Would you turn with me to John
chapter seven? I'm so excited about being here,
and I trust that the Lord is going to bless us in this time
together. I'm going to attempt to speak on this subject, the
doctrine of Christ. Now, wouldn't it be something?
if you and I tonight actually heard the doctrine of Christ. Let's begin reading in verse
10 of John chapter 7. But when his brethren were gone
up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as
it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him at the
feast, and said, Where is he? And there was much murmuring
among the people concerning him. For some said he's a good man.
Others said nay, but he deceiveth the people. As is always the
case, there were divided opinions concerning him. As a matter of
fact, if you look in verse 43 of this same chapter, we read
there was a division There was a division among the people because
of him. 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. He never
went to seminary. He had no religious training
in our Bible schools. How can his teaching be valid? He never went to school. Can
we trust a man who's never had a religious education? That's
what they're saying. Verse 16. Jesus answered them and said,
My doctrine is not mine, but him 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. I've entitled this message, The
Doctrine of Christ. And that's what I want to hear.
That's what you want to hear. The doctrine of Christ. Now, the first thing I want to
call to your attention is the word doctrine. I want you to
notice that it is not in the plural. He doesn't speak of the
doctrines of Christ, he speaks of the doctrine of Christ every
time, without exception, that the Bible speaks of doctrines
in the plural, it is referring to false doctrine. There are no exceptions to that. Let me read you the four or five
times doctrines are mentioned. We read in Matthew And Mark 7,
7, where the Lord warns us of those who teach for doctrines,
plural, the commandments of men. Paul warned us in Colossians
2, verses 21 and 22, of those who hold the touch not, taste
not, handle not, which all are to perish with the usings. If that's what my doctrine is,
I'll perish. after the commandments and doctrines
of men. 1 Timothy 4.1, Paul warns us
of seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their conscience seared by a hot iron. And then we read
in Hebrews 13.9, where we are warned to not be carried about
with strange and diverse doctrines. You see, there is no such thing
as the doctrines of Christ. There's no such thing. There
is the doctrine of Christ, one unified whole. many truths which make up the
truth. And if any of those truths are
omitted, you no longer have the truth. The doctrine of Christ is made
up of everything in this book. The doctrine of Christ, one unified
whole. And if you omit any aspect of
the doctrine of Christ, you no longer have the doctrine of Christ.
You no longer have the truth. You see, error is usually defined
more by what is not said than what is said. That's a sobering
thing to think about. Let me repeat. I want you to
hear this. I want you to understand it. Error is usually more defined
by what is not said than what He has said. You remember when
our Lord spoke of the Pharisees? He said, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you've tied men and knives and
cumans, and you've omitted, you've left out the weightier matters
of the law. And when we speak of the doctrines
of grace, we're really not saying it right, are we? It's not the
doctrines of grace, it is the doctrine of grace. And if you leave out any of those,
what they call five points, you no longer have the doctrine of
grace. They all stand or fall together. Now, the Lord said
my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. You see, it
is the doctrine of God. It's not just a man's opinion.
It is the doctrine of God. It's not derived from any human
source. It's divine. Paul the Apostle, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, said in Galatians 1, 11, 12, I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me was not after man. It was not derived from any human
source, for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught
it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. What is the doctrine
of Christ? That's a good question, isn't
it? Could there be a better question? What is the doctrine of Christ? I'm going to answer that first
by saying everything that he said. He said the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Everything that
he said is essential. He said you go and preach the
gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe what? All things
whatsoever I have commanded you. The doctrine of Christ is everything
he said, and God used this entire book to make the doctrine of
Christ known. But did you know that the doctrine
of Christ can be summarized by one brief statement? Now only the Word of God can
put infinite truth in a brief statement. Men take forever to
say something, but God gets it said briefly. Embellishments are not needed
for the truth. Would you turn with me to 2 John?
2 John. Verse 9, John says, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ hath not God. To not abide in the doctrine
of Christ, whatever it is, is transgression. It is You see,
false doctrine is not an intellectual problem. False doctrine is a
sin problem. It's a heart problem. It is transgression. And what is the doctrine that
is transgression? To fail to abide in it, look
back up in verse 7 of 2 John. For many deceivers are entered
into the world. who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. Now there is the doctrine of
Christ. There is the summary of all divine
truth. All God has to say in this book
is stated in that statement, Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Now, before I talk about that
statement, this summary of all truth as found in that statement,
the doctrine of Christ, I want us to consider many deceivers
are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. Now, there's a failure to confess. There's a failure to confess. In all false doctrine, there's
a failure to confess. Look back at 1 John chapter 4. Verse 1, Beloved, believe not
every spirit. But try, put to test the spirits,
put to test the preachers you're listening to, whether they are
of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is that spirit of anti-Christ. Now, the word anti, when we think
of anti-Christ, generally we think of some kind of hideous
looking creature with big horns and so on. But all anti means
is in the stead of, in the place of. This is a substitute for
Christ. This is what he's warning us
about, a substitute Christ, a false Christ. Where have you heard
that it should come, and even now already is it in the world? Now ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. They are of the world. Therefore
speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are
of God. He that knoweth God heareth us,
and he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit
of truth and the spirit of error." Now, if I'm of God, if I'm of
God, you'll hear me. If I'm of God, you'll hear me. Now, what's this mean, this thing
of confessing? Whoso confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh, or whoso confesses that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh? Well, the word means literally
to speak the same thing. It's what every believer is a
complete agreement on. There's no conflict. There's
no lack of unity here. This is what every believer completely
agrees on. This is the confession of our
faith. It's what all who believe, believe. To confess is to admit to guilt.
I love what Paul said in Acts chapter 24. He said, Now this
I confess to thee, that after the way which they call heresy,
so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets. How important is confession? Well, listen to this scripture
from Romans chapter 10, verse 10, With the heart man believeth
under righteousness, And with the mouth, confession is made
unto what? Salvation. Now, this confession
we're speaking of has something to do with salvation. Listen to this scripture from
John chapter 12, verses 42 and 43. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers, also many believed on him, that because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they love the praise of men more than the praise
of God. Now, the doctrine of Christ always
involves confession. You'll only confess. You'll only
admit to the guilt of. You'll only freely speak that
which you truly believe. There won't be anything vague
or hazy or ambiguous. You testify of what you truly
believe. You know, that's where we get
the word martyr from. You're willing to die for what you really
believe. And if you're not willing to
die for it, you don't believe it. Is that true? You know it's true. Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Now, what do we confess when
we confess it? Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Now, every spirit that doesn't
confess it is antichrist. Every spirit that does confess
this, and I mean there's a true confession. He's of God. Now
what does it mean? Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh. That brief statement is the doctrine of Christ. Well,
here's the first thing. Here's the first thing. When
I confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, I confess
that He was before He came. He came in the flesh, but He
was Before he came, he is the uncreated Christ. He is the second
person of the blessed Trinity. He is God the Son. Before he
ever came in the flesh, he already was. He said before Abraham was,
I am. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
who said to Moses, when Moses said, what's your name? It was
Christ the Lord who said, I am that I am. Tell them that I am. What a name of our Lord. Not
I was, not I could be, not I should be, not I want to be, not I will
be. I am that I am. We confess that he is God. You know, even the thief understood
this. That thief was hanging there on the cross. He saw that
one hanging on the cross, seemingly defeated. Seemingly defeated. Everybody that knew him had forsaken
him. And he saw him bleeding and dying on the cross. And the
other thieves started cursing him. Making fun of him. You know
what he said to his fellow thief? Don't you fear God. This is God hanging on this tree. Don't you fear God seeing you're
in the same condemnation? And then he looked at that woman
hanging on that tree and he said, Lord. He knew he was the Lord. I bet people snickered at him
when he said that. He thinks he's the Lord? Look at him. He's
hanging on a cross. Lord, remember me when you come
back in your kingdom. I know you're going to be successful.
I know you're going to come back as a ruling reigning king. I
know whatever you do is successful. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. The same was in the beginning
with God. He didn't begin to be. He is
the great I am that I am. He was before He came. He is God. And He, God, came in the flesh. That's what we confess. Graves
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Unto us a child is born, and
unto us a son. He wasn't born, was He? He was
given. and the government should be
upon his shoulders, and his name should be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He came in the flesh. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Hebrews chapter 10? This is a quotation from Psalm
40, beginning in verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith," speaking of the Lord Jesus, when he came
to assume flesh, when he became incarnate, "'sacrifice and offering
thou wast not, but a body, flesh and bones hast thou prepared
me, and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure,
Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it's written
of me, to do thy will, O God." Jesus Christ came in the flesh,
in a body, to do the will of God. Now He was before He came. He came in the flesh. And beloved, He did what he came
to do. He did in the flesh what he came
to do. You're there in Hebrews 10. Let's
read a few more verses. Verse 7, Then said I, Lo, I come
In the volume of the book, it's written of me, to do thy will,
O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not. Neither hath pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will?
By that will that he came to do, God's will. By the which
will we are sanctified. Holy, through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ, once for all, a work that needs no
repetition. And every priest stands daily
offering, and oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool for by one offering. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. He did what He came to do. Let's look at another scripture.
Would you turn with me to Matthew chapter one? Matthew chapter one. This is
a very familiar scripture. Verse 21, And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his
people from their sins. Now here's a question I want
to ask you. Did he do what he came to do? It says he shall save his people
from their sins. He came for a specific purpose,
to save his people from their sins. Now, in the flesh, did
he do what he said he came to do? That's the question you and
I need to answer. Well, the answer to that is unequivocally,
yes, he did. In being saved from my sins,
and this is what the Lord accomplished on the cross, this is what He
actually did. In being saved from my sins, first of all, I'm
saved from the penalty of sin. Now, why am I saved from the
penalty of sin? Because there's nothing to condemn
me there. You see, on the cross, remember,
He came to save His people from their sins on the cross. Christ
was made to be sin. Now, I don't understand what
all that means. I certainly don't, but it's what
the Bible says. He was made sin. It's more than
him bearing the punishment of sin. It's not like the father
was looking at him and saying, I know you're not guilty, but
and Todd is and I'm taking Todd's sin and putting it on you and
I'm going to punish you for that, but I know you're... No, on the cross, he
became guilty. The sins of the elect literally,
actually became His. So He said, My sins and my iniquities
are a heavy burden. They're too heavy for Me. My
wounds stink and gruff. Those are the words of the Lord
Jesus. My sin became His. And just as truly as my sin became
His on the cross, His perfect righteousness is perfect. And when God sees me, because
of what my Lord did on the cross. When God sees me, He doesn't
see me as if I have no sin. He sees me as I am without sin. Now that's gospel. He saved His people from the
penalty of sin. I have nothing to be condemned
for. I'm justified. Justified means not guilty. Not
guilty. Perfect in God's sight. And if
I'm perfect in God's sight, you know what that means? That means
I am perfect. That's me. Just as truly as Christ
was made sin. Every believer is made the very
righteousness of God in him. So he saves his people from the
penalty of sin. And he did that in the flesh
in his work here on the cross. And secondly, he saves his people
from the power of sin. Now what's that mean? Well, there
was a time when I could not believe. I didn't even know what it meant.
There was a time when I could not repent. And I'd hear preachers
talk about repentance and I wouldn't know what it meant. There was
a time when I could not love God. It wasn't in me. And I didn't
understand. But something happened. Through the preaching of the
gospel, through the power of God the Holy Spirit, I was given
a heart that I did not have before. I was given a new nature, a holy
nature that was not there before. It's called being born of the
Spirit. And you know what? Now I can
believe. I believe right now. I'm trusting
the Lord Jesus right now. I can love. I do love because
I've been saved from the power of sin. He gave me a new nature. It's called being born again.
It's the work of God, the Holy Spirit, regeneration. And he
saved his people from the presence of sin. And notice the way I
said that. He saved his people from the
presence of sin. Saved. Not, it's going to happen
one of these days. Romans 8. Romans 8. Verse 30. Moreover, whom he did
redestinate, them he also called, whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. You believe that? You see, union with Christ is
so real that if he is in heaven glorified, you know who else
is? every one of his people without exception. Now, this is the doctrine
of Christ that I am to abide in, and anything contrary to
this confession is transgression and the spirit of Antichrist. Now, is that what this passage
of Scripture teaches? This is the doctrine of Christ. He was
before he came. He came in the flesh and he did
everything he came to do. Now that's a summary of everything
in this book. How can I know? How can I know this is the doctrine
of Christ? You know, everybody claims to be preaching the doctrine
of Christ. I don't know any preacher that
gets up and says, I'm not preaching the doctrine of Christ, I'm preaching
something else. No, everybody claims that. I'm claiming it.
You claim it. Everybody that preaches claims
it. So how can I know if what I'm hearing is the doctrine of
Christ? Would you turn back to John chapter 7? Verse 16. 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." Now, here we have the
promise from him who cannot lie, if your desire, now please listen
carefully, if your desire is to know His will, to do His will, to practice His
will, whatever it is, if that is the desire of your heart,
You will not be deceived. That's a promise. The Lord will not let it happen. Wherever false doctrine is believed
and received, there was previously a heart that knew nothing of
this. There was previously a heart
that did not have this desire where there is obedience. you will not be deceived. You'll
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. We have this promise. Now look at verse 18. He that speaketh of himself seeketh
his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the
same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Now, here we have
the great error detector test. You want to judge and see whether
you're hearing the doctrine of Christ? Well, he did speak of
himself. Now, what that means is self
prompted. It's not just talking about somebody,
you know, I get up and talk about me, me, me, me, me, me, me. I
might not even mention me when he's talking about speaking of
himself. He's talking about being self prompted. God never sent
him. What will he do? He'll seek his own glory. God's glory really is not an
issue with him. He may even say it is. And, you
know, all false prophets will say they're seeking God's glory.
But they're still seeking their own glory. That's the motive
behind what they're doing. And it's going to come out. That
always comes out. You can just count on it. But
he that seeks his glory that sent him, the same is true. And no unrighteousness is in
him. He that seeks the glory of him
that sent him. Now first, the man that is true
has this motive, the glory of God. Any other motive is a wrong
motive. You believe that? Any other motive
is a wrong motive. The only acceptable motive is
the glory of God, and all other motives are wrong motives. You remember the watchword of
the Reformation? Scriptures alone. Christ alone. Grace alone, faith alone, the
glory of God alone. Any other motive is a wrong motive. And His doctrine will give God
all the glory. In what we call the doctrine
of grace, Total depravity. Unconditional
election. Limited atonement. Irresistible,
invincible grace. The perseverance of the saints.
The doctrine of grace. Who gets the glory? How much
glory does man get in total depravity? He doesn't get any, does he? Not a bit. How much glory does
a man receive from God electing a people before time began unconditionally,
not because he foresaw something in them, but because he willed
it? How much glory does man get there? How much glory does man get in
the perfect, successful atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross when he bowed his mighty head and said, it is finished,
the salvation of God's elect He by Himself purged our sins. How much glory does man get there?
What about in the invincible, irresistible work of the Holy
Spirit when God put something there that was not there before?
Yea, even His own nature, partakers of the divine nature. How much
glory can a man get out of that? That's the work of God and the
work of God alone. What about the preservation of
a saint? I still believe. And I know for sure the only
reason I do is because of Him who is able to keep me from falling
and to present me faultless before His presence with exceeding glory. Psalm 115. This comes from the heart of
every believer. Psalm 115, verse 1, not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for
thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Can you pray that from
the depth of your heart? You don't have to worry about being
deceived. if you truly are one who is described
as he who will do his will. You'll know of the doctrine,
whether I speak of myself or whether it's God's Word. He that
speaks of himself, he seeks his own glory. But he that seeketh
the glory of him that sent the same is true and no one righteousness.