Alright if you'd like to follow
along I'm going to be in the first epistle to Timothy Chapter
1 1st Timothy chapter 1 I'm going to begin reading in verse 1 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. I'm gonna stop right there. This is Paul's letter to Timothy,
a younger preacher. Now, this is his instructions
to Timothy here. Throughout the book of Timothy
you will find instructions for pastor teachers a lot of instructions
But I want to concentrate right here on his first instruction
written to Timothy in verse 3 This is the first instruction
given by the Apostle Paul to Timothy at Ephesus where he left
him on purpose and that instruction is this. Teach no other doctrine. That's my title, Paul. Teach
no other doctrine. Uh-oh. Are y'all gonna be talking
about doctrine again? Yes, we are. Yes, I am. Paul wrote this to Timothy. This
is the first thing he told him. So I'm assuming that it's probably
the most important, and everything else will lead from this one
statement right here, and it does. What Paul wrote to Timothy is
just as true today as it was 2,000 years ago, because men
haven't changed. Except for maybe evil men and
seducers are waxing worse and worse. The truth of God. in the face of Jesus Christ today
is distorted, dismissed, and discarded for the doctrine of
men. And that's just the God's honest
truth. You understand, Paul was worried
about this 2,000 years ago. He was worried that people were
teaching some other doctrine. And I'll say it this way, which
is not another. At best, it's a perversion of
the doctrine of Christ. At worst, it's just outright
heresy, blasphemy. Just as the evolution of man
is a lie, the so-called evolution of religion, we're interpreting
religion better than it's ever been interpreted before. That's
a lie. That's a lie. You understand
the gospel today is the same gospel that Moses preached. The
gospel today is the same gospel Noah preached for 120 years and
nobody listened except his family. Eight souls were saved. Where? In the ark. In the ark. What
did God tell him? He said, come in the ark. Guess
what? God was in the ark. He didn't
say go in the ark and I'm gonna protect you from the outside.
No, you're gonna be in me. You know what that is? That's
the gospel, folks. That's the good news. Paul's
gospel is the gospel of Christ. And whatever we preach today
needs to be according to this doctrine. The true doctrine. Now he started off, I'm not gonna
keep you long this morning. But he started off with this
salutation. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the commandment of God our Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ,
which is our hope, unto Timothy. Now doesn't that sort of seem
like Timothy and him had been running around? He picked Timothy
to come with him. And they had been going different
places and had been preaching in different places. They had
been traveling together. So to be honest, it seems sort
of like kind of a formal salutation here that Paul's given to maybe
a bit stiff, but I think there's a reason why. Timothy knew full
well Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. They had talked about
that, I guarantee you. Timothy knew full well that Paul
had been sent, Paul left him there in Ephesus while he went
to Macedonia. They've been together, they've
been talking and traveling and preaching. But Timothy had been
left at Ephesus for a reason, for a purpose. And the Apostle
Paul, I figure he would have told Timothy this before he left,
but he wrote Timothy this letter. You understand back in those
days, letters from the Apostle Paul and from others were a big
thing, a big deal. These letters were copied and
read and transmitted. That's how we have this book. Peter went so far as to talk
about Paul's letters as being scripture and he meant it. So I think Paul wrote this way,
and it may be very well that Paul wrote this way to everyone.
I don't know. He did have formal schooling.
He was taught at the feet of Gamaliel. But I'm pretty sure
he knew exactly what was gonna happen. This letter, Timothy
was addressed. This letter was addressed to
Timothy. He was gonna get it, but he was gonna let other people
read it. And Paul told Timothy flat out in the first three verses
here, listen, I want you Timothy To make sure that some teach
no other doctrine Other people read this letter
and guess what? Whatever Timothy did while he
was at Ephesus about this He was doing exactly what he was
told to do by the Apostle Paul The apostle of Jesus Christ,
the apostle to the Gentiles told me to tell you this, don't teach
any other doctrine. Don't teach any other doctrine.
If you don't get through the rest of the letter, you're gonna
get that much. Paul wanted to be sure that everyone
knew that he approved of Timothy and what Timothy was to do. Timothy
was not acting on his own initiative. He was not there to straighten
people out. He was doing what the Apostle Paul told him to
do. To what? To uphold the doctrine of Jesus
Christ. These letters were cherished
and saved and distributed. The doctrines that Paul wrote
were studied and compared with the Old Testament scriptures.
Paul gave them references to the Old Testament scriptures
in his epistles. Anyone who read this letter knew that Timothy
was doing what Paul told him to do. What is it they always say now
on TV? With the express written consent of the Apostle Paul.
And what was that thing? I already told you, four words.
Teach no other doctrine. Now this statement by Paul includes
several things. The first thing I want to tell
you is there is to be teaching. It's to be, there's to be teaching.
First Timothy three and verse two. Talking about a bishop, well
verse one, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of
a bishop, a pastor, an elder, he desireth a good work. Then
the description. A bishop then must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given
to hospitality, apt to teach. Not given to wine, no striker,
nor greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetousness. One that rules well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man
know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care
of the church of God? Not a novice. Lest being lifted
up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. But
here's what I want to point out. Apt to teach. Now, The word ap, to teach, is
actually one Greek word. And what it means is the person,
a bishop, needs to be instructive. Needs to be able to instruct.
You understand, we're not just coming up here and gabbling words. We're to have a message to preach.
Now Jesus Christ is our message, I'll get into that. But I just
want to point this out. The bishop is supposed to be
a pastor teacher. One job, two terms. That's what an elder is, a pastor
teacher. That's what a bishop is. I have
known some in times past who couldn't teach. And I'm being
kind, folks. Walter's heard some of them,
I know. I mean, you understand, if you cannot teach, you're not
to be a bishop. And these people could not teach.
And I mean, seriously, they were incapable of it. I sat there
and I listened to them, and more than once. And when they tried
to teach, they messed it all up. Now, first of all, I can
tell you one reason I know why, easily, okay? They didn't know
this doctrine. Do you understand? If you don't
know the doctrine, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of God,
the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can't teach it. There's no way,
except by accident or quoting scripture. And these people couldn't
even do quite that right. I mean, I know they had other
problems too, But their biggest problem was this, they didn't
know the doctrine of Christ. And it became very evident whenever
they would try to preach and to teach, it became very clear. Because here's the other point,
let's be clear, where Paul says teach no other doctrine, there
is only one doctrine. And that is the doctrine of Jesus
Christ. Jesus answered them and said, this is in John 17, verse
16 and 17, I'll tell you this. Jesus answered them and said,
my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man
will do his will, the will of him who sent him, the father,
he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether
I speak of myself. You understand? The Father, the
Son, and the Spirit agree on this doctrine. There's only one
doctrine. You look through all the scripture
if you want to. You can look through the New Testament and
the teachings of Jesus Christ. The only time the word doctrine
is used plurally is when it talks about doctrines, plural, of devils. There's only one doctrine. And
that doctrine is the doctrine of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ
said, guess what? It's the doctrine of God the
Father. Jesus Christ said this at his
ministry. He said, I am. And the Jews took up stones to
stone him. Why? Because thou being a man makest
yourself God. What they didn't know is they
were exactly wrong and exactly right at the same time. He wasn't
making himself God, he was God. He is God. And that's what he
was saying. He said, I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. He also told the sisters of Lazarus,
I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe that? He that
liveth and believeth in Jesus Christ shall never die. You understand what that is?
That's the doctrine of Christ. I am the good shepherd. I've
got sheep, and they're mine. And they're gonna follow me.
A stranger, they're not gonna follow. You understand? This is the doctrine of Christ,
and it's only one doctrine. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father except
by me. Now believest thou that? That's the doctrine of Jesus
Christ. He is not only the truth and the life, he's the way. There is no other way to God.
He talked about it one time, there's a broad way And there's
many on it. There's many on it. But straight
is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to eternal life.
That broad way is going somewhere. It's a way, but it's not the
way. That broad way is going somewhere.
It's headed straight for destruction. And all those that are on it
are headed straight for destruction. but narrows the way, straight
is the gate, and few there be that find it. How do you find
that gate? Well, I am the way. I am the
truth and I am the light. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. That's what he said. Paul wrote to the Galatians,
said if any man or angel preach any other gospel, let him be
accursed. And then what else? He repeated
it again. If any man preach any other gospel,
what? Any other doctrine, let him be
accursed. Let him be accursed. Paul wrote
to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 2, for I determined
to know nothing among you, not know anything among you, save
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Now that entails a whole lot
more than just the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That includes I am the way, the
truth, and the life. That includes I am the resurrection
and the life. That includes ye must be born
again. That includes he that heareth
the voice of the Son of God shall live. That's Jesus Christ in him crucified.
Because in Jesus Christ in him crucified, we have his, not only
his life, his perfect, clean life, we have his satisfactory,
substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection being accepted
of God. And his ascension into heaven.
For that cause, this crucifixion, I came into the world. But you
can't forget everything that come before it, and you can't
forget everything that come after it. It's all together one doctrine. And Paul told Timothy here to
tell some to teach no other doctrine. Now let's be clear, Paul had
his reasons for this instruction, and he had his reasons for this
warning. Ephesus was a tough place. This
is where you can read back in Acts. When Paul went there, the idol makers, the silversmiths
were after him. And this is where a fellow named
Alexander stood up and was going to speak. When they realized
he was a Jew, they started that chant. Great is Diana, goddess
of the Ephesians. Great is Diana, goddess of the
Ephesians. They did that, they chanted that
for over two hours. You understand? That's dedication,
Walter. That's sincerity. That's a faith. It's an errant faith. It's a
faith of nothing but error, but you understand, this is where
Paul was at, and this is where he left Timothy. And I can tell
you this right now. Back in those days, the whole
city was chanting, great is Diana, goddess of the Ephesians, for
over two hours. You know what's standing over there now? You
can go up on Google and see a picture of it, because I have. The temple
of Diana at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world.
It was a monster. It was huge, it was beautiful,
and it was decorated, and it was all wonderful gaudy, I'm
sure. You know what's standing right
now? There's one pillar in a pond. It's a big old pillar, but that's
all that's left of one of the seven wonders of the world. And
you know what we're doing? We're reading the words of that
man that was being protested against back in those days. You
understand, God will provide, God will preserve, and God will
persevere. But that's what Ephesus was in
Paul's day. Then when he met with the Ephesian
elders the last time, he was at Miletus and he said, for the
Ephesian elders, the people from Ephesus, what'd he tell them?
What did he tell him? I didn't shun to teach you the
whole counsel of God. I've told you everything I know
about one doctrine. Teach this one doctrine. And
he said, watch out. They're going to be coming from
without, and they're going to be coming from within. Sheeps, no, wolves in sheep's
clothing, and they'll tear down everything we've tried to build
if they can. That's what he's telling Timothy
here. That thou mightest charge some that they teach no other
doctrine. Because that is what men want
to do. And that is what those with itching
ears want their men to do. They want their ears scratched
by the man. This place was rampant paganism,
but that's not what Paul was telling Timothy to work on. Paul's telling Timothy to watch
out for those teaching any other doctrine to believers. It comes
from within as well as from without. What do you tell him? Don't add
to the doctrine. Don't take away from the doctrine. and don't change the doctrine
of Jesus Christ. Because Christ Jesus is the overall
theme of the doctrine and the center of the doctrine and the
message of the doctrine. I'm determined to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Don't teach about free will,
teach about his will. You can teach election. But you
can teach election only as a doctrine of grace. The election of grace. Not an election of what you would
do or what I would do. It's an election of grace or
it's not his election. Not of the doctrine. You can
teach salvation. The salvation of sinners. Oh
wait a minute, here. This one I heard Henry say the
other day. and it just kind of struck me. Where was it? It's in Psalms
37. I'm bouncing all over it here. Talking about sticky pages, Walter
and I haven't got anything on this Bible yet. Psalms 37 and
verse 39. You wanna hear the doctrine?
It says this. but the salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in time
of trouble and the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He
shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust
in him. And part of what got me is when
it says, you know, that verse in Jonah, salvation is of the
Lord. And here it says what? The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. Wait a minute, I thought there
was none righteous. No, not one. That's exactly right. The only righteousness there
is is in Jesus Christ the righteous. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He's the one that makes them
righteous. He's the one that clothes them
in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. for they're not righteous
at all. And it says, Timothy told Timothy,
neither give heed to fables or endless genealogies which minister
questions rather than godly edifying. Godly edifying which is in faith,
so do the fables of men, the endless genealogies of men. There are people who get tied
up, and who's the son of a Baptist preacher, the Baptist preacher
baptized by a Baptist preacher, who was baptized by a Baptist
preacher, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. You understand? I like reading
some of this stuff from the old writers about the Bible. But you understand this. This
right here, right now, is all we have. And this right now,
is where we are. Who your father was, who your
mother was, who your grandfather, your great-grandfather, great-grandfather,
and all this, who baptized your preacher, who baptized you, doesn't
matter if you don't know Christ. But people get caught up in this
sort of thing. And when you start talking about fables, the biggest
one of all you start with is free will. And I'm not going
into it, but it's a lie. You understand, my will is not
free. My will is bound to my sinful heart. Out of the mouth, I speak. But why? Out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaks. If your hearts are desperately
wicked, guess what? You're desperately wicked. And so's your will. So's your will. Health and wealth,
that's a lie. Jehovah without Jesus Christ,
that's a lie. That's a fable. Jesus only, that's
a lie. That's a fable. Sinless perfection after God
saves you, that's a fable. It ain't possible. I'm sorry,
folks. The old nature's just as real as the new nature. and
it's still in here. There was a fella, and I wrote
this down, I found it 12 years ago, I wrote this down. I ain't
gonna tell you his name, but his initials are Charles Stanley.
He wrote, he said on his program, I wrote it down. And this surprised
me, well it really did. He said, the new nature means
that you can live godly and you can live holy. And he gave an
example. He said, you say to me, pastor,
I sin every day. And I say to you, you don't have
to. That's what he said. I sin every day. I don't want
to, Walter, but I do sin every day and I can't stop it. My only hope is not that I can
stop it. My only hope is Jesus Christ.
And that's the doctrine. If he's not your only hope, if
he's not all your hope, you don't know the doctrine. Because he
is the way, the truth, and the very life itself that he gives. When he says, the dead hear the
voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live, they are
living by the power and by the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or they're not alive at all.
That's the doctrine. Anything else is another doctrine.
Anything else is no doctrine at all. Because if Jesus Christ
is not the theme, the center, and the message of your doctrine,
you don't have any doctrine. Because he is all. I read it
last week. He's the creator of all things,
and they were made by him and for him, they were made. And
by him, what? It all consists. There is no
other doctrine. There is no other gospel. There's
only one message, and that message is this. Jesus Christ is all. He is all power, all might, all
honor, all glory, all love, all grace, all salvation, and he
is all truth. Because Jesus Christ is the doctrine. And what Paul tell Timothy, I'll
tell us. Teach no other doctrine. Because
our Lord Jesus Christ is all. Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time, this place. Thank you, Lord. Bless us, Lord, with your presence.
Bless us, Lord, with your words as Walter comes to preach to
us. Your gospel proclaimed and believed on in the world. is
a miracle of grace. Thank you, Lord. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.