TURNING AWAY FROM THE TRUTH
By Dean Hulce and Paul Taylor
II Timothy 4:3-4
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
My brother Dave was high up the mountain, above the dark timber and into the aspen grove. He had been bugling for elk and he heard what first sounded like a bull elk below him a few hundred yards.
After a while, He could hear that it wasn't actually a bull elk, but instead was our uncle. Our uncle was hearing Dave (who is a very good caller) above and he was fooled into thinking it was a bull. Our uncle spent over an hour sneaking up the mountain in an attempt to get in archery range of the "bull". When he got within about 25 yards of Dave's position, Dave stepped and said, "what are you doing on my mountain?" with that my uncle, a proud man, turned and stormed off, back down the mountain.
You see, my uncle was listening to the sweet sounds of what he felt was true, but he never studied what he was hearing, just kept following it blindly.
Timothy was in the heart of a city that was filled with fleshy desires, and looking around, the apostle Paul could see where the battle between the flesh and God's Truth would lead. And so, he issued a warning that's never been more relevant than today.
It's incredibly heartbreaking when a low view of God is preached, feeding a high view of self to their audience who have become so accustomed to it, that they fail to even recognize the cross is being diminished.
Scripture warns us about this. Why? Because the doctrine of self is easier to swallow than the blood of Christ.
Not many acknowledge that they have decided not to hear sound doctrine, but instead, they gradually allow their itchy ears to hear only the words that they enjoy hearing.
They say hard preaching is in the past, let us hear fables, (stories without conviction). Let us laugh and be entertained.
Feeling good about themselves, they leave looking forward to the next experience.
God is fun, and I absolutely love having fun with God, but never at the expense of God or a lost soul.
What I hear on Sunday shouldn't give me a troubled heart on Monday.
Friends, today the tickling of the ear is subtle and attractive.
Without biblical understanding, chances are, you won't recognize the difference. Without godly wisdom and discernment you may find yourself sitting there enjoying the show.
If we were warned 2000 years ago that the day was coming, maybe the day is here.
Listen for a high view of God and the sometimes hard truth about ourselves. If you don't hear it, I boldly suggest you run before your ears begin to like what they hear.
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