They do not embrace sound doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
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“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2

Paul brought to Timothy’s memory that our Lord Jesus Christ is returning as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus will be the judge of the living and the dead, “… those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,
some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2 “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelations 20:15

Timothy is charged to continue in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to be ready when the testimony of Jesus is not popular the same as when His word was widely accepted.

The Holy Spirit charges each one of us to keep the faith in Jesus Christ because He is returning as the King of kings and He will judge each one of us. Jesus says to us, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24 Therefore, continue sharing the word of God. Our born-again testimony is the Gospel of Jesus Christ written on our heart.

“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.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4

• Will not endure sound doctrine. Sound doctrine is teaching that moves us to live in the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is given by our faith in Jesus Christ, which comes by our belief in God. The churches of today have abandoned the Gospel of Christ to partner with community values. They live by the doctrine of humanism, which is the fig leaf worn by those who serve the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel. Humanism is “an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.” “And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” Matthew 15:9
• They choose teachers that appeal to their own desires. The leadership of the churches, as well as community leaders, are chosen according to how they appeal to the desires of their congregation/community. Their desire is to build a community family on the beast that has power over physiology to govern through what people say, do, think, and feel. They have no desire for being united as a family rooted in Jesus Christ.
• They choose teachers that appeal to their itching ears . Their ears crave to hear teachings that sin is not something to be forgiven but a part of human nature. They do not want to hear from people who have been born-again from a destructive sinful lifestyle into a constructive life through the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. They crave to hear how the universe is God and do not want to hear about God the Creator. They want to be taught to serve the creature instead of the Creator. “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44 They crave to hear how goodness comes through human love, goodwill, and kindness but they reject the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• They heap up for themselves teachers. The fallen churches and the community pile for themselves teachers and leaders that put forth the community agenda of a culture built on the beast that governs through what people are given to think, do, feel, and say. They want teachers who are “down-to-earth”, or worldly, that do not believe in the Living God, nor acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, nor recognize the Holy Spirit as a divine presence. In fact, the teachers being piled up embrace the “Sustainable Development Goals” of the atheistic agenda of the United Nations. Those teachings are in schools in every city around the nation.
• They turn their ears away from the truth. In the United States, the churches have abandoned the Gospel of Jesus Christ to partner with the community agenda. Government lawmakers no longer integrate the values of the Bible into laws, policies, nor executive orders. The educational system prohibits the teaching of Bible values in the classrooms. And every sector of society are unwelcoming of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Turned aside to fables. Fables then were much like the fables of today. Fables were stories that originated in the home to teach children “moral” principles but not rooted in the Scriptures. This would be like the story of the “Three Little Pigs” that sounds a lot like Matthew 7:24-27 but completely leaves out Jesus Christ as the Rock we must build on. Or the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” that sounds a lot like Matthew 7:15 but leaves out that we know them by whether they have the fruit of the Holy Spirit or not. Or the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” that sounds a lot like 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 but leaves out the part about persevering in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The list goes on and on of how those of today’s culture have turned aside to fables.

“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5

Those are exactly the words of the Holy Spirit speaking to us today.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1