I looked that hymn up on the
internet to get the words just a couple of weeks ago, and I
thought it was really neat. A lady in the 1860s wrote that,
and they said, we don't really know anything about her. She
never signed her hymn. She wrote several, but that's
so beautiful. Turn back to Romans chapter 12,
if you would. Now the third gift of grace given
for the edification of the body of Christ is that of teaching. Look in verse 7, he that teacheth
on teaching, this is the gift of God, the gift of his grace
given to the church. Teaching, he that teacheth on
teaching or doctrine. 19 of the 21 times that word
appears in the New Testament, it's translated doctrine. He
that teacheth on doctrine. And I've entitled this message
doctrine. Doctrine. I once heard somebody
say, I don't want to hear doctrine. I want to hear about Jesus. Okay. Jesus. Anything I would say after that
would be doctrine, wouldn't it? In Matthew chapter 5 verse 2,
he opened his mouth and taught them. And they heard the greatest sermon
ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. And it ends with these
words, and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings,
the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught as
one having authority, not like the scribes. In Mark 1.27, we
read where the crowd said, what thing is this? What new doctrine
is this? For with authority, he commandeth
even the unclean spirits and they obey him. Now teaching is the act of teaching. Doctrine is the thing taught. Now there is no knowledge of
God There's no knowledge of yourself. There's no knowledge of salvation
apart from this thing of doctrine, the doctrine of God, the teaching
of God. Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy
4, 16, take heed to yourself and your doctrine. Continue in
them. For in doing this, thou shalt
save both thyself and them that hear thee. Now remember, False
doctrine will ruin a man or woman's soul. That's how important this thing
is of doctrine and how we need to be taught. I want the man
teaching me to be a teacher gifted of God who can give me the ability
to understand what I'm hearing. You know, if you hear a message
and you didn't understand it, Preacher wasn't doing a good
job. He wasn't telling the truth. The truth is always understandable.
The truth is always simple. And I want a man gifted of God
to teach me, but even more than that, I want God to use that
man to teach me where God is the one teaching me. I don't
simply want to be taught by man. I want to be taught by God himself. Our Lord said, as it's written
in the prophets, They shall all be taught of God. Has God been
your teacher? Well, I can tell you how you
can know. The Lord said, every man, therefore, that hath heard
and learned of the Father cometh to me. That's what happens when
God teaches a man. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me for a moment to
2 John. 2 John, verse 7. For many deceivers are entered
into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Now, what was going on in John's
day was the doctrine of Gnosticism, that all matter is evil. Christ
came in the flesh, that would make him evil. That's Gnosticism.
So that couldn't have happened, therefore he didn't really come
in the flesh. Now John is correcting that. He said, for many deceivers
are entering the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. And you know,
just this simple confession. He was before he came. He's the
eternal Son of God. He came in the flesh. And he
did what he came to do. That's everything we believe,
isn't it? In that simple statement. Verse eight, look to yourselves
that we lose not those things which we've wrought, but that
we receive a full reward, 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. The Lord said, if
you continue in my word, then are you my disciples. Indeed. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter six. Verse 59, these things said he in the synagogue
as he taught. in Capernaum. Now, our Lord was
a teacher and he was teaching. These things he said, when you're
teaching, there's something you say. Now, in this passage of
scripture in John chapter 6, it's one of my favorite chapters
in the Bible. In this passage of scripture, the Lord clearly
sets forth the doctrine of grace. what we call sometimes the doctrines
of grace. I don't know whether calling
doctrine plural is good because every time in the scripture,
the word doctrines is used, it's always with reference to false
doctrine. And when doctrine is used, there's only one doctrine.
There's only one doctrine, the doctrine of grace, the doctrine
of how God saves sinners by his grace. That's the only doctrine
there is. Now look in this chapter, verse 44, no man can come to
me. except the Father which has sent
me, draw him." Now, how plain is that? No man lacks the ability. No man has the ability to come
to me. There's man's complete inability to save himself. The
Lord says, you cannot. He doesn't say, you won't, although
we won't. He says, you can't. You can't. No man can come to
me. No man has the ability to come to me except the Father
which has sent me, draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. Look in verse 37. And this is the doctrine of Christ.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. There's the doctrine
of divine election. God's ancient choice of his people. Him giving the Son of people. Look in verse 39. This is the
Father's will, which has sent me that of all which he has given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day. That's Christ's death for his elect. Everyone that
the Father gave me, I'm going to save them. Every single one
of them. Now that's the doctrine of Christ. Look in verses 44
and 45, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath
sent me draw him, and I raise him up at the last day. It's written
in the prophets, They shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father comes to me. There's
the doctrine of his irresistible, invincible grace. Look in verse
51. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. There's the doctrine of perseverance.
Eating this bread, you will live forever. Now, this is the doctrine
of Christ. This is the doctrine of Christ.
Now, we have all heard or used the phrase dead doctrine. You've used it. You've heard
it. Dead doctrine. There's no such thing. There's no such thing. It may
be the one delivering it is delivering it in a heartless and mechanical
way that seems lifeless. But all that says is he doesn't
really believe what he's saying. That's all that says. It may
be dead to me because I have a dead heart and I'm unmoved
by the truth. And it could be dead in that
sense. I'm just unmoved. And you know what it is to hear
the truth and be unmoved by it. And you think, what's wrong with
me? What's wrong with me? Why am I not being moved by the
truth? And a believer can get into a place where they can't
hear. I think of the children of Israel and say, our souls
loathe this light bread regarding the truth. But there is no such
thing as dead doctrine. It's living. The Lord said, the words that
I speak unto you, they're spirit and they are life. Now, how can
I know if what I'm hearing is the truth? How can I know if
I'm hearing the doctrine of Christ? I want to answer that question,
don't you? Well, here is the first answer to that. God's doctrine
has a source, doesn't it? The word of God. Timothy, preach the word. Whatever God says in his word,
that's what we're to preach. Not to explain it away, not to
leave it out. Timothy, preach the word. Be instant, in season,
and out of season. With all longsuffering and doctrine. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness. Romans 15, 14 says the things
that were written aforetime were written for our learning that
we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope. Now here's my first question
is what I'm hearing from the Word of God. If it's not from
the Word of God, it's not God's doctrine. But now turn with me
for a moment to John chapter 7. I want you to look at this
with me. John chapter 7. Beginning in verse 14. Now, about the midst of the feast,
Jesus went up into the temple and taught. Don't you want him
to teach you? Jesus went up into the temple.
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, if any man is willing to do his
will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether
I speak of myself. 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, that passage
of scripture tells me that if I'm deceived by false doctrine,
it's my fault. It comes from an unwillingness
to do his will. That's the cause of deception,
not because I'm not intelligent enough and I'm just fooled by
something. No, if I'm deceived, if you're
deceived, it's all our fault. It comes from an unwillingness
to do His will, because our Lord says, if any man will do his
will, if that's what he wants, he won't be deceived, will he?
Now, also in this passage of Scripture, we're given the way
I can understand whether what I'm hearing is true and from
God or whether it's not. And what is that? Who gets the
glory? It's that simple. Notice what
our Lord says again in 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. Does it give God all the glory? If it does, it's true. Does it
give man any glory? If it does, It's false. Now you can just take this in
so many directions. For instance, there's two views of salvation.
One gives God's will the credit. The other gives man's will the
ultimate credit. Election says God chose who would
be saved and they must be saved. And then there's the belief in
free will that believes Man's choice is the ultimate reason
as to why they're saved. God loved them. Christ died for
them. Some choose and accept Christ. Some reject him. Now,
which one of those doctrines gives God all the glory? That's
easy to answer, isn't it? One is not true because it gives
man glory. The other is true because it
gives God all the glory. Two views of the death of Christ.
Some believe that Jesus Christ died for everybody and made salvation
possible for everybody, but it's up to you as to what you're going
to do with it to make it work. The other view says that Christ
died for the elect and accomplished their salvation. Which one gives
Christ all the glory? It is that simple. What gives
God all the glory? Some believe God's grace can
be resisted and a man can fall away from grace. Others believe
God's grace can't be resisted because it's all-powerful. It's God's grace. Which one gives
God all the glory? Now that is the great error detector
test. Who gets the glory? That's the
issue of all issues. Now I want to go to the place
in scripture where doctrine is first mentioned and I believe
we'll see the place and the importance of doctrine. It's in Moses' farewell
speech to the children of Israel right before he dies. Turn to
Deuteronomy chapter 32. Now you will remember that Moses
wasn't allowed to go into the Promised Land with the children
of Israel because he had failed to sanctify God. He smote the
rock twice. when God said, speak to the rock.
Now you remember when that rock was smitten, that was given to
give us a picture of the gospel. When Moses smote that rock and
water came out, Christ was smitten and the water of God's grace
comes out and gives us life. And then a second time the people
started complaining and God said, speak to the rock. And Moses
got mad and he smote the rock twice. Now the rock had already
been smitten and Christ is never to be smitten again, but Moses
smote it twice. And God said, you failed to sanctify
me in the midst of the people. You're not going into the promised
land. And Moses asked him again, he said, can I do it? He said,
speak no more of the matter. You're not going in. And that lets us
know that the law is not going to go into the promised land.
Moses represents the law, and the law can't bring us into the
promised land. Only Christ, Joshua, can bring
us into the promised land, but Moses is giving his farewell
address, and we read in the last verse of chapter 31, and Moses
spake in the ears of the congregation of Israel the words of this song
until they were ended, and that's what Deuteronomy 32 is, and We read in verse 1 of chapter
32, give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak. Don't you want
to hear what the Lord has to say? Give ear, and I will speak. Oh, I want to hear what he has
to say, don't you? Give ear, and I will speak. And hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth, my doctrine. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass. You know
what that's talking about? Life. Rain coming down, dew distilling. My doctrine is life giving rain. life-preserving rain. That's what my doctrine is. It's
life-giving. Where would we be without rain?
We'd be dead, wouldn't we? We wouldn't have anything to
eat. But God says my doctrine should drop down and give life. And here's what it is, verse
3, because I will publish the name of the Lord. Now this is
God's doctrine, the publication of the name of the Lord. And notice it's all capitals.
What that means is Jehovah. Jehovah the Father, Jehovah the
Son, and Jehovah the Holy Spirit. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord. Now you know what a name is. When I think of Claire Sharon,
there's an individual that I think of that has certain characteristics
and there's only one Claire Sharon. Nobody like it. When I think
of Isaac, I think of a certain person that has certain characteristics. The name is not just the audible
voice of the name, it's the person behind the name. So when I proclaim
the name of the Lord, I'm giving the person behind the name. Turn
with me to Exodus chapter 33. Hold your finger there in Genesis
32. Turn to Exodus 33. This is Moses' prayer to God. And
we read in verse 18, during this prayer, Moses says, I beseech
thee, Show me thy glory. And Moses had seen a lot. He'd
seen the Red Sea part. He'd seen the ten plagues. He'd
seen manna fall from heaven. He'd seen water come out of a
flinty rock. He'd seen the giving of the law.
I mean, he'd seen some very impressive things. But yet he says, I've
not seen your glory. Show me your glory. Verse 19. And he, God said, I
will make all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. and will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. Look down in chapter 34, verse
5. Now God is doing what he said he was going to do. And the Lord
descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed
the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no means clear the guilty. visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
and to the third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth and he worshiped. Now when God proclaimed
his name, he let Moses know who he is. I'm gracious, merciful,
long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and sins, and I by no means,
under no means whatsoever, will I ever clear a guilty person.
You say, how do you forgive and not clear the guilty? Well, that's
the gospel, isn't it? That's the gospel. How God can not clear
the guilty and yet forgive the guilty. Just and justifier. So we see that the name of the
Lord is the person behind the name. Now look what it says next
in our text in Deuteronomy 32. You know, All I've got to do is preach
Christ crucified, and I'm proclaiming the name of the Lord. I'm giving
every attribute of God. His justice, His wisdom, His
holiness, His grace, His sovereignty, His power, it's all seen in the
simple declaration of the cross of Christ. You know, we've got
it on that sign, we preach Christ crucified. We really do, don't
we? We preach Christ crucified. He is everything in salvation.
What he says next in verse three, because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. Now there's the
doctrine of God. We ascribe greatness to our God. Now implied in that sanction
is to not ascribe greatness to anyone else. Is that so? Man at his best state, the scripture
says, is altogether vanity. In Psalm 62, David said, surely
men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a
lie. To be laid in the balances, they
are altogether lighter than vanity. Now that's God's description
of man. But oh, the greatness of God. I love to ascribe greatness
of God. Think of the greatness of His
sovereignty. Now what's sovereign mean? That
means God reigns. That means He's in control. That
means everything that happens is nothing less than His will
being done. Everything. doeth according to
his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? Give an account of yourself.
No, we ascribe greatness to God's sovereignty. He's in absolute
control of everything and everybody. The king's heart and my heart
and your heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of
water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. He's so sovereign that
he's in complete control over the free actions of every man.
Isn't that amazing? That's our God. We ask for our
greatness to God. The very thoughts that are going
through your heart right now and my heart right now, He's
in control of because He's God. Oh, how we love the greatness
of our sovereign God. The Lord reigneth. Let the people
rejoice. His goodness. Oh, how great is
His goodness. I love it when the rich young
ruler came up to the Lord and said, good master, what good
thing can I do to inherit eternal life? And the Lord said, why
callest thou me good? There's none good, but one only,
that is God. Now, why did the Lord say this?
Well, the Lord knew that this man didn't know who he was and
he was coming to him as a man, not as the God man, but as a
man. You're a good man, I'm a good man, but what can I do to get
to your level of goodness? And the Lord said, why are you
calling me good? There's only one good. Goodness of God. God is good. Everything He does
is good. Everything. Oh, the greatness of His justice. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of Thy throne. If He sends a man to hell, He's
most just. Would God be just if He passed
you by and didn't give you mercy? Would He be just? Absolutely. Absolutely. He's most just. And
how His justice is magnified in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's not going to let sin go unpunished. When He finds
sin in His Son, He punishes Him. When my sin became His sin, God
forsook Him. That's how just, that's how holy
He is. But think of His power. His power
to make somebody like me perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Think of the greatness of His
grace that would take the very chief of sinners and make them
perfect in God's sight. Oh, we ascribe greatness to God. Verse four says, He is the rock. Now, He's immovable. He's immutable. He's all powerful. That's what
that represents. That's the doctrine of God. He
is the rock. And here is the doctrine of God.
Verse four, his work is perfect. And that's the doctrine of God.
His work Now, when we talk about the works of the Lord, His work,
what is His work? Well, first of all, there's His
work in creation. When He spake the world into
existence. You know what that work is? It's
perfect. He looked at what He did and
He said, behold, it's very good. And I love to think of His work
in providence. He controls everything. And everything is good. It's
all good. It's all good. Even the terrible
stuff, it's all good because He's in control of it. And we
know that all things work together for good, to them that love God,
to them who are thee called according to His purpose. It's all good.
It's all good. Scripture says, He hath done
all things well. He hath made everything beautiful
in His time. You meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. Isn't his providence beautiful?
I'd love to be able to say that or I'd love to be able to believe
it too. Where I'm not, you know, I spend so much time worrying
and fretting and wishing this didn't happen and wish that would
happen. No, it's all, it's all good. I love what Scott Richardson
said, if I had omnipotence, I'd change things. If I had omniscience,
wisdom, I'd leave things just like they are. He hath done all
things well. His work of salvation is perfect. When he said, it is finished,
same word, it is perfected. The wise man said, I know whatsoever
the Lord doth. It's forever. Nothing can be
put to it, nor anything taken from it, and God doeth it that
men should fear before him. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 10. I remember one time hearing Brother
Mahan say this about Hebrews chapter 10. He said, I'm going
to try to preach on Hebrews chapter 10. I don't know what I'm going
to say. And somebody said, well, just read it. It'll be fine.
And Hebrews chapter 10 is very much like that. I love this chapter. Verse five. Wherefore, remember his work
is perfect. We're going to find out what
all that means. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, He
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body
hast thou prepared me. This is talking about the incarnation
of Christ. In 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. And when he said sacrifice and
offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst 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. Now that's talking
about taking away the old covenant, that he may establish the new
covenant, the New Testament. Now, look at verse 10. By the
witch will, And by God's will, he said, I came to do thy will,
O God, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now that word sanctified
means made holy. We are sanctified through that
bloody death of Christ. And that once for all lets us
know that that is in the perfect tense, perfectly completed, never
to be repeated. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing
can be taken from it. And what that passage of scripture
says is everybody that Jesus Christ died for is holy. Holy. You're looking at a holy man. I'm looking at some holy, sanctified
men and women. Everybody that Jesus Christ died
for, they're sanctified. They're holy. Nothing can be
taken from them and nothing can be added to them. It can't get
any better. It can't be improved. Let's go
on reading, verse 12. Verse 11, and every priest standeth. There wasn't any chairs in the
tabernacle. Every priest standeth daily, ministering, and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. Why? Because his work was finished. There was nothing left for him
to do. And nothing can be added to what
he did, nothing can be taken from it. His work is perfect. Verse 14, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, set apart. That's what he accomplished.
Verse 15, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. Now,
if the Holy Spirit speaks to you, this is what He's going
to testify to you, the perfection of the work of Christ. Do you
believe that all God requires of you, He looks to Christ for?
If you do, the Holy Spirit taught you. He testified of this. If you're looking to Christ the
same way God looks to Christ, Everything God requires of me,
He looks to His Son for. Everything God requires of me,
I look to His Son for. Same thing. Same thing. This
is what the Holy Ghost bears witness to. After they'd said
before, verse 16, this is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into
their hearts and in their minds while I write them. And their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. How could God forget them? Because
they've been put away. because they've been blotted
out, because they've been cancelled by the blood of Christ. They
are no more! That's why He remembers them no more. When God looks
at me, this astonishes me. When God looks at me, He sees
someone who has never sinned. That's how powerful the blood
of Christ is. It makes us perfect in His sight. Not even liable to fall. Someone
who's justified as someone who never did anything wrong. And
God sees every believer just like that. That's the power of
the gospel. His work's perfect, isn't it?
His work's perfect. Nothing can be added to it, nothing
can be taken from it. Let's go on reading. Verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
confidence, liberty to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated
for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. And having
an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with
a true heart. in full assurance of faith, fully
assured that all I need is in Christ, that Christ is all I
have, all I want, and all I need. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He
is faithful to promise, and let us consider one another to provoke
unto love, not to irritation, but to love and to good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is, but exerting one another, and so much the
more, as you see the day approaching. His work is perfect. Can't be added to, it can't be
taken from. And I'm amazed that I can sit
here and tell you that it can't get any better for me, or you
if you're a believer. Can't get any more saved, can't
get any more loved, can't get any more holy, can't get any
more accepted, can't get any more righteous. That's the gospel. His work is perfect. Can't be
added to, it can't be taken from. Back to our text in Deuteronomy
32. This is his doctrine that drops
as the rain, his speech distilling as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, as the showers upon the grass. Here's
his doctrine because I will publish the name of the Lord. Ascribe
me greatness to our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect,
for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. Now, I want to be taught the doctrine
of God, don't you? Not only do I want to be taught
the doctrine of God, I want Him to be my teacher. I don't want
to simply be taught by a man because if I'm just taught by
a man, really nothing to it. The only stuff we really believe
and experience is the stuff that God teaches us. I want to be
taught of the Lord. They shall all be taught of God.
I want to be taught how God can be just and still justify somebody
like me. I want to be taught by God what
must I do to be saved. I want Him to teach me that believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I want to be taught how God saves
sinners by His grace. I want to be taught by God how
His Son really is all in all. That He's all I need, I don't
want anything else. I want to be taught that. I want
to be taught of the Lord. And I want to teach. I want to
teach who God is, who Christ is, what he accomplished, where
he is now, how God saves sinners. Now this is the gift of God to
the church, this thing of teaching, taught. So, he that teacheth,
let him give himself to doctrine, the doctrine of God, the doctrine
of Christ. Aren't you thankful for the doctrine
of God? Let's pray.