For AND Against - [1 Timothy 1:3-7]

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

0 views

0 comments

00:00
Well, it's a blessing to be with you all this evening. I spent last Sunday morning,
00:05
I was here for Sunday school and then went to Worcester Baptist and we had a good time there.
00:11
They didn't have quite the normal crowd that they have because the van wouldn't start so they couldn't go pick them all up.
00:17
But it's a blessing to be there and nice to be back. The folks are very encouraging over there.
00:24
Well, you know, I don't have a huge background in the corporate world.
00:30
And sometimes I found during my years on the Sheriff's Department that would be a little bit of a challenge for me.
00:38
I think I was about halfway through my career with the Sheriff when the old Sheriff died right before an election and so we got a new
00:45
Sheriff. And this new Sheriff, he made some changes.
00:53
And it was several years into this, I mean, I just kind of, you know, I had a job where I just kind of tuned out the outside world,
00:58
I just didn't pay any attention to it. And so one day I walk into work and I'm walking down the hallway and there's this huge sign up there and it says, it's our mission statement.
01:09
And I'm going, I turned to somebody and said, what is a mission statement? I don't even know what a mission statement is.
01:14
I mean, maybe it just sounds like either I'm not in the corporate world or I don't live in the world at all, but I had no idea what a mission statement was.
01:22
This mission statement said, you know, as a leader on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, you know,
01:28
I pledged to do the following. And one of the things that we were supposed to pledge to do was to fight, well, there are a few, but to fight racism, homophobia, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I'm just like,
01:44
I didn't know what it meant. All I knew was I didn't really care for it. You know, we were supposed to all memorize it, you know, have it engraved on our foreheads and whatnot.
01:56
And in fact, I heard through the grapevine that the sheriff said, anybody who didn't want to memorize that or who didn't believe in it wholeheartedly should resign.
02:03
I just thought, well, that's easy for him to say. You know, he doesn't have three kids, a wife, cemetery to pay for, you know, thank you, sheriff, but no, thank you.
02:14
But I thought, what do you make of a mission statement that says, hey, you have to fight against anything remotely resembling that which would stand up for the truth, that which would say homosexuality is wrong.
02:30
Now, in the context of my job, that really wasn't an issue. But it just kind of struck me that that term just seemed kind of broad, a fight against homophobia in all its forms.
02:44
I didn't even know, what does that mean? But what if you had a mission statement from God to you?
02:57
And what if that mission statement was so refined and so directed, and he said, basically, this is what
03:04
I want you to do. I want you to stop sinful activity at such and such a place.
03:12
That'd be pretty good. And essentially, as we open to First Timothy tonight, we're going to see that's exactly what
03:20
Paul gives Timothy is a kind of a mission statement. He gives him a specific role, a specific mission, a specific function to fulfill.
03:33
First Timothy chapter one, we're going to be looking at verses three to seven. Paul writes, as I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation, rather than furthering the administration of God, which is by faith.
04:15
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
04:25
For some men, straying from these things have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
04:41
That last part just makes me laugh, and I'm sorry for that. Wanting to be teachers, but they don't know what they're talking about.
04:48
We'll get to that later. It's just kind of, you know, you want to be a teacher? You need to know what you're talking about. Paul's purpose in writing this book,
04:56
First Timothy. First Timothy 3 .15, he says, I write so that, he's writing
05:02
Timothy this letter, so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God.
05:10
Paul gives Timothy an authoritative guide on how he ought to conduct himself and how the church ought to conduct herself.
05:17
This is what the church should look like. This is how the church should function. And this is your role in it.
05:23
This is how you are going to choose leaders. This is what women's roles are on and on and on.
05:28
He gives out, lays out this instruction. And as I said before, Paul had a specific and a genuine love for the church at Ephesus, the church to which
05:41
Timothy was called, and Paul had spent several years teaching there. In verses 1 and 2,
05:46
Paul had established his authority, praised the God of salvation, called Timothy his true, genuine, legitimate child in the faith, and greeted him warmly, all in preparation for the serious charge and instruction we begin to see unfold this evening.
06:06
Now this evening, I want to draw your attention to four exhortations. Four exhortations drawn from our text so that you will view sitting under good teaching rightly and recognize the dangers of sitting under error.
06:22
Four encouragements to get you to examine everything taught here at Bethlehem Bible Church and to urge your friends and family, not necessarily to come here, but to examine what they're being taught at the churches they go to.
06:38
I'm overwhelmed with sadness when I hear what goes on at some of the churches, even churches in this area, and what so many
06:46
Christians listen to week in and week out. First exhortation from verse 3.
06:57
These aren't imperatives because there aren't that many imperatives in the text, but I've drawn them out, and they're applicable to each and every person here because even though we're not at Timothy, even though we haven't been sent, you haven't been sent to a specific place and told, hey,
07:12
Steve, Dave, go do this. You haven't been told that.
07:19
You're here. You have a responsibility here, even as members, as attenders, and so I give you these instructions in that way in these exhortations.
07:30
First of all, you must be wary. You must be leery. You must be a little bit worried, concerned on the watch for heretics.
07:40
It seems clear that Paul and Timothy were together in Ephesus, and Paul left then for Macedonia, and Paul urges, he begs
07:49
Timothy to remain at Ephesus. Again, look at verse 3. As I urged you, upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus.
07:58
Well, why was Paul so concerned about Ephesus? What could possibly be going on at Ephesus that he needed
08:05
Timothy, who was really kind of his right -hand man, someone he had discipled, someone he had trained, someone who really was ready for a significant role in the church?
08:16
What was going on at Ephesus? Well, if you recall in the book of Acts, chapter 20, verses 28 to 30, and you don't have to turn there.
08:28
I'll read it. But Paul had, after he'd spent several years at Ephesus, and then he'd gone on a journey, he had stopped at Miletus and called the elders of the
08:41
Ephesians' church. He said, listen, I need to have a meeting with you guys, come and see me. And they did. And this is some of what he said at that meeting.
08:50
Be on guard for yourselves. These are the leaders of the church, and for all the flock, among which the
08:58
Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God. What do shepherds do?
09:03
They protect the flock. This is what their role was, to shepherd the church of God, which
09:10
He purchased with His own blood. Verse 29, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, the leadership, not sparing the flock, and from your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
09:32
There are going to be people in the Ephesians' church, these elders, false teachers are going to arise up from within them, and people from that church are going to be drawn away by this false teaching, by those teaching perverse things.
09:48
Paul said this out of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and he knew that a time of testing would come for the church at Ephesus.
09:56
A time when false teachers would arise, when men from the leadership of the
10:04
Ephesian church would go off the rails, as it were. They would speak perverse things, it says in Acts 20.
10:10
And that means words that mislead, distort the truth, and are literally kind of misshapen.
10:17
If you have a picture of a wheel, and it's perfectly round, well this word would give you one that really wobbles quite badly.
10:26
That's what a perverse wheel would be, it would be one with a great big divot or something in it, so that when it rolled it would just go, ka -thump, ka -thump, ka -thump.
10:35
In a biblical sense, they take the word of God, they twist it, they mangle it, they distort it, they give it a meaning that draws people, that people want to hear, that they go and they say, oh that sounds so good.
10:49
What false teachers don't do is they don't point to Christ. They don't point to the cross. They don't give the truth, they give these perverse, distorted words.
11:01
And now as we return to 1 Timothy, that time had come. Those teachers were there, just as Paul had said.
11:14
Paul had a specific mission for Timothy, look again at verse 3. As I urge you upon my departure from Macedonia, you remain on at Ephesus and listen, so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines.
11:31
Such a key two words in our English language, so that. In the Greek it's one word, it's a hynna, hynna clause, a purpose.
11:39
That word indicates the purpose for which something else is said. Why did he tell him to stay on at Macedonia or at Ephesus?
11:48
He tells him right there, so that. Here's your purpose. Here's your mission statement, as it were.
11:55
Here is your role. Here is what I'm handing you. This is your responsibility, your charge,
12:01
Timothy. Take care of this. He didn't just ask
12:06
Timothy, hey, you know what? If you don't have anything else going on, why don't you just hang out in Ephesus for a few weeks? It wasn't a passive assignment.
12:14
You know, just kind of stroll around, take a few notes, kind of mingle with the folks, see what's going on.
12:21
This was not going to be easy for Timothy. I don't think, really, that Timothy was bold, strong.
12:28
I think, like anyone, I mean, listen, if I went to anyone here at this church and I said, your ministry, well, maybe there's a few exceptions, if I said, your ministry is to walk around, look for error, and then confront it, some people might be excited about that, but typically it's not something that we like.
12:47
We don't like confrontation. It's not something that anyone likes to do.
12:55
And Paul tells him, instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines. In spite of Paul's authority, that has to be a pretty daunting task.
13:06
It can't be something that Timothy is really looking forward to. Most of us struggle even in confronting those that we know and love who are involved in sin, even in mild forms of sin.
13:22
And this isn't a mild form of sin. This isn't something that can just kind of be looked over or glossed over or handled over a cup of coffee.
13:31
Timothy is, in essence, instructed by Paul to go to these certain men who are teaching these strange doctrines and tell them to shut up, to stop talking, stop teaching, step down, move on, get out of here.
13:45
And again, it's not like Timothy was some kind of spiritual titan, at least not naturally.
13:53
We're not talking about someone with 40 years of ministry like John MacArthur. We're not talking about someone who has a couple of doctorates in his back pocket, like somebody like, and dozens of debates, like maybe
14:04
James White. This is someone who kind of struggled with some issues, who had to be reminded of what his role was.
14:13
We don't know, but Timothy may not have even felt up to this task. But isn't that the rub?
14:20
When someone comes to you and says, would you be willing to do this? Don't we often think, you got the wrong person.
14:27
I can't do that. I'm not gifted that way. I don't really operate like that.
14:37
Timothy couldn't say no. Timothy couldn't wriggle out of this calling.
14:46
It's kind of like many men in scripture, when God's call comes on their life, they don't really want it.
14:53
I mean, think about Moses. What did Moses say? Yes. Yep, I'm your guy, God. He made every excuse he could.
15:01
I don't speak well. You don't know. I'm not going to be able to do that. You know, what about Aaron?
15:07
I mean, he would have done anything to get out of it. Many men are called and then they fail.
15:13
Think about Samson, right to the end of his life. Isaiah didn't really seem like, I mean, kind of reluctantly,
15:21
I will. Send me. Yeah, send you. But the calling of God on someone isn't for that person's, it's not because they're well -suited to it necessarily.
15:41
Sometimes the best thing is what? When they're not well -suited, because then who gets the glory?
15:47
It's not about picking the perfect man or the perfect person for a job and then sitting back and going,
15:52
I knew Timothy was going to be able to handle that mess. That's why I sent him. It's sending somebody who's a little bit over their head so that they just go,
16:01
I have to rely on God. I can't do this on my own. Even in the local church, if we call someone to be a deacon or an elder,
16:11
I would kind of cringe if anybody ever said, yep, I've been waiting for that call, I'm all set. It needs to be kind of like me.
16:19
Are you kidding? So if Timothy felt just a little bit intimidated,
16:27
I think that's probably a good thing. Now, what does it mean to teach strange doctrines?
16:35
It's interesting because that's all one word in the Greek. I mean, Paul just kind of slapped this great big word together and it occurs only one other place in Scripture and that's at the end of 1st
16:45
Timothy. Turn for just a second to 1st Timothy 6 .3 because I think this is really helpful in understanding this.
16:55
1st Timothy 6, verse 3. Paul writes, if anyone advocates,
17:09
I guess it is advocates. Advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our
17:16
Lord Jesus Christ. And with the doctrine conforming to godliness. He tells us exactly what it is there.
17:24
That advocates a different doctrine is the same verb as teaching strange doctrines in chapter 1.
17:33
And different doctrine is the exact opposite of sound doctrine or healthy words. That's the word later on there.
17:40
It says, with the doctrine conforming to godliness or sound words is actually what I was looking for. Sound or healthy words.
17:47
That literally means healthy words. Words that are true. Words that enlighten.
17:52
Words that give life. Sound doctrine comes from the very words of Christ.
17:58
The very words of Scripture. And so on the one hand you have someone who teaches different doctrine and doesn't agree with sound words.
18:11
Those of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what he's saying back in chapter 1. Strange or different doctrine is unsound.
18:20
It is the opposite of sound. It is false doctrine. And it is nothing to be trifled with.
18:26
Paul told Timothy, Timothy, your job is to go to Ephesus or stay in Ephesus and tell those men to stop.
18:35
So you're sitting here and you go, well, good for Timothy. I'm glad he got it done. But what's in it for me? Listen, you're not
18:42
Timothy. But as I said, you are in a local body of Christ. This is a body that is led by fallible men.
18:53
You have to hold the standards here or the elders here to this standard. Our teaching must reflect sound doctrine, sound words, the words of Christ, the words that come from Scripture that give life, the word of the living
19:07
God. Now, I'm sure that no one went to Ephesus Bible Church, sat there week in and week out and thought, you know what?
19:18
Let's just kind of watch and see. Let's wait for some heresy. But guess what?
19:23
It happened. Heretics rose up from within the leadership. We have to be constantly on guard here.
19:32
Every single person here comes and if there's something wrong, they don't raise their hand and say that's heresy, but they need to confront false teaching and do it in the right way, by the way.
19:45
That's my first exhortation. And secondly, you must not let heretics shift your focus.
19:52
You must not let heretics shift your focus. False teachers. Some, Paul writes, some were going to teach strange doctrine, doctrine different from sound doctrine.
20:05
But that wasn't the end of errors at Ephesus. They would also fall prey to speculations.
20:11
Look at verse four. Nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies which give rise to mere speculation.
20:22
When I read this, I just start thinking about all the really kind of way out things that I have experienced in my short
20:30
Christian life. I mean, one of the first books I bought, I've talked about this before, was This Present Darkness.
20:36
And I just remember thinking how really cool it was that there were demons and angels and they were clashing over, you know, these areas and how it really seemed great that people were throwing demons out and all this other stuff.
20:51
That's a myth. Speculation. There's nothing in the
20:56
Bible that would give us that kind of hands -on sort of spiritual warfare. That's not what spiritual warfare is.
21:04
And in Ephesus, these heretical teachers presented elaborate stories as if they gave some kind of spiritual insights.
21:16
They would go on and on about things that weren't in the Bible. And it's fascinating.
21:22
Why would you want to study the Bible when you can study all this interesting, exciting stuff?
21:29
Myths are contrived tales of void. Listen to this. Void of truth.
21:34
They have no truth in them. Or, they could be speculations derived from false
21:40
Jewish teachings. When I think of false teaching, I, of course, go back to Benny Hinn.
21:47
I mean, Benny has a bunch of them and I just pulled up a couple new ones. Not really new, but new to you.
21:55
Like, he designed women to deliver babies out of their sides. Now, what's even more interesting beyond that, was that when he was called on it, he denied it several times, even though he said, the
22:10
Holy Spirit just told me that God designed women so that they would deliver babies out of their sides.
22:18
And so when he was called on it, he said he denied it, he denied it. And then he said, when he was confronted with the fact there was an actual videotape of him saying it, he said, well, okay, that was just dumb.
22:32
And then, as the conversation went further, he finally admitted that it was something he thought he'd read in, are you ready?
22:41
A Dakes Bible from 1963. Dakes mistakes. He also said this.
22:50
I'm not going to try to affect his voice. He said, Adam was a super being when God created him.
22:56
I don't know whether people know this, and I'm sure they don't, but he was the first superman that really ever lived.
23:04
First of all, the scriptures declare clearly that he had dominion over the fowls of the air. True. The fish of the sea.
23:10
True. Now listen, which means he used to fly. Of course, how can he have dominion over the birds and not be able to do what they do?
23:20
I'll prove it further, he says. Adam not only flew, he flew to space.
23:27
He was with one thought, he would be on the moon. Let's close in prayer. That is exciting.
23:35
Listen, you can spend time studying the Bible, or you can just make stuff up. Adam was flying, you know, just think if he hadn't sinned, we'd all be flying around, and we could all go to the moon, and wouldn't that be marvelous?
23:52
So what are endless genealogies? Well, basically to just boil it all down, in Israel at that time there was a lot of interest in family trees.
24:06
And I don't know exactly what they were debating about. The experts don't all agree on this. But just imagine, and basically these disputes would come down between Jews and Jewish Christians.
24:16
And I think, honestly, it probably had something to do with, you know what, I'm more closely related to fill in the blank than you are.
24:22
Or I'm more Jewish than you are. I'm more pure Jewish than you are. Now why would that be vain?
24:30
Why would that be endless, mindless, foolish?
24:38
Because what does heritage have to do with salvation? If in Christ all are the same, if there is no more
24:45
Jew or Gentile, male or female, if we're all equal in Christ, then it doesn't matter.
24:53
But heretics aren't interested in sound doctrine. They're not interested in the gospel. They're not interested in good teaching from the
24:59
Bible. And as we'll see, they can't teach it anyway. So they put on entertainment.
25:05
They say things that are so fascinating that you just have to hear more. You want more of that stuff. Their goal is to lead others away from the truth.
25:21
Again, look at verse 4, which gives rise to mere speculation. One man calls this profitless mere speculation, profitless disputing.
25:32
Another says it's that they always are producing controversy or strife.
25:38
Their teaching is useless, devoid of truth. I mean, those are the glowing reviews. There is nothing to be gained.
25:46
Their teaching is a waste of time. All these things that they spend this time concocting is a waste of time.
25:53
It's the equivalent of the proverbial calculating the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin.
25:59
And Calvin said, you know what? Just to kind of paraphrase here. He said, look at the end result, and I will show you the beginning.
26:10
The beginning of their doctrine. Paul judges doctrine by its fruit.
26:16
What does a good tree produce? Good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit.
26:23
A useless tree produces useless fruit. And this is exactly what they do.
26:29
We talk about speculation. Can you even speculate about the Bible? You absolutely can.
26:37
You absolutely can. I mean, if we were to look at the Magnificat, where an angel comes to Mary, and he says,
26:47
Hail, what's the next word? Favored one, right? If you read
26:54
Roman Catholic theologians, you will soon find out that hail favored one means she was born sinless, she never tasted physical death, and she contributed to the treasury of merits.
27:07
And it goes on and on and on. She mediates on behalf of sinners with Jesus.
27:13
Where does that all come from? Speculation. It's just based in the
27:20
Bible somewhat. It's kind of like the launching pad. Just take one step and jump. And that's what they do.
27:26
I would jump, but I'd probably fall down. This is all clearly in contrast with what teaching ought to do.
27:38
Not waste your time, not spend your time talking about things that don't matter, but focus on things that do matter.
27:45
Look at verse 4. They do these things that don't count for anything rather than furthering the administration of God, which is by faith.
27:59
What really he's talking about here is the outworking, the administration or stewardship of God's plan of salvation.
28:08
And how does that come about? It's through the gospel, by the word of God being preached.
28:15
No one has ever been saved by speculation, by useless arguments, but by faith brought about by conviction of hearing the word of God.
28:26
God is appointed a means by which people come to faith, and it's not myths. It's not genealogies.
28:32
It's not fables. It is the teaching of his revealed word. It then works on the hearts and the minds of his people.
28:42
And I would say to you tonight, if Pastor Mike starts a series called My Guesses for 2010 and bases it on his own tuition,
28:52
I've just got a gut feeling that this is what's going to happen next year. Maybe he thinks, well, these are some things
28:58
I've read on the internet. Here's what I see as trends for next year. Or maybe it's bad dreams
29:06
I had after eating sugar -free ice cream. Run! Run!
29:13
It's not going to be like that. I listened to him the other day. We were talking to some other
29:19
Baptists, and we were just talking about, here is our charge from God, as it were.
29:24
Preach the word. I solemnly charge you. Preach the word. This is what we do. This is what we're called to do.
29:30
We don't have anything else. I don't really want to hear a series about his guesses for 2010.
29:37
He wouldn't do that. First of all, you must be wary of heretics. You must be on the watch for them.
29:44
And secondly, you must not let heretics shift your focus. This is what they want to do. They're going to take you from the word of God and point you in the direction of things that don't matter.
29:56
Thirdly, you must pursue the truth. Paul gives us a model in his instruction to Timothy.
30:02
He exhorts Timothy to muzzle false teachers and reminds them of what the goal of true biblical preaching is.
30:10
Look at verse 5. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
30:23
Who wants to argue with that? I don't. But it's not a very popular idea. Because if there is something that is going to bring this about, and it is teaching, and it is teaching from the
30:36
Bible and teaching that there is only one truth and the truth then causes these things to happen, that idea is not popular today.
30:48
In fact, John Stott says this, talking about pluralism, this idea that we have to be what?
30:54
Tolerant, that we have to accept a multitude of ideas. Some might even say that, who are we to say that we have kind of a monopoly on the truth?
31:04
Why is there only one way to heaven? Maybe there are multiple ways. Stott puts it this way.
31:10
Pluralism is increasingly advocated as politically correct. This affirms the independent validity of every religion as a culturally conditioned phenomenon and frowns on any attempt to convert people.
31:26
Remember years ago, the big furor over the Southern Baptists going into a town that was primarily
31:32
Jewish to try to convert them. How could they possibly do that? Well, I don't know. Maybe because they didn't want those
31:38
Jews to go to hell. Stott goes on. He says no follower of Jesus Christ can possibly embrace this complete subjectivism, this idea that there are many roads that lead to heaven, there are many truths, and we have to be accepting, open to everything.
31:59
Paul says the goal, the end, the telos, the purpose for which he and Timothy strive is quite different from the goal of the teachers of strange doctrine.
32:13
The goal of gospel preaching is to produce love. You ever think about that? You come here every
32:19
Sunday, you hear the word taught, and the objective of the preacher is to produce love.
32:26
What do the false teachers produce? Strife, controversy, speculations, debates over things that won't change a single life.
32:38
Their teaching by design will not save one soul. The goal of preaching, of teaching, and warning men is to present the gospel of God's grace in Christ so as to call forth a response of faith and love.
32:57
True preaching, no compromise preaching, had to get that in there, gets a verdict.
33:04
The divine word is unleashed upon the human heart and it either convicts, encourages, or condemns.
33:13
Upon the unsaved, it can produce many responses. Terror, sorrow, anger, boredom, repentance, rejection.
33:25
For believers, it can be soothing, sometimes challenging, sometimes exciting.
33:33
But it is always sanctifying. It is always having an effect on believers. It is always molding them, shaping them into the image of Christ that is its purpose.
33:46
In the life of a believer, teaching sound doctrine produces love, a love for Christ and a love for others.
33:54
And it is a love resulting from three changes. And it's right out of your text.
34:01
First of all, a pure heart. The word pure is the same from which we get catharsis.
34:08
A pure heart has been cleansed, transformed, changed. It is no longer motivated by sinful, selfish desires.
34:15
A pure heart longs to love God and man more fully.
34:23
A good conscience. It is a clear conscience. When we think of a clear conscience,
34:31
I couldn't help thinking of Paul's running through in Romans 1, 2, and 3, the universal condemnation of all mankind that every single man, woman, and child stands condemned under the law.
34:46
And in Romans 2, verses 14 and 15, he says this, For when Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts.
35:03
In other words, and I'll get to the rest of this in just a moment, in other words, even people who are ignorant of the law, the
35:10
Gentiles, have the law written in their hearts. They're aware of the demands of God.
35:16
Why? He goes on in verse 15, Their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.
35:25
Evolution didn't design or didn't come up with a conscience. God put His law in man's heart so that everyone would know instinctively when they were doing right and wrong.
35:37
They might still do the wrong thing, but they get accused. Their conscience accuses them.
35:43
And to have a good conscience is to have a clear conscience, one that is free with regard to guilt from violating the law of God.
35:52
One that says, I can honestly say I did not break the law of God today.
35:58
That's a clear conscience. That's a good conscience. A sincere faith, Paul also writes about.
36:04
The Greek is literally a no hypocrisy faith. A faith devoid of hypocrisy.
36:13
When your heart is pure, your conscience is clear, you know that you're not a hypocrite. You actually believe what you say, and you do what you say.
36:24
You act on your belief. You live it out. It is a genuine reliance upon God and not self.
36:33
That is what a sincere faith is. I'm not relying on my own goodness. I've given that up. I've repented.
36:39
I've turned. I've trusted in Christ only. And this is exactly what the gospel produces.
36:45
Not speculations, not arguments. It's not just a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing, but a life delivered over to the word of God.
36:53
A pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. All resulting in uninterrupted love and adoration for the
37:04
God who has brought about such peace of mind. So first, you must be wary of heretics.
37:10
Second, you must not let heretics shift your focus. Third, you must pursue the truth.
37:17
And fourth, you must evaluate the words of all teachers. You must evaluate the words of all teachers.
37:26
You should avoid pointless teaching. Look at verse 6. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion.
37:35
First note, it says that they have strayed. They have departed from moral or spiritual standards.
37:43
They've decided to take the road more often traveled. The frequently run road.
37:49
They're trying to enter heaven through the broad gates. They've abandoned the truth for error.
37:56
Second, notice also that in straying, they've left these things. That is, that they've left behind a pure heart, a good conscience, a sincere faith.
38:06
They've written those things off. Their hearts are clouded, polluted, drawn to sin.
38:12
Their consciences may accuse them, but they've long since seared them.
38:19
It's just like having an alarm clock that you've heard so many times that you don't even think about it.
38:24
It doesn't even respond, or it doesn't even click in your head when it goes off. It has no effect whatsoever.
38:30
That's what they've done to their consciences. They've so sinned over and over and over again.
38:37
And now they've turned, literally turned, facing a new direction from sound doctrine.
38:43
They're pursuing something else. And they engage only in fruitless discussion.
38:49
Fruitless discussion. It signifies not just empty speech. We're talking about the prefix to this discussion because it's words of a certain sort.
38:59
They are void of meaning. And basically, it is aimless talk.
39:05
It has no object or end. It's just babbling. And the inevitable result of false teaching is its inability to produce anything of value.
39:16
No edification of believers, and nothing but more sin and more deception for an unbeliever.
39:25
Have you ever heard a sermon and you just thought, you know what? We didn't open our Bibles and I don't even know what that was about.
39:32
Well, that's a problem. It could be false teaching. When the
39:38
Bible is shelved, when innovation supplants inspiration, when speculation replaces revelation, you end up with pointless, fruitless discussion.
39:51
So it's pointless teaching. It's also confused teaching. Look at verse 7. Wanting to be teachers of the law even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they made confident assertions.
40:04
Again, it just makes me laugh. These heretics who had departed from the truth wanted to be teachers of the law.
40:11
They actually wanted to teach the Mosaic Law. Well, and there's only two problems. They don't understand what they're talking about.
40:19
And they don't know anything about the true meaning or use of the law even though they are perfectly willing to spout off about it.
40:27
They're pointless. They're confused. False teachers.
40:33
That's what they do. So you must be wary of heretics.
40:39
You must not let heretics shift your focus. You must pursue the truth. You must evaluate the words and lives of teachers.
40:48
Why? Because when you hear these pointless, meaningless rambles, you're going to know you're in trouble. Timothy had a definitive, well -defined mission statement.
40:58
He was given a specific task in a specific situation. Again, you're not blessed or, as it were, burdened with that kind of apostolic charge, with that kind of mission.
41:12
Still think of those, you know, who go to church on TV. Where do you go to church? Well, I just kind of stay home and watch
41:18
Reverend Bob on TV. Reverend Bob Shuler. Those who attend churches where the
41:25
Bible is. Kind of an afterthought. It's an extra thing. Kind of like dessert.
41:31
Maybe they'll get to it. Maybe they won't. Where the Bible comes in second to anointed teaching.
41:39
That is really nothing more and nothing less than vain speculation. Pointless rambling.
41:45
Teaching that will not and cannot change anyone. We often, here at Bethlehem Bible Church, pray for churches that will preach the
41:54
Word. We want God to fill New England with churches like that. And this has been a battle for churches that will actually preach the
42:02
Word ever since the church was founded. The Gospel, the Bible, the Word of God is not popular.
42:09
It's not fun. It afflicts those in sin. It declares that there is but one way to be right in the eyes of God.
42:18
And that is not a popular message now or ever. The unbelieving mind wants a
42:25
God of his own imagining, a Gospel of his own design, and teaching after his own heart.
42:32
As believers, you have a mission statement. You have to stand up to error and encourage those who teach you the truth.
42:41
God, by His grace, has brought you to the truth. Now, stand in it.
42:47
Let's pray. Our Father, what a great
42:53
God You are. How You sovereignly bring people to a knowledge of the truth.
43:04
How we stumble around, as it were, for years in the dark, suddenly to have
43:11
You turn on the light and to show us the error of our ways. To drive, as it were, a stake through our heart as we think of what
43:20
Your Son has accomplished on our behalf, of what we've been ignoring for so long.
43:27
Lord, I would pray that You would protect this church from any kind of false teaching. From ever having an elder, a leader, a deacon, who would stand up and engage in vain speculations, in myths, fables, endless genealogies, in any of this.
43:48
Anything contrary to sound doctrine, sound words, the teachings of our
43:54
Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, would You make us a people who are bold for You.
44:00
Bold to tell our friends and neighbors the truth. Not because we've arrived, but because by Your grace we've at least seen the truth.