The Time Has Come
Chad Johnson
February 25, 2011

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (KJV)

I feel strongly that God would have me detour this week from the book of Job and deal with this subject. The apostle Paul is writing to a young preacher named Timothy. Paul gives Timothy the charge to preach the word. There has never been a time when Baptist preachers need to preach the word more than now. Most preachers have left the preaching of God’s word and are very selective on their sermon topics. They skip certain texts according to who is in the congregation.

He also tells Timothy to be instant in season and out of season. When the church likes it and when they don’t the man of God must keep preaching the word. Paul also told Timothy to reprove and rebuke through his preaching. If there is any one thing preachers need to do, it is to rebuke sin by the word of God. Sin has almost become a curse word in our Baptist churches. I have realized in the past few weeks why men compromise in their preaching. First, some of them have never been called by God into the ministry. Secondly, they are put under such pressure to compromise that they begin to realize that if they are going to get to preach in most churches, they are going to have to compromise. I have been told that if I would change on things, I would go places. By the grace of God, I would rather not preach again than to compromise to fill a pulpit.

Paul told Timothy that a time would come when the Baptist church would not endure sound doctrine. Sound doctrine means healthy doctrine. I have never seen a time when churches are so spiritually unhealthy. Our Baptist churches almost seem like they want to muzzle the man of God and put him in a straitjacket. The time has come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Our Baptist churches have began to take baptism from other denominations. The Lord’s Supper is open to all and not to the local church members only. Church discipline has become a foreign doctrine. When a Baptist church does not discipline its members, it has begun to stray from scripture. We now worry about offending sinners by preaching repent or perish. Jesus Christ gave sinners one ultimatum, “Turn or Burn.”

How can a man preach the work if he doesn’t have the word? The King James Version was translated from the Greek Received New Testament Text. The Old Testament was translated from the Masoretic Hebrew Text. It was not until the late 19th Century that other texts were even considered by the majority of Christians. All modern versions are translated from a Greek Text that can be traced back to a place called Alexandria Egypt. It was here that the Bible texts were changed and altered. All modern versions translate from these and other corrupt manuscripts.

The time will also come when they want teacher to scratch their ears and say smooth things. They will turn from the truth and want to hear a fable instead. The pulpit is not a joking place, but a preaching place. When a Baptist church turns from the old-fashioned Gospel preaching they will turn to fables.

You can grow a crowd on programs and fads, but the only way to grow a Baptist church is by preaching and practicing the word of God. I challenge all Baptist preachers who read this article to take a serious inventory of your church and your preaching. Is it God honoring or man pleasing? If we are going to see a turning back to God in our Baptist churches, we must first have a turning back to God in the pulpit. Oh God, save us from the modern liberal preaching and get us back to old-time fire and repentance preaching.

The time has come, the time has come! Amen!