False Teaching is More Dangerous Than You Think

In this message from First Epistle to Timothy 1:3–11, we dive into the importance of sound doctrine, and why it’s far more critical than most people realize.  Paul warns Timothy about false teaching creeping into the church, and the danger isn’t always obvious. In fact, the most dangerous lies are often almost true.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy. We are in the letter of 1 Timothy, looking at chapter 1 today, verses 3 to 11. And we're talking today about the importance of sound doctrine. The importance of sound doctrine. And you may be wondering, well, why is sound doctrine really that important? Why is it really that big of a deal? Like, shouldn't we not be so dogmatic? Shouldn't we have more of an open mind? You know, you may be a guest here today wondering, like, see, Christians, they're just so dogmatic and just so closed-minded. Well, first, I want to clarify when we say sound doctrine, first I want you to know what I mean by that. Doctrine simply means teaching. It means teaching, and something that is sound means that it's healthy. It's true. So when we say sound doctrine, what we mean is healthy, true teaching. Now, why is that why is that so important? You know, we live in a culture, we live in a day where we are probably more prone to think sound doctrine is not that big of a deal, or even to just see it as something that divides. I remember a while back I heard a story about a pilot who was in training, and he was there in the cockpit, they take off. The one who's training him is next to him, and as he's flying, the one who's training him looked at him and he said, What's your heading? And he says, I'm good. I'm I'm 47 degrees east, whatever. I'm pretty good. And the one training him says, Wait, 47 degrees east, you're supposed to be 45. And he says, Well, yeah, I'm like two degrees off. I'm pretty close. And he says, Son, two degrees off will land you in a different country. Like, doctrine is similar to that in that it's a lot more important than we think. Ah, what's two degrees? It's a lot more important than we think, and the effects of sound doctrine or unsound doctrine are a lot more important than we think. To ask if doctrine is really that important is kind of like asking, is fresh water really that important? Does it really matter that much? Well, yes. It matters greatly. It matters for our spiritual health. It matters for our nourishment. And as a church, it matters greatly. Think about it. Think if sound doctrine is like fresh water, then a church that promotes and teaches and stands on doctrine that is sound and healthy is a wellspring of water, of fresh water to the community. Not just for our good, but for the good of all those around us. Sound doctrine is a huge deal. You may not realize this, but the doctrine you believe affects your daily life. It affects every aspect of your life. It's not just these abstract theological things, but it affects how we live in our homes. It affects how we are on Monday to Friday. It affects what we do with our life. It affects our hope, our peace that we have. It affects every aspect of our life. It affects our families. It will affect our children and our children's children. Paul thought a lot of sound doctrine. In fact, in 1 Timothy chapter 4, flip over there if you see in chapter 4, verse 16, just to show us how big of a deal Paul thought of the teaching. We're going to see how big of a deal it is in our passage, but look in verse 16 of chapter 4. Paul giving this charge to Timothy himself, he says, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. In other words, eternity is on the line. Sound doctrine is so important that eternity is on the line. In fact, Paul, he mentioned sound doctrine more than 15 times in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, what we call the pastoral epistles. More than 15 times he talks about sound doctrine. This is a huge deal. You see, Paul's mission, when he would go about with others, Timothy included, they would go about, they would spread the gospel. They would preach the truth about Jesus Christ as the Messiah. And when people believed in the gospel in any given place, his desire was to plant a church there. Not just to give them the gospel and bounce, but that they would meet regularly and worship the Lord together and grow together in God's word. And his mission then would change for that people. His mission to that same people was now to preserve the gospel. Wherever the gospel took root, his hope was that he would preserve it. And this is why he's partially why he's writing this letter to Timothy, is to preserve the gospel in Ephesus. If you remember from last week, Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus that he would care for the church, that he would lead the church there, that he would care for the church, that he would protect the church. But what had happened in Ephesus is false teachings have gotten their way into the church in Ephesus, and it's doing harm. And here in our passage today, Paul is giving Timothy instructions about how to deal with that. And this is my hope for us today. Is the same hope, the same mission that Paul is on is to preserve the gospel. And this is my hope for us. You see, we too have received the gospel. And our mission is to preserve it, to spread it, but also to preserve the gospel. Two things that we're going to look at today, two ways specifically to preserve the gospel, is number one by protecting sound doctrine. And number two, by understanding sound doctrine. Our passage, if you look in 1 Timothy 1, verses 3 to 11, our passage is bookended by his referencing of doctrine. First, he charges Timothy. He charges him to confront those who are teaching different doctrine. And then at the very end, he lists these sins, he says, which are contrary to sound doctrine. So he's really pushing sound doctrine and the importance to protect it, to preserve it, and to understand it. This is the first thing to look at is to protect sound doctrine. Look at verse 3. Look what he says. He says, As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus, so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussions, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. There was different teaching taking place in Ephesus. Something that is different. Paul, he reminds Timothy, hey, I remember I left you there, and one of the reasons I ref left you there was that you would confront. It's because there's different teaching going forth. Well, what makes it different? I want you to turn to the left. Go to the left in your Bible. Go to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, verse 42, and I want you to get a glimpse into the early church. In Acts 2.42, if you were wondering, if you could just be a fly on the wall in the early church. If you could be a fly on the wall and see, well, what were they devoted to? What were they like? What did they spend time doing together once they, they, when they gathered together? In Acts 2.42, we get a picture of that, and it's very relevant to our passage today. Acts 2.42, here's what it says. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. One of the key things that the early church was devoted to was the apostles' teaching. Now, what does that have to do with 1 Timothy? Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 1. The teaching that is spreading in Ephesus is something that is different. It's different than what they're familiar with. It's different than what they have received from the apostles. It's something different entirely. And Paul writing to Timothy is giving him instruction on how to deal with it. And his instruction is very simple. You confront it, you tell them to stop Timothy. Have you ever had to confront somebody? Have you ever had to confront somebody over something really difficult to confront? This is a hard task that Timothy has. Notice what it says in verse 3. It's not like there's just this one guy, this one guy who's infiltrated Ephesus and is spreading false teaching. No, there's certain persons, he says. You need to charge the group. Charge them not to teach any different doctrine. I want you to get a glimpse on what this doctrine was like. In verse 4, he goes on and he says that they are devoted to myths and endless genealogies. Now, to this day, we don't know exactly the teaching that was going forth there, but we know it had something to do with myths. More than likely, uh these men were taking Old Testament passages and stories and expanding on them, going above and beyond what the scriptures even said. And they found themselves promoting myths, which literally is fairy tales, unfounded, things that aren't true. And it wasn't anything good, not only myths, but endless genealogies. Endless genealogies. They are twisting scripture, not looking at God's word rightly, more than likely approaching the scriptures from an allegorical perspective. And it says that they are devoted to these things. And you know, there's a tendency even today, as we approach God's Word, at whether a teacher approaches God's Word or even individuals, that we want to look for something new. And it's a temptation to look for something new, to look for something that nobody else has ever seen before in a certain passage of Scripture. And in that is actually danger. In that is actually temptation to try to think of something in the passage that for the past 2,000 years, Christians indwelled by the Holy Spirit have just never seen before. You must be pretty unique, right? You know, Adrian Rogers. Adrian Rogers said one time, if it's new, it ain't true. When we approach God's Word, the question that we have to ask is not, hey, what does this mean to you? Reading a scripture, hey, what does this mean to you? Or what does this mean to you? That's not the question. The question is, what does this mean? What is the author saying? What is the author getting at? That's where we're that's where we're submitting to the authority of scripture. It's not, hey, how do you see it? How do I see it? What truth do you come up with? What truth do I come up with? No, the God's work, God's word is the truth. And so the question is, what is he saying? Their teachings, they weren't tethered to the word. But not only that, verse 4, it says that they promoted speculations. Just speculation. It was just guesses. It wasn't anything rooted, it wasn't anything grounded in the word. It promoted speculation rather than stewardship from God, that is by faith. It wasn't anchored to the gospel. It wasn't anchored to the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. It wasn't anchored to it. It was actually contradictory to God's plan of salvation. Instead of it promoted speculations rather than stewardship from God, that is by faith. And we see in verse five his aim. Why does Paul want Timothy to confront this? Why does he want him to charge these certain persons? We see his motive. Look at verse 5. It says the aim of our charge is love. Love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. You know what's amazing? Paul cares about the salvation of these false teachers. He wants them to be in the love of God, not merely to stop promoting heresy, which they are, but he wants them to repent, to be in the love of God, to know the truth, receive the truth. The aim of our charge, Timothy, he says, it's love. And really, that's a description of the whole Christian life. These guys have swerved from that, as we'll see in verse 6. They've gone away from love. They've gone away from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. They've gone away from it. Those things describe the Christian life. When somebody becomes a Christian, we always say it's not just this, oh, this obligation feeling of I gotta follow Jesus now, right? No, he changes the heart. He changes our wants. And so the following after Christ is a desire from a pure heart. It's what we want. He changes our heart. That's what it means to be born again. We need a new heart. That's the root problem. People need new hearts. A Christian is simply somebody that God, by his grace, has given a new heart. This is the Christian life. But it's also his motive for confronting those in love. Godly confrontation is rooted in love. Now, confrontation is not something most people are comfortable with, and it makes sense. And the world, if we listen to the world, we as Christians would probably never confront anyone or anything because the world's version of love says tolerate, affirm, and stay in your own lane. That's the world's version of love. Now that's not God's version of love. We see it here in this passion. God's version of love is completely different. It's confront. Confront with kindness, confront boldly, but confront them because you love them. You see, it's motivated by love. This is what we're called to do. I heard a story just this past week. There's a story of a man who had a nephew. True story. Man who had a nephew, and his nephew got caught up in Mormonism, which I'm not going to go into all the details of that right now. But he got caught up in Mormonism, a workspace salvation. And he cared and he was brokenhearted over his nephew. And his nephew got caught up into it, even went on mission and on the two-year mission thing. And this uncle was adamant. He was begging his nephew to return, causing tension so much so that even the kid's parents were like, Stop bothering him, leave him alone. And his response was, You don't get it. And he would write him letters, write him letters. Meanwhile, they would keep saying, Leave him alone, you're just gonna push him away, right? What does the wisdom of the world say? Don't bother, don't bother, don't bother, stay in your own lane. Kept writing him letters, kept writing him letters. You know what? That young man quit the mission field and came back to Christ. And his testimony was my uncle kept writing to me. He kept bothering me. Confronting in love, motivated by love. This is what we're called to do. You see, false teaching teaching can grab a hold of anyone. Whether you're simple or whether you're really smart, it can grab hold of you. Some people are too smart for their own good. Whether you're young or whether you are old, it can grab anyone. Charles Spurgeon once said discernment is knowing the difference between right and almost right. You know, and that's the case. The most dangerous false teachings that are all over the place are mostly true. Do you know that? They're mostly true. 90, 95% of it is spot on. The problem is that 5% is sending you to hell. Because they get the gospel wrong. And this is why sound doctrine is so important. This is why it is such a big deal. This is why, as God's people, we have to protect it. That we have to be on guard. You know, the Bible says that the enemy, the devil, John 10, 10, says that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That's his aim. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy you. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy us. But think about what comes first. The first word is steal. One of the ways that the devil seeks to destroy and kill is by stealing. What does he want to steal, you ask? He wants to steal the gospel. He wants to steal the gospel from you. He wants to steal the gospel from me. He wants to steal the gospel from this body of believers. And in so doing, he would kill and destroy this place. This is why we have to be on guard. This is why we have to protect sound doctrine. It is a big deal. And we have to be careful about the sources that we listen to. Healthy, sound doctrine, and paying attention to God's word with those who are sound, but also being careful of unsound doctrine. Just like those in Ephesus, there are those who would counsel us with unsound doctrine. I've heard and seen with my own eyes so many marriages ruined by bad counsel, by untethered counsel, by therapists. We have to be careful. He says that we are to charge those, confront those, and in so doing we protect the gospel. We protect sound doctrine. The second way that we preserve the gospel, though, we go on to verse 8. And the second way that we preserve the gospel is by understanding sound doctrine. And you can see that understanding sound doctrine is going to go directly hand in hand with protecting sound doctrine. We can't really protect it very well if we don't understand it, true? And so we have to understand sound doctrine. Paul goes on in verse 8, and he talks about how right doctrine is understood, the right use of the law. Look at verse 8. He says, Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sinners. Sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. There's a key difference here between the false teachers and between what Paul is saying in verse 8 and 9. Notice in verse 7, he says, These false teachers, desiring to be teachers of the law, they're swerving from the truth, they're going into vain discussion. But verse 7, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding. Do you see that? They don't have understanding. But on the contrary, verse 8 and 9, what does he say? Now we know the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this. Understanding is a huge deal. We need to understand. For example, right out the gate, he's talking about how it's important to understand the purpose of the law, the Mosaic Law. For example, in the Ten Commandments, how do we use the Ten Commandments? What is the purpose of them? He says in verse 8 that the law is good. Just to clarify, it's good. It's a good thing if you use it right. It's a good thing if you use it properly. Now, if it's a good thing and if you use it properly, we know that it's possible to not use it right. So who is it for? He says clearly that the law is primarily, at least in one capacity, it's it's for unbelievers. It's for unbelievers. It's helpful for unbelievers. He says the law is not laid down for the just, but the lawless and disobedient. For the ungodly and the sinners, for the unholy and profane. You see, the law is like an x-ray. You don't go to an x-ray to fix your broken arm. You go to an x-ray to see if you're broken or not. That's the purpose of an x-ray. It shows you your brokenness. It's not the source by which it fixes you, it shows you your brokenness. Likewise, this is what the law is for. The purpose of the law is to show us our own brokenness. It's not the means by which we fix ourselves. And that's what false religions get wrong. That's what works-based salvation gets wrong. It looks to the law as the solution. The law is not our solution. The law is what is meant to bring us to conviction. You know what the law does? If you want a simple way to show just the infinite distance between the holiness of God and our own sinfulness, read the Ten Commandments very slowly. Read it very slowly and think about your life. He goes on in this passage and he lists out some of these specific sins that break the Ten Commandments. But think about the purpose of the law. You don't look at that. You don't look at that to fix you. You know what the law demands? The law demands you be perfect. Well, that's bad news for imperfect people. Very bad news. And in so doing, it points us to Jesus. Romans chapter 3, 19 makes so clear it says, Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law. So that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. Since through the law comes knowledge of sin. You know what the purpose of the law is? To shut our mouths. It's to shut our mouths. So many folks, and perhaps even some in this room, are thinking, I'm gonna get into heaven because I'm a pretty good person. That's trying to justify ourselves based on the law. It's trying to say that we're good enough. Well, that's not the case at all. And this has really been the case since the very beginning. Think about in the Garden of Eden. Anytime, even in your own life, think about in your own relationships when somebody confronts you or when somebody corrects you. What is our first tendency? Defend. Protect ourselves. Defend ourselves, right? Think about in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned and God approaches them and he asks, What'd you do? Adam says, The woman that you gave me. Deflection. What does he say to the woman? He says, What is this you've done? The snake! It was the snake that you put here. The law shuts our mouths. When we come face to face with the law, we see we are guilty before a holy and righteous God. And why is that good? That is a good thing. But why is that good? Because then it shows us, it helps us to look somewhere other than ourselves for salvation. It then allows us to see ourselves not as a hope, not as a way out, not as a way to get with God, but rather it forces us to look for another savior. And this is why Jesus came. He came to fulfill the law, to fill the law perfectly. He lists out these specific sins, these examples of lawbreaking. He says, the ungodly sinners, for the unholy and profane, and then he gets really specific. For those who strike their fathers and mothers, literally for those who kill their parents. He says, for murderers, both of those would break the fifth and sixth commandment. Verse 10. You have examples of breaking the seventh commandment. He says the sexually immoral and men who practice homosexuality. And just to be clear, that would certainly include women in that case as well. Enslavers. Those who steal other people to enslave them. Liars, perjurers, and notice what he says. And whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. That shows us that when we talk about sound doctrine, we're also talking about practice. We're talking about how we live as well. These very specific actions here. Now, this is why it is so under important as we think about understanding sound doctrine. We need to understand the purpose of the law. The law is very useful. When we're witnessing to people, we should walk them through the law to show that we can't be our own savior. But we also need to understand what a Christian is and what a Christian is not. We have to. We know we're not saved by fruit. We're not saved by our works. But we are revealed by them. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9 to 11. It makes this so clear. I want you to see this. It says, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Do not be deceived. In other words, do not be tricked about what I'm about to say. The fact that Paul says, do not be deceived, means what he's about to say. We as people are prone to be tricked about this. We're prone to get this wrong. He couldn't be more clear. Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor, same phrase, men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. The subject of homosexuality is a very hot-button subject in our culture, obviously. But the Bible couldn't be more clear. It's so clear. And he warns us don't be tricked. Don't be tricked by this. Don't be led into thinking whether it's homosexuality or any of these other things, that a person who lives such a lifestyle could be right with the Lord. I remember I was driving through Washington, DC, um, probably three, four years ago. Excuse me. And driving through Washington, DC, I remember church after church that I was passing by had a big rainbow flag draped draped over the front of it. And it didn't make me angry, it made me sad, really. You know, the false prophets of the Old Testament, you know what characterized them? They said, peace, peace when there was no peace. They affirmed when they should have pleaded in love for people to repent. That characterized the false prophets in the Old Testament. And this breaks my heart because today so many people are throwing the Bible on the ground in the name of love. We have to have broken hearts for people and love people. But part of loving people is telling the truth. Think about it. They're on the on the way to destruction. Would you sit there and you say, ah no, I don't want to say anything? Oh, I don't want to bother this person. Or, oh, I don't want to, I don't want to tap him on the shoulder and beg him to turn the other direction because that would be rude. That would be unkind. Think about the reality of what we just read in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Those who live this lifestyle will not inherit the kingdom of God. The word is so clear. It is so clear. And look at the hope of verse 11. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11. Look at the hope of this. Those who live this lifestyle cannot call themselves a Christian. They cannot. But look what he says in verse 11. And such were some of you. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that beautiful? You Corinthians, such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified. What amazing hope. No matter how great our sin is or how we perceive somebody else's sin to be, understand the mercy of God is greater. It's greater. Paul was on his way to go murder more Christians when Jesus met him. Do you see the grace and the mercy of God? Don't be deceived to live this lifestyle. You can't call yourself a Christian. Some people in this room are saved today, who are walking with Jesus today because somebody had the courage to tell them, hey, you can't call yourself a Christian and live this lifestyle. You cannot. But listen, God is merciful, He is gracious, He will save you, He'll redeem you. Trust in Him. That's a hard conversation to have, isn't it? But this is what we call gospel ministry. This is not merely what pastors are called to do, what missionaries are called to do. This is what Christians are called to do, to spread the good news of the gospel. We must tell people the truth. Think of it. Every sinner, every person not following Jesus is potentially a future brother or sister in the Lord. Potentially. So we pursue them. We love them. We have to understand what a Christian is and what a Christian is not. And we have to understand the glory of the gospel. Look at verse 11. He says, These things are contrary to sound doctrine. And therefore, verse 11, they're contrary to the gospel. Sound doctrine in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. He's been entrusted with the gospel. Why is the gospel so glorious? Well, think about the law. The law demands that you be perfect, right? It demands that you be completely perfect. That if you want to try to get in, if you want to be on equal terms with God, on right terms with God, okay, be perfect. And oh, if you break one spot of the law, you're guilty of all of it. This is why Christ came. This is what we mean when we say that Jesus, the Son of God, came to fulfill the law on our behalf. Some of you remember being in school and a test was laid down on your desk, and you knew you were gonna bomb this test. We all have failed the test. And this is why God sent Jesus to get a perfect score on our behalf. And the good news of the gospel is Jesus is here saying, take my perfect score. You just have to receive it. My perfect score can be credited to your account if you will simply repent and believe in the gospel. That's the message. This is the gift of righteousness that God gives us as a gift. We can't earn righteousness, it's given as a gift. Jesus took your sins on the cross, and he took the penalty for your sins on the cross, and he died for them. That gift of receiving the righteousness of Christ, that sound doctrine, that affects your day-to-day life. So many Christians are walking around feeling this weight of guilt on their backs that you don't need to feel. That sin doesn't have to be punished twice. Jesus took it. You're free. For those in this room who haven't received Christ, that's the call of the gospel. Hope and joy. God offers you eternal life. He offers you forgiveness of sin, no matter how bad you think it is. He offers you forgiveness of sin and relationship with him if you will turn to him. Trusting in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sin. Submitting to Jesus as Lord. Call to Him to save you and He will. And for us who know Christ, for us who walk with Jesus, when we signed up to follow Jesus, we signed up to be in the school of Christ until the day we die. We signed up to be a disciple. A disciple, literally, the word disciple means a learner. We're learners. Lifelong learners. Are you seeking adamantly to learn more of God's truth every day? Are you drinking the pure water, the fresh water of sound doctrine every day? My question to you is where do you put that on your priority list? There is a lot across this room, there is a lot of very hard workers. There is a lot of very devoted people in this room. In most cases, the issue is not hard work, the issue is just priority. Are you devoted to growing in the knowledge of God and in the knowledge of his will every day? In this way, as we do that, we preserve the gospel. We learn the gospel. I have a challenge for you. For those in this room who feel uncomfortable sharing the gospel, practice sharing the gospel. Share the gospel, husbands and wives in this room. Share the gospel with each other face to face out loud this week. That's my challenge to you. Me and my wife are gonna do that this week. That's my challenge to you. Practice sharing the gospel. For you in this room who are not married, find a fellow Christian and share the gospel out loud. Practice sharing the gospel out loud. One of the reasons we as Christians don't share the gospel is because we don't feel confident sharing the gospel. And we don't feel confident in sharing the gospel because, truth be told, we don't prioritize getting confident and sharing the gospel. Learn it. Do you know it? Do you know it? Would you catch unsound teaching if it came across your screen this afternoon? I guarantee, as you study and feed on the word and even practice sharing the true gospel message, God's plan of salvation, not only are you going to be equipped to share the gospel, but you will be better equipped to preserve the gospel in this place. My heart for River Oak is that this would be a wellspring of fresh water, not just for 2026, but for years to come. We need to know the truth of the word in order to do that. Would y'all pray with me. Father, I thank you so much for the love that you have lavished upon us, even though we do not deserve it. I thank you, Lord, that not only have you given us your word, but you have made your word clear. That you have not spoken to us here in riddles, but you've made it so clear. Help us all by faith to trust in your word, to take you at your word and live by it. Father, I pray that you would equip us with the knowledge of your will, that you would help us be men and women who have our Bibles attached to our hips everywhere we go, who live by the word, who are like the Bereans, Lord, who tested everything with Scripture. Father, please help us by your grace. Think about what your word says. The aim of our charge is love. Help us, Lord, to be a loving people and to be a people who are unashamed about the truth of your word, knowing that it is life, that it is food to our souls. We give you this time. It's in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, we are glad you could join us this morning. We pray that this message speaks life into your walk with Jesus. If you don't have a home church, we'd love to see you in person. And don't forget to subscribe for all of our content.