Paul's Exhortations & Instructions to Brother Timothy 1st Letter Volume 35

Paul Informs Timothy of the Great Apostasy of the Visible Church Part 2

1 Timothy 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; KJV

As Paul continues his discourse to Brother Timothy concerning the Apostasy that will come and has already come to the visible Christian Church, he tells Timothy particular things that will be done by the devil (through his seducing spirits/demons using his human instruments, that is, two-legged devils) to spoil or rotten the Church of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ, (Note: "It is impossible for the devil to defeat or destroy Christ True Church (the invisible Body of Born Again Believers) as our Lord Jesus said Himself with these words," "And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, {Petros}--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, {petra}--a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it]." (Matthew 16:18) (Amplified Bible), but the visible Church the devil can and in many cases has ruined it, for just as one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel of good and ripe apples, so can lies introduced into the visible Church destroy the faith of many and infect the entire Body of believers if not removed, just as Paul did with two people as he has already declared to Timothy early on at the very beginning portion of this letter with these words, "Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting {and} thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan in order that they may be disciplined [by punishment and learn] not to blaspheme." (1 Timothy 1:19-20) (Amplified Bible).

With this as our background material and a reminder to us of what Paul has already proclaimed to Brother Timothy concerning such blasphemous people, we now find  Paul doing what he did much of in his 14 letters written in the New Testament, that is, to be repetative or to write concerning some of the same causes or issues over and over repeating what he had already written before to the same person or to the same Church because of the importance (to God first and to Paul as well)  of what was being declared, discussed, or determined, so he writes now here in verse 2 these words to Timothy, "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;" (1 Timothy 4:2) (KJV). The little English phrase 'Speaking lies' that begins this verse is translated by the Greek word pseudologos (used this one time only in the entire New Testament) meaning mendacious, that is, given to lying, intentionally untrue, promulgating/proclaiming erroneous Christian doctrine: - speaking lies. In other words, those who have abandoned, abdicated, or aborted 'the true faith' in Christ Jesus our Lord are those make believers who fell in love with 'the lie' and held on to it with an iron grip, just as Paul spoke again concerning such people who wanted 'the lie' over 'the truth' when he wrote these words to the Thessalonian Church, "For the mystery of lawlessness (that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority) is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained only until he who restrains is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming. The coming [of the lawless one, the antichrist] is through the activity {and} working of Satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of [pretended] miracles and signs {and} delusive marvels--[all of them] lying wonders--And by unlimited seduction to evil {and} with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth {but} refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error {and} a strong delusion to make them believe what is false, In order that all may be judged {and} condemned who did not believe in [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely on] the Truth, but [instead] took pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12) (Amplified Bible).

The 'misleading influence' and 'working of error' Paul writes here to the Thessalonian Church is that same exact idea or concept that he is writing here now to Brother Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1 when he writes 'seducing spirits' and 'doctrines of devils', for it is all the work of the enemy working within the visible Church in order to see men and women believe his lies and be condemned or damned to eternal destruction in hell/the lake of fire, even while they claim to, call themselves, and carry on in many visible Churches as Christians, for let us not forget that it was these slicing/cutting words of complete truth that came directly from the mouth of our Lord Jesus while He was still on the earth when He spoke these words concerning these people who have fallen prey to the seducing spirits and doctrine of devils, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands]." (Matthew 7:21-23) (Amplified Bible). The English word 'hypocrisy' is translated by the Greek word hupokrisis meaning to decide (speak or act) under a false part, that is, (figuratively) dissemble, that is,  make believe with the intent to deceive and hide under a false appearance (pretend): - feign. In other words, a person who hides their true nature and intentions toward you and/or others in order to deceive you into thinking they have your best interest at heart, but all the time their true intention is to take something from you (i.e. money or things) or to get their own sexual gratification from you by seduction or by blackmail or even violence if the other methods don't work. The hiding under a false appearance is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ warned us to be wary of when He said this in the same Matthew Chapter 7 discourse, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves. You will fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit [worthy of admiration], but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit." (Matthew 7:15-17) (Amplified Bible). Here is what Dr. John Gill wrote concerning Paul's discourse here of 'speaking lies in hypocrisy', "Or 'through the hypocrisy of those that speak lies'; for the Apostle is still speaking of the means by which the apostasy should rise, and get ground; and it should be by the means of persons that should deliver lying or false doctrine under the color of truth, and make great pretensions to religion and holiness, which would greatly take with men, and captivate and lead them aside: and this plainly points at the abettors of antichrist, the Romish priests, who deliver out the lying doctrines of merit, purgatory, invocation of saints, fastings, pilgrimages, etc. and the fabulous legends of saints, and the lying wonders and miracles done by them, and all under a show of godliness, and the promoting of religion and holiness:"

Lastly, when Paul writes here, 'having their conscience seared with a hot iron', he is declaring the deadness of these people's inner man or inner woman. The English word 'conscience' is translated by the Greek word suneidēsis which means co-perception, that is, moral consciousness: - conscience. The little English phrase 'seared with a hot iron' is translated by the Greek word kautēriazō (another word used this one time only in the entire New Testament) meaning to brand (“cauterize”), that is, (by implication) to render unsensitive or callous; deaden feelings or morals (figuratively): - sear with a hot iron. In other words, the soul/inner man or inner woman of these people have been rendered unfeeling to causing hurt or damage to others and they do not care how their actions reek havoc on others and this they do intentionally, not from weakness in failing, but from intentional desire to gratify themselves, even if it means taking from others or hurting others in their way, for just as the area of human skin that has been cauterized can no longer have feeling there, so do these people's soul no longer have a feeling of what is right and wrong in the site of God. Here is what Vincent's Word Studies has to say concerniing these conscience seared people, "The metaphor is from the practice of branding slaves or criminals, the latter on the brow. These deceivers are not acting under delusion, but deliberately, and against their conscience. They wear the form of godliness, and contradict their profession by their crooked conduct (2 Timothy 3:5). The brand is not on their brow, but on their conscience."

"One of the great instances of the apostasy, namely, giving heed to doctrines of demons, or concerning demons; that is, those doctrines which teach the worship of saints and angels, as a middle sort of deities, between the immortal God and mortal men, such as the heathen called demons, and worshipped under that notion. Now this plainly agrees to the church of Rome, and it was one of the first steps towards that great apostasy, the enshrining of the relics of martyrs, paying divine honors to them, erecting altars, burning incense, consecrating images and temples, and making prayers and praises to the honor of saints departed. This demon-worship is paganism revived, the image of the first beast." Matthew Henry

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...

Sincerely in Christ,

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…