Here we find not closed ears but “itching ears,” and those who “turn away their ears from the truth.” The ears are not deaf, or stopped, or closed; they are keenly alive and open to hear. They itch in order to catch some sound, but not the truth. No, they turn away from the truth as a sound known but unpleasant, familiar but distasteful, heard on all sides but discredited and avoided. The itching ear that courts what is congenial to itself turns from the truth. It seeks the sensational, the sentimental, the unreal, the wisdom of this world, but it loathes the truth.
This is solemn and serious! And what is the result? Is the itching ear satisfied? Does its itching lead to peace or contentment or a solid basis of divine repose? No, but contrariwise, it is “turned unto fables.” What a retribution! To turn from the truth is to be turned to fables. How descriptive of our day!
We read, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers.” That time has come; these are the men of this generation. Teachers are heaped up whose doctrine suits admirably the corrupted and debased tastes of the itching ears that listen. Sound doctrine such as atonement by blood, the eternality of punishment, and the deity of the blessed Lord Jesus Christ cannot be endured. God’s great foundation facts of doctrine are scientifically discarded, and foolish fables and mental aberrations are greedily swallowed instead.
The Chaff and the Wheat
“What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord” (Jer. 23:2828The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:28)), and the religious ear of the day is feeding on chaff. We rapidly approach the time when “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:11-1211And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11‑12)). It is, therefore, a serious thing to trifle with truth, or to think that God takes no cognizance of its treatment at our hands.
The men of this generation are fearfully responsible. They stand on slippery ground. A thousand sacred privileges, an open Bible, a clear and widespread gospel, the working of the Spirit on the earth, the patient grace of God — all these make their responsibility enormous. Thank God, grace and mercy linger; the door is not yet shut. The sweet invitation still holds good. “COME” falls upon the open ear as fully and richly as ever.
“Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness” (Jer. 13:15-1615Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. 16Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. (Jeremiah 13:15‑16)).
J. W. Smith