1 Timothy chapter 4. Now, I've been thinking probably the past year, it's
been on my mind for a long time, to bring some lessons on Bible
doctrine. Bible doctrine, which is, or
another way to say that is, Bible teaching, what the Word of God
teaches us on these different subjects. And after going through
Titus and Paul mentioning to Titus several times about the
importance of sound doctrine. And I looked that up because
he wrote to Timothy and to Titus. These are two pastors, two young,
young pastors. And so the Lord, or Paul, wrote
to them, and of course he wrote to them under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, under the power of the Holy Spirit. And I believe it's 12 times,
12 times Paul presses upon them the importance of sound doctrine. Now look in verse 16. And I've been thinking about
this, as I said, for a good while, and I'm thinking about one of
the things to do. Frank will be back, let's see, week after
next. I'm going to do it this week, and next week I'm going
to go ahead and do this class, and then Frank will be back.
But I'm thinking about every six, eight weeks of bringing
a lesson on Bible doctrine, sound doctrine. Then Frank will pick
back up and go on with the lesson for several more weeks, and then
I'll bring another lesson on sound doctrine. I think we need
it. I need it. It will do me good
to just go back and just look at these things and for us to
look at these things. Look at verse 16. Paul writing
to Timothy, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, the teaching
of God's word and what, which is what Paul taught him. And
unto doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this," and this
is how important, let's get this, this is how important this is,
"...in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself
and them that hear thee." That's important. That's important. He said, you take heed to yourself. And unto the doctrine, continue
in them. For in doing this thou shalt
save thyself, and them that hear thee." What does doctrine mean? What does it mean? Here is what
it means. Simply put, doctrine means the
teaching of God's Word. That's what it is. It's not complicated. It's the teaching of God's Word.
It's thus saith the Lord. That's where we get our doctrine,
our instructions. Everything we believe, we believe
according to revelation, or the Word of God, which is a revelation
of God. You know, we have a book in the
Word of God here, the last book. The last book. It's called the
Book of Revelations. But let me tell you something.
This whole book is a book of revelation. It's a revelation
of who God Almighty is. It's a revelation of who Jesus
Christ is. It's a revelation of who we are
and what we are and how God saves us, how God saves sinners. This
whole book is a book of revelation. Now, the Word of God is a foundation
of faith. If you take away the teaching
of God's Word, what do we have to believe? We don't have anything
to believe if you take away the teaching of God's Word. It's
the foundation of faith. It's the foundation of our worship
here this morning. We worship God according, what? To the Scriptures. According
as God has revealed Himself in the Scriptures and not any other
way. We worship Him as He is and as
He has revealed Himself in His Word. And then it's the foundation
of all comfort. The Scripture says that God is the God of all
comfort. But remember, it's the Scripture
that says that. Nature doesn't teach us that. The Word of God teaches us that.
It is revealed in the Word of God that He is the God of all
comfort and the God of all grace. We learn that from the teaching
of the Word of God. And it's the foundation of godliness. Look over in 1 Timothy chapter
6. If any man teach otherwise, and
consent not to wholesome words, he's talking here about what's
taught in the Word of God, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and through the doctrine, which is according to what? Godliness. The teaching of God's Word leads
a child of God in the path of godliness. It leads us in the path of godliness.
He said it leads us in the path of righteousness. If you take away the Word of
God, the teaching of the Word of God, Then we cannot have worship. There is no such thing as faith.
Not true faith. There is no such thing as true
faith. All we have is a religious service. That's all we have.
Everything we do must be according to God's word. Why do we baptize? The word of God teaches us to
do so. Why do we take the Lord's table with the bread and the
wine? Why do we do that? The Word of
God teaches us to do that. That's why we do it. His Word
is the basis for all that we do. Now, contrary to some beliefs,
doctrine is not for dividing up denominational differences.
It's not, well, this is what the Baptist believed, this is
what the Methodist believed, this is what the Presbyterians and
the Catholics, that's not what doctrine is about. It's not for
dividing up denominational differences. What I believe, means nothing if it's not according
to the Word of God. If I cannot take you to the Word
of God and establish what I believe and why I believe it, it means
nothing. It means nothing. Look over in
Isaiah chapter 8. In Isaiah chapter 8, In Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20,
to the law and to the prophets, we can read it like this, to
the Word of God, because sometimes the law means the whole Word
of God, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not
according to this Word, it is because there is no light in
them. He said it's got to be according
to this Word. His Word. If they speak not according
to My Word, it's because there's no light in them. Doctrine, simply
put, is the teaching of God's Word. It's the teaching of God.
And listen, it is this book right here, the teaching of God from
Genesis to Revelation, is infallible. It is absolutely infallible.
It's inerrant. There's not a wrong word. or subject in this book. It is
the only book that you and I can read that is absolutely truth
and right. It's the only book. It's the
Word of God. It's the teaching of God. When our Lord came in the flesh,
He said this in John 7, 16, And I looked up that word doctrine
in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And they said, and they were
talking about his doctrine. And I was referring to his doctrine,
his teaching, and calling it his doctrine. And he said, my
doctrine is not mine, it's his that sent me. My teaching, my
instructions. They're not mine, not that his
are any different. But he's saying, in one place
he said, as I hear, I speak. What I'm giving you is from God.
This is of God. Our Lord said that. Now, the
first doctrine, the first doctrine that we find
in the Word of God is not the fall. It's not the fall. Turn over to Genesis chapter
one, and I feel like this is where we have to start. Genesis
chapter 1. Here's the first teaching of
God's Word. It starts with Him and it's going
to end with Him. In the beginning, here it is,
God. God. In the beginning, God. The first
doctrine taught to us in the Word of God is the being of God. He is. He that cometh to God
must believe what? That he is, and that he's a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him. You will not find in the Word of God, and I tell you
what, the Word of God's not given as a proof of God's existence.
It's given as a declaration. as a revelation of God's existence. And you will not find any attempt
by any prophet to prove that God is. You won't do it. Every
prophet, every God-called preacher declares that he is. I'm not up here Wednesday and
Sunday, week after week, trying to prove to anyone that God exists. I'm just taking the Word of God
and declaring that He is. And the amazing thing to me,
this is just, and this is of course after you believe the
gospel, you think like this, you don't think like this before
then, but isn't it amazing that God who is the creator of all
this, that we wouldn't be more interested in finding out who
He is? That just baffles me. I mean, when I look at You know,
what David said, when I could see the moon and the stars, what
is man? You're even mindful of him. You
would think that we would be absolutely obsessed with finding
out who God is, wouldn't you? You would think that science,
you would think that science would be absolutely obsessed
with looking at the things that God created and finding even
in that, finding out who he is. But they use it to try to disprove
that God exists. That's how lost we are by nature. That's how lost the human race
is. To have such a God, such a being, and have no interest
in who He is. I'm telling you, let's take this
down to home. Let's take this down to those who really believe
the gospel. Those who truly believe. It amazes me That I'm not more
interested. That I'm not more obsessed in
finding out who He is. That I'm not more interested
in a real relationship with God. That's amazing. That's amazing. He's the source
of all wisdom and knowledge and understanding. David said, Thy Word has made
me wiser than my teachers. If you want true wisdom, and
I'm off the subject now, but if you want true wisdom, He's
the source of it. And I tell you this, wisdom is
far, far better than just intelligence. Because I know a lot of intelligent
people that's done with a box of rocks. But to have true wisdom, that
comes from God. That comes from God. Now let
me get back here and find out where I was at. Now even though creation revealed
its creator, it can only reveal certain things about him. It
reveals that he exists. If something exists, someone
had to make it. You know, you go out here and
you look at a large building. Someone made that building. You
know, when I drive down 13th Street, there on Bath Avenue,
there's this tall building on the left. It used to be the Ashland
Oil Building. Do you know who built that building? Ed Stephens did, didn't he? What
if Ed Stephens built that building? Most people in this city would
have no idea who built that building. But somebody did. I mean, I think
everybody drives by their nose. You don't know that somebody
built this building. But you and I know that, man. Most of
you here. Most of us here know that Ed Stevens built that building.
Everything that exists has a builder. Creation screams every day that
God exists, that God is. I mean, Look over in Psalm 19. Psalm 19. Listen to this. The heavens declare
the glory of God, the glory of His power, the glory of His wisdom,
I mean, you look, what wisdom must there be to make such a
creation and to make such variety work in such perfect harmony? That's wisdom. The heavens declare
the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge."
What is the speech of creation? God is. God is. I mean, it screams, God is, every
day. And it shows knowledge. There
is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. There
is no part of this earth that is not crying out, God is. Their line has gone out through
all the earth, and their words are the end of the world. And
them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun." Creation. Creation screams that God is. He's a God of power and a God
of wisdom. But I'll tell you something else that cries out
that God is. Every man's conscience, because
the Word of God says, that the law is written on every heart. The law of God, every man's conscience
tells him that God is, for the law is written on everyone's
heart when he or she is born into this world. But because
of sin, that knowledge is darkness. It's darkness. They don't know
who he is. Man believes that God is like
himself. And that's why he makes images,
that's why he carves out images like he thinks God is. And he
sets it up and he worships it. But he does not and will not
worship God who is as he is until God saves him, until God reveals
himself to him in Christ. Pharaoh said, who is the Lord
that I should obey Him? Do you know Him? Do you know
Him? Pharaoh didn't. The greatest part of creation
doesn't know Him. I'm talking about men. Men and women. They
don't know Him. But now listen. Creation is not
enough. Conscience is not enough. We have His Word now. We've come
to His Word. God has revealed Himself in the
pages of this book. If you want to know who He is,
you get in this book and you search for Him. You look for
Him. You ask Him to reveal Himself. But I'm telling you this, this
Word by itself is not enough. How many people stand in the
pulpit today with this same book in their hand, lying on God?
How many people read this book and they miss it? How many? God has come in the flesh. Great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh,
and we know who that is. Jesus Christ, the second person
of the Trinity. He came in the flesh. God has
revealed Himself in His Son. He has spoken to us, it says
in Hebrews chapter 1, in His Son, after these last days, spoken
unto us in His Son. But even that's not enough. How
many people saw Him and lost? How many people saw and heard
our Lord while He was on this earth and they perished? Here's what we need, the third
person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. And this is the way God
Almighty has set it up. The Holy Spirit takes the Word
of God through the preaching of the gospel, which is the seed, and He creates
a new heart. We call it a new birth. He creates
faith in the heart and He reveals God in Christ. He reveals who
God is. And for the first time, for the
first time, instead of having an imagination of who God is,
what He's like, for the first time you look into the Word of
God and you see Him as he is. You see for the first time who God is. So the first teaching of the
Word of God, the first doctrine we meet with in the Word of God,
and this has to be the first one, is this, God is. He that cometh to God must believe
that he He is. And that He is who He says He
is. He is who He says He is. And then in Genesis 1-1, and
I'm going to have to close this, God who is, He's revealed His
person, that He is. No other book, there is no other
book that reveals what's here, what we have in our hands. The
being of God. He reveals Himself first as the
Creator. You go back to the Old Testament
when you're reading, you notice this, when the prophets of old
identified God, they always identified him first as the creator. You notice that when you read
through there. The prophets of old identified him as the creator
of heaven and earth, the sea and all that's in there. God is the creator of all that
exists. And Colossians 1 tells us who
that is. It connects them. It's Jesus Christ. All things
it says were made by Him and for Him. All things. Everything that exists. The stars,
the angels, principalities, powers. Me and you. were created by him
and for him. Man was created by God. You can let science try to disprove
that all they want. The truth is God created all
things. You cannot believe, you cannot,
now I'm telling you, you absolutely cannot believe in evolution and
this book too. You can't do it. You cannot say
you believe the Word of God and then also hold to evolution. It doesn't work. It doesn't fit. Man was created by God. We did
not evolute. We were created. Man was created
in the image of God. Now think about that. Of all
of creation, of all of creation, no other part is said to be created
in the image of God. But you and I, man, created in
the image of God. We believe, we believe on the
authority of God's Word in the doctrine of creation. God created all things. We believe
by the Word of God that everything that exists was created by Jesus
Christ, Christ alone. And that all things were created,
as it's written in Genesis chapter 1, all things were created good,
perfect. There was nothing wrong with
God's creation. God is not the author of sin.
Every time he created, he said, it's good. And then at the very
end of it, when he created everything, he said, it's very good. It's very good. Now, the next time, Lord willing, we look at another doctrine. I want to be, or I feel impressed
to anyway, right now, on the attributes of God. Before we go on to anything else,
let's look at who he is. I'm telling you this, you won't
have any problem with the doctrine of election, a person will not
have any problem with the doctrine of election, particular redemption,
total depravity, if you ever find out who he is. The problem
doesn't come with the doctrine, it comes with the fact that you
don't know God. You don't know Him. If you find out who He is,
you'll understand and believe the doctrines taught
in this book, the teaching of God's Word.