Turn with me now, if you would,
to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. I have a message
this morning that I thoroughly enjoyed studying. I sincerely
enjoyed my time in the study of this. It was so confirming
to me in what I preach. It was just
so confirming, so eye-opening and such a blessing. I pray that
that's what it will be for you. I pray the Lord will give you
the same thing, that confirmation. Let's read a few verses here,
and then I'll tell you what we're going to look at. Verse 1, 1
Timothy 1 verse 1, it says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by
the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which
is our hope, unto Timothy, my own son in the faith, grace,
mercy, and peace. from God our Father and Jesus
Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still
at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest
charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give
heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather
than godly edifying which is in faith, So do. He said, as I instructed you,
Paul told Timothy, as I instructed you in what to preach to the
congregation there at Ephesus, so do. Preach that. Preach that. I'll never forget
when that was told to me by a dear man. Preach that. When you stand
up to preach, preach that right there. And that's what Paul told
Timothy. Preach that. He said, don't give
heed to fables. Don't pay any attention to false
stories. False sayings of man. There are
so many of them. If I started quoting them, you
would recognize them. Things men say. Well, now you
know. Here's one. God helps those who
help themselves. That's a fable. That's a fairy
tale. That's all it is. He said don't
give heed to any of that. Don't pay any attention to any
of that. Don't give heed to endless genealogies, pedigrees of man,
where they are from, who they can trace their line back to.
This is what Paul said. He said, I'm of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. And
he said, guess what? It's all dung. It's all dung. I throw it all
out. It doesn't matter where I'm from. He said all of that stuff just
brings confusion. And it does. It wears you out. It just wears you out. It just
brings confusion and not godly building up, which is in faith. Verse 4 says, Neither give heed
to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions, rather
than godly edifying, which is in faith. So here is the instruction
of God's Spirit. God's Spirit wrote all of this. All of this was inspired by the
Holy Spirit of God. And it was penned through God's
Apostle. It's of God's Spirit, through
God's Apostle, to God's preacher. He said at the end of verse three, teach no other doctrine. That's our subject. That's the
title of this. Doctrine means teaching. It means words. When people talk about doctrine,
they're saying teaching, words. Teach no other teaching. And to get to the point, what
he's saying is preach only what Christ preached. Why do we preach what we preach?
So many things out there. So many variations out there. So many just slight differences
out there. Why do we preach what we preach? It's because it's what Christ
preached. We preach what Christ preached. There are many teachings out
there that are contrary to what Christ preached. And being contrary
to what Christ preached makes them fables. Made up. My prayer, my sincere prayer,
I have great prayer for Kingsport. I believe I'm more encouraged
for Kingsport now than when I got here. And my prayer for these people
is that God will let them and us both let go of all of the
fables that have come to us over the years. All of this false
doctrine, this false teaching that, yeah, I'm confused on that
because this says this, but I've been told that. Maybe He'll allow
us and allow this city to not give heed to it. Everything that
is contrary to what Christ preached is a fable, and the commandment
to us is, stay away from it. Stay away from it. In Matthew
16, our Lord warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees. And they misunderstood what he
said when he told them that. They thought he was talking about
bread. And he explained to them, no,
I'm not talking about their bread. I'm talking about their doctrine.
I'm talking about their teaching. I'm talking about the preaching
of the Pharisees. Beware of what you spiritually
feed on. Beware. This is what he said. A little leaven, that's just
a little leaven. The rest is the same as the non-leavened
bread. A little leaven will leaven the
whole lump. It'll leaven the whole lump.
So there are many teachings out there that are nothing like the
doctrine that Christ taught. When our Lord first revealed
Himself to His apostles, He brought them into the temple and He preached
to them. That's the first thing He did.
He told all of them, follow me. And where did they go? Into the
temple and He preached to them. And they all said, what new doctrine
is this? That's what they all said when
He sat them down and preached to them. We've never heard teaching
like this before. We've heard a lot of doctrine,
but nothing like this. They said, this is with authority. Ephesians 4, 14 tells us to not
be children anymore, tossed to and fro, carried about with every
wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness
whereby they lie in wait to deceive. It says, but speak the truth
in love. Speak the truth in love. Stand firm on the truth. And
that truth is called the doctrine of Christ. That's what it's called. Our brother just read that for
us just a few moments ago. Look with me there, it's 2 John.
2 John. Verse 9 says, Whosoever transgresseth,
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any
unto you, and bring not this doctrine, Receive him not into
your house, neither bid him God speed. That's serious, isn't
it? That's our commandment, teach
no other doctrine. Preach only what Christ preached. Now we're about to see what Christ
preached. This is what was so interesting
to me. seeing physically what Christ
preached, paying attention to what Christ preached. If a man
wants to know how to become a preacher, and I would like to know that,
there's no better way to know than seeing what did Christ preach. We're going to see what His doctrine
was, and we're going to see it in this way. If you'll look with
me at John 18, John 18, our Lord is on trial
here. And it says in verse 19, the
high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and his doctrine. I wanted to know, what is your
doctrine? Jesus answered him, I speak openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple whether the Jews always resort, and in secret
have I said nothing. I haven't hid any of this. Why
askest thou me? Ask them which heard me what
I have said unto them. Behold, they know what I said. He said, you asked them, I told
them. You want to know what my doctrine is? Ask the people that
heard me. What he preached to the multitudes is recorded right
here in this word. And we're going to read and hopefully,
by God's grace, understand what he said to the people in a few
locations. All of these locations say His
doctrine, those two words, or some form of those two words.
They heard His doctrine, they were astonished by His doctrine.
This is how we will know this was His doctrine, alright? We're
going to read through these and when we get to the end of them,
we will have His outline. He said something, that was point
number one. Then he preached something else,
that was point number two. And then he preached something
else, that's point number three. Alright, we're just gonna see
what did he preach. We will see his outline, we will
see his doctrine, and then we'll be done. Look with me at Matthew
chapter seven. Matthew 7 ends what is called
the Sermon on the Mount. Our Lord preached a message that
is three chapters long, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7. And
it says in Matthew 7, verse 28, it came to pass when Jesus had
ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribes. What he said in this message
is his doctrine. And we're just going to read
a few verses here and there. I don't want to make this laborious. I don't want to weigh you down
with this. We'll just grab a couple of verses here and there as we
go. But look with me at Matthew 5, verse 2. It says, he opened his mouth
and taught them, saying, all right, he taught, this was his
teaching. He said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And
I'll go ahead and just tell us, this is Christ. This is Christ. He said, learn of me. He said, I'm meek. We are not meek. We would love
to be, but we're not like he was. He said, I'm lowly in heart. The lowliness that He exemplified
when He came all the way down. No man has ever condescended
like that. We would love to be these things,
but there is no example of this like Christ Himself. He hungers and thirsts after
righteousness. He does. I mean true righteousness. And he's filled. Verse seven says, blessed are
the merciful. There's no, no man is merciful
like he is. Verse eight says, blessed are
the pure in heart. That describes one man that ever
walked this earth. Blessed are the peacemakers. You talk about the peacemaker. They'll be called the children
of God. Oh, the son of God. What he declared right here was,
this is what holiness is. This is what perfection is. This is what God demands. This is what God is pleased with. And then He said in verse 21,
Matthew 5, 21, You've heard that it was said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger
of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
the judgment. He said, you think murder will send a man to hell?
Oh, it goes much deeper than that. He's saying, this is what sin
is. Let me tell you what sin is. It goes all the way into
the heart. I'll tell you what, here's what
everybody needs to do. This is what everybody needs to do. Just
stop sinning. All right? Stop sinning and you'll be okay.
You want to go to heaven, don't you? Doesn't everybody want to
go to heaven? Stop sinning. That's a fable. That's a lie. This is what sin is. Sin is not
in just what we do. Sin is in what we think. It's
in what we feel. It's in what we are. All we have
to do is breathe and we'll be completely consumed with sin. Eaten up with sin. He said perfection is a much
higher standard than any man or woman realizes. And sin goes
much deeper than any man or woman could possibly imagine. And then
he spent chapter six and seven saying things like this. Chapter
six, verse 27 says, which of you by taking thought can add
one cubit unto his stature? Chapter seven, verse 21, he said,
not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father,
which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have
cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. He's telling them, I'm the judge
that you're gonna stand before. And I'm the one that's gonna
say, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. What he's saying is, many believe
that they can accomplish perfection before God, but they can't. This was his doctrine. This was
his teaching. Man is full of sin. and will
never be able to accomplish perfection before God. Never, not on his
own. Look with me now at Matthew 22. The Pharisees came to our Lord
and they asked him a very foolish question about the resurrection. And our Lord answered them in
verse 31, Matthew 22, verse 31. He said, as touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you
by God saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. And when the multitude heard
this, they were astonished at his doctrine. What he said to
them was, I must and I will give life. God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they're
not dead. They're alive and well. That's
what he said to them. They're alive and well. In saying that, he told them,
I came to give life. Man is sinful and he'll never
be able to accomplish the perfection that God demands to grant eternal
life to a soul. He said, that's why I came. I
came to give life. I came to accomplish that perfection. And to put away all of that imperfection. And I must do it. And I will
do it. I will redeem and I will regenerate. I'll quicken back to life. I'm
not the God of the dead. I'm the God of the living. Alright,
look with me at Mark chapter 4. Mark 4, verse 2, it says, And
he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them
in his doctrine, Hearken, behold, there went out a sower to sow. And you've heard the parable
of the sower. You know that parable. A sower sowed seed. Some fell
by the wayside, some fell on stony ground, some fell among
thorns, but some fell among good ground, ground made ready, tilled,
broken. And it received the seed and
fruit sprang up out of the ground. After he finished telling that
parable, his disciples came to him and they said, Lord, what
does that mean? He said in verse 14 right here,
the sower soweth the Word. The sower is the preacher. The
seed is the Word of God itself. And although the preacher may
preach to some deaf ears, he said, I'm going to make some
ears ready to hear. Some ears are going to hear the
word. They're going to receive the
word. And they're going to bear the
fruit of the word. And this is what he was saying
in all that. I am going to give life to all those that I have
prepared to receive life. And I'm going to do it through
the sowing of My Word, through the preaching of My Word. Some really have a problem with
that. But that was Christ's doctrine. That was His teaching. It pleased
Him by the foolishness of preaching to quicken them, save them that
believe. That's the teaching He taught.
He said, man is completely sinful and will never of his own ability
be able to attain the perfection that God demands. In this flesh,
all man can do is remain dead in his trespasses and sins. So
I have come to give life. And it has pleased me to give
that life and apply that life through the sowing of my word.
My spirit will take the word and it will plant it in the heart
of every soul that I've purposed to receive it. Look with me now
at Mark 11. Mark 11 verse 15, it says, And
they come to Jerusalem, and Jesus went into the temple, and began
to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of them that sold
doves, and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel
through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them,
Is it not written, my house shall be called of all nations the
house of prayer? But you have made it a den of
thieves. And the scribes and chief priests
heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared
him because all the people was astonished at his doctrine."
In that, this is what he was saying. I am going to purge all
of your religion. all of your self-righteous works,
you're not going to carry anything through my temple. It is also all going to be counted
dung. It's going to be cast out. You're
going to see my work. You're going to see my sacrifice
to be the only payment that will save you. You're going to cry
out for it in prayer. You're going to cry out for mercy. You're going to cry out to me.
My house will never be a house of man's works. It's a house of prayer for mercy.
I'm going to bring that humility. I'm going to bring that lowliness
and that meekness to all of my people. And this is what they're
all going to cry. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. He said in chapter 12 right here,
verse 38, beware of the scribes which love to go in long clothing
and love salutations in the marketplaces and the chief seats in the synagogues
and the uppermost rooms at feasts which devour widows' houses and
for a pretense make long prayers. These shall receive the greater
damnation. That's what he said in his doctrine.
Beware of that. I'm gonna give you a right mind.
I'm gonna give you a new mind. One that sees the error of the
worship of man. I'm going to give you new ears
to hear all of the difference in the shepherd's voice and the
hireling's voice. And I'm going to give you that
new heart. And I'm going to turn you from all of that to following
me. And when I turn you to following
me, this is what you're going to see. Go with me to Luke 4. Now, I was going to read quite
a bit of this, and for the sake of time, I'm not going to do
it. Our Lord went into the temple, and they gave Him the Word of
God to read it. And He said, in verse... Verse 18, verse 17, it says,
they handed him the book of Isaiah. When he opened the book, he found
the place where it was written, and verse 18 says, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. Can you just imagine Christ preaching
the gospel to His poor people? Can you imagine Christ preaching
the gospel? We say, this is what we say,
in whatever ability He'll give us, we say these critical words,
these eternal words. These are eternal things. We're dealing in eternal things.
And we stand up here and we say, He came to put away your sin. That's what we say. He said,
I came. to put away your sin. The Son
of Man has come. That's what he said, I came.
He said right here, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. I came to take your sin upon
myself. I came to put your sin in me. This is why I came. I came to gather up all of your
sin and put it inside me. I came
to bear all of your sin before the judge. I came to suffer on the tree.
I came to suffer for you." This is what he said. This was the
good news. He said, I will suffer for you. You're going to watch me go to
a cross. And you're going to see me suffer."
And to some right here, he told them, he said, just in a few
down here, you're going to mock me and this is what you're going
to say, save yourself. He said, that's what you're going to say.
He said, here's the good news. If I'm going to save you, I can't
save myself. And you're going to watch me
suffer. And you're going to watch them do things to me that are
unimaginable. And you're going to see me horribly disfigured
like a man has never been seen. I'm doing that for you. He said in verse 18, the spirit
of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted. He sent me to preach deliverance
to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord." And they got mad at him because he went on down
and told them, I'm only doing this for my elect people. He
said, there were many lepers in that day, but only one was
cleansed, Naaman. And they got mad, they were astonished
at his doctrine. But he said, I'm going to accomplish
this for every soul my father gave to me. Even if it's only
one in the city, I'll get him. None will be lost. Now go to
one more place, go to John 7. John 7 verse 14, Now about the midst of the feast,
Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled,
saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them and said,
My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man
will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be
of God or whether I speak of myself." What is the will of
the Father? Believe Christ. Believe His teaching. Believe His doctrine. This is
what I have to say and what the Word has to say to any person
who struggles with this right here. I know that's what this
says. But I've been told all my life, believe Christ. Believe Christ. If that's what Christ said, believe
Christ. Don't believe me, don't believe
any other man. Believe Christ. Hear His teaching. Believe His doctrine. And if
God ever gives a sinner the ability to believe Christ, that sinner
will know. The Spirit will convince the
sinner, this is the truth. He'll know, this is the truth.
This is the truth. His doctrine is the truth, and
here it is. God demands perfection. But man has fallen into sin.
Many believe that they can accomplish perfection, but they can't. All
they can do is remain dead in their sins. So Christ must accomplish
it for them. And He has accomplished it for
them. He has by His own death already
secured life for His people. And He is going to apply that
life. He's going to notify of that
life and quicken His people to that life through the preaching
of His Word. When He does that, when it comes
and that quickening comes, it will turn His people, it will
purge them from all their false religion and all of their self-righteous
works, and it will turn them to the finished work of the cross
of Christ. He will do this for all of His
people. None of them will be lost. Not
one soul. He'll save to the uttermost.
And peace and joy and rest will come to the heart of every single
one of them, because they will know this is the truth. They'll rest in the truth, which
is a person. They will completely rest in Christ their Savior.
Paul said, Timothy, don't let anything else be preached from
the pulpit there in Ephesus. When you get to Ephesus, you
don't let anything else be preached. May that be the case here. May
that be so with us. All right, let's all stand together.