When I was a young girl my Mother sacrificed her hard earned money for me to take piano lessons. I wanted to play the piano more than anything in the world. So I thought. Being hard headed and lazy, practicing every day became too routine for me and having somewhat of an ear for music, I found that I could play cords on the piano and gave up those boring lessons. The sad fact was that I never learned to play correctly and it cost me never learning to read music. I must say that I have had much regret over the years in giving up, because there have been many, many times that God could have used that talent in my life, had I made more effort and took advantage of the opportunity that my Mother provided me and learned how to play properly. If only I had endured and not give up! Oh the regret of falling short of that opportunity!
Thinking on that past regret in my life, put me in mind of another regret. The regret that many people will have in their lives by not enduring sound doctrine. The word for Endure in the Greek is, “anechomai” it means to hold oneself up against, to put up with, bear with, endure, forbear, or to suffer. In I Timothy 4:3 God’s Word warns us of those that will not endure the preaching, teaching, correction and exhortation of sound doctrine in the last days. That in the last days people would no longer be willing to tolerate or put up with straight Bible teaching as they did in the former days. Like my giving up piano lessons because the effort it took me to endure until I had learned, there will be many people who will listen to the hearing of the gospel and some even trying it out for a while, but when hardships, convictions, discipline and trials come, they will not endure and will fall away. While it is hard sometimes to hear the truth, it is not always pleasing to us. It often times goes far against our fleshly grain and causes conviction that produces in us a shame that is meant to lead us to repentance and oftentimes, causes us discomfort in one way or another. However, the reward to those that will stick with it and endure the rebuke of godly teaching where sound doctrine is being taught, regardless of how it makes them feel in their flesh will reap a crown of victory and enjoy knowing the peace of God in their lives as they endure until the end. For they know that through the teaching of sound doctrine, they are being spiritually edified and are not offended by it. For they know that it is for their good. To those that would declare that preaching should always be motivational and uplifting and not necessarily doctrinal or reproving, I would say to them the same thing that I said to my children when raising them and now to my grandchildren, do the right thing and you will not have to endure the hardships of correction and discipline and when other hardships come, you will be able to stand your ground and not sink in the many potholes that are under foot. Knowing truth alone does not bring peace or set you free. It is obeying truth, that produces the fruit of peace in our lives and it is that fruit of truth, that sets us free. However, Paul did not say that in the last days people would listen to truth or they would not accept truth, he said, that they would not endure it. That means that, they would not keep on obeying it. Instead Paul chose a word that indicated the truth of sound doctrine being something that requires us to, “hold oneself up against, to put up with, bear with, endure, forbear, suffer through." Oftentimes God’s Word hurts us to the very core of our being and convicts us even to the depths of our hearts, and thank God for it. Thank God that we have the opportunity to hear the message of Salvation and instructions to a better way of living. Let us be faithful in enduring sound doctrine because, it is for our good and benefits us in an everlasting way.
There are many things in life that can be difficult to endure. However, in the last days the Bible tells us that many will not be able to endure the truth that is within the pages of the Holy Scriptures. Today’s modern Christianity is marked by an inability, to handle sound Bible doctrine. The Bible is a difficult book to read; not because of hard words, but because of the truth it contains. The Bible is a sword and it will cut on our wicked hearts through both personal Bible study or hearing the Word of God preached or taught. Many are departing from the faith today than ever before and in their apostasy have demonstrated that they could not endure sound doctrine and are heaping to themselves teachers that are introducing new doctrinal institutions in this age that pats them on the head and tells them that they are good and everything will be alright. The marks which identify and distinguish these modern apostates are men and women who are taking truth and mixing it with just the amount of lies that it will take to win people over to a new way of thinking. Adhering to the Scriptures, as our only standard and rule of faith and practice is our only hope. For the true believer, our refusal to depart from the Bible as our standard of morality and faith, which provides us with a clear plumb line for reforming society, reclaiming drunkards, converting sinners, and evangelizing the world is a task that we must endure not only for our own sake but for the sake of the lost who need the message of salvation in its rawest form, whether it offends people or not. In doing so, we may have to pay the price and be labeled as Hard-shells, Iron Jackets, Jesus Freaks and an opulence of other titles indicative of anything, but a willingness to turn away from what we hold to be the truth, and not be allured by old fables and myths. I fear, that many more than we comprehend amongst the fellowship of true believers today are not of the true fold of Christ. I John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us”. After Jesus had preached his parable concerning the wheat and the tare, his disciples ask him to break it down to their level of understanding and in doing so Jesus said, “ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters to, first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ Matthew 13:24-30. Jesus Himself was always making comments distinguishing people between those who are a part of His Kingdom and those who are not. God’s final judgment will be the ultimate turning point of separation between the true child of God and the one who claims but has no legitimate birth certificate, for their names are not found in the book of life.
Saint Augustine pointed out that there is an invisible distinction between the “wheat” and the “tares” and that they run through the church and it’s laity although they may not always be readily apparent. It is not the job of the child of God to try and separate the sheep from the goat, for in many ways they favor, not just because the Church is acting like the world, but many of those that are in the world are acting like the church in some form or another. It is however, the job of the true sheep to love and plead sinners to come to Christ and help to restore and bring back those that have strayed, while there is still time. My regret of not learning to read music, does not compare to the regret of those who will stand before the great white throne judgment of God and say, “look what I have done in your name” and in sad response will be turned away and told, “depart from me, ye worker of inequity, for I never knew you”. For you see, they through their own demise very clearly demonstrated that they did not endure sound doctrine, not only because they did not finish the race that they may had started, but on account of not holding on to the sound doctrine that they had been taught, but instead, they heaped to themselves teachers that led them astray by words that satisfied their itching ears and made them feel good but never shed light on their sin and their need for repentance.
As Adrian Rogers would say, “…Salvation is not a cafeteria line where we say, “Well, I believe I’ll have a little Savior today, but no Lordship…” God demands Lordship and will accept nothing less than reigning on the thrones of our hearts. The scriptures themselves bears witness that, “There is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 16:25. Today sweet friend find God's Truth and cling to it with all your might!
Loving on You today,
Bren
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