Ten Toes Down

Good evening. You are the blessed of the Lord, and I am so glad to see you tonight. Would you please turn to Second Timothy chapter four? That’s where we’re going to start.

I’ve been thinking about the state of the Church and a lot of what we see unfolding today is because of the Church, and because it’s the Church not willing to stand on the Word.

We’re going to begin in Second Timothy chapter two verse four, but before we go there I want to begin with the last two verses of Second Timothy chapter three. For me, these two verses explain why the Church is unwilling to stand ten toes down on the Word of God and doing what God asks us to do.

(16) All scripture is given by inspiration of God …

From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, all scripture is given by the inspiration of God. And that word, inspiration, as you know, is the Greek word “theopneustos,” meaning “God breathed.” So, all scripture came from God. All of it. All of it.

The verse uses the word “breathe,” and I thought about Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, where it says, “The Lord God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Whenever God breathes, and I know it's not the same word, but the sense. When God breathes, He breathes life.

All scripture is God breathed, all scripture is life, and it is life and as we finish reading the verse that the reason it is life is because it “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

That’s why the word of God is life. It has a profit when you put it inside yourself. Why? Verse 17.

(17) That the man of God (the woman of God) may be perfect (mature), throughly furnished (prepared) unto all good works.

This is why God gave us His Word. He wants us to mature unto all good works, and when I hear “all good works,” I see doing what Jesus did.

Now verse one of chapter four.

(1) I charge thee therefore before God (Why does he say “therefore”? It’s because of what we just read in verses 16 and 17 in the previous chapter.), and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

(2) Preach the word …

And we just read in verses 16 and 17 of the previous chapter that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. “Preach what has been inspired by God. Preach what God has breathed.”

be instant in season, out of season …

In other words, that is your lifestyle. It is what you do and you make no exceptions.

And not only that Timothy, in the preaching of that Word there will be times when you will have to …

reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

This is where most of the folks who stand in the pulpit fail. They are not willing to take the hard, draw a line in the sand stand on what the Word of God says. That's where they fail.

They are not willing to rebuke, they're not willing to reprove, but they're definitely willing to exhort and what they exhort does not always line up with the Bible.

(3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine …

That breaks my heart. They will not endure sound doctrine. The word “not” is OU in the Greek and means an absolute negation of something. Paul is telling Timothy; the hearers will not hang on to 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.

Let’s look at a couple things from this passage.

? itching ears – Christians who want preaching and teaching that are pleasant to the ears. They don’t want to hear anything that challenges how they are living and what they believe.

As I thought about this, I believe that part of the reason so many in the Church have itching ears is because they have been conditioned to have itching ears. They have been conditioned to believe that certain things are right because they don't hear anything else. So not only did they do some of them come in with that predisposition, but then some are taught that this disposition.

? shall turn away their ears – A purposeful act.

? fables – The Greek word means, now listen to me, “something concocted with falsehoods.”

I said, “Lord, have mercy.” Let me give you an example. Grace covers all your sins, past, present and future. That is a doctrine concocted with falsehoods with that itching ears like to hear.