"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,"
1 Timothy 4:1 (NKJV)
If you were with a group of people, visiting a historic site or some other attraction, you might talk about what you were looking at, and that could be different things for different people. For example, if you were at the Rhine River, some people might talk about the river itself, while others talked about a castle or some other building on the river. If you were at a zoo, different people would likely talk about different animals. In each case, the river, the buildings, and the animals were all always there, but some people choose to focus on them, and some do not.
What we pay attention to does not just exist when we pay attention to it, but until we pay attention to it, it is not relevant to us. Paul told Timothy to pay attention to some things, but to not pay attention to others. There are many good and bad things around us, but we choose what to focus on. In 2 Peter 2:1, Peter said that just like there were false prophets among God's people in the past, there will be false teachers among God's people today. The wrong kind of teaching is out there, but we do not have to pay attention to it.
In 1 Timothy 4:1, we are told that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith. Why would people do this? We are told that this will happen because people paid attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. These seducing spirits and false doctrines were always there, the problem was that people paid attention to them instead of paying attention to God's Word. People get deceived and in trouble because they focus on and pay attention to the wrong things. What we pay attention to is important in so many ways; we need to pay attention to God's Word.
1 Timothy 4:1 (NKJV)
If you were with a group of people, visiting a historic site or some other attraction, you might talk about what you were looking at, and that could be different things for different people. For example, if you were at the Rhine River, some people might talk about the river itself, while others talked about a castle or some other building on the river. If you were at a zoo, different people would likely talk about different animals. In each case, the river, the buildings, and the animals were all always there, but some people choose to focus on them, and some do not.
What we pay attention to does not just exist when we pay attention to it, but until we pay attention to it, it is not relevant to us. Paul told Timothy to pay attention to some things, but to not pay attention to others. There are many good and bad things around us, but we choose what to focus on. In 2 Peter 2:1, Peter said that just like there were false prophets among God's people in the past, there will be false teachers among God's people today. The wrong kind of teaching is out there, but we do not have to pay attention to it.
In 1 Timothy 4:1, we are told that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith. Why would people do this? We are told that this will happen because people paid attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. These seducing spirits and false doctrines were always there, the problem was that people paid attention to them instead of paying attention to God's Word. People get deceived and in trouble because they focus on and pay attention to the wrong things. What we pay attention to is important in so many ways; we need to pay attention to God's Word.