0927. Those Who Turn to Fables
Those Who Turn to Fables
"For the time will came 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 into fables (2Ti_4:3-4)
1. God gives us a true unveiling of the last days in II Timothy; there the drift from the faith is clearly set forth.
In 2Co_1:15, after he has urged the holding fast to the form or delineation of sound words, which he had proclaimed (see 2Co_1:13) he says: "All they which are in Asia be turned from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes."
In 2Co_2:15-17, after he has urged the "rightly dividing of the Word of Truth," he says: "But shun profane and vain babblings: * * their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenseus and Philetus."
In 2Co_3:1-8, after he speaks of perilous times, of a form of Godliness, etc., he says: "As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the Truth."
In 2Co_3:10 to 2Co_4:2, after he speaks of the Scriptures which are given by inspiration, he urges, in view of the Lord's soon coming, that the Word should be preached; and then he speaks of those who turn to fables.
That this described drift from the faith has come, no one doubts. Denials are in the air. Every fundamental of the faith is being decried. Thus are God's prophecies of apostasy being fulfilled.
2. This turning from the faith and turning aside to fables is said to include the rejection of the Lord's Second Coming on the one hand, and the choosing of men-made fancies on the other hand.
Consider how the Epistle places special stress on the Lord's return.
In 2Co_1:11, Christ is spoken of as having brought life and immortality (incorruptibility) to light through the Gospel. This clearly presents Christ's Return when the dead in Christ are raised and the living changed.
In 2Co_2:10-12, we read "of the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory," and how we shall "live with Him" and "reign with Him." This all tells of the Lord's Return.
In chapter 4 we read of their turning aside to fables. In 2Ti_4:8 we read of those "who love His appearing;" and, in 2Ti_4:18, of "being preserved unto His Heavenly Kingdom."
3. Three things are clearly stated:
(1) They will not endure sound doctrine. Sound doctrine does not coincide with their lusts. Sound doctrine does not please their flesh. Sound doctrine tightens the strings on their worldly desires.
(2) They will "heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." The cry from the pew today is: "Prophesy unto us smooth things."
The pew is filling the pulpit with men who will say, "Peace, peace." The fact that there is no peace little matters. "Peace, peace," sounds good, even if it is a lie.
The pew is placing in the pulpit false prophets. They are dumb dogs, who cannot bark; greedy dogs, who never have enough. These false prophets have no shepherd instincts. They are "sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber."
The pew is calling for men whom God has never sent; men who prophesy lies in His name; men who cause the people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; men who have perverted the Words of the Living God; men who have turned away their ears from the Truth.
(3) They shall be turned aside unto fables. How we shudder as we read the themes that are sent out from so called evangelical pulpits, and printed in the public press.
How we are astonished as we read in certain denominational papers the utter lack of Bible messages, and the silly babble of human lore.
aesop never invented fables more illusive and more entrancing, than those heralded from the religious platform and press.
Fables on "The World Is Getting Better."
Fables on "The World and Its Enduring Peace."
Fables on "The Evolution of an Ape."
Fables on "Science, More Sure than the Word of God."
Fables on "The Brotherliness of Man."
The fact that these things are fables, all of which discount the Bible and made void the Blessed Hope bears little weight. Men have rejected the more sure Word of Prophecy and have turned aside to fables
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR