1 Timothy 1:3

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, writes to Timothy, a true son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith. Now the promise or the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. Some, having strayed from these, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law was not made for a righteous person but for the lawless, the insubordinate, the ungodly, and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

Father, as we consider this passage of Scripture, I pray that you would open our eyes, open our ears, and open our hearts to receive from you this morning your word. Lord, we are convinced that your word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. There are aspects of it that are challenging and convicting. And Lord, that's not a bad thing; it's a good thing because in that conviction, we are drawn to the place of confession. When we bring our sin to you, confessing it, you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

As we saw in that passage of Scripture, this list of things that are contrary to your nature and to your law, there are some here today, maybe many, who can identify themselves and their past lives in some of those things. God, thank you for your great, glorious gospel. Thank you for your forgiving grace.

Lord, we are so grateful that you have made us your people by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We praise you, Jesus. Speak to us today; teach us. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

Many of you know that my wife is a nurse in the intensive care unit at a local hospital. Recently, she showed me a video of something that has now become quite a national news story, and many of you have probably seen it. It features a nurse in Utah being arrested by a police officer because she was upholding the hospital's policy and really upholding the law. The police department in Salt Lake has come under a lot of scrutiny, specifically that officer, and this nurse, Alex Wubbles, whose name has been lifted up, is kind of a champion of people's rights. She was falsely arrested and, for a very short time, falsely imprisoned in the cop car. It came out that she was really a defender of that individual patient's rights when the police officer was trying to take blood from an unconscious individual, and he was not following the law, but she was.

For those who have seen that video, probably many of you because it's been on the nightly news a number of times, there is a part of us that feels infuriated. We are really bothered by that because each of us has a deep sense of morality, of right and wrong, and a deep sense of justice. When we see someone using the justice system in an unjust way or using their position in an unjust way, it makes us angry. Because that is true, all of us can find some agreement with the word of the Apostle Paul here in verse eight, where he says, "We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully." The law is good if one uses it lawfully, and in watching the footage from the incident in Utah, most instantly felt that the law was not being used properly. It was not being used in the right way, and so we say that is wrong. That is unjust.

As an aside to this, the whole discussion of something being right or wrong, being just or unjust, evolutionary theory cannot answer where that sense comes from. There is this deep sense within every single human being of right and wrong.

If you're interested in that whole topic, I highly recommend C.S. Lewis's great book, Mere Christianity. It is a really good read on the topic, discussing the internal moral law that we have. Evolutionary science can't answer where that comes from, though there have been recent studies and books trying to argue that every animal basically has a moral organ, if you will. However, a recent article in Psychology Today stated that this is just not true. The behaviors we observe in animals do not align with what we see in humans regarding morality.

Every single human being, from birth, has the capacity for moral judgment—a strong capacity for moral judgment. It doesn't take long for that capacity to begin making moral judgments and assessments. I have four children, and I observe this ongoing experiment of parenting every single day. They range in age from eight down to four, and hardly a day goes by in my house without hearing the words "It's not fair" from one of them, even the four-year-old. It starts so quickly that we make moral assessments about what is right and what is wrong.

There are things we see happening in society that lead us to say the law is good if one uses it lawfully and in the right way. In the opening words of First Timothy, we find that Paul is advocating for a right application of the law and a proper use of it. Why is he doing that? Well, during his time in Rome, Paul the Apostle was arrested for preaching the gospel, which caused some people to have a hard time with his message. He was extradited to Rome to stand trial before the highest court in the land because he had appealed as a Roman citizen to the Supreme Court.

While waiting for a trial before the emperor of Rome, he was under house arrest. At some point, he was released and returned to the areas where he had previously planted churches. He went back to what we know as modern-day Turkey, specifically to a city called Ephesus. Timothy, a young man in his early thirties at the time, was with Paul. When they arrived in Ephesus, it was a church that Paul had pastored, planted, and served at for a number of years, and Timothy had been there with him.

Before, he sees that it is a church that has a lot of problems, a lot of issues, and a lot of conflict. Now, that's not abnormal. If you've been around church for any length of time, you know that there are problems, issues, and conflicts in churches. In fact, you may have come to this church because you were leaving another church where there were problems, conflicts, and issues. You got here and thought, "I finally found a perfect church." No, you didn't. There are problems, conflicts, and issues because there are people. People make up churches, and people have problems, issues, and conflicts.

Paul saw that the church at Ephesus had some problems, conflicts, and issues, and he knew that he wasn't going to stay there very long. He was on his way to visit another church across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to modern-day Europe at that time, called Macedonia. He was probably going back to a church called the Church at Philippi. As he was getting ready to leave, he said to Timothy, "I want you to stay here in this place because I want you to help set things in order in this church."

Look at verse three of First Timothy, chapter one. He says, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia." Paul was in Ephesus with Timothy, and as he was on his way to Philippi, he urged, begged, and pleaded with Timothy to remain in Ephesus so that he could charge some to teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith.

This is a role, if not one of the primary roles, of a pastor. What Paul is calling Timothy to do there in Ephesus is to encourage him to be the pastor of that church and to charge some that they teach no other doctrine.

Point number one on your outline: pastors lead and teach in right doctrine and defend against wrong doctrine. I feel I can say this after having done this now, by God's grace, for almost 19 years. I have had the privilege of being a pastor, leading and teaching in right doctrine, and trying to defend against wrong doctrine. I can say that this is not always easy work. The issue of leading and teaching in right doctrine involves instructing people in what is right and what is wrong.

Walking in this, which is right, can be very difficult, especially since none of us like to receive instruction very well. You may find yourself in conflict. As you read through First Timothy and Second Timothy, both letters written by Paul to Timothy, you can read between the lines and see that Timothy was not excited about that conflict. There was a little bit of fear and a little bit of timidity as Paul was pleading with him. Paul wanted Timothy to stay in Ephesus and charge them to teach no other doctrine. I can almost hear Timothy saying, "Yeah, I don't think I want to do that, Paul."

God was calling Timothy to this task, and Paul was affirming that call. Timothy was understandably concerned about it because he knew it would be difficult. When Paul says, "I want you to charge some that they teach no other doctrine," the word "charge" is a military term, commanding someone and giving strict orders to do or not do something. Here was Timothy, in his early thirties, and in that culture, it was especially challenging for a younger person to tell an older individual what they could or could not do. Timothy was a little concerned about that.

Paul was saying, "Listen, you're going to be the commanding officer." There is a clear hierarchy in the church, even in this verse, where Timothy is instructed to charge some to teach no other doctrine. We will see this hierarchy more clearly when we get to First Timothy chapter three, where we discuss churches, elders, deacons, and the body of Christ. In this hierarchy, Timothy is left as the commanding officer, and he is being told to give strict orders that they speak no other doctrine. Paul is urging him to stick it out and stay there.

This section of Scripture, First and Second Timothy and Titus, is part of the Bible referred to as the pastoral epistles. "Epistles" is just an old word for letters, and this section is sometimes simply called the pastoral letters because it was written to two men who were pastoring churches—one in a city called Ephesus and another on an island called Crete. In these letters, there are instructions for pastors and leaders within churches, which is why they are called the pastoral epistles.

In the sections of Second Timothy and Titus, the idea of doctrine comes up more than in any other place in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. In the New Testament, the word translated as "doctrine" is found 19 times, and 15 of those instances occur in these letters.

Those nineteen times are found right here in First Timothy. This entire letter is about sound doctrine. I urged you, when I was on my way to Macedonia, to stay in Ephesus and charge some that they teach no other doctrine. This is in response to the conflict that Paul and Timothy saw in the city of Ephesus around 64 AD. They came into the church that they knew well, that they had planted and pastored, and they saw all kinds of issues there. There were problems in this church. Timothy, you are going to stay here and make sure that things are set in order, that they teach no other doctrine.

The term "other doctrine" refers to heterodox doctrine, which is anything that is against orthodoxy. You are going to set it right. Not only should they not teach any other doctrine, but Paul goes on to say, "nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith." I love the way that some of the other English translations amplify this. The New International Version reads that they would not devote themselves to myths or endless genealogies, which promote controversial speculation rather than advancing God's work, which is by faith. The New Living Translation says, "Don't let them waste their time in endless discussions of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don't help people live a life of faith in God."

So Paul says, "Timothy, I don't want the church there in Ephesus to be wrapped up in fables, myths, endless genealogies, and spiritual pedigrees." There is little agreement among Bible teachers and commentators as to exactly what the nature of the problem was in the city of Ephesus. We can use our imaginations and speculate about what the problem was, and we would probably come to some pretty accurate conclusions. Most of the time, the problems that churches face are very similar in nature. They might be in a different place at a different time, but the issues are often alike.

I would not be surprised if the issues that the church at Ephesus was facing were not very similar to those that the church at Corinth was facing. If you want to see what those were, just read through First and Second Corinthians in the Bible, and you will see what some of those issues and problems were. The specific nature of the problem is not really the issue.

Really, the issue is the outcome of the problem, and the outcome is very clear. Look at what he says: the outcome is that such things promote controversial speculations or lead to meaningless disputes. Well, of course, such things aren't happening today, right? We've done away with all that sort of problem in the church, right? No, unfortunately.

So what would a myth or speculation that causes disputes look like in our day? One example that you may have heard recently is that next Saturday, September 23rd, is kind of a big deal prophetically, or so there are some who are saying. Some YouTube videos are claiming that next Saturday is really, really important prophetically. They are saying this because, in the constellation Virgo, the sun will be in Virgo, and the moon will be at Virgo's feet. There will be a series of planets and stars in alignment at her head. Most specifically, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and the star Regulus will be aligned at her head.

This is being presented as a prophetically important event, suggesting that something significant is going to happen next Saturday, September 23rd. They reference Revelation chapter 12, verse 1, which says, "Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars." The verse continues, describing her as being with child, crying out in labor pains and giving birth. This must mean that because this is happening in the sky, there is a really big prophetic event occurring next Saturday, probably the rapture of the church.

Now, just so you know, I plan on being here next Sunday, so I'll see you there. These are the kinds of things that can infiltrate the church and become the focus, causing controversial speculations and meaningless disputes. They hinder the work of the church and obstruct the purpose and plan that God has for His church. They break down godly edification and do not advance the kingdom of God. Furthermore, they do not accord with sound biblical interpretive methods.

So, point number two on your outline: don't be jammed up by junk doctrine.

Really simple, really important: don't be jammed up by junk doctrine. This is not new to the church. In fact, Jesus's first disciples, just moments before He ascended into heaven, had a pressing question. It's recorded in Acts chapter one that Jesus's core disciples—Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, and Thomas—were with Him on the Mount of Olives. As Jesus was about to rise off the ground and ascend into heaven, the number one question they wanted to know was, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom? Will you establish your kingdom?"

Jesus responded, "Listen, guys, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts."

The church throughout the ages, from the very earliest days until now, has had to be reminded regularly by Jesus of our purpose. He said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

That is our purpose: to go and preach the gospel to every creature and to make followers of Jesus. We easily get distracted by meaningless disputes and controversial speculations about things that do not produce godly edification. Therefore, we must be careful not to be jammed up by junk doctrine, which brings us to a really important question: how do we know? How do we discern if it's junk or not?

First, notice what the point of sound doctrinal teaching is. Paul states it clearly. He urged Timothy, when he went into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus and charge some that they teach no other doctrine nor give heed to fables or endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith. Proper teaching of sound doctrine brings faith and the building up of the church—godly edification. That is the end goal: that we would be established in the faith, as Colossians chapter 2, verses 6 and 7 say.

Paul continues, "Now the purpose of the commandment," or another way to read it, "is the purpose..."

Of the preaching of the Scriptures, the purpose of the giving forth of the charge of sound doctrine is love. Would you underline that simple word? The purpose of the commandment is love. There is a certain quality to this love; there is a qualitative statement here. It is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. Some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

The purpose of the commandment is love. The point of what we do when we gather here and give forth the Scriptures is that we would grow—chiefly in our love for one another and for those who are outside. We should grow in our demonstration of love, which makes sense. It is fitting because love is the fruit of the Spirit.

What is the fruit of the Spirit? In Galatians, another book written by Paul, chapter 5, Paul states that the fruit of the Spirit is love. Singularly, the fruit is love, and from that follow joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and so forth. The fruit of the Spirit is the evidence that God's Spirit is in you. If you are a Christian today, the Spirit of God dwells in you. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the chief evidence that God is in you is love—love for each other, love for those who are outside, and love for God.

This is the chief evidence that God dwells in us because God is love, and His love should be manifested in us. Therefore, this should be something that is growing in us. If we do not have love, then Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, which has been called the love chapter, that if we have not love, we are nothing. We can understand all mysteries, speak with tongues, and be deeply involved in spiritual gifts. We can understand prophecy and be a really giving group of people. We can even give our lives, our bodies, to be burned. Yet, if we have not love, it profits us nothing.

He ends that section in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13, saying, "Now abide these three: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." This means that the doctrine of Christ, the commandment of the Scriptures, properly taught, should produce a growing quality of love within the believer.

Within the church, doctrine number three states that love is the product of proper doctrine. This should be obvious to us because love is the summation of the Scriptures; love is the summation of the law. Jesus, in a section of Scripture called the Sermon on the Mount, speaks on this in Matthew chapter 22, verse 35. It says there, "Then a lawyer came and said to him, testing him, 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?'"

Jesus responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." The law and the prophets refer to what we generally call the Old Testament, the first two-thirds of the Bible.

On these two commandments—love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself—all of that hangs upon love. In Galatians, Paul, in the New Testament, states in chapter five that "for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes in Romans chapter 13 that "he who loves another has fulfilled the law." He quotes the same passage that Jesus did: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Then he adds in verse 10 of Romans chapter 13, "Love does no harm to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law."

Now, as good as it sounds that the product of proper doctrine is love, I think you would probably agree that there is a misunderstanding among many people in our culture today about just what love is. What exactly is it? There are a lot of different ideas, a lot of different definitions, and many things that people think love reveals. To give us more understanding, Paul provides some qualifiers about what this love should look like within the church. The product of proper doctrine is this kind of love, and the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart.

This is the first thing he says, from a pure heart. If you take this idea, this concept of a pure heart, and begin to look through the Scriptures to try and figure out what a pure heart is, you find that a pure heart is only that which comes by faith in Jesus Christ. By faith, our hearts are purified. We read in Acts chapter 15 that it is God's grace and our trust in Him that brings about a purified heart. This means that those who do not know Christ do not have a pure heart. Those who do not have a pure heart cannot love in the way that God has called us to and in the way that is the most perfect form of God's love.

A person who is not a Christian, who has not been transformed by the grace of God and has not been given a new heart, cannot love in the way that God has designed. They cannot love with the most perfect form of love. This does not mean that non-Christians cannot experience and display forms of love; they certainly can. However, it is not in its most perfect form, not in the way that God desires, until one becomes a Christian. Only then can you experience and express love in a proper way.

It is doctrine, the proper teaching of doctrine, that brings us to the expression of this in the most full experience. Just as sex, apart from marriage, can be experienced by people but not in its most perfect form, love outside of Christ is not the perfect expression of it. Sex only within the confines of marriage is that which God prescribes and that which is in its most perfect form.

He says that preaching and teaching the Scriptures should bring love, and it is love from a pure heart. But not only from a pure heart; it is love from a good conscience. The fullest and most perfect form of love is a love that is given and received from a good conscience. What is a good conscience? It is a conscience that has been cleared from guilt, a conscience that has been cleared from fear. The only way to have your conscience cleared from guilt, shame, and fear is to receive the grace and forgiveness of God, because all sin is ultimately against God.

And because every person in this world is under sin, we have all transgressed God. Therefore, we all live with a sense of guilt, shame, and fear. This is because we have gone against what we know inside, due to the internal moral law that God has given us. We experience guilt and shame because we know we have transgressed that law, and we feel fear as we wonder about the outcome. Is there going to be a judgment for that? Every person has this experience.

However, when you become a Christian and receive the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, that guilt, fear, and shame go away. Because it is gone, you can love in the most perfect form now. First John, chapter four, verse 18, says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." You cannot perfectly love someone while still harboring guilt, fear, and shame, which are only dealt with by the cross of Christ.

The proper preaching of good doctrine brings an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which offers forgiveness and release from sheer shame, fear, and guilt. The preaching of Christ brings us into a love that is from a pure heart and a good conscience. Thirdly, it comes from sincere faith, or as the King James Version states, "faith unfeigned," meaning genuine faith that is not hypocritical. This genuine faith is only found in Christ, and it brings an unhypocritical love.

Doctrine that is properly taught and preached should lead to an unhypocritical faith, which flows from a pure, good, and sincere heart and mind. If the end goal of good, solid doctrinal preaching is to produce this kind of love—love from a pure heart, love from a good conscience, and love from sincere faith—then we have a barometer, an indicator of whether or not what is being taught is sound and good.

If a church is preaching, or I might even say if they are peddling fables, myths, endless genealogies, and spiritual pedigrees, then it will produce and promote controversy.

Speculations and meaningless disputes abound. We have a gauge to assess this: we can observe the people attending a church and evaluate the product of what is taking place there. If the preaching results in meaningless disputes, endless speculations, and all kinds of arguments, we can challenge whether there is good, solid teaching coming from that place. However, if a church is preaching and teaching sound doctrine, it will lead to the growth of pure, sincere, and good love from a heart and conscience transformed by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We can see the produce of it.

Point number four: sound doctrine promotes genuine faith, cleanses the conscience, and purifies the heart, producing love. King David had it right when he wrote thousands of years ago, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than the honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward." (Psalm 19:7-11)

Why do we gather week after week to open the Scriptures and preach and teach from them, verse by verse and chapter by chapter? Because we believe that the law of the Lord converts the soul, makes wise the simple, opens blinded eyes, and transforms us into a people who love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. We believe that God's Word transforms us, and so did Paul. That's why he wrote to Timothy in First Timothy 4:13, urging him to give attention to reading and to exhortation.

To doctrine. This is why he would write to Timothy in his second letter, Second Timothy chapter four, and he would say, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; convince, rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." Immediately after he gives him that exhortation in Second Timothy chapter four, verse two, to preach the word and to continue giving forth doctrine, he says this: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because of their itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables."

So then Paul says this back to our text, First Timothy chapter one, verse six: "From which, from sound doctrine, some having strayed have turned aside to idle talk." Who is the "some" in verse six? It's the same "some" in verse three that Timothy was told to tell them to preach no other doctrine. Some have turned aside, desiring to be teachers. Verse seven of the law states that they understand neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. They haven't left the church; they're still there. They have a desire to be teachers of the Scriptures. That's a really good desire. In fact, when we get later on in chapter three of First Timothy, he will say there are some who desire the office of an elder. They desire a good thing.

So these people who desire to be teachers have a good desire, but they've been turned aside to idle talk, and they don't fully comprehend or understand what it is that they are speaking. They have the right desire; they're in the right place, but they're not there in the right way. The New Living Translation says they want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they do not know what they're talking about, even though they speak so confidently.

If you ever take New Testament Greek, the first thing that you'll learn on the first day that you're in Greek class is the alphabet: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, the whole thing. Not only will you learn the alphabet, but you will also learn all the sounds that are associated with each of those consonants and vowels. Then you'll learn what's called diphthongs, where you take two different vowels and put them together, and the different sounds that those make. By the end of the first day of class, if you've got the alphabet, the vowels, and the diphthongs, you can read Greek. You can amaze all your friends, open a Greek New Testament, and read the words.

That are on the page. And wow, that guy reads Greek, but you don't understand a word he's saying. It's like this last summer when we were on family vacation up in Oregon. My brother-in-law wanted to go play golf, so we were getting ready to go. My oldest son wanted to go play golf too, so we took him. He was eight years old and on the golf course for the first time. He had been playing a few seasons of baseball.

Now, if you've ever played golf and baseball, you know the swings are completely different. We got out on the course, and we were on hole number one. He was really excited, holding a golf club in his hand and swinging it, ready to go. I said, "Hey, listen here, batter, this ain't baseball. Can I give you a few tips?" He replied, "No, no, no, Dad. I got this."

It was like step up, swing and a miss, swing and a miss. Strike two. We were going to strike three. Yes, you know? For the first nine holes, I asked him, "Can I help you with this?" He insisted, "No, no, no, I got this." He had this attitude the whole day, but he didn't quite have it. He knew just enough about a swing to be dangerous, but it was all that dangerous.

I mean, I know just enough about electricity and wiring things to be dangerous—like really dangerous. These guys knew some things, but they did not understand the reality of those things. They spoke with confidence and boldness. My son might be the most confident person I've ever met in my entire life. He is confident about everything he does, putting in all the effort in the world, and he's convinced he knows exactly what he's doing.

It's great to watch because he has way more confidence than I did in third grade. But it's confidence that doesn't have much yet to support it. I'm glad he's bold and confident, but it's not entirely a hundred percent. These guys are what are called novices in chapter three. They're not bad; they just need to grow.

So he says, "You're there to charge them that they teach no other doctrine." Listen, never forget point number five: good talkers are not necessarily good teachers. There are a lot of people who can give a hell of a talk, and there have been many people in places called churches who have given a hell of a talk, leading many people straight to hell.

They might have big white smiles and they might be on TV. I'm not talking about anybody specific, but this is important. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This is important.

Why? Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter seven, where I was thinking of going earlier, but I got ahead of myself. Right to about the middle of your Bible, turn right. You'll find the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Matthew chapter seven contains a portion of Scripture called the Sermon on the Mount. This is how Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount. Look at what He says in verse 15: "Beware of false prophets, false teachers." How do we beware? How will we know if they're teaching right? They come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Oh my goodness, they look like just anybody else. How will we know? You will know them by their fruit.

Endless genealogies, speculations, and disputes or love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, from sincere faith? Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. We need to make sure that we know them.

Why? Look at these. These are some of the most striking, maybe fear-inducing verses in the whole Bible. Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and done many wondrous works in Your name?" And I will declare to them, "Depart from Me. I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness."

This is not some little thing to be trifled with. The teaching of sound doctrine has eternal consequences. There are people who go to places called churches, and all they're getting is endless genealogies and disputes and all these sorts of things. On the day that they stand before Christ, they are in crisis because they knew some things, but they didn't know Him. That's challenging.

That's why we take this so seriously. That's why Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and said to charge them strictly, warning them that they teach no other doctrine.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer?

Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your Word and what you've given to us from the Scriptures. We pray, God, that you would enable myself and the other leaders, our elders and pastors here at this church, to always be those who are endeavoring to do the work of rightly dividing the Word of truth, that we may properly give forth sound doctrine.

Lord, help us to have the boldness by your Spirit to warn those who are out of the way, those who are giving forth that which may sound good and tickle ears, but does not produce life. God, help us to be strong enough to warn them.

And God, would you open our hearts to sound doctrine that would come into our lives and produce love—love for one another, love for a lost and dying world—that that would be the evidence that we are your followers. Just as you said to your disciples, they shall know that you are my disciples for the love that you have one for another.

God, do that work in us; transform us by your grace. We thank you for the work that you are doing. We look forward to the greater things that you are going to do. Help us to stay on course.

We praise you, Jesus. And now, to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be glory and honor and praise from our lives, from this time forth and forever. Amen.