The Waywardness and Restiveness of So Called Christians Afresh Incentive to Fidelity in Ministers
2 Timothy 4:3, 4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers…


This is an argument from the future to tell upon present duty.

I. THE REASON OF THE APOSTASY. "For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine."

1. The gospel doctrine is sound, because it necessitates a holy life, and holds the gratification of sinful passions to be inconsistent with the hopes of salvation.

2. Evil men cannot endure it, because it is so opposed to the corruption of human nature, and therefore treat it with neglect, if not with contempt.

3. The apostle foresees the growth of evil in the Church, and therefore seeks to prepare ministers to war against it.

II. THE EFFECT OF THIS MORAL DISGUST AT THE GOSPEL. "But, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts."

1. They will not discard the ministry absolutely. They will only exchange one class of ministers for another. But they will vastly multiply the number of their religious guides.

2. The itch for novelty led to the multiplication of teachers. They were fickle, unsettled, and uneasy. They wanted to hear new things or smooth things, such as would reflect the caprices of a corrupt nature.

3. The reason for the whole rabble of teachers that they gathered to themselves is to be found in their wish to have their fancies gratified - "after their own lusts." They wanted indulgent guides, who would flatter the pride of human nature, and not lay too great a stress upon the importance of a holy life. The sound doctrine was necessarily allied to a pure morality.

III. THE RETRIBUTION THAT AWAITS ON SUCH A PERVERSION OF JUDGMENT. "And will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables."

1. It is a solemn fact in Divine providence, that when men do not like to return to the knowledge of the truth, God gives them up to a reprobate mind, so that they lose all relish for sound doctrine.

2. It is an equally solemn fact that, if the truth is repudiated, the heart will not therefore cease to exercise itself about religious concerns. The heart cannot long remain empty. Fables rush in to occupy the place which denies a footing to truth, just as infidelity has a vacuum-creating power, which superstition immediately rushes in to fill up. What a waste of soul! - profitless fables taken in exchange for soul-saving truth! - T.C.



Parallel Verses
KJV: 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;

WEB: For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts;




Sound Doctrine Forsaken
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