13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 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.
-2 Timothy 3:13-15 (KJV)
One of the themes of Paul's second letter to Timothy is that of false teachers and evil men seducing the church. Paul says, in verse 13, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." People who are serving sin, who are living apart from God, will become worse and worse in their sin. They will deceive others into following them in their sin, all the while, they are being deceived into thinking they are living right with God. How many people are being led down the wrong path by one of these "evil men and seducers?" How many are being deceived by them? Many, many, I believe.
Paul then tells Timothy, in verse 14, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou has learned them;" Paul warns Timothy to "continue" living and basing his life on the things Paul had taught him. We, too, must continue in the things of the Word of God. I think so many people are deceived by the "evil men and seducers" because they don't really have a strong foundation in the Word of God. Instead of reading and studying the Word, we blindly follow someone who fits our image of a preacher. We follow the crowd, so to speak. But Paul told Timothy to "continue" in what he has been taught. If we want to be certain that we don't fall victim to the "evil men and seducers" then we must continue living in what we've learned from the Bible.
Are you following the Word of God, or the person who delivers it? Think About It.
