WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:24.719 The psalmist says, God is our refuge and strength. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:30.640 He's a very present help in trouble. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:35.600 It's a description of your God that you are here to worship today. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.799 It's his character, it's his attributes. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:39.759 This is who he is. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.000 He is present, and he is a very present help. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.479 He is a refuge and his strength. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:51.520 Therefore, we will not fear. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:54.560 Even though the earth gives way. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:08.159 We will not fear, even though something extraordinary happens, like the mountains being moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.680 Isn't it wonderful to have that kind of a God? 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:22.959 Good reminder for us this morning as we gather together in light of the virus that is consuming our attention. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:36.239 And since it's consuming our attention, it would probably be a good idea to give all of you some insights and some direction as to how we as a church staff and leadership are thinking regarding this, especially as our gathering together. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:42.560 First, we want you to know that we are evaluating new information as it becomes available. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:50.079 We are staying in tune with the North Dakota Department of Health and our local uh health department and government. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.959 And so we're constantly monitoring the situation. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:02:00.319 But as of now, as of this moment, we are going to continue our regular gatherings until further notice. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.519 But as we as we gather together, we just ask you to use some common sense. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:08.800 You've probably heard all of these things multiple times already. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:10.479 Wash your hands. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.000 Wash your hands. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:17.120 We have some uh hand sanitizer around, so make use of that. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.199 We just ask you to use wisdom. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:21.599 If you're sick, please stay home. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.280 That's an okay thing to do. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.439 If your kids are sick, keep them home. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:26.639 That's okay. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:32.639 Uh as you as you come and you gather and you worship and you fellowship and greet one another. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:34.560 Wave. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.000 You you use an elbow bump or a fist bump. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.800 Uh I learned a new one this week, a toe tap. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:43.280 I hadn't heard that one before. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:51.439 Um we would encourage you to not shake hands for a while and not to give hugs or any other types of greetings that bring you into close contact. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:52.560 And uh we get it. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.360 It it feels a little stifling to some. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:08.240 Uh to the to introverts, it might be an encouragement and a wonderful thing, but we just want you to realize that is, at this present time, it's a way to show love to your neighbor. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:16.319 You know, somebody else might have a fear or an uncertainty, and you you might just be able to love them in a unique way by doing that. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.479 So we're going to keep monitoring the situation. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.840 We'll make appropriate adjustments as necessary. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:25.360 And when we do that, uh, we'll do our best to keep you informed. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:33.599 And as always, if you have a question or anything that you need to ask, feel free to call us up, call the office, and we'll do our best to answer that question. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.039 I wanted to leave you on that note with this from Martin Luther. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:41.280 Martin Luther wrote a letter to Dr. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.319 John Hess. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:47.680 And in the years and centuries since that point, it's been given a title. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:49.759 That letter has been given a title. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:55.919 And it's been entitled this Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.560 Whether one may flee from a deadly plague. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:04.879 And Luther himself endured uh plagues multiple times during his lifetime. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:06.240 So he's writing to Dr. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:06.879 John Hess. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:08.159 Here's what he wrote. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:12.639 I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:15.439 Then I shall fumigate. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:18.480 That's what he wrote. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:24.160 I shall help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:39.360 I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed, in order to not become contaminated and thus perhaps inflict and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:44.480 If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:51.920 And I have done what he has expected of me, and I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:58.480 If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:08.319 You see, this is such a God-fearing faith, because it is neither brash nor foolhardy, and does not tempt God. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:10.160 Amen. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.279 I think that's an appropriate word from Martin Luther. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:20.319 I'd like you to take your Bible or your device if you have one and make your way to the book of 1 Timothy. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.000 1 Timothy. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:26.240 Yes, we are going to make our way back to Matthew eventually. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:32.160 But in reality, this is an extension of what we have been looking at in Matthew. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:41.439 So we spent three weeks in Matthew chapter 6, the end of Matthew chapter 6, considering anxiety and worry and the Lord's commands to not do that. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.040 And this is really an extension of that in 1 Timothy chapter 1. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:55.439 And I would like to direct your attention to verses 3 through 5, but I'd like to read all the way through verse 7. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.160 So 1 Timothy chapter 1, beginning in verse 3. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:03.120 This is the Apostle Paul writing to his protege Timothy. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:24.720 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 stewardship from God that is by faith. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:33.040 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:48.639 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:49.920 Amen. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:07:06.000 You know, I think it is an element of sovereign grace that we were challenged to not worry and to not be anxious several weeks ago. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:14.240 Before any of the current concerns about the coronavirus really blew up and spread everywhere. 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:28.800 But I want you to know that even the last two weeks were an extension of those lessons. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:41.759 The base problem of sinful worry and anxiety, Jesus told us in Matthew 6, is little faith, small faith. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:47.759 Greater faith, he told us, leads to greater trust. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:08:02.000 And just as coffee will displace the air in your cup in the morning or afternoon, so too greater trust pushes out anxiety and worry. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:10.959 The path out of the pit of worry and the swamp of anxiety is through trust. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:19.439 And transformational trust begins with doctrine, with the teaching of God's revelation. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:23.759 Remember, Jesus showed us that in Matthew 6. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.399 He said, Do not be anxious. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.439 Instead, rest in doctrine. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:30.160 What did he do? 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:32.240 He told us, look at the doctrine of creation. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:33.759 Look at the birds. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:35.919 Look at the birds that flitter around. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.919 Yes, they survived our winter. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:39.039 Why? 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:42.960 Because God provided for them. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.200 He said, look at the wildflowers. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.840 Think about how they toil and they spin and yet they don't do anything. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:54.559 They just grow right where they are. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:59.759 Jesus said, look at creation, and you will find what it means to trust. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:08.240 We found that worry and anxiety began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to reject the word of God. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:16.399 They believed the teaching of that slithering serpent over God's word. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:24.240 They chose the dogma of the deceiver over the doctrine of the Creator. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.559 Sadly, Adam and Eve's sons have done the same thing ever since, haven't they? 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.080 That includes you and me, by the way. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.639 But God doesn't leave us without hope. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.240 He never does. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:45.279 He gives us a path to follow, to trust. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:50.399 Now, our path is not the yellow brick road that Dorothy followed in the Wizard of Oz. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:58.240 Our path out of worry and towards trust is in the revelation of God. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:03.759 We see the theology that God has placed in our world, in the creation that He's given us. 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:10.480 And then we hear and we read and we study the revelation of the mind of God and Scripture, and that truth begins to transform our minds. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:15.279 That's what Revelation chapter 12 teaches us, and we're going to look more at that next week. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:20.960 Those transformed minds by the word of God must then give direction to our hearts. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:29.200 And properly directed hearts, properly instructed hearts point our affections to God and to his word. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:51.279 You see, when doctrine aligns our minds and our heart and our affections so that we give proper instruction to our wills that make decisions, then life can be lived in trust rather than in anxiety. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.320 Consider the coronavirus fears. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:01.919 What reactions have you had in the last week? 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:04.320 Just think about yourself. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:08.159 Don't think about your neighbor, think about yourself, not your spouse, yourself. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.039 What reactions have been inside of you? 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:14.639 And ask yourself this question. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:27.759 As you have faced those reactions, are you then running to the Word of God to hear what He says to you, to remind yourself of what is true, and then reminding your heart again and again and again to trust Him? 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.840 Or are you rushing to listen to the latest hype so that your heart can be stirred up to anxiety? 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.039 Which is it? 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:45.360 My friends, continual, regular immersion in the Word of God is foundational to battling worry. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.279 It's foundational to all of life. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:54.879 That's why our focus here at faith is declaring the Word of God. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:57.679 That's where we begin. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:11:58.720 That's our focus. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:05.039 Now some might object, saying, you know, that's too narrow of a mindset for me. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:15.840 Some might say that focusing on the scriptures alone might lead us to fundamentalism or to legalism, even, to elevating knowledge and obedience over love. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:30.480 That's why Anton led us in looking at the church at Ephesus in Revelation, so that we might see that our doctrine must never be to the exclusion of our love. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:37.039 You know, the church at Ephesus had some of the greatest pastor teachers in the history of the church. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.039 They had the apostle John as their pastor for a long time. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.519 Nevertheless, that church departed from their first love. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:51.279 We must not pursue doctrine to the exclusion of love. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:58.320 If our doctrine is pure, but we have no love, what does the apostle say we are? 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:00.480 A noisy gong. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:02.399 You're just a bunch of noise. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:06.240 You want another picture? 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.039 We are like the Pharisees that Jesus chastised. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.159 Pharisees driven by worry and anxiety. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:18.320 And then Jeremy reminded us of the other extreme. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:26.720 We must not elevate our affections over our doctrine, because that leads us to compromise with the world. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:36.320 As disciples who are committed to the word of God, we cannot allow the heart and its affections to overrule the mind filled with the truth of God. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:43.200 Because when the heart affected by the world dominates the mind, compromise results. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:49.120 And compromise does not lead to obeying the greatest commandments. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:51.519 What did Jesus say? 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.679 When he was asked, Lord, what's the greatest commandment in the law? 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:56.799 What did he say? 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:03.039 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.200 And the second is like it love your neighbor as yourself. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.879 Friends, compromise doesn't lead to that kind of love. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.799 Doctrine and love go together. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.039 Doctrine and love function together. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:21.840 And when doctrine and love function together, they produce the peace of God. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:27.440 That's what Colossians chapter 3, verses 14, 15, maybe even 16 tell us. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:36.960 It tells us that the peace of God is to rule in our hearts and that our love is to extend upward to God and outward to one another. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:42.480 And that happens, he says, when the word of Christ dwells in you richly. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:51.360 He says the word of God needs to take residence inside of you, in every part of your being, so that it impacts every part of your house that you live in. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.120 And when that word of Christ dwells in you richly, guess what happens? 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.600 The peace of God begins to rule. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.879 That's the key to overcoming worry and anxiety. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:05.840 The scriptures must have their home in us, rule over us, filling our hearts and our minds. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:14.080 Someone might say, though, I'm tired of doctrine. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:21.279 I've heard the statement, you know, I I know all of this. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:23.200 I grew up in church. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:25.600 I don't need to keep hearing all of this. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.440 Somebody might say, I don't feel like I need to hear all of this doctrine and Bible stuff. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.759 Can I address that for a moment? 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:45.200 First, if if your problem is doctrine, get over it. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:47.519 Let it go. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:48.480 Get over it. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.080 I'm I'm serious. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:59.759 If you have a problem with doctrine, then you don't understand how vital doctrine is to your life. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.720 But even more, you don't understand what doctrine is. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:09.200 Doctrine is your lifeblood as a Christian. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:11.600 Everybody has a doctrine. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:13.759 Everybody has doctrine to which they hold. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.639 The only question is whether or not it's right doctrine. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.559 In and of itself, doctrine is simply a word that means teaching. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:25.519 That's all it means, it's teaching. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:27.120 That's all doctrine is. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:34.320 So when Paul tells Timothy, charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, it's different teaching. 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.399 That's all it is, is teaching. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:37.759 That's what the word means. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:43.600 And in the context of our Bibles, it's teaching, the revelation of God is found in Scripture. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.200 So if you don't want doctrine, then you don't want Scripture. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.919 If you don't want to hear doctrine, then you don't want to hear God speak to you. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:57.360 Now I know that's not really what you want because you're here today. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:01.759 So don't get all wrapped up about over the word doctrine. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:14.079 Now sometimes we we gather all that the Bible says about a particular subject, like creation or the Trinity or the study of mankind. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:20.640 And then we take all that scripture says and we compile it together in that subject area and we call that doctrine. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:22.240 Sometimes we do that. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:28.480 But doctrine is merely teaching what God has already revealed. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:30.079 That's all it is. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:42.480 What's referred to in verse 7 where he says, desiring to be teachers of the law, that word teachers, we could translate that. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.119 It'd be very odd, but we could translate it. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:46.400 Doctrinalizing. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:50.640 Those who desire to doctrinalize the law, who desire to teach. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:52.160 That's all it means. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.160 It's found in verse 10. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:58.720 Sound or healthy doctrine. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.519 It's just what God expects us to teach. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.319 So don't say that you don't want doctrine. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:09.920 Don't say that you don't like doctrine or that you don't want a church that doesn't focus on doctrine. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.559 Because what you're really saying is, I don't want the Bible. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.160 I don't want to hear what God says. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.480 I don't want to be taught the word of the living God. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:22.000 And again, I know that's not what you mean, but sometimes we say things that we don't really understand what we're saying. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:26.799 Put it another way. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:40.559 If you sincerely desire to overcome worry and anxiety in your life, then you need doctrine. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:52.480 If you do not want to be driven mad by every virus and plague that assaults mankind, then you need the teaching of the Word of God. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:19:02.559 If you sincerely desire to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and all of your strength, then you need doctrine. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.079 If you desire to love your neighbor as yourself, then you need doctrine. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:09.200 It is the lifeblood of a disciple of Jesus. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:18.880 And you need it because God has ordained doctrine, the teaching of his word, as the means by which he makes you more like Jesus. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.559 The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:38.319 And he wrote, We thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it really is the word of God, which is at work in you, believers. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:41.599 What is at work in you? 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:43.519 The word of God. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:47.599 Doctrine is at work in you. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:58.799 Colossians chapter 1, verse 28, contains the marching orders for the leaders of every church. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.319 I don't care what church it is. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:05.119 Contains the marching orders for every church, for the leaders of every church. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:21.359 And it tells us there that it is the obligation, the duty, the expectation of God that elders and pastors, even the elders and pastors of our church, of Faith Evangelical Free Church, that we work to present everyone under our care mature in Christ. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:32.319 Someday the Lord Jesus is going to receive all believers, and he's going to look to the elders and the pastors of every church, and he's saying, Did you work to prepare them to be mature for me? 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:36.799 That's why we have that as a goal in our in our vision statement. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:38.400 Yes, we declare the Word of God. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:39.119 Why do we do it? 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:43.359 We're doing it to bring to maturity everyone who's under our care. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:57.599 It's our duty one day to present all of you as mature disciples to the Lord Himself and His particular means of moving us to maturity is guess what? 00:20:58.400 --> 00:20:59.440 Doctrine. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:01.440 Teaching. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:07.119 What then must we do at our church? 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:12.079 If that is the goal that we have and the means that God accomplishes, that goal is to teach, then what must we do? 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:17.279 Listen to all of Colossians 1.28. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.400 Apostle Paul said, Him that is Christ, the Lord Jesus, him we proclaim. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:36.240 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching, doctrinalizing everyone with all wisdom that we might present everyone mature in Christ. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:39.519 Him we proclaim. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:46.160 Something will be proclaimed in every church, even if you're just hearing a five minute sermonette. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:48.079 Something will be taught. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:53.200 And if a church teaches, they're going to be teaching some kind of doctrine. 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:57.039 And there are only two kinds of proclamation, Jesus says. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.119 That was made clear to Timothy. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.440 Right teaching and there's different teaching. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.960 There's right doctrine and wrong doctrine. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:19.920 Timothy served the church at Ephesus, and the Apostle Paul sent him some instructions. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:28.000 I urge you, charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:34.559 The Apostle Paul's writing here as if he knows there are certain people in the church at Ephesus teaching a different doctrine. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:39.200 Timothy is to go to those people and charge them not to teach the different doctrine, right? 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:47.119 Right doctrine then leads to faith and love that comes from a pure heart. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:52.799 A different doctrine leads to speculation that does not have a proper object or a proper goal. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.000 Speculation does not lead to love. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:05.359 Shared perspectives that are not in line with the word of God do not lead to love. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:24.480 When right doctrine is adhered to by the mind, and the mind then instructs the heart to trust, and when the heart and the mind are ruled by the rightly divided word of God, the result is increased faith and greater trust lived out in love for God and others. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:30.079 Let me ask you, just an illustration of this. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.319 How do you know if your pastors and elders love you? 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:44.880 Some might say, well, they take care of me, they come to visit me in the hospital, or they check up on me to make sure I'm doing okay, or they pray for me. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:47.920 We might say all kinds of different practical elements. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:53.200 But all of those are subjective things that makes us feel good, feel like we're loved. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:24:01.440 How do you know in an objective way if your pastors and elders are working to present you mature to Christ the Great Shepherd? 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:03.920 How do you know? 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:09.359 I would submit to you there's only one objective way to know if your pastors and elders love you. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:29.440 You know they love you if they insist on and declare right teaching, right doctrine that has as its intended goal a love for God and others that flows like a stream from the spring of a purified heart, a clear conscience through obedience to his will in a non-hypocritical faith. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:42.400 You know pastors and elders are seeking to lead the church well if they insist on right doctrine, if they insist on the accurate expression of the word of God as the means by which God matures us. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:45.920 That's the only objective standard that we have. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.359 Look over at chapter 3 of 1 Timothy. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:53.920 Verse 14. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:57.759 1 Timothy 3, verse 14. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:01.440 I hope to come to you soon, Paul says. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:47.839 There's a standard of order, a pattern of functioning that must be found in any true church. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.359 There must be a standard and a pattern because the church doesn't belong to the people. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.160 It's not your church. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:01.119 It's not my church. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.160 It's not the elders' church. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:08.960 The church belongs to the living God. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.039 And he has established it as a pillar and a buttress of the truth. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:16.079 What's that mean? 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:19.599 Well, those are construction terms or engineering terms. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:24.240 Generally speaking, a pillar would hold up a roof. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:30.720 And a buttress would support a wall, often something built at an angle to support a wall. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:37.920 Both of those elements are engineering elements that function to hold up an object of great importance. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.000 Not much more important than truth, is there? 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.720 Not much more important than God's truth. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:55.680 And God determined that his church would be ordered in such a way as to be the standard of truth in his world. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:58.160 Let me put it in a different way. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:26:59.680 Let's put it negatively. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:02.240 Try to understand it in a different way. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:10.559 A church is failing in its purpose if it does not order itself around God's truth. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:17.599 It's failing, absolutely failing if it teaches another doctrine. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:23.440 A church is failing at its purpose if it doesn't promote right behavior. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:25.680 What's the proper behavior, we might ask? 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.000 Well, that goes all the way back to chapter one. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:35.680 Right behavior is right doctrine that leads to right love. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:39.920 Verses three and four. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:44.720 We see here that wrong doctrine leads to a misdirected devotion. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:47.519 I urged you. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:57.359 Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.440 The stewardship is definitive there. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.200 The stewardship that is from God, that is through faith. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:23.440 If we are to be a church with a proper love for God, loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, if we're to be a church that has a proper love for God that is expressed then outwardly in loving our neighbors, what must we teach? 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:27.039 Humanistic theology? 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:30.000 Moralism? 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:33.279 Psychotherapy? 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:36.880 Current fads and culture? 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:40.160 What about a combination of some of those ideologies? 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:42.799 Should we proclaim those and teach those? 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:56.400 If we teach or even encourage a different doctrine than what is found in the pages of Scripture, we are leading you away from Christ, not toward him. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:03.440 We would not be seeking to present you mature in Christ. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:09.440 Notice that the stewardship here is in opposition to speculations. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:13.039 Speculation is full of uncertainty. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:18.240 It's full of human wondering and emotion and self-focus. 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:21.440 It's an educated guess. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:25.279 A speculation is something that we don't know for sure. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:31.039 But a stewardship, on the other hand, is an ordered, revealed truth from the mind of God Himself. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:38.240 It's structured teaching that's laid out for God's children to know, to understand, to trust, and to follow. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:48.720 But it's the nature of Satan to convince people to accept and then follow and pursue false doctrine. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:50.559 False teaching. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:30:01.039 And he's so good at it that he even draws disciples away from genuine doctrine. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:03.519 That's true. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:06.480 Isn't that what he did with Eve in the very beginning? 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.559 A perfect human being. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:20.720 Without sin, able to think more clearly and more objectively than any other human being in history besides her husband. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:22.559 And what does she do? 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:24.880 She's drawn away, Adam was too. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:31.279 They were drawn away from what they knew to be true to what was twisted. 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:33.920 Satan promotes twisted things. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:37.279 God promotes orderly truth, proper doctrine. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:46.640 Now, 1 Timothy chapter 1 was a directive to Timothy at Ephesus to correct twisted teaching. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:51.519 Satan had invaded the church with twisted teaching. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:56.880 That's frightening if you think about it. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:06.640 Never assume that twisted satanic teaching isn't in the church. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.759 Never make that assumption. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:14.799 If it made it into Ephesus, it can make it into this church or any other church. 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:28.720 But the purpose of the church is to be a pillar and a buttress of the truth, not your truth, not my truth, not Satan's version of the truth, but God's truth. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:32.640 And God has given us his truth in his revelation. 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:42.160 Therefore, we must pay careful attention so that our devotion is not to some kind of speculative theories, but to Christ in his word. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:52.160 That's why Titus was told that an elder, in Titus chapter 1, verse 9, an elder must hold firmly to the trustworthy word as taught. 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:52.880 Why? 00:31:53.279 --> 00:32:04.079 So that he may be able to give instruction, he may be able to doctrinalize in healthy, sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:13.759 An elder's job, in part, is to ensure that the church remains a pillar and a buttress of the truth. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:24.720 But wrong teaching, different teaching, leads us not to Christ, but to some other misguided, misdirected devotion. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:29.440 However, right doctrine upholds the truth. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.160 Not only does it uphold the truth, it begins to change who we are because it's the teaching of Christ in his word. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:42.400 It begins to direct the mind, it begins to renew the mind and direct the mind as to how to think, what to think. 00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:53.440 The mind then begins to impact the heart, and the word of God purifies the heart, it cleanses our consciences, and it produces in us a faith and a trust in Christ that is genuine. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:55.759 That's verse 5. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:01.519 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:04.160 That sounds like a mature Christian, doesn't it? 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:19.119 Right doctrine that begins to impact our minds, that fills our minds so that it begins to change who we are from the inside out. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:37.599 Truth and teaching from the Word of God that begins to purify the heart, to make it cleanly, to cleanse it from impurities, that begins to make sure that the conscience is focused on Christ and not driven by guilt, and that then motivates our trust in Christ, that uplifts our faith. 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.240 Doesn't that sound like a mature Christian to you? 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:46.079 Takes us all the way back to Matthew, to Matthew 5, 6 and 7. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:54.880 Jesus told us that our righteousness must exceed, it must be greater than must go beyond the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, right? 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:56.480 That's what he told us. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:03.920 Those Pharisees held to a doctrine without proper love for God. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:09.440 Because they didn't have a proper love for God, they didn't have a proper love for others. 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:14.079 And Jesus called them a particular term. 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:24.880 He said, when you have doctrine that you hold to and you believe this and you say this, but you live out something different, you are a hypocrite. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:38.079 Interestingly, here in 1 Timothy 1, verse 5, at the very end of the verse where it talks about a sincere faith, that word sincere is literally non-hypocritical. 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:41.840 Non-hypocritical. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:54.480 A pursuit of right doctrine that commands the mind, that purifies the heart, that cleanses the conscience, and leads to trust is what Jesus has been telling us all along in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:34:54.960 --> 00:35:10.239 And the byproduct of that greater faith, of that surer trust in Christ, is that it begins to displace worry and anxiety with the truth of God. 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:18.320 Now there is an element of obedience and application that has to take place in each disciple. 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:21.840 That's what Philippians chapter 2, verse 12 emphasizes. 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:25.440 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:29.840 And that is then balanced by, for God is at work within you. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:34.639 How does God work in us so that we might work out our salvation? 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:36.480 How does God mature us? 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:43.039 Does he do that by telling us to share our own struggles and weaknesses and experiences? 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:44.239 No. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:50.719 The only thing he tells us to share with one another is confess your sins to one another. 00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:59.920 That may bring us encouragement if we share our weaknesses and our struggles. 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:02.639 But that is not how God matures us. 00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:07.920 God matures us through his word, through his truth, through his teaching, through doctrine. 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:13.039 And that's why right doctrine leads us to pure devotion. 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:15.920 The aim of our charge is love. 00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:17.679 Where does that love come from? 00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:20.239 A pure heart. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:28.480 There are generally three complaints that I hear about doctrine. 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:30.639 The first is that it's boring. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:34.239 The second is that it's not needed. 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:37.760 And the third is that it leads to legalism. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:46.079 If you object in some way to the term doctrine, it's likely going to fall into one of those three categories. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:37:05.119 If you first, if you find doctrine boring, that's either the fault of the teacher, the one teaching, or it's your own blindness to the beauty and glory of the one whose doctrine it is. 00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:17.039 If you believe that doctrine isn't needed, it's the second category, that we, you know, maybe maybe we just need love. 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:22.159 Or that we need to empathize more, or maybe we need more service. 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:24.800 Maybe you think you know enough already. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:31.840 If you think somehow that doctrine isn't needed, then you're going to have to cut out a chunk of your Bible and throw it away. 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:39.360 Because most of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and other passages of scripture are all about the need for doctrine. 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:45.760 For example, 2 Timothy chapter 4, Timothy is given a charge. 00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:56.000 I charge you, Paul says, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, proclaim, preach the word. 00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:59.360 Be ready, in season and out of season. 00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:09.760 Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and doctrine, teaching. 00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:15.199 How does Timothy fulfill the charge to him? 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:23.519 How does Timothy fulfill behaving properly in the household of God, which is the church of the living God? 00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:24.639 How does he do that? 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:31.280 By proclaiming the word in many different ways, by reproving, rebuking, exhorting, by having patience. 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:35.679 But he does that through instruction, through teaching the word of God. 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:51.119