BIBLE DOCTRINE

Text: I TIMOTHY 1:1-10



INTRODUCTION:

  1. You will note that in the passage we have just read, the apostle Paul uses the word “doctrine” twice (1:3, 10).
  2. In fact, the word “doctrine” or “doctrines” is found 17 times in the Pastoral Epistles (1:3, 10; 4:1, 6, 13, 16; 5:17; 6:1, 3; II Tim. 3:10, 16; 4:2, 3; Titus 1:9; 2:1, 7, 10).  If you add in similar terms, such as “wholesome words” and “sound words,” etc., there are 59 references to doctrine in the Pastoral Epistles.
  3. Doctrine simply means teaching based upon the Word of God.  Therefore, I have entitled this morning’s message, “Bible Doctrine.”
  4. The same Greek word translated “doctrine” is also translated as “teaching” in Romans 12:7, and “learning” in Romans 15:4.
  5. These words, translated “doctrine” or “teaching” are found more than 140 times in the NT.   This indicates the importance of Bible doctrine.
  6. Other words used to refer to doctrine are “the truth” (I Tim. 2:4), “the faith” (I Tim. 3:9; II Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:13), “wholesome words” (I Tim. 6:3), and “sound words” (II Tim. 1:13).

I. WE ARE TO ALLOW FOR “NO OTHER DOCTRINE.”

  1. We are living in a day and age when Bible doctrine is not considered all that important.  The average church member knows very little about Bible doctrine, and cares very little about Bible doctrine.
  2. But the apostle Paul told his young preacher friend Timothy, “that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (I Tim. 1:3).
  3. If a doctrine does not line up with the Bible we are to reject it.  Most churches today are weak and worldly with watered-down preaching.  And one of the big problems is they are abandoning Bible doctrine.
  4. “Fables and genealogies” (1:4) refer to fanciful stories and weird teachings.  Interestingly, genealogies occupy an important place in the Mormon cult.
  5. “Fables” (1:4) are popular in these strange and outlandish charismatic meetings (cf. I Tim. 4:7; Titus 1:14).  Preachers get up in the pulpit and tell strange and fantastical stories and dreams and most people do not seem to care that all of this is “contrary to sound doctrine” (cf. 1:10).
  6. Paul called these sort of weird teachings “endless” (I Tim. 1:3) because they lead to nowhere.  It is all very speculative and confusing and lead to no certain conclusions.  They provoke questionings and put doubts in peoples’ minds (1:4).
  7. On the other hand, good Bible doctrine leads to “godly edifying which is in faith” (1:4).
  8. “The commandment” (1:5) here is not the Ten Commandments but rather the charge given in verses 3 and 4.  This is not merely Paul’s charge to Timothy but rather the charge Timothy is to give to false teachers.
  9. Certain people complain when a preacher exposes false doctrine but this is one of his main responsibilities. Augustus Strong said, the preacher’s “chief intellectual qualification must be the power clearly and comprehensively to conceive, and accurately and powerfully to express, the truth.  He can be the agent of the Holy Spirit in converting and sanctifying men, only as he can wield ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’ (Eph. 6:17), or, in other language, only as he can impress truth upon the minds and consciences of his hearers.  Nothing more certainly nullifies his efforts than confusion and inconsistency in his statements of doctrine.  His object is to replace obscure and erroneous conceptions among his hearers by those which are correct and vivid."

 

II. SOUND DOCTRINE SHOULD RESULT IN GODLY LIVING (1:4; cf. 6:1-3; Titus 2:1-10).

  1. Christian employees should work hard for their employers.  I recall working for a company in Norfolk, Virginia.  One of my coworkers attended the same Bible college I did but he was such a goof-off that “the name of God and his doctrine” were “blasphemed” (I Tim. 6:1).  That fellow wound up dropping out of Bible college.
  2. When a professed Christian is a poor worker, his unsaved employer (and his coworkers as well) will conclude that Christians are no good, and that Christianity is not real.  My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
  3. I read that in the early days of Christianity, Christian servants commanded a higher price than unbelievers.  Thank God, this still holds true today in some places.
  4. I heard about a big employer who was asked, “How many people work for you?”  He replied, “Oh, about half of them!”  I wonder if some of those lazy employees were Christians?
  5. Let me emphasize that the primary function of a local NT church is to win people to Christ and then teach them Bible doctrine (Acts 2:41, 42; Matt. 28:18-20).
  6. And when a man gets saved and baptized, and he joins the church and learns Bible doctrine, it ought to make a big difference in the way he lives.
  7. I remember going out knocking on doors one night and I met a man who strongly criticized my church and said he personally knew that some members were impenitent adulterers.  I thought the man was crazy till I realized he was talking about a church across the street from us (on Jamaica Avenue).  That church did not teach sound doctrine (I Tim. 4:6, 13; 6:3; II Tim. 3:16; 4:2; Titus 1:9).
  8. The Bible warns us of those that are “carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14).
  9. It is not always easy but we must separate from those who teach false doctrine (Rom. 16:17).

 

III. THE LAST DAYS WILL BE CHARACTERIZED BY FALSE DOCTRINE (I TIM. 4:1; II TIM. 4:3).

  1. The Bible tells that the last days will be characterized by false doctrine, and that “seducing spirits” and “devils” will be behind all of this false doctrine (I Tim. 4:1).
  2. I am sure most of you have heard about this latest cloning story.  Listen to this article from yesterday’s NY Post:

    Claude Vorilhon, a French sportswriter, calls himself “Rael” and his followers are called “Raelians.”   He claims to have had six meetings with extraterrestrial space travelers, green creatures with long dark hair (they were probably demons or rock and roll singers).  One day Mr. Vorilhon was driving to work when he decided to stop off at a volcano. During his stop, he saw the flashing red light of a space ship, which opened its hatch to reveal these strange green extraterrestrials.  They invited him into their spaceship, and he was entertained by “voluptuous female robots and learned that the first human beings were created by aliens called Elohim, who cloned themselves.  These green aliens, who spoke fluent French, also instructed Mr. Vorilhon to start a new religious cult called the “Raelians.”  The Raelians are based in Canada where it is estimated that they have about 55,000 members.  They teach that cloning leads to reincarnation.  The woman who announced the birth of the new clone baby calls herself a bishop in this Raelian religion.  Her name is Brigitte Boisselier.

  3. This certainly fits the description of “doctrines of devils” (I Tim. 4:1).
  4. This cult teaches that the first human beings were created by aliens called Elohim. But the Bible says Elohim is a name for God (not space aliens), and God and God alone created Adam and Eve.
  5. “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).   “And the LORD God (Elohim) formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7).
  6. “And the LORD God (Elohim) caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God (Elohim) had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:21, 22).
  7. This strange new cult is demonic. Evolution is demonic.  Any religion that teaches doctrines contrary to the Bible is demonic (I Tim. 4:1-6).
  8. This cult promotes reincarnation.  But the Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
  9. We are living in the last days, when sinners refuse to listen to Bible doctrine (II Tim. 4:4).
  10. There are many Bible doctrines under attack today, and we do not have the time today to deal with them all.  And let me remind you that there is one doctrine we should be very clear on and that is the doctrine of salvation (cf. I Tim. 1:15; 2:5; II Tim. 1:9).

 

CONCLUSION:

  1. I have two main objectives this morning. First, it is for believers to seriously study Bible doctrine.  If you need help with this please speak to me after the service. Don’t be like your typical church member.

    ·        “What do you believe?”

    ·        “I believe what my church believes.”

    ·        “Yes, but what does your church believe?”

    ·        “They believe what I believe.”

  2. Most church members today do not know the Bible.  That is why we are seeing so many Baptists going off and joining other denominations; we are seeing many young people leave the church once they reach college age; we are seeing so many professed Christians getting entangled in false doctrine; and saddest of all – we are seeing much sin in churches, even fundamental churches.
  3. My second object is to explain to unsaved people that the Bible has the answer. The Bible teaches us about heaven and hell, sin and judgment, God and Satan, about Christ and antichrist, about the Battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ, etc.
  4. Unsaved friend: the Bible tells you how you can receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour.

Pastor James Barker
     

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