Today I want to share a very important message that Rick Renner covers beautifully in his "Sparkling Gems From The Greek Volume 2".
Last Days Deception
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; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables. — 2 Timothy 4:3,4
Today I’d like to talk to you about what the apostle Paul
wrote to Timothy right after exhorting him to stay by his post, regardless of
the external pressures that would try to bump him off course. There is a
strategic sequence to Paul’s words that apply specifically to the believers of
this generation.
Paul went on to describe the unique challenge that believers
would face as a last-days deception occurs inside the Church. He wrote that at
the end of the age — in the period just before Jesus returns — large numbers of
people in the Body of Christ would be led astray.
Remember — the Holy Spirit didn’t tell us this to scare us,
but rather to prepare us so we would not succumb to these devil-inspired
tactics to affect the Church in the very last of the last days. That makes the
message of these verses particularly significant for those of us born into this
present-day generation of the Church.
Paul wrote, “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; and they shall turn away from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4). The word “time” in verse 3 was
translated from the Greek word kairos, which depicts a specific
season. Paul said, “This specific season shall come.” The tense is futuristic,
pointing to a season in the future, or to events that will occur in the
very last part of the last days.
In this end-times season, the Holy Spirit said increasing
numbers of people in the Christian community “…will not endure sound doctrine…”
(verse 3). Even now, this is taking place as many are gravitating toward teaching
and preaching that is more motivational and psychological than Bible-based.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t indicate how many will be pulled in
this wrong direction, but the word “they” in the Greek language implies large
numbers of people. According to Paul’s prophetic utterance, a portion of
the last-days Christian community will simply no longer endure the sound
teaching of Scripture. In fact, the word “endure” is the Greek word anecho,
which denotes no ability to put up with or to have no tolerance for.
The words “sound doctrine” in Second Timothy 4:3 are very
telling. The Greek word for “sound” is hugiaino, and it indicates
something that is wholesome and healthy and that produces a
healthy state of being. The word “doctrine” refers to the long-held
teachings and tenets of the Christian faith.
Thus, the Holy Spirit foretold of a specific end-time season
when a segment of the Christian community would not only lose their appetite
for sound doctrine, but they would also actually develop a distaste for
it. Instead, they would acquire a distinct taste for doctrine that is
unwholesome, preferring a self-help style of teaching over the teaching of
sound doctrine.
In Second Timothy 4:3, Paul forecasted a moment when large
numbers of people will no longer have a stomach for sound doctrine. Instead,
“…after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears….” The word “lusts” describes desires or whims. In other
words, this part of the verse could be translated, “But after their own
desires shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”
Paul unequivocally stated that a generation will arise in
the very last days that will reject age-tested truth in favor of teaching that
is more in step with the times. According to the Holy Spirit, teachers will
appear on the scene in a specific kairos season to satisfy the
hankerings of a generation that adheres to the world’s progressive approach.
What these spiritual leaders teach will appeal to people’s emotions and
intellect instead of to the deepest part of their being where actual
transformation takes place. Because these teachers will speak what the crowds
want to hear, they will enjoy great popularity among this audience of
listeners.
In Second Timothy 4:3, Paul went on to say that this
last-days generation will “heap” to themselves such teachers. The word “heap”
is the future active indicative tense of the Greek word episoreuo, which
points to piles of “teachers” who will appease an end-time audience
with messages to suit them and the whims of the times.
Paul said that these teachers will satisfy the “itching
ears” of the people. The words “itching ears” is used figuratively to depict a
person (or a crowd of people) who wants to hear something new as
compared to what he has already heard and known. Having his “ears” filled with
some- thing he wants to be told is the only thing that relieves this
“itching-ear” syndrome.
As a result of this strange period that will develop in the
last part of the last days, Paul said many “…shall turn their ears away from
the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:4). This “turning away
from the truth” is the rejecting of absolute biblical truth — the time-tested
interpretation of the Word of God.
Is it possible we are currently witnessing this turning away
from truth that the Holy Spirit predicted nearly 2,000 years ago? Are we seeing
in our own day an accommodating attitude toward the world that produces a brand
of Christianity that melds into the environment around it?
Paul wrote that an erring end-time group would discard fixed
truth and replace it with “fables” — the Greek word for fantasies. By
using the word “fables,” Paul inferred that what this group of last-days
orators taught would resemble fantasy. These teachers would substitute “fables” for
the authentic teaching of the Bible that calls for repentance from sin and a
change of behavior that is befitting God’s Word.
The craving and demand for these fanciful messages by those
with “itching ears” will produce large numbers of newly fashioned teachers
with restyled messages. The mixture of truth and falsehood these
teachers deliver will eventually lead a large segment of people into a
distorted perception of who the Christ of Christianity really is.
You might say, “Brother Rick, that sounds like a lot of
really bad news.” But I need to tell you that in the haze of this
deception that Paul prophesied about, another group of spiritual leaders will
arise. Paul wrote about these leaders, calling them “…blameless and harmless,
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,
among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
Since there also will be a group of believers emerging who
will hold to the ageless Word of Truth and proclaim its timeless teaching,
let’s make sure that is the group to which we belong! In spite of the
difficulties these men and women may endure for proclaiming the Bible as utter
truth, they will nevertheless stand firm, their feet solidly planted on the
integrity of God’s Word.
That, my friend, is the group you want to be a part of in
these end times!
As I said at the beginning of today’s Sparkling Gem,
Paul forecasted that a time would come when a deception would occur inside the
Church — in the period just before Jesus comes. Again, the Holy Spirit did not
tell us this to scare us — but to prepare us, lest we fall into this trap
ourselves. It is time for us to dig our heels deep into the truth of God’s
Word, refuse to budge from its life-transforming truths, and do all we can to
teach and proclaim it to those around us!
This is SO true of the days in which WE are living! Stay steady and diligent with the Word of God and in intimate fellowship with the Spirit of God and you will be able to easily recognize the tricks, schemes and strategies of the enemy! Now is OUR time to shine with HIS glory, drawing people to HIM and the TRUTH! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "Look To The Son":Shalom in Him!
