to eternal life. That sounds like a good gig (if you’re one of the elect). The most dangerous threat to this generation is going to come from Reformed Theology. You can’t pick up a nineteenth-century commentator and not see Romanism accused of being the whore. Everybody knew that Rome, the Roman Catholic church, was the whore. Let me tell you something: this has gone way beyond the Roman Catholic church. And the expression—the Bible calls them doctrines of devils, lying spirits—the core message is always the same; creature worship in one form or another.
So here we are in this hour; we’re coming into this day, God turning men over to reprobate minds. The Scriptures speak clearly, in 2 Timothy 4:3, that sound doctrine will no longer be endured. We’ve referred to the naiveness of the church. We see some of these commentators, some of these authors, some of the pastors and teachers of virtually every generation—but we’re talking about ours—who would not endure sound doctrine. We’ve got to be very careful that we don’t see these as well-meaning people who have made a mistake. If I read Romans 1 correctly, many of these are people who have been turned over to reprobate minds. These are people that the Scripture says will come into our midst for the sole purpose of making merchandise out of us, using us for their gain. Evil men, seducers—powerful phrases that are used. They’re a people that can be here for years, but they’re just lying in wait to deceive. The Scripture makes it very clear and identifies them as wolves in sheep’s clothing. This deceit that goes on, lying in wait to deceive, this self-promotion of false teachers and false prophets, wanting to come into positions of prominence, of power; money becomes a part of it depending on how successful these endeavors become. Some were preaching the gospel for their belly’s sake, the Scripture said. Evil men, seducers, waxing worse and worse, is this generation we’re in. How can it be worse now than it was in the first century? Well, one thing we do know is this: that in the last days, iniquity shall abound; the love of many will wax cold; amen? This spirit’s going to be more prominent and, I believe, more effective than it’s ever been. Why? We’ve come into a generation that if ever there’s been a generation that worships knowledge, we’re that generation.
So here we are in this hour; we’re coming into this day, God turning men over to reprobate minds. The Scriptures speak clearly, in 2 Timothy 4:3, that sound doctrine will no longer be endured. We’ve referred to the naiveness of the church. We see some of these commentators, some of these authors, some of the pastors and teachers of virtually every generation—but we’re talking about ours—who would not endure sound doctrine. We’ve got to be very careful that we don’t see these as well-meaning people who have made a mistake. If I read Romans 1 correctly, many of these are people who have been turned over to reprobate minds. These are people that the Scripture says will come into our midst for the sole purpose of making merchandise out of us, using us for their gain. Evil men, seducers—powerful phrases that are used. They’re a people that can be here for years, but they’re just lying in wait to deceive. The Scripture makes it very clear and identifies them as wolves in sheep’s clothing. This deceit that goes on, lying in wait to deceive, this self-promotion of false teachers and false prophets, wanting to come into positions of prominence, of power; money becomes a part of it depending on how successful these endeavors become. Some were preaching the gospel for their belly’s sake, the Scripture said. Evil men, seducers, waxing worse and worse, is this generation we’re in. How can it be worse now than it was in the first century? Well, one thing we do know is this: that in the last days, iniquity shall abound; the love of many will wax cold; amen? This spirit’s going to be more prominent and, I believe, more effective than it’s ever been. Why? We’ve come into a generation that if ever there’s been a generation that worships knowledge, we’re that generation.