Practical Issues
Sound Doctrine
The Whole Counsel of God
Person of Jesus
In NT - 1 Timothy
In NT - Ephesians
In NT - 2 Timothy
Diverse Doctrines
Things Becoming Sound Doctrine
Sound Doctrine
by Graham Jones - The Church at Gun Hill"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Acts 2 v 42.
Sound Doctrine in the New Testament - II Timothy
Not Enduring Sound Doctrine
Now look at II Timothy 4 v 3, where it says: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears"So, said Paul to Timothy, in v. 2 of the same chapter, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine."
Paul foresaw the time coming when people would not endure sound doctrine. Who will not endure it? People in these last days, even people in churches, will not endure it. Many today will not put up with it. It is an embarrassment to their learned intellects; it is contrary to the will of the carnal mind. But the Scripture shows us the course they will take:
"After their own lusts 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." (vv 3/4)
The Greek word for fables is myths. That is the character of our days. Why, in our times, the great, so-called theologians, those particularly based in Germany, had the cheek to call the things in the Bible myths. I am so glad that Peter had, by the Holy Spirit, already set that record straight:
"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables (myths), when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty..."
Self-Dominated Society
Yes, they want teachers to teach them what they want to hear, things which pamper the flesh, things which the human mind can grasp. It is the character of the times in which we live. Turn back a chapter to II Timothy 3: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."There are going to be future problems as things get worse. But, in a self-dominated society, people will not be interested in what God wants to teach them. The time is coming when people will not endure, will not put up with, sound doctrine. Let us not get caught up in the current of the times in which we are living; do not let us start looking at things from the world's point of view and despise sound doctrine. People may urge us to 'pep' our lives up a bit; 'get this; get that; get the other!' is their cry. No, with all your getting get understanding. Get sound doctrine.
Only One Truth
In II John v 9, it says, "Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son."Let us abide in the doctrine of Christ. That is the doctrine of the Messiah, the anointed One. Then v. 10 warns us to have nothing to do with those who do not bring this doctrine. Can you tell me why, when the Word of God warns us to turn away from such people, that the churches today are so intent on compromising with them, with those that do not abide in the doctrine of Christ? Much of what is done in the name of church unity is embracing not only those who do not abide in the doctrine of Christ, embracing not only those that have erred from sound doctrine, but including those that are not of the Christian faith, not even nominally - Buddhists, Hindus and so on.
I can well remember the Queen's mentioning in one of her past Christmas Day speeches, that she loved to attend the multi-faith service in Westminster Abbey or wherever it was. You have heard the argument before: "We all worship one God, don't we?" No, we do not. Paul refers to God as 'the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' No Muslim would accept that as a description of his god. Our God is holy, separate from sinners but the Hindu Brahman is everything and everything is Brahman (demons included). That is not the one true God whom we worship, for He is Light and in Him is no darkness at all. The beliefs are quite different and it is wrong to try to make them the same. Are we called to be tolerant of doctrine that is not Christian or even opposed to Bible teaching? Is that the attitude the Scriptures tell us to adopt? The Scriptures we have just read certainly do not. We are told not to receive those that do not bring the doctrine of Christ nor to wish them God speed. There is one Truth and one God. There is one Way to God: that is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. The Bible tells of only one Name by which you must be saved and that is the name of Jesus. So when someone comes along and says that there are other ways of salvation, according perhaps to different cultural backgrounds, we can say they are wrong. Jesus, who died on the cross, is the only one that defeated death. He rose again, triumphant over all His foes. He is the One and only Way back to God. He is the one Way of eternal life. God demonstrated this to us in that He raised Him from the dead.
That is sound doctrine. How do we know that? Those early disciples and apostles witnessed it - but that is another topic for another time. There are enough people listening to this message today, who can say, "He lives, He lives, I know He lives; He lives within my heart."
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