Take Heed to the Doctrine ***

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. The title of this morning's message is Doctrine and Practice. Paul is writing to the church at Philippi and he says in verse 9, The things which you learned.

Doctrine and Practice in Philippians 4

So this is what Paul had taught the saints in Philippi. Not just the core beliefs of Christianity, that Jesus has equality with God the Father, that he died and rose again, but also teachings about behavior.

Actually, chapter 4 starts out with some issues about behavior. So since Jesus did this, self-sacrificing love, he came to serve, not to be served, this is the way we should be. We should love and serve others.

And he goes on, there's other things he says in the book. We should esteem others better than ourselves. We need to remind each other of this and preach that because the default setting is selfishness.

The default setting for man is pride and looking out for number one. So we need to look out not only for our own interests, but also the interests of others. So these are the things that the Christians learned.

Paul says they received and heard and saw in me. So we need that living example. And Paul was an example to them. He demonstrated these things in his own life. And what does he say to them? He says, these things do.

So everything you've heard, everything you've learned now, do it, put it in to practice. And if you do, there's a promise attached that the God of peace will be with you. So everything is going to fall into one of these two categories.

The things you believe in, the things you do. I don't know. Is there a third category? I don't think so. Things you believe in, the things that you do. Doctrine and practice. And obviously the goal is that the two line up with one another.

To put it another way, our lives, the Christian life, should be a balanced life. We don't want to overemphasize one to the detriment of the other. We don't want to neglect doctrine and just focus on practice.

Or just focus on doctrine and don't really do anything about it. So we're going to break this message down into three parts this morning. First, the doctrine. What are some of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith?

Second, after considering the doctrine, how should we then live? So we'll talk about practice. And then third, what are the dangers of emphasizing one over another? Because this can be a tempting thing.

I think everyone is maybe more inclined towards one or the other. So what are the dangers there? But the first thing I'd like to point out is that all of this is happening within the context of the church.

The church is central to all of it because Christ is central. And the church is his body here on earth. Who is Paul writing to? Who is writing to a local church? I think you know this. You cannot expect Bible doctrine to be believed and taught and upheld by a secular organization.

Secular organizations are not going to teach Bible doctrine. That's not going to happen. Also, we can't really expect unbelievers to uphold and maintain Christian practice. We would like to, but that's not realistic either.

So those things must be upheld and taught by the church, though. Right? Amen? So let's begin by looking at what are some of the core beliefs, the core teachings, the core doctrine. Doctrine, teaching, same thing.

What are some of the core teachings of the Christian faith? Flip back to Philippians chapter 2 for a moment because we see several of them here in this book. But just to give a quick list of some of the essential teachings of Christianity, they would include the deity of Christ.

The virgin birth of Christ. His sinless nature, that he was both truly man and truly God. His death on the cross for sin. His bodily resurrection. His return in power and glory where he will judge the living and the dead.

And of course, how do we know all of these things? How do we know any of it? Well, because of the scripture. So there is the core belief of the infallibility and authoritative nature of God's word. Okay, Philippians chapter 2.

Look at verse 1. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and one mind.

The Mind of Christ and Christian Unity

So this is the unity that believers have in Christ. That we are to be of one mind. How sweet it is when the brethren dwell in unity. Disunity is not so sweet, as we know. Elsewhere, Paul spoke about having the mind of Christ.

Do you have the mind of Christ? Let's face it, we all have our different thoughts and opinions on a variety of different subjects. Trivial things, things that maybe don't really matter in the grand scheme of the situation.

But what about the important things? The person and work of Christ. Who is Jesus? The gospel. Grace alone. Faith alone. And Christ alone. When it comes to these things, we must be of one mind. Also, the moral issues laid out in scripture and the things that we do, our practice.

We must be of one mind. When someone practices something else or teaches against some of these essential doctrines, what does that lead to? It leads to disunity. It leads to division. Look at verse 5.

Paul says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name.

And at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father.

So what are the doctrines that we see in this passage? It's easy to read through something and not really grasp what you're reading. So what are the doctrines that are laid out? First, we could say that we we see Jesus is what?

He is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Sometimes that term in the Bible can be used as a formal greeting, like a greeting showing respect like, sir. But most of the time we we know what's being communicated. The Lord means he's the Lord.

He's the master. He is. He is God. Of course, that's that's ultimately what is being said. The Greek term curious is a title for God. And Jesus is God. He is God in human flesh. He is Christ, the Lord.

Yeah. At the same time, he's also a man. So he's God, but he's also a man. So Christians have always understood the triune nature of the Godhead over time. A word developed for this. And we know the word.

It's Trinity. Try unity. The three in one of that word wasn't in the Bible. But still, we see the concept in the Bible so that Jesus is both God and he is man. Now, what is that? Here's here's a question to you.

Is that a doctrine or is that a practice? Well, it's clearly not a practice. There's implications of that, but it's a doctrine. Right. If you don't believe that, that puts you outside of the Christian church.

Right. So that's a doctrine we we must accept. And every Christian does accept that. So the deity of Christ. This is an essential teaching of the faith. Jesus had a human nature. He had a divine nature.

And the two natures present in one person. It's a great mystery. Right. But it's possible because of the virgin birth. You remove the virgin birth. You can't have him being both God and man. So that's the virgin birth.

The next doctrine. If Jesus did not come from a woman. I mean, this is logical. This is common sense. If Jesus did not come from a woman. Instead, he just dropped down directly from God from heaven. You couldn't say that he is a human being.

Or if he had two human parents. Let's say Joseph was actually his father. You couldn't really call him the son of God. He would have been the son of Joseph. So these are the essential doctrines. You have the deity of Christ.

The virgin birth of Christ. Philippians chapter 2 talks about his death on the cross. This is the atonement of Christ. And the resurrection is implied since he lives on. And he's declared to be Lord. And there's many other passages, obviously, that speak of his resurrection.

And then if you skip down to verse 16. Look at it. Verse 16. Paul talks about holding fast the word of life. Well, this is the gospel. And then he goes on. He says that I may rejoice in the day of Christ.

The day of Christ is a reference to his return. So, again, these are some of the primary essential doctrines of Christianity. And I use the word essential or primary. Because if a person rejects. I want you to pay attention to this.

If a person rejects all of it. Obviously, well, they're not a Christian if they reject all of these teachings about Jesus. Here's the thing, though. If a person rejects even one of these things. Everything else falls apart.

If a person rejects even one of these teachings. Say the virgin birth. You reject even one. That amounts to a denial of the gospel. Let me prove that. This could be a whole sermon of itself. Because sometimes people are inconsistent.

Well, I believe this and this. And I know the Bible says this. I don't know if I can believe that. It doesn't work that way. That's like taking one of the wheels off your car and trying to drive home.

It doesn't work. So, let me prove that all of these things are connected. Just a quick example. If somebody were to deny the resurrection, as many churches, some churches these days are doing. If someone denies the resurrection, they would also be denying his deity.

Folks, that's the reason he was able to rise from the dead. The Bible says death could not hold him. If Jesus were just a man, just another Jewish man Rome had crucified, he wouldn't have risen from the dead.

So, to deny his resurrection is to deny his deity. And then, if you deny his deity, logically, you would deny the virgin birth. Because that's how he is the son of God. Born of a virgin. And if he is dead to this day, obviously, he's never coming back.

And then the Bible teaches all these things. So, if they're not true, then you're denying the authority of the scripture. Do you see how every one of these things is connected to another? It's like somebody, as foolish as somebody going up, you know the dominoes and they're all lined up.

And somebody says, well, I'm just going to knock over this one domino. Just one of them. They all fall. That's the way it is. You deny any one of these essential teachings, the whole house is coming down.

So, one doctrine affects another. They are all connected to reject. One is to short circuit the whole thing. So, with all that said, churches, realizing how important this is, churches need to be teaching sound doctrine.

Amen. Churches need, and Christians as individuals, we need the doctrine. And it's not just about having a creed that we affirm. Or we have this sound doctrinal statement, it's in the file cabinet out back.

You know, what good is that if it's never brought out from the pulpit? Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.