✝ Daily Encouragement (11/18/24) "A Consideration Of Itching Ears"
Published: Mon, 11/18/24
Updated: Mon, 11/18/24
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(Click refresh or reload for current message) Monday, November 18, 2024 
"A Consideration Of Itching Ears" Note:
This
week's daily
encouragement
messages (as
well as the
previous two
messages from
last week) are
from a study
prepared for
our Crossroads
Adult Bible
Fellowship
class (Sunday
School)
yesterday
based on
teaching from
2 Timothy
4:1-8. Message summary: Itching ears are extremely perilous to our spiritual life and health.
Listen
to our message
on your audio
player.
"For
the time will
come when
people will
not put up
with sound
doctrine.
Instead, to
suit their own
desires, they
will gather
around them a
great number
of teachers to
say what their
itching ears
want to hear.
They will turn
their ears
away from the
truth and turn
aside to
myths" (2
Timothy
4:3,4). It's interesting how the Bible uses timeless, cross cultural illustrations. Regardless of when or where people live people around the globe have had or do have itching ears, literally speaking. In fact an internet search reveals it's not at all unusual. Bluntly speaking, now and then my ears itch, Not the outside parts where I can scratch but rather inside my ear canal .
Over 40 years
ago the late
creative
songwriter
Keith Green,
whose message
through songs
has timeless
meaning,
penned the
thought-provoking
words to
"Satan's
Boast", a song
written as if
it were by the
devil himself.
One line from
the song goes
like this: "I
put some truth
in every lie,
to tickle
itching ears".
These words
ring
Scripturally
true and are
so easily
observed in
our age.
Merely
consider the
many lies
we're exposed
to and the
efforts to
"tickle"
itching ears. The Greek word translated “itching” literally means “to itch, rub, scratch, or tickle.” To want one’s ears “tickled” is to desire massages rather than messages—sermons that charm rather than challenge, entertain rather than edify, and please rather than preach. The people Paul warns about will have, as one commentator put it, “ears which have to be continually titillated with novelties.” (from gotquestions.org teaching site)
light of
the peril of
having itching
ears we
address two
groups in this
message
As
Listeners:
We must be on
our guard
against having
itching ears.
We need to
open our
hearts, minds,
and ears to
biblical
teaching
including that
which may not
be our
preference or
the cultural
norms of our
day, but
rather stands
the test of
biblical
authority. In
being exposed
to sound
doctrine we
mustn’t seek
out teachers
or teachings
that suit our
own desires of
what we want
to hear. We
need to listen
with hunger
and
discernment
and apply the
practice of
the Bereans "who
received the
message with
great
eagerness and
examined the
Scriptures
every day to
see if what
Paul said was
true"
(Acts 17:11).
We need to
pray for our
pastor and
other
spiritual
leaders that
they will not
succumb to the
pattern of
this world
which can be
an ongoing
temptation. Sound
preaching will
include
teaching that
is faithful to
the Scripture
but may be and
increasingly
will be
contrary to
culture.
As Preachers: We need to examine our heart and align it with biblical teaching. There is a great temptation to go along to get along but that is not our call. A neutral message or silence when God's Word speaks clearly on a matter is not faithfulness to truth. Like Paul, we need to be committed to sound doctrine while teaching the "whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Our first priority must be, what does God want proclaimed, not what do people want to hear. Many years ago I heard this succinct definition of responsible ministry as "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable". According to 2 Timothy 4:2 faithful preaching includes not just exhorting but also prayerful reproof and rebuke (something many do not want to receive nor do leaders like to apply).
Itching
ears are
extremely
perilous to
our spiritual
life and
health. Let
us, "Apply
our heart to
instruction
and our ears
to words of
knowledge"
(Proverbs
23:12). Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13 Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
*
Yesterday I
shared this
illustration
in our ABF
class.
Afterwards a
class member
came up to me
and told me a
story about a
man he knew
who was
teasing his
grandchild by
walking around
with a q-tip
sticking out
each ear as he
pretended to
be a robot.
The little
child
playfully
clapped each
ear with the
protruding
q-tip forcing
them into his
ear canals
causing him to
sustain some
hearing loss.
Seems to me it
could have
been a lot
worse!
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental
Resources
"All
The Praise/The
Love Of God"
Listen
on YouTube
Calvary
Church choir
and orchestra
from
yesterday's
service. (Brooksyne's
note: Our
choir sang two
songs for the
first time
that were of
special
blessing to
me. "All
the Praise"
points us to
the only One
who should
receive our
deepest praise
for He is
worthy of
glory and
honor
forevermore. "The
Love of God"
is a newer
song that
spoke to my
heart as well.
One line in
particular: "I
could sing a
million songs
about Him and
barely scratch
the surface of
His worth". I
encourage you
to take a
listen and
lift your
heart
heavenward to
our Lord Jesus
who is worthy
of all our
praise.
"Satan's
Boast" AKA "No
One Believes
in Me Anymore"
Listen
on YouTube
Keith
Green
(Remember,
this song is
written from
the devil's
perspective!)
This is the
song alluded
to in the
message and
this version
includes the
lyrics.
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Medical
experts say
you should
never put
anything in
your ear
smaller than
your elbow but
try as I might
I've never
managed to get
my elbow
anywhere close
enough to
scratch my
inner
ear! So
I will confess
to
periodically
using a Q-tip
although the
packaging
warns against
it, I'm pretty
sure I'm not
the only one
on planet
earth who uses
Q-tips this
way.*
Paul
begins this
section of
Scripture with
a solemn
charge often
used at
ordination and
commissioning
services: "In
the presence
of God and of
Christ Jesus,
who will judge
the living and
the dead, and
in view of His
appearing and
His kingdom, I
give you this
charge: Preach
the word; be
prepared in
season and out
of season;
correct,
rebuke and
encourage—with
great patience
and careful
instruction"
(2 Timothy
4:1,2).
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
717-823-0592
Daily Encouragement Net
https://www.dailyencouragement.net
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495 Kraybill Church Rd
Mount Joy PA 17552
USA
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