2
Timothy 4:1-5
“1
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears;
4
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be
turned unto fables.
5
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
With
every worldly holiday season that comes around each year it seems
more and more members of the Lord's Churches “turn away their ears
from the truth”, and follow “unto fables”. Roman Catholicism
has “christianized” every pagan religious holiday they can. They
have taken some of the most loved stories in God's Word and butchered
the telling of and blasphemed God in the process. And yet there are
those in the Lord's true Churches, who are supposed to be the ones
who uphold the truth of God's Word, the ones Jude told “ye should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints.”, it is within these that leaven has entered into many
congregations.
In
I Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9 Paul warned Churches of this very
thing. There are Pastors who know better but due to not wanting to
offend anyone and possibly lose numbers in membership and dollars
in the church's bank account will preach what the people want and not
the whole counsel of God. The time of “when they will not endure
sound doctrine” is here and now! Church members who do not wish to
hear sound doctrine will oftentimes leave and find a place where
their ears can be pleased by false teachings. In some cases Pastors
are run off and another brought in and“after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall
turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto
fables.”
The
downward spiral in church attendance and even the seemingly lack of
those being saved in our day and time is concerning. I know these
matters are part of the reasons Pastors and Churches think they need
to make changes to what is preached and taught and even changes in
the type of music and the songs sung. But, this is no excuse for
preaching false doctrine and for letting the world and pagan
traditions into the Lord's Churches.
Paul
instructed in our text to “Preach the word; be instant in season,
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and
doctrine.” If change is needed then do it, but it better be for the
glorifying of God according to His Word and not for the itching ears
of the hearers or the ego of the speaker or singer.
I
wonder how many of us have “left our first love”? Remember, the
first love of a Bride is her Bridegroom. Do we love Christ enough to
follow His commandments or would we rather follow after other gods? I
hear a lot of people talking about the end drawing near. But where is
their love? Who is their first love? Christ or themselves?
Praise
ye the Lord!!!
