again today. Hebrews chapter
13. And let me read two verses to you.
Verses 8 and 9. And here's the subject we're
going to try to deal with called strange doctrines. Taken right out of verse 9. Verse 8 says, Jesus Christ, Jesus
the Savior, Jesus, his Hebrew name, Jesus, who is the Christ. That's his Greek name. He's Messiah. He's the anointed of God, the
same yesterday and today and forever. Now here comes the admonition
to all who believe the gospel. He says, the inspired writer
says, be not carried away or about, be not carried about with
divers and what he calls strange doctrines. For it is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace, not with meats. which have not benefited or profited
them that have been occupied therein." In other words, it's
better to be established in the doctrine of grace and don't get
caught up in these dietary laws or rules of men that they would
put before you as to how you should live, be established in
the grace of God. Now, here at the very beginning
of chapter 13 verse 9, he says don't be carried away, don't
be blown about with all kinds of unusual doctrines that are
alien to the Word of God. unheard of doctrines, man-invented
beliefs. What does the word doctrines
mean? Doctrines means teachings, instructions. Don't be led about, don't be
blown about by these different kinds of beliefs and teachings
that you're going to hear. but rather be established in
the gospel of the Lord Jesus, for that gospel, just like our
Savior, it doesn't change. He's just said, Jesus, who is
the Christ, He's the same yesterday and today and forever. Truth
doesn't change because Him who is the truth doesn't change.
Let's don't be manipulated by others. They come to us and they have
new teachings, they have different teachings than those that are
set forth in the Word of God. And I know to the natural man,
new things are lots of times very attractive. And they perk
our curiosity. Well, I've never heard that before.
Preacher, tell me a little bit more. And a false preacher will
be glad to tell you a little bit more. But here's the admonition
to you and me. Let's be established and grounded
in grace. Because you see, grace, it doesn't
know any change. Somebody said if it's true, it
isn't new. And if it's new, it isn't true. If there comes someone who is
saying something different than other preachers are saying, or
something contrary to the Word of God, contrary to the person
of God and His attributes, something different from what our Lord
Jesus has said and that which is consistent with the Word of
God regarding His work. If someone comes in your life
and they say something different about the work of the Holy Spirit,
it's alien to this book. It's called one of the strange
doctrines. We're not to follow them. We're
not to listen to them. And if anybody comes to us and
they set forth a message that is inconsistent with the message
of grace. Grace. Don't let them blow you
about. Don't let them sway you. Be established. Let's take a stand. There are
several passages in the book of Hebrews where the writer says,
stand fast. Stand fast. Be immovable. Be steadfast. Don't let people
by their clever words, by their modern philosophy, by their new
ideas. Don't let them sway you. Think
for yourself. Go to the Word of God and see
if these things are so. You see, we do have a standard. There is a standard for what
we're to believe. And the standard is not, what
does the church confession of faith say? The standard is not,
what does our denomination believe? The standard is the Word of God. We have a yardstick by which
we measure every belief that happens to come forth from the
lips of men. All the teachings of men along
the lines of religion, we're to take them to the Word of God.
And he says, don't be carried about with all kinds of unusual,
different, alien, what he calls strange doctrines. Be grounded in grace. Grace started this salvation
business. Grace gave us to Christ Jesus
in covenant love. Grace sent the Savior. Grace
sent the Spirit of God to deal with us in regenerating life-giving
power. It's grace that salt us. It's grace that keeps us. It's
grace that preserves us. It's grace that will perfect
us. Don't be moved from grace. And if anybody comes along, no
matter who it is, who has a message that adds to grace, don't listen
to them. Be established in grace. Here's
the way it says over in Ephesians. Look at Ephesians chapter 4.
Let's be established in the Lord Jesus who doesn't change, and
His gospel that's just like Himself, it doesn't change either. Look
at Ephesians chapter 4. Look at verse 14. more like children. You know,
have you noticed the Word of God? There are occasions when
He tells us to be like children. Typically, children are not haughty,
they're not proud, they're not arrogant. Children are typically,
if they have a fuss, they get over it real quick. There are
some areas where we're to be like children. But let's don't
be like children on this. being tossed to and fro, and,
he says, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men, by the trickery of men, and their cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking, he says, the truth,
which is Singular. Once again, the words are used
here, carried about. The allusion here is to a ship
out on the ocean and no rudder. The wind blows and just takes
that ship wherever it wants to. In other words, it's the wind
that has the effect upon the ship. Now the wind is light. It is vanity. And that's the
way it is with false teachings. Light and vanity. And if you're
not anchored in the Word of God, if you're not established in
the grace of God, these winds They'll just blow you around. You know, who is it? Alexander
Hamilton, I think, is first one credited with saying something
like this, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for
anything. Peter Marshall also said that. And a bunch of other
people as well. Let's take a stand. But make
sure you take a stand for the truth. And there is one who is
the truth. And He is revealed in the Word.
And this gospel is all about Him. It's a message of His own
person. And His work of redemption. And
His salvation that He has finished. Let's be grounded in this. Let's
be anchored in this. Don't be blown about. Don't be
like, here's a ship out on the ocean without a rudder, without
an anchor, and the wind just blows it this way and then blows
it that way. It's at the mercy of the winds. The winds of this world are evil. There are false teachings out
here. They'll blow you all over the place. Drop your anchor in
the gospel of God's grace. Stand fast. Hold that dear which
has been committed to you. This salvation by the unchangeable
Savior who is the same yesterday and today and forever. And stand
fast in His gospel. It doesn't change either. It's
always been a message of grace. and sovereign grace. Go back to our text. Let me show you a word here. The word is doctrines. Be not
carried away with divers and strange doctrines, alien doctrines,
doctrines that are foreign to the Word of God, these doctrines,
doctrines. Wherever the word doctrines is found in the Word of God,
it's always used in a negative way. Always. You see, the gospel of our Lord
Jesus is one gospel and one doctrine. It's the gospel of God. You remember,
and I'm sure you do, in the book of Galatians chapter 1, the apostle
Paul says to the Galatian people, I'm shocked that you're moved
away from the gospel of God to another gospel, which is not
another. Because there's really just one
gospel, but they came in with other messages. There were additions
to the Gospel. You see, the Gospel, what is
the Gospel? It is the glad tidings of the
good news of the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross
of Calvary to God's satisfaction which resulted in the salvation
of His people. That's the Gospel. It's the good
news that everything God required of me, my substitute, has met. That's the good news. Be grounded
in that message. But there came others into the
church at Galatia. They added to that message. You
see, most of the time, that which is a false gospel, it doesn't
deny many of the facts of the real gospel, the true gospel. They're just additions to it.
And he said, I'm shocked. And he said, if anybody comes
preaching to you a Gospel other than the one I preached to you,
he says, let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. The Gospel
doesn't change. True doctrine doesn't change. You see, when it comes to the
religious teachings of men, they typically evolve. Did denominations change their
beliefs? We're kind of in the South here. Southern Baptist denomination. Did you know the Southern Baptist
denomination used to believe Sovereign Grace? Many years ago. Their theology was Bible-based,
sovereign grace. Their seminary, sovereign grace. James Pettigrew Boyce, who established
their seminary, a sovereign grace man. But that's changed. The domination
has changed. And churches have changed. But
I'll tell you what doesn't change. The Bible doesn't change. The Gospel doesn't change. The
Lord Jesus doesn't change. And this is what the inspired
writer is stressing here. He's the same yesterday, today,
forever, therefore His message doesn't change. The grace of
God doesn't change. He warns us about doctrines. Whenever you see the word doctrines
in the Bible, not singular but plural, it always has reference
to those things that are against the Word of God. Those things
that are contrary to the Scriptures, those things that are contrary
to the person and attributes of God. Those things that are
absolutely contrary to the person and work of the Lord Jesus, things
that are contrary to the work of the Spirit of God in salvation,
and contrary to the message of grace and grace alone. The Bible
always uses the plural form of doctrine. Doctrines! That describes the teachings
of men. Let me just show you a few passages real quick. Look
at Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15. And you can
go get you a concordance as easy as I can and look up the word
doctrines and you'll find that this is so. Matthew chapter 15. It's any message or A group of
messages contrary to the doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Matthew chapter 15. Our Lord
is speaking. The scribes and Pharisees, they
come to Him fussing about the disciples not eating with washed
hands. He says to them in verse 7, Matthew
15, 7, You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, they honoreth
me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. For in
vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men, that which
they set forth, that which they instructed people in. They were
the doctrines of, the laws of, the rules of, as he says here,
the commandments of men. Not of God. Here's another reference. Go
over to Colossians chapter 2. And look at verse 20. Colossians 2.20, wherefore if
ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances
which are a touch-not, taste-not, handle-not, which all are to
perish with the using after the commandments and the doctrines
of men? after the teachings of men. What
he's saying is there were men coming in laying before these
people rules, regulations, that if you want to be a real Christian,
that you abide by these rules. These are the doctrines of men. And the doctrines of men, that
instruction which comes forth from men, it's got to be polluted
because man himself is polluted. You see, we fell in Adam's transgression. The fountain is polluted. So
if I set forth a teaching that came out of my imagination, came
out of my heart, it's got to be polluted teaching. It's vain,
vain doctrines. It's the doctrines of men. And
the doctrines of men are always wrong because we're wrong. We're
wrong. I'll give you another reference.
1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4. Look at verse
1. 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse
1. Now the Spirit, the Spirit speaketh
expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Who's said to be the father of
lies? The devil is. And these doctrines
that the Spirit of God says in the latter days men shall be
teaching, they're the doctrines of devils who is the originator
of lies. So I'm not interested in these
doctrines. The Bible always uses the plural
form of doctrine to refer to that which is not according to
the Word of God. On the other hand, with very
few exceptions, the Bible uses the word doctrine to refer to
that which is the teaching of God. You see, the teaching of
God is one. It's unified. It's like a chain
with links. They're all linked together.
One. There's a unity to the Word of
God and a unity to the doctrine of the Word of God. Even as the
truth of God is one. Did not our Lord Jesus say, and
we've been studying this on Wednesday night, did not He say, I am the
way, the truth, the life, the truth? Definite article. In other words, that's the only
truth there is. He said you shall know the truth. The truth shall
set you free. He didn't say you shall know
the truths. Because there are many truths.
There's just one truth. And here's the truth. One way
to God. And that's Christ Jesus. That's
the truth. There's one way of salvation
by grace. That's the truth. There's one
way of acceptance with God. Through the bloody sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus. That's the truth. This is one
body, one collection of truth. They're not doctrines. They're
not the doctrines of men. They're not the doctrines of
devils. It's the truth of God. The truth of God. Do not we read
in the book of Ephesians, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one faith. That's one gospel. One message. One body of truth. The Lord says through Moses in
Deuteronomy 32 and verse 2, my doctrine, my doctrine shall fall
as the rain. Not my doctrines, but my doctrine. One truth. One body of truth. All of the things that pertain
to the gospel, it's all one. It's one message. It's the message
of God. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, my speech shall distill as the dew. Proverbs 4, verse
2, Solomon says, For I give you good doctrine. Not good doctrines. Because doctrines, they come
forth from men, and ultimately they come forth from devils.
But he says, I give you good doctrine. I have Ron read from Acts 2,
and it says of those who were converted, they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine. Not doctrines, but doctrine. And later in the book of Acts,
Acts 5, The religious leaders said to
Peter and John, didn't we command you that you should not teach
in this name? And behold, you filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine, with your doctrine, with your belief, with
your gospel, and your gospel doesn't leave room for these
other messages. What about what other people
believe? Why, you men make it out as though
there's only one message of truth. As though there's only one way
to God. And therefore you leave out all
other ways. The doctrine held by the apostles. That's the true doctrine. That's
the doctrine of God. In Romans chapter 6, Paul wrote,
he said, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin,
but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that
was delivered to you. I'm not preaching to you doctrines,
but doctrine. The doctrine of God. It's one
message. Go with me to the book of 2 Timothy.
You're pretty close by there. Look at 2 Timothy. Look at chapter 3 and verse 16. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and all Scripture is profitable for doctrine. What does the word
doctrine mean? Instruction. Teaching. I hear people say, I don't want
to hear doctrine. I just want to hear Jesus. Well,
that's really foolish. That's like Angelina's on the basketball
team. That's like the coach coming
out and saying, now, don't pay attention to the basketball.
Don't pay attention to the goal. Don't pay attention to these
lines. Just go out and play basketball. Well, you can't do that. You
can't do that. And listen, when it comes to
the things of God, if we're going to learn the things of God, we've
got to get in the book and then we'll find out there's just one
doctrine. You've got to pay attention to
doctrine. Oh, don't preach me doctrine, just preach me Jesus.
You can't preach Jesus without preaching His teachings. You
can't divorce the Lord Jesus from His instructions. You take
the words right out of the teacher's mouth. So all of the Scripture
of God is profitable for doctrine, for instruction. Go down in chapter
4. He says in verse 2, preach the
Word. Be instant, be urgent, be earnest,
in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long-suffering and doctrine. Doctrine. Don't indoctrinate
us, preacher. Oh, I hope God will indoctrinate
you. If He indoctrinates you, you'll
be established in the grace of God. You'll have your anchor
cast in that which holds you fast. Rather than being one of
those ships out on the ocean that every wind of foolishness
blows you around. Look at verse 3. For the time will come when they
will not end your sound doctrine. They won't end your sound doctrine.
But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears." You see, the doctrine of our
Lord is one. It's one. Let me give you one
other reference. Titus chapter 2. The book of
Titus chapter 2. I say one other reference, at
least one other at this point. I'll give you another one in
a minute. But I want you to look at this in Titus chapter 2. Look
at verse 9. Exhort servants to be obedient
unto their own masters and to please them well in all things,
not answering again, not prolonging, that is, not stealing or embezzling,
in other words, giving on his day's work for on his day's pay,
but showing or manifesting all fidelity, all dependability,
all faithfulness, that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our
Savior, in all things. Well, what is our message, pastor? The doctrine of God, our Savior. The doctrine of God, our Savior.
True doctrine is one. And our Savior, that is Christ
Jesus, is the only Savior. He is really and truly God who
is our Savior. Now let me give you this reference,
go to 2 John, and it's only one chapter in 2 John, but here's
an expression I want you to see and underline. We're talking
about doctrines versus doctrine. Doctrines versus doctrine. And I keep on hammering on this
nail, hope that it'll get through. Doctrines, the many teachings
of men, are ultimately the teachings of the devils. Because the doctrines
of men, the doctrine of devils, are lies. The doctrine of God
is singular. And I know people say, they've
said this to me before, I hear it debated on television, well,
you know, you've got to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely,
God makes exceptions for those who've never heard the name of
Jesus Christ. That's what people think. That's
what they say. There are no exceptions to this. And if God hadn't been pleased
to send the Gospel to remote areas of the world where He hasn't
been pleased to send it, that's His business. I'm thankful He
sent it to us. He could have bypassed us with
the truth. He could have sent it to the
heathens in Africa or the deepest part of Asia, China, other nations. But He sent it to us. He sent
it to us. By His grace, we've got the truth. And whether a man believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ, whether he ever hears the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's still responsible to God because the
heavens declare His glory. Ask some questions. How is this
world made? And I tell you what, you walk
in the light, whatever little bit of light God gives you, I
believe He gives you more light. Don't you believe that? I do
believe that. But He doesn't have to have you
hear the Gospel. He doesn't have to have you hear
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't have to ever expose
you to the one way of salvation through the substitutionary sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't have to expose you
to the Gospel. In the sovereignty of God, He
makes it so that there are people in this world who will never
see a Bible. They'll never see a Bible. They'll
never hear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll never hear
about the grace of God. You say, well, I don't know how
God can hold them accountable. I do. And I know why God condemned
them too, because they're His enemies. They're His enemies. They're alienated from God. They've
transgressed God's law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. They're guilty of transgressions
against God. And God says the wages of sin
is death, whether or not you've ever heard the gospel. And as
for us, we shouldn't be worried about what about those people
who never ever heard the truth. We better be worried about ourselves
who've heard it over and over again. And there are people in
our congregation, no doubt, and people who are watching, though
they've heard the message of grace and the message of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, they've become almost gospel hardened.
And the rain of God's mercies can fall on us in hearing about
His darling Son. And that salvation that's in
Him, that forgiveness of sins, that righteousness, and we hear
and we hear and we hear until we get to the point where it
doesn't even affect us. To whom much is given, much is
required. That's what the Scripture says. The true doctrine is singular. And look at this Scripture here
in 2 John 9. And if you want to put this true
doctrine into one phrase, right here it is. Whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ. doesn't have God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. The doctrine of Christ. Many years ago, the Lord burdened
me to preach the Gospel. And this was my burden to set
forth the doctrine of Christ. It's called the Doctrine of Christ
because it originated with Him. Is He not said to be the author
and the finisher of our faith? He's the one who started it.
He's the beginning of it. And He's the one the Gospel is
all about. It's the message of who He is
and what He did. What He did? Why did He come
to this earth? What was His reason for coming?
We believe at Christmas time, everybody says, well, He came
to earth. Why did He come? What's His purpose in coming?
Scripture says to save His people from their sins. We believe who He is, we believe
what He did, we believe why He did it, that God might be just
and holy and righteous and save us in a manner consistent with
His holiness. The doctrine of Christ. Every once in a while, I'll have
people who will say to me, not too often, And I'm thinking about
somebody back in Virginia. They tried our church. It's kind
of a funny way to put it, but they tried our church for a while.
And then they said, well, you just preach too much Christ and
Him crucified. And I said, well, you can just
put that on my tombstone. If I go to the grave being guilty
of that, then I confess I'm guilty. I want to be guilty of that.
But that's the doctrine of Christ. And when the Lord, He instructed
me in the gospel of God's grace, in the doctrine of Christ, I
committed myself to preach this doctrine of Christ. And through
the years, people have said, you preach too much Christ? You preach too much about substitution? You preach too much about the
satisfaction that Christ rendered to the Father on the cross of
Calvary? Well, I hear what people are saying.
A person told me, he said, I wish you'd do a study on false religions. I'd like to know what the Jehovah's
Witnesses believe, and the Mormons believe, and the Seventh-day
Adventists believe, and the Buddhists believe, etc., etc. Well, I understand
the desire to know some of these things. But let me tell you,
learning about error never saved anybody. Learning these doctrines
of men He never saved anybody. There's only one doctrine that
will do you any good everlastingly. And that's the doctrine of, as
we read in Titus, the doctrine of God our Savior, and as it
is here in 2 John, the doctrine of Christ. It's the only doctrine
that will do you any good. And you're going to the grave.
You're going to the grave and you're going to meet God. And
when you meet God, if you meet Him outside of Jesus Christ,
your blood's on your head. Because I have tried, as did
my predecessor, and as did his predecessor, we have endeavored
to set before you the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ. Because the true teaching of
God is one. It's one. Now, I'll give this to you quick.
I hear people say this, and I used to say it, and every once in
a while, I'll still slip and say it. I believe the doctrines
of grace. You've said that, I'm sure. Hey,
I believe the doctrines of grace. But actually, that's not the
right way to say it. It's the doctrine of grace. Because if we would be consistent
with the Word of God, doctrine is one. We typically say that the doctrine
of grace is five points. I disagree, I think it's six. We typically say I believe in
TULIP. I believe in STULIP. Because
it starts with the sovereignty of God. This has got to be established. Who is God? God is sovereign.
Of all the areas where God is attacked, where men hate what
we have to say about God, it's this area of His absolute sovereignty. But He does what He wants to.
And men can fuss. They can debate. They can argue
from now on. And they will. It won't change
a thing. God said, I'll do my purpose.
I'll do all my pleasure. Among the armies of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, none can stay his hand
or say unto him, what doest thou? We believe in the sovereignty
of God. We believe in total depravity, man's corruption. We believe
in unconditional election. God chose a people unto salvation. We believe in limited atonement. Christ died for His people. He
died for the elect. We believe in the irresistible
grace of God. The Spirit of God effectually
calls us to faith in the Lord Jesus. We believe in perseverance
of the saints. This is all one doctrine. And anything else that's inconsistent
with that one message of grace The doctrine of God our Savior,
the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, anything that isn't consistent
with that, strange doctrines. Strange doctrines. You say, well, how can a person
identify these strange doctrines? I'll tell you tonight. If you can't be back tonight,
listen on the Internet, watch on the Internet, or get the CD. This one doctrine of God our
Savior, the doctrine of Christ, this is the doctrine we want
to be founded and be grounded in this. Be established in grace. That's what the writer says there
in Hebrews 13.