1 Timothy 4:1-5: “Abandonment of the Truth”

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with Thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:1-5, NKJV).

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again the Son of God and put Him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6, NKJV).

I keep a watchful eye on news and stories found on Christian websites that dedicate themselves to exposing the wave of bad teaching and beliefs that are invading the church today, and address the apparent abandonment of biblical truth and standards by ministers and denominations that had once stood firmly on the authority of God’s Word and their respective reputations for biblical truth in the face of progressive thought and teaching that has ruined a lot of mainline denominations and their claims of Christian belief and practice.

I read about a lot of really bad theology popping up, along with stories of renowned “Christian” authors, speakers, and mega-church “pastors” announcing to the world that they have decided to walk away from their faith and abandon any claims about the person and work of Jesus Christ, opting instead for a mindset of either atheism or indifference towards faith in general, regarding any kind of supernaturalism as bogus and unreal. This disturbing trend of what the Scriptures refer to as “apostasy” is widespread in young people, who abandon the so-called “faith” they had in their church youth groups and embrace the rampant atheism and radicalism thrown on them by professors who do not have their best interests as a priority.

Here’s the hard truth according to the Scriptures, and that is if you claim to be a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, and then walk away from it in disbelief altogether, I’ve got news for you – you were never a Christian in the first place, no matter how smooth or sincere you claimed to be at the time, and you are in danger of heading to an eternal hell where no one will care about you.

You were a false convert and typical of the shallow soil of Jesus’ parables (Mark 4:1-9, 13-20; Matthew 13:18-23; Luke 8:11-15). I can tell your kind from a mile off from the experience I’ve faced as both a growing believer and minister. You first heard the gospel message and, on the surface, received it as truth and got all excited and emotional about “praying the sinner’s prayer” or some such statement. All went well until you got ridiculed or picked on about what you did, and trouble started brewing, which shook you. Some misguided soul probably gave you the spiel that once you have Jesus, everything will be a blessing and so wonderful. A bit of hassle by friends and others, and you decide that Jesus just isn’t worth it, so you walk away, disgruntled, disillusioned, and angry, swearing you’ll never do something that crazy again.

Or, putting the verses that Paul discusses here in the beginning of Chapter 4 into context, someone may have told you about Jesus, but there was more to the story than just His work. You were told that you had to dress a certain way, or not eat certain foods, or shun “worldly” passions and events in order to achieve a state of “perfection” and “holiness,” or be baptized a certain way, or a number of additions that are unbiblical and contrary to the simple gospel message (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9). This was too much for you, and you decided that it was all a bunch of garbage; and now you won’t have anything to do with God or faith at all.

Whoever threw this “extra credit Christianity” at you was operating in clear violation of Galatians 1:8-9, where Paul curses anyone who preaches a contrary gospel that does not emphasize the exclusivity of Christ alone for salvation. Put anything with the Lord Jesus as a part of salvation, and you have no gospel, pure and simple.

Let me throw another hardball at you that might hurt, but it’s something that needs to be addressed. Maybe you’ve abandoned God due to a personal tragedy, like the death of a child or loved one who was taken too soon, or a particular prayer you said that didn’t come to pass as you expected, and so you decided that God wasn’t there, or didn’t care. Deep down in your inner being, you want to believe in something of value and meaning. Life surely can’t consist of just what is here and now without real meaning and purpose. Don’t sneer, curse, or turn off this post. You know I’m right, and I can speak from personal experience, so I get it. I had to bury my newborn daughter in the cold grounds of central Louisiana thirty years ago, and it still hurts at times. Yes, I got mad at God for a while, and I withdrew from everyone, along with my wife – that is, for a time.

What good would it do me if I kept a constant attitude of anger and rage over an event of which I had no control? How would anger and rage affect my relationships? What good would it have done me to abandon holding on to the only One to whom I could bare my soul? I needed God more at that time.

I talked to Him, I yelled, and got a lot of emotional baggage off of me. Cathy and I later helped to start a support group for couples who had lost their baby at birth or other situations, and used that time not just to heal, but to restart a relationship with both Cathy and the LORD, which led me into twenty years of hospital ministry and its times of sorrow and joy. God used a tragedy to give me a means of presenting God to people who would not think of entering a church except for a wedding or funeral. Again, I get it. Been there.

Maybe you’re reading this and the situations I’ve presented don’t apply to you. You’ve just made up your mind that nothing exists outside of time, space, and matter, and that religion in general is a waste of time, effort, thought, and rationality. You’re not going to believe no matter what is presented or explained, or evidence that might just challenge you to consider another mode of thought. No, it’s all a bunch of garbage to you, and what’s more, anyone who talks about it is automatically put on your list of deplorable individuals, or buffoons, or hayseeds, or of someone lacking in intellect according to your understanding of the term. Frankly speaking, it’s not worth my time or effort to explain the gospel to you. You’d rather argue points or make objections, or shout down anyone who dares to challenge your stand.

The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:6 that we are not to cast the pearls of the Gospel before a bunch of pigs who are satisfied to wallow in their dung and mud for all practical purposes. With all due respect, my narrow-minded friend, you’re a pig, and I’ve got better things to do than to hang around you. All I can say is that you’d better be right concerning the life you’re living. There is no second chance after your last breath. I will leave you instead in the hands of God (Hebrews 10:31).

Now, I hope that I’ve awakened some of you who have gone through some rough spots or got shafted by a bunch of zealots who had a messed-up set of beliefs that threw you off the right path. With that settled for now, let me make some things clear:

You don’t have to dress a certain way to be a Christian.

You don’t have to be baptized to be a Christian. (Look at the repentant thief on the cross.)

You don’t have to speak in unknown “tongues.”

You don’t have to abstain from certain foods unless you wish.

You don’t have to go without cosmetics or grooming supplies in order to look righteous.

You don’t have to read just one version alone of the Bible. (I use the NKJV.)

You don’t have to quit listening to good “pop” songs or other types of music unless they’re plain vulgar and make fun of God. Use the common sense He gave you to figure it out.

You need to attend a church where the Bible is taught as the inerrant, all sufficient, all powerful word of God, where Jesus Christ is taught and proclaimed as both God and man, that God is Three in One (the Trinity), and where sound doctrine and Scripture is preached from the pulpit, along with a group of believers who will help you to grow and mature in the faith.

Avoid churches that emphasize tongues, “revelations,” “new moves of the Spirit,” and an emphasis on emotions and experiences instead of the Bible. Avoid most “Christian” TV. Do not listen to preachers who emphasize wealth and health or tend to avoid the topics of sin, salvation, sacrifice, or total surrender to Christ in their sermons.

Salvation is the free gift of God and cannot be lost (John 4:10; Romans 5:15, 6:23, 8:12; John 10:28-30, 5:24; Romans 8:1, 34). God, in His graciousness, never takes away what He has given us freely. A person who is truly redeemed by Jesus Christ is secure in that fact.

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). We are not meant to worry or fret over what we do or don’t do. If we are in Christ and obedient to His will, the Holy Spirit will either convict us or impress upon us what is to be done in terms of the Christian life. The key is to be sensitive to the leading of the LORD (Proverbs 3:5; John 16:5-15). Don’t let anyone do your thinking for you. God will give you the wisdom to know what to do (Romans 12:3; Philippians 4:8; Proverbs 12:5; Psalm 19:14, 119:59; James 1:5).

We’re not going to be truly righteous until the Lord Jesus comes back to establish His eternal kingdom. We will have new incorruptible bodies and minds and hearts free of sin for all time. We need to look at what awaits us in the glory of the new heaven and earth, and not get bogged down with petty, trivial, and irrelevant things that bring about arguments and disunity among us who make up the family of God.

We are living in the days discussed in the book of Revelation, and the issue really is whether you are truly right with God through Jesus Christ, or are bound by a bunch of religious rules and traditions that are of no real value. Please settle that issue today.

drwhitchard@aol.com

www.donaldwhitchard.com

What is going on in China? The outbreak of the Coronavirus in Wuhan has gone global. As tens of millions of Chinese traveled across the world in celebration of their new year, they were and still are, spreading this virus.

There are thousands of Chinese citizens who have already left the province of Wuhan and traveled abroad. They have traveled for weeks now. A Chinese student from Texas A&M has been confirmed to have the virus. Those he was in contact with have also been tested or quarantined. A Chinese woman in Chicago has been confirmed as well. There are cases in Britain, Scotland, South Korea, Australia, Japan, America, and the list is continuing to grow. The cases in the U.S. include Arizona, Illinois, California, Seattle and Texas.

In India there are 100 people under observation; this is according to India Today. The population in India is overwhelming. Russia has reported several suspected cases in Moscow, and Canadian health officials have confirmed their first case.

Chinese citizens have been posting videos on “Weibo,” which is their version of Facebook, of men and women dropping dead in the streets and hospitals. One video showed hundreds of people crammed into a hospital. Still more shocking footage showed what appears to be dead bodies lying on the floors of hospitals, simply covered up with a sheet.

Did this virus really come from an exotic animal that many Chinese people seem to enjoy, or was it man- made?

The epicenter of this outbreak began in Wuhan, which houses China’s one and only biochemical facility where they study the world’s most dangerous diseases and pathogens. To me, it seems more likely that they were studying diseases similar to SARS, and the virus became airborne in the facility. Or worse yet, it was purposely released.

Why would the Chinese government release a deadly disease on its citizens? What better way to practice closing off millions upon millions of people? Martial Law. In China, it’s always about control.

If this virus turns into an epidemic such as the 1918 Spanish flu, the death toll will be astronomical, and people will be begging for help. Those of us in the West have been relatively protected from the plights of the rest of the world.

It’s been one hundred years since a virus became an epidemic like the Spanish flu. This generation doesn’t know what it’s like to truly feel sorrow, misery or even hunger. Our every need is taken care of; and if it’s not, we turn to Big Brother. The government. Who do you think people in Europe and the Americas will begin to turn to if a pandemic truly hit their shores? The government, of course.

It’s very possible that China weaponized this virus, and it “just happened to escape the lab.”

Chinese migration for their New Year is the largest human event on earth with tens of millions of Chinese citizens traveling around the world, and especially to China. China is a BIG place with lots of people. So the new year is the one time of year that Chinese citizens go to see family that they haven’t seen all year. This means crowded planes, trains, stores, theaters and even homes. China has quarantined over fifty million people, but it doesn’t matter. It’s too late. They have been traveling for weeks.

In 1918, the Spanish flu killed over fifty million people across the world and infected 500 million. Of that 500 million, nearly one million were Americans.

People that became ill with this strain of the flu sometimes died within only hours of first getting sick; many were dead within days of developing symptoms. It produced fast-acting, pneumonic symptoms and their skin turned blue. Shockingly, in 1918, the American life expectancy dropped by twelve years. That was only ONE year.

Our generation today has never witnessed tragedy nor a widespread illness. We haven’t experienced massive earthquakes or tragedy as other nations have. The West has been relatively protected because of our Christian Faith, but the faith of the West has dwindled, and the enemy has walked through the front door.

As the United Kingdom began moving away from God and became a secular nation, their downfall began. America is no different, and we are catching up to our brother nation rapidly. Churches are closing, preachers are being arrested, and abortion is being promoted.

In Britain, the number of people who consider themselves Christian has dropped dramatically. The parents of the prior generation may have attended church, but they did not instill their faith in their children. Where Britain was once a Christian nation and fought under the banner of the cross, that is no more.

From faithsurvey.co.uk: “Christianity in the UK”

“UK Church membership has declined from 10.6 million in 1930 to 5.5 Million in 2010, or as a percentage of the population; from about 30% to 11.2%.

By 2013, this had declined further to 5.4 million (10.3%).

If current trends continue, membership will fall to 8.4% of the population by 2025. In England, membership is forecast to decline to 2.53 million (4.3% of the population) by 2025.” – source

In the United States, it’s not much better. The Churches are closing and the “Joel Osteens” are taking over. America is a feel-good country; we want luxury and comfort, and we demand it. In other parts of the world, there are children starving, with mothers who can’t feed them. These mothers in nations like Nigeria and Somalia face rape and torture on many levels. Their sons are ripped from them and forced to fight at young ages. Have American mothers ever faced such a horrifying existence? No.

As America begins to fall and our Republic destroyed, could a devastating disease be arriving on our shores? Are Americans ready for such tragedy?

We watch on the news as China’s communist state-run media downplays the virus, but videos are emerging of people dropping dead in the streets. There are videos of people covered in white sheets lying on crowded hospital floors. Some say there are 100,000 sick, not 1,500.

It was also recently reported that a city in Wuhan hosted a festival where over 100,000 people shared in a massive community meal. This festival to celebrate the new year was held just 7 kilometers from the center of the outbreak, and this after there were already over fifty confirmed cases. Not only were tens of thousands of people packed in together, but they ate from the same dishes, and this is literally where the virus started.

It took international cases of this virus infecting citizens abroad before China did anything. They were aware something wasn’t right in December, yet did nothing. Why?

China has been waging chemical warfare on U.S. citizens for over a decade. It started with heroin and fentanyl. In 2017, there were over 70,000 U.S. citizens that died of overdoses. These dangerous drugs have been pouring into our southern border, and it’s all originating in China. Why have we allowed tens of thousands of our citizens to die due to drugs? What did Obama do for 8 years? The U.S. has known that the vast majority of drugs found on our border originated in China.

As this outbreak continues to spread, Chinese communist state media is telling the Chinese citizens to still enjoy a peaceful festival together, even though thousands of stores, theaters and restaurants have closed. Really? This is a fast-moving virus; maybe let’s not pack a bunch of people together in one room.

The transmission rate is high. A scientist I ran across on YouTube who studies biochemistry and dangerous pathogens said if it truly comes to America and spreads in the same manner that the Spanish flu did, then we are looking at 16 million Americans who will become critically ill and 2-3 million who will die.

Is America ready for this kind of devastation? We have faced nothing like what our grandparents faced. Our bellies are full, homes nice and warm, debit card securely put away and new cars in the garage. “We sit as a queen and feel no sorrow.”

Remember, the Chinese people were traveling well before China issued any sort of warning or alerted the people to a problem. They traveled all over Asia and the rest of the world to celebrate with family. Infecting one another as they went along.

Can we stop this deadly outbreak, or is it too late? What better way to control massive amounts of people than to instill fear in them? If those of us in the West started seeing our loved ones die of this disease, we would demand the government do something. Anything. In my last article, I talked about China’s rise and threat to the rest of the world. Communist China would rather cut off thousands of citizens and let them die in order to keep their role as the emerging leader of the world.

Is that what is coming with coronavirus? Another attempt at world domination through fear?

This was reported on Infowars earlier this morning. The numbers coming in, if true, are terrifying.

“According to this news, which is widely circulating in the Taiwan press and is based on a study published in The Lancet, the Wuhan coronavirus fatality rate has leaped to 15%, and the infection rate among those exposed is 83%.

These numbers are virtually unheard of in the world of microbiology and infectious disease transmission. It means that 15 out of every 100 infected people will die. It also means that 83 out of 100 exposed people will become infected and able to transmit the disease to others.” – source

When Europeans were dying of the Bubonic plague, Jews were accused of witchcraft and of cursing their neighbors because so many Jews didn’t become sick. Why? They followed God’s instruction and law. They washed their hands and stopped the spread of the disease within their own community and homes.

Someone is always the scapegoat, the fall guy. Who will it be in America? Trump supporters? Christians? Maybe both. The hatred for both is continuing to grow.

For decades, those on the right have been labeled “crazy conspiracy theorists” for even suggesting that Democrats were after our Second Amendment rights. How crazy do you feel now? A decade ago, Democrats did everything they could to hide their commie-loving feelings. Not anymore. And again, we were called crazy conspiracy theorists for suggesting such a thing.

This virus may fizzle out, but what if it doesn’t? What if it continues to spread and grow? What if two million Americans die or two million Brits? The world will be forever changed. There’s change coming; whether or not this virus brings about that change, I don’t know. We were warned of pestilence, we were warned of earthquakes and wars, we are hearing of new earthquakes daily, and the world is gearing up for war all over the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China is facing a “grave situation.” China has no choice but to acknowledge the seriousness of this disease. The United States and Russia have both started an evacuation plan to get their citizens out of Wuhan. Does this sound like a normal situation?

There are multiple videos uploaded of people collapsing and doctors treating numerous patients who have collapsed.

https://www.infowars.com/46-million-quarantined-in-china-as-evidence-mounts-communist-govt-covering-up-true-death-toll-scale-of-pandemic/

I don’t know what will become of this virus, but we need to pray for all of those infected. Most of all, we need to pray for God’s mercy and strength.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13).

Vanessa

Womanofchrist@yahoo.com