for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
The Spirit plainly warns that false teachers will come, placing all holiness in outward ceremonies while they shadow the true spiritual worship of God. Men love hypocrisy by nature, and Satan finds it easy work to persuade them that God is honored by ceremonies rather than by the heart.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Timothy 4:1-16
We have here a prophecy of the apostasy of the latter times, which he had spoken of as a thing expected and taken for granted among Christians, 2 Th. 2. I. In the close of the foregoing chapter, we had the mystery of godliness summed up; and therefore very fitly, in the beginning of this chapter, we have the mystery of iniquity summed up: The...
Commenting on 1 Timothy 4:1-5
For it is sanctified,.... Or set apart for use, and may be lawfully used at all times: by the word of God; which declares that there is nothing in itself common, or unclean, or unfit for use, and that nothing that goes into a man defiles him; so that by virtue of this word of God, every creature may be made use of, that is...