‘Timothy! Be warned about false believers and teachers!’ (1 Timothy 4:1-5)

Because the Apostle Paul cared about and loved the Church, he warned Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1-5, that days would be coming when people would turn away from the faith and that this would take place in the ‘last days’. One notable fall from faith has been Billy Graham’s former co-evangelist, Charles Templeton, who now denies that Jesus is the Christ. There are many factors that contribute to this, but the one that Paul speaks of in the text is the way in which people give time and attention to listening to false teaching. Not all who speak for God do so with accuracy or honesty. And just as Timothy was to guard his people against this, so also God’s people today need to be careful with what they hear and stay within the ‘safe paths’ of God’s Word. To wander off those paths is to court with spiritual danger.