WWUTT 568 Wandering Into Vain Discussion?

The Apostle Paul told Timothy that certain persons have swerved from the sound gospel of Jesus Christ and wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers without understanding what they're saying when we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Sound Doctrine Versus Vain Discussion in 1 Timothy 1

Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 1, starting again in verse 3. The Apostle Paul writing to his servant Timothy, As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus, so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God, that is, by faith.

The aim of our charge is love, that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

So why is it so important for us to be sound in our doctrine and to teach sound doctrine, that which flows from the gospel of Jesus Christ? Well, because as we looked at in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 3, sound doctrine produces godliness.

So if you're teaching anything other than the sound words of our Lord Christ, it is hindering the production of godliness in the lives of believers. When you go beyond what is written, as the Apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians explicitly not to do, that's 1 Corinthians 4, 6.

Or when you twist the text to mean something that it doesn't actually mean. Or you moralize the text, or you allegorize the text, or you reduce it down into some sort of self-help message. Any of these things that deviate from the sound teaching of the gospel, it hinders godliness.

It will not save lives. We looked at that yesterday with some of the examples that I presented, particularly pertaining to Beth Moore. Although she'll present these things and say, trust Jesus with your stuff, it doesn't save anyone's life, because it's not calling anyone to repentance.

It's not reminders of our sin and what Jesus died for. So it's really just to place you in a comfortable seat. For those who are not saved and don't know the gospel, it's a comfortable seat on their way to hell.

These kinds of messages don't save anyone. And when it comes to teachers who teach that way, like Beth Moore does, it's very easy for me to find an example of how they misuse the text. Pretty much any sermon that I click on, I'm guaranteed to not hear the gospel, but I will hear a misuse of the scripture.

On the flip side, you've got sound teachers that I regularly listen to, like Matt Chandler, whose sermon clip I used yesterday, or Dr. Albert Mohler, or John MacArthur, R .C. Sproul, Votie Bauckham, Stephen Lawson, some of the big guys I like to listen to.

Every time I click on one of their sermons, I am guaranteed to hear the gospel. No matter what the topic is, it will flow from the soundness of a presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every time.

I can't even think of a time that I listened to sermons by any of those guys and did not hear a clear presentation of the gospel. Once we are trained in this, because this is another thing that Paul is going to go on to tell Timothy in chapter four, train yourself for godliness.

Once you are trained in this, the soundness of the gospel, then you will hunger for it. And it is very easy to identify the difference between somebody who's teaching out of the gospel of Christ and somebody who is avoiding the gospel altogether.

So let's consider a few more examples of that. These examples of promoting speculation rather than the stewardship that is by faith. So again, we're supposed to promote the soundness of the gospel, not promoting speculation.

And the aim of our charge in doing this is love. We teach sound doctrine because we love. We hold the sound doctrine. Our discussions are rooted in sound doctrine. We will not promote teachers that are not sound in their doctrine.

We do this because we love those who need sound doctrine, which is everybody. And this comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. In other words, the conscience is not defiled by bad teaching.

And the faith that we share is sincere. It's real. It's true. It's not rooted in all of these other things that did not come from the author and finisher of our faith, who is Jesus Christ, according to Hebrews 12, verses one and two.

So anyway, like I said, we're going to get to a few more examples of promoting speculation rather than the stewardship of God that is by faith. I want to play this clip here that was one that I wanted to play yesterday, but I ran out of time.

So I talked about, I learned about Beth Moore. This is another clip with Beth Moore in it, but it also has Joyce Meyer and Christine Cain. I was going to use this as an example of why Beth Moore is so dangerous and not just because her message doesn't ever really take you to the gospel, but she just fawns over these women who are clear false teachers.

Joyce Meyer is a heretic, and I'm going to give another example of that here in just a moment. But here's a clip with Joyce Beth Moore and Christine Cain. The three of them had formed a panel together and were answering questions from the audience.

This was just from earlier this year.

A Grieving Friend and the Need for Gospel Hope

My question is, I had a friend, a very good friend who passed away about, she passed away last week, Saturday morning, and we had unreconciled differences. And rather than go on the rest of my life feeling beat up or allowing the situation to beat me up because I sent her a real nice text message and let her know that I had been praying for her, and I put in there Colossians, a scripture from there, I can't remember it right now, but I want to know how do I go on with the rest of my life because I loved her so much and not let it be a hinder, you know, not let it hinder me that we didn't resolve our issues.

Well, honey, God knows your heart. And to be honest, she also now at this point knows exactly how you feel. She couldn't have known that here on earth, but when we get to heaven, we know even as he knows.

And so not only that, I'm sure she probably sees you and hears you right now. She knows how you feel and that's the way you go on. You know, it's not, what's in our heart really is the most important thing.

And it's not that what we do is not important or don't do, it is important, but you're in a situation now that you cannot go back and undo. So you have, you don't have to, you have the privilege of trusting God that he can make this thing work out right.

She knows, you trust me, she knows that you're sorry and she forgives you.

How could she possibly know that? Is she a psychic? Is she a necromancer? Those things are forbidden in scripture. Nothing that Joyce Meyer said there is in the Bible. Now she tried some sort of a Bible passage, but, but totally botched it where she said there, we will know as he knows.

I'm guessing, although she didn't give any reference, I'm guessing that she's drawing from first Corinthians 13, 12 for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now we know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

This is Paul talking about his fully sanctified self, which is what we will be when we arrive in heaven. We will be fully sanctified right now. You are completely justified. You're not yet fully sanctified.

Sanctification is that process, that growth and holiness that is happening in your life as you continue to walk this earth, but you will not be fully sanctified until you enter into the other side. As a matter of fact, you will not be fully sanctified until the bride is presented to the bridegroom because our sanctification also includes the other saints that are being sanctified.

So that's what Paul is talking about there. It's not about knowing everything as God knows everything. And Joyce has twisted that again, doing exactly what Paul has told Timothy, these false teachers are going to do.

They desire to be teachers, but they don't understand what they're saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. And I would say there that Joyce's answer wasn't even all that confident.

You heard how she stammered and she would kind of stop midway through her answer and then kind of start to say something else. So she didn't, she wasn't even confident in her own answer there. But that was awful.

And then Beth Moore right there next to her agreeing with everything that she was saying equally as as terrible. Anyway, we're going to go on. There's more to this clip, but just wanted to interrupt to say that what a hopeless answer that Joyce gave that woman.

Nothing that was from the word of God. If you wronged someone and they died before you had the chance to confess your wrong or resolve your differences or ask for forgiveness, what can you do? Nothing between you and that person.

There's nothing that you can do to resolve that. They're gone. So what do you need to know? Well, David prayed to God in Psalm 51 against you and you only have I sinned. And Jesus Christ paid the price for that sin with his death on the cross at Calvary.

1 John 1 9 says that if we ask forgiveness for our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus said to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in your weakness.

See how the gospel was in that answer? And Joyce withholds that from her hearers. So like I said, there's more to this answer or more to this clip coming up. Another woman is going to ask another question and Beth Moore is the first to answer here.

Whether Pets Go to Heaven

What is your name and your question?

Hi Ginger, I'm Gail from Minnesota. My question is last week I had a dear friend who lost her English Springer Spaniel pet of 14 years and she's grieving. Do our pets go to heaven? Will we see him?

Well, Beth and I are both dog lovers and Christine is not, so we're not going to let her answer that question. Well, Beth, since I haven't been to heaven yet, I'm not 100 for sure.

I don't have the answer to that either. But what I do know, I love the fact that there's horses we know there because of Revelation 19. So we know there's going to be animals there. No, we don't know anything about what happens with them.

But I love what my friend Susan says, and she said it so many times and she's a co-worker of mine. And she said, listen, what God has waiting for us is going to be the absolute most phenomenal best, whatever is best and most wonderful he will have waiting for us.

And I love that. And I often think, OK, have me that one bird dog I love so much, have that thing waiting for me in my condo. So we don't know the answer, but we can sure hope.

Wait, wait, you're looking, you're wanting to live in a condo.

I'm having a mansion. That's what I said.

OK, but the Greek word that translates mansion in the King James Version.

Oh, come on. Now you're going to go Greek.

Welcome to my Baptist friend. She's having a condo. I'm having a mansion. That's all I know.

But I'm a pessimistic Baptist. Let's just say it's rooms. It's going to be great rooms.

Yes. All right.

I couldn't resist.

If you don't mind, I wasn't laughing there. I really didn't find that funny. Beth Moore had referenced Revelation 19 because we see a horse in Revelation 19. Therefore, we know there are animals in heaven.

Here's the part she was talking about. Revelation 19, 11. Then I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness, he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name that is written on it that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood. And the name by which he is called is the word of God.

And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When I read that, did you feel like the emphasis there was on a horse?

Or was the horse symbolic of something and not really a literal animal that is riding around in heaven? The emphasis there is Christ. And it is showing that he is even greater and higher than Caesar, who rode on a white horse.

But Christ is even greater than he. The emphasis in the book of Revelation is Jesus. And how for all eternity we are going to be praising him for his just judgment on the wicked and his merciful deliverance of his own from sin and death and the wrath of God.

The emphasis in Revelation is Christ. It's not that we're going to get a room or have a mansion or that our bird dog is going to be in a place waiting for us. And Beth Moore's answer was more centered around something her friend said.

Then what the text said, this is wandering away into vain discussion, everything that they talked about there from Joyce Meyer's answer to the woman who had lost a friend to Beth Moore responding about having our pets in heaven.

All of this is vain discussion. It's all about how we are benefited. Giving glory to God was never mentioned in any of those answers. So while we're on the subject of Joyce Meyer here, we're going to see further how she gives glory to the ears of the hearers rather than to God in the prosperity gospel that she preaches.

Joyce Meyer and the Prosperity Gospel of Positive Confession

I got fire in my belly tonight because I know I know that there's power in right words, that words are containers for power. And I don't care what kind of a mess you've got. I am begging you tonight to stop talking about it and start talking about what the word says and what you can have.

Make yourself a list. Do some work. Do some homework. Make sure you've got a scripture to back up every one of your confessions. We're not talking about some magic, goofy, you know, weird new age thing.

I'm talking about doing what the Bible says, calling those things that be not as though they are prophesying to the dead, dry bones in your life. Oh, you dry bones. Hear the word of the Lord. Maybe you need to get your checkbook out and say, oh, you checkbook.

Hear the word of the Lord. You are not going to stay empty all of your life. Oh, somebody says, well, this is just too weird for me. Well, then just stay broke. What you're doing is not working. You listen to me, checkbook.

The first 10 percent of everything that goes into you is going to God's work and you are going to be full to overflowing. And I am going to be blessed and I'm going to be a blessed.

Vain discussion. That's all that is vanity. And everybody's cheering about it because Joyce Meyer is saying you can be rich because you're a Christian. Miss used a few texts there, including Romans four, 17, which says that God is the one who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

You don't do that. You can't do that with your positive confession. God is the one who does that. He's the one who creates by his word. And then she also used Ezekiel 37, where Ezekiel sees the Valley of Dry Bones, which is a picture of evangelism by preaching the gospel of Christ.

Those who were dead in their sins and their trespasses are brought to life. Romans 10, 17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. But Joyce was twisting that into how you can be rich, taking a text that points toward the gospel and instead pointing it at you and how you can have all the stuff that you want.

One of the statements that I made earlier this week is that if you don't learn doctrine, if you don't hold fast to sound doctrine, if what you believe is not rooted and grounded in historic biblical orthodoxy, then it's possible you believe the wrong doctrines, even heretical ones.

Christ Fulfills the Law Instead of Breaking It

Listen to Stephen Furtick here and how he tries to offer an example of the gospel. But because his belief of the gospel of Christ is not orthodox, he ends up saying something heretical, whether or not he actually meant to do this.

Because love will take you way further than the law ever could. I'll prove it to you. Let's say your child is in a horrible accident. Let's say they bust their head wide open on the monkey bars and they fall off the monkey bars and monkey bars are like 30 feet high.

I'm making this an extreme example, and they fall down and they bust their head wide open and you scoop them up and put them in the car to get them to the emergency room and on the way to the emergency room.

Every sign you see says speed limit. How much attention do you pay to the numbers beneath the speed limit in that moment? Those numbers mean nothing to you. Why? Because somebody that you love is in trouble.

And in that moment, any parent will break the law for the sake of love. Any human parent will break the law for the sake of love. And what will really turn your heart to God is not when you hear his laws, which were given for our good, by the way, but they were powerless because there wasn't enough leverage in our action to keep the law.

So what God did when he sent his son, and this is why we get excited in church, and this is why tears fill our eyes when we think about Jesus. And this is why the gospel is still good news in the world today, because God broke the law for love.

I said to every sinner, God broke the law for love.

Is that what he did? No. Matthew 517. Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life in perfect obedience and submission to his father in heaven.

And he died on the cross as the perfect lamb, the spotless lamb of God, fulfilling the sacrificial system that was laid down in the law of God in the Old Testament. So that everybody who believes on the name of Christ, his blood has covered over their sins and they stand before God is righteous.

And so when God looks at you, he doesn't see the wretched sinner deserving of God's wrath that you are. He sees instead the righteousness of his son, whose blood has covered over your sinfulness, whose righteousness has been imputed to you.

And God loves you with the same love and intensity that he loves his own son. Romans 5 8. God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Remember, in the book of Deuteronomy, God is described as just and all his ways are justice.

So he didn't break the law for love. He fulfilled the law out of love through his son, Jesus Christ. First, John 1 9. Again, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness just by sending his son to die for our sins so that all who believe on his name. We'll have everlasting life.

That's the gospel message that is being avoided by these false teachers. They desire to be teachers of the law, but they don't understand what they're saying or the things about which they make their confident assertions.

And we'll have more examples of this as we go through this study of First Timothy, where Paul so emphatically instructs his servant to teach sound doctrine and don't let anyone else teach any different doctrine nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies rattling on about things that is not the stewardship from God that is by faith, the soundness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your word that by this word, we can test everything, holding fast to what is good and abhorring what is evil. And I pray that we would have a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

There's not anything that we need to be ashamed of when it comes to talking about the things of God or regretting that we said because we because what we say comes straight from the text instead of deviating it, deviating from it into speculation and myth.

Instead, guide us according to your word that we may be steadfast and true and what we have to say and teach and share with others, growing one another in holiness and righteousness flows from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lead us in your righteousness for your name's sake. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

This is when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with the church family.

Find a good gospel teaching Christ-centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.