False Teachers

4) Truth-Resisters

As we continue studying the characteristics of false teachers, we will now study people who are truth – resisters. One of the best explanations in the Word of God pertaining to this subject is in second Timothy 3: 8. Obviously, the title is self-explanatory. We are not going to just study verse eight, we are going to study a number of succeeding versus in this same chapter. By the way you are to know that II Timothy contains Paul’s last words.

Now how many times have you shared the Word with people and they do anything they can to resist you? The following Scriptures will explain a lot about this to you and it will tell you that you will suffer a lot of persecution. Let’s go to the Word and let it speak.

But before that, I just noticed in my Bible a Scripture that you all should be familiar with and this is verse 7 of II Timothy, chapter 3. Let us begin our teaching at this point.

Ever learning, and never able to come to the [accurate] knowledge of the truth. – II Timothy 3: 7

I have always found this to be a most interesting verse of Scripture and I want to start the teaching out with this Scripture. The point I would like to stress is that people will resist the truth of the Word of God but always seem to be learning, but they never get an accurate knowledge of the truth. There are many people in the science field that do not believe there is a God. I honestly don’t see how that is possible. These people will work all of their lives and at the end of their lives, many of them will realize that they were wrong. This is how the god of this world works. So this is one of the characteristics of truth – resisters because they were taught by false teachers. They are learning and learning and learning and never able to come to know an accurate knowledge of the truth - which is God’s Word. It’s really a shame, isn’t it? They live by the five senses and do not understand spiritual matters. I will say one more thing about this. The spiritual plane is higher than the five senses. It is greater and more powerful and extremely more intelligent.

Now as Jan-nes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. -- II Timothy 3: 8

The word ‘withstood’ obviously means ‘to stand against’. The two people that are mentioned opposed and resisted the truth that Moses spoke concerning God and the things of God. Moses received great revelation from God Almighty. Some people did not believe what Moses said and sure enough they caused problems for Moses at that time in the Old Testament. But that never stopped Moses from believing God and doing His Will. Jan-nes and Jambres were truth – resisters. Then Paul goes on to explain the characteristics of these people. He says their minds are corrupt. He says that these are reprobate men, concerning the faith. This word ‘reprobate’ could use some explaining. The lexicon defines this word in this particular verse as ‘unapproved, unworthy’. Notice that your center reference also explains this word as being ‘of no judgment’. They were very poor as far as judgment is concerned. Why? Because they were truth resisters. They lived by their five senses and that’s all that they cared about. There is an old saying that I would like to share with you here. It has been said that every man is right in his own mind. You cannot tell a person that they are wrong – they will not believe you. That is why only the Word of God will change a person. That is what changed me from a total loser to a winner in almost every aspect of my life. You see, I don’t claim to be perfect and I need to improve myself in some areas of the Word of God. The renewed mind is a continuous process and it is very difficult at times to change your thinking from the wrong way to the right way. Then you have to change your actions to line up with the Word of God. But as I always said, it just gets better and better. So stand on the Word of God and never budge. Put your feet in cement and let it dry.

I want to mention that there are a number of Scriptures after II Timothy 3: 8 that teaches us quite a bit and expounds on II Timothy 3: 8. Let us see the end result of these false teachers who have created truth – resisters. Those resisters have suffered as a result of learning the wrongly divided Word of God. And the source of their learning, again, are false teachers.

But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. -- II Timothy 3: 9

Paul is saying that these guys aren’t going anywhere. And to make matters worse, they are without understanding and they make no sense. That is the definition of the word ‘folly’. That shameful way of living shall be made clear to men that they come in contact with, as their folly also was. Now it just blows my mind to think about the contrast in living there is between a believer who walks with God and acts the way God wants him to act. Then there is the person who walks only by their five senses and makes a fool out of themselves everywhere they go. They simply do not make any sense. Remember, Paul writes this by Revelation from God Almighty. These are God’s Words and thoughts.

But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, -- II Timothy 3: 10

You should be able to recognize that Paul is using various figures of speech when he teaches. Comparison and contrast is one of those figures. He is telling people that you have known my doctrine and it makes sense to you. You see my manner of life and how I keep God first in my life at all times. You see the purpose as to why I am alive and that is to move the Word of God to as many believers as possible. He says that you see my faith, which is believing. You have seen me endure and have forbearance toward others. You have seen my charity which is the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation. Finally Paul says, you have also seen my patience (which is very similar to long-suffering). What I like about teaching you this part four of false teachers is that this section in Timothy spells out the characteristics of people who have listened to and applied what false teachers have taught them. Let’s now take a look at the fact that many of us go through many tribulations and yet we get delivered from them just like the apostle Paul when we stand on God’s Word and do not faint in our minds.

Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecution I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. – II Timothy 3: 11

I need to show you more of the results of listening to a false teacher. Paul went through more persecution and affliction that you can ever imagine. And what does he say about it? He says that out of all of them, God delivered him. And you should know by now that the world will hate you if you stand on God’s Word. You will get some tribulation which is mental pressure. Some people may even ridicule you because you study God’s Word. But out of all these things, God will absolutely deliver you and protect you and make sure you are blessed all of the time. When people who are miserable meet up with a person who is very happy and peaceful, many times they become filled with envy and jealousy. Those attributes are from the god of this world so it should not bother you in the least bit. It takes a renewed mind to get to this point. So the more you study the more you will become invulnerable to the attacks of the enemy and the stronger you will become regarding spiritual matters. God tells us that we will suffer persecution.

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. – II Timothy 3: 12

You may suffer some persecution, but after a while you will just laugh to yourself. You know the truth and others live by error. Let’s see what happens to those people.

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. – II Timothy 3: 13

Evil people and seducers shall become worse and worse over time. They are deceiving others and they are also being deceived. Where do they get their power from? They get it from the god of this world who is Satan (see II Corinthians 4: 4). You have heard, I am sure, that the enemy will transform himself into an angel of light. This is how he deceives so many people. When I witnessed face-to-face, many people wanted to argue with me about what the Word of God actually said. They were deceived somewhere in their lives by false teachers who eventually turned them into truth – resisters. When I would place the Word of God in front of them, they were simply blinded to the truth. They could not hear and they could not see. But every man has free will and he can change his heart if he so pleases. Remember, the truth resisters get worse and worse in their lifetime.

I am going to tell you a little story that I have mentioned before. I am not happy that this happened to someone who was my best friend. Both of us were approached by believers and invited to a branch meeting. I was very excited about this because I was searching for many long years for some reason to live. It surprised me, but my friend did not want to go to this branch meeting. He thought that he can learn the Bible by himself. Well we should never try to reinvent the wheel. These people that I met were well versed in the Scriptures. My friend was nothing but a truth – resister. He did not go to that branch meeting with me. In fact he practically never got involved in what I found most interesting and greatly rewarding. My whole life began to change for the better. My friend married a girl who was quite deceptive. I must tell you this so that the story sinks in. She was sitting across from me and my friend had his arms around her with his eyes closed. She was just staring at me in a provocative manner. I did what I thought was the right thing and when I got the right chance I told him about her. I tried to warn him that she was going to be a problem. He did not listen. He eventually married this girl who divorced him and took half of everything that he owned which was part of a trucking company. She also took the child that they had and somehow got full custody of that child. My friend was quite broken up and he lived his life alone working as a dispatcher in someone else’s trucking company. I spoke to him once and I could tell that he hated his job and he hated his life. We made arrangements to get together by meeting each other halfway since we lived about 2.5 hours away from each other. He was supposed to call me back to finalize our plan and he never did. I never heard from him again. It’s a sad story and I feel really bad for this guy. He was a good friend of mine and very popular with most people, especially the girls. This friend of mine had a bad habit of cheating on his girlfriend. I do suspect that his wife found this out and that’s why she left him. There’s just nowhere to go when you don’t know the Word of God. This friend actually used to make fun of me because I was studying the Bible extensively. Well, you should know one of God’s great principles. What you give out always comes back to you. I can only say that my friend got what he had coming to him. I am not happy that this happened. I only wish he went to that branch meeting with me because his whole life would’ve been different. But again, every man and every woman has their own free will and God will never overstep that free will. God wants us to love him and to do His Will freely and willingly – not being forced to or being under some control. I do this Bible Study site because I love God freely and willingly. I give you these teachings for free because I love you and I want to help you. Getting back to our study:

The word ‘but’ means to set in contrast that which is said before. This word begins verse 14 and it obviously sets in contrast that which is said in verse 13.

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; -- II Timothy 3: 14

Paul is saying to continue in the things that you have learned from the rightly divided Word of God. The Word of God will assure you that you will be blessed because you know that the people who taught you this Word are coming from the right place. Understand that I am trying to take the Old English in which the King James is written and put it into easy to understand language. The believers who are truth – resisters will not be assured of anything in their lives because they chose, by their own free will, to listen to and adhere to and obey false teachers. There are only two roads to take in this world. We believe and walk by the Word of God or we believe to walk and live by the word of man. It’s really that simple. Make the right choice. The fortunate ones who believe the truth, especially from childhood reap great benefits for all of their life. Let’s let God’s words speak.

And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. – II Timothy 3: 15

So what is going to make you wise concerning wholeness in your life? The holy Scriptures will make you wise through faith, which is the Greek word ‘pistis’ and means ‘to believe’. That’s all that we have to do is to believe God’s Word and then act upon it. We will become wise in many ways because of the believing which is in Christ Jesus. We believe by our own free will. God never forces anyone to do anything and He never oversteps your free will. God wants unconditional love from us and in turn, we should love others as best as we can. I know that it is hard to love the unlovable. All we can do is to do our best and as I said many times, God will do the rest. I cannot stop here in chapter 3, but I must go over the last two Scriptures in this magnificent chapter. These two Scriptures were stressed greatly in a biblical class that I have taken.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [which is] instruction in righteousness.

That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. -- II Timothy 3: 16, 17

All of the Scriptures come from God Almighty and look what it is profitable for. For doctrine, which is right believing, for reproof and for correction which is instruction in righteousness. Righteousness is right living. Believe it or not, we are as righteous as God Almighty. That’s how much God loves us. And what is the purpose of all this? It’s a mind blower. The purpose is that we, men and women of God, may achieve perfection in this life, through and through and throughly furnished unto all good works. In other words, we lack absolutely nothing and we have the ability to become perfect in this life. That’s the Word of God and it’s the most dynamic and only truth in the world today.

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*********** Keep following these teachings. We will get into part five in the near future learning

and exposing more characteristics of false teachers. Bless you. You’re God’s best.