Take Hold Of The Truth

Take Hold of the Truth (1 Tim. 1:3-7; 12-20) There is only 1 God/truth/way/hope for salvation (John 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Mark 12:32) We take hold of the truth by spending time in the Word daily (Acts 17:11; John 5:39; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; John 17:17) Becoming familiar with it (Counterfeit Bill Analogy: How does a bank teller learn to i.d. counterfeit bills? By becoming intricately familiar with real ones.) Meditate on it (Ps. 1:2; 63:6; 119:15-16, 23, 48, 78, 148; Josh. 1:8) The goal is love for God and others (Matt. 12:30-31; Mark 12:33; 1 Pe. 1:22; 1 John 4:20; Eph. 4:11-16 = the plan (Godly edifying 1 Tim. 4)) from a: Pure heart and a Good Conscience (1 Tim. 1:5) katharos {kath-ar-os'} Gk. = purified, cleansed (as by fire), unblended (singleminded = of integrity), kardia {kar-dee'-ah}Gk. = heart, soul, mind Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see (optanomai {op-tan'-omahee} = see, behold) God (Matt. 5:8; See also Ps. 24:3-5, enter a holy place, and 2 Tim. 2:22, be able to call upon God) God “blesses” us by maintaining an intimate relationship with us (Ps. 1:6) agathos {ag-ath-os'}Gk. = good, strong, upright, honorable, suneidesis {soon-i'day-sis}Gk. = conscience, prompting to do good As directed by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 9:1; 1 Cor. 2: 10-13; 1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Thess. 1:5) Jesus said to his disciples, "I will not leave you orphans; I will not leave you alone. If I go away I will send another Comforter to you and he will guide you into all the truth. He will take of the things of mine and show them unto you, and he will say to you the things that I have not been able to say," (John 14:16-18) Purged by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 9:14) We are sanctified by the truth (His Word) (John 8:32; 15:3; 17:17 & 19; Ps. 119:9) This is something only God can achieve for us (Ps. 51:10) as a result of our sincere faith in Him (1 Tim. 1:5; Acts 15:9; 1 John 3:3; Heb. 10:22)

Faith comes from hearing the Word (Rom. 10:17) The prerequisite for grasping the wisdom of God is not a certain level of intelligence, or education, or experience. The prerequisite is moral, not intellectual. It has as much to do with what you love as with what you think. Not education but sanctification is what makes one receptive to the wisdom we speak. Not natural ability but spiritual humility opens a person to the wisdom of God. Love + Truth = Freedom from Sin & Changed Lives Take hold of the truth by sharing it (Matt. 5:13-16; Rom. 10:14-15) We ought to be able to explain the truth Paul realized the necessity of presenting the Gospel clearly. He pled for the Colossian Christians to pray for him to be able to reveal the good news about Jesus as opportunities arose (Col. 4:4) We are called to contend for the truth (1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 4:1-5; Jer. 6:16; Phil. 1:27; 4:1; Acts 5:20; 1 Cor. 15:1; 16:13; Gal. 5:1; Eph. 6:13-14; Col. 4:12; 2 Thess. 2:15) “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. – Edmund Burke “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” - Abraham Lincoln John Stott in his commentary outlines three causes of this false teaching. The causes of error are three-fold.

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First, we are told that it is diabolical in it source. Those who introduce a contrived holiness are acting under the instigation of the Devil. Behind the false teachers is the activity of demonic forces. The Bible reveals that the Satan is not only as a tempter, enticing people into sin, but as a deceiver seducing people into error. This is why otherwise intelligent and educated people can swallow fantastic speculations of cults and the New Age movement. Secondly, there is a human cause. This demon inspired doctrines require human involvement to gain entry into the church. These false teachers do not even believe themselves what they are teaching! (1 Tim. 4:2). Third, the cause is a moral failure. The second portion of 1 Tim. 4:2 two says, “having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” The phrase in verse two translated “seared with a hot iron”, the Gk. Word (kausteriazo) from which we get the medical term cauterize. When skin, nerve or superficial tumor is cauterized, it is destroyed by burning and so rendered insensitive. A warning “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6-9)