1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,1 Timothy 4:2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
1 Timothy 4:3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
Define sound doctrine
Paul is talking to Timothy a young minister about his congregants as well as a time in the future, our time:
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
2 Timothy 4:4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Sounds like the time that we are in. Paul is saying b/c of their lust they will want to accumulate teachers hear things that they want to hear, turning towards myths and tales and away from the TRUTH of God
Define sound: in good condition; not damaged, injured, or diseased; based on reason, sense, or judgment; competent, reliable, or holding acceptable views.
From German gesund; healthy Gesundheit = health, a sound mind is a healthy mind
Define doctrine: is the teaching and instructions of God delivered to inspired men, written down for all mankind, containing all the truth necessary for salvation.
What we have is enough
With this being the case, why do we seek after “new” truth that is different from what we have already proven?
The truth does not change, because God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:5). But notice that enduring [holding up; sustaining; preserving] sound doctrine has always been a problem:
1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— [no “special knowledge,” gnosticism]
1 Timothy 6:21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
There have always been those that say they have “special knowledge” and there are those today that continue to say the same thing and even preach their knowledge. We will get into that a little later
The truth that God has given to us is enough. Sufficient unto salvation, we need to be grounded in it
Work on what we know, don’t need more
Not all revealed [it is not necessary]
Focus on Christian living. Are you lacking for something to do?
I ask my kids that, they know they have plenty to do and if not I can give them something more. Do we need something more?
We already have the gold standard [the best, most reliable, or most prestigious thing of its type.] We should stick to the straightforward truth that we have been given.
The truth is enough! We don’t need more for our itching ears. The problem is that when we think that we do we will see old errors as “new truth”
What is truth?
So what is the truth? How do we know what the truth is?
Simply put in John 17:17 …Your word is truth.
Anything else is heresy. (belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious (especially Christian) doctrine) Heresy was dealt with extensively in the bible, especially by Paul. But it is not my intent to go over the specific ones of his time or our time, but to address it in general.
We know that we are to grow in the knowledge of God, but we must be very careful of all other sources of knowledge. Knowledge is not good in and of itself. Man has come up with philosophies, science and false religion which deny God.
Doctrines of men
It is the traditions and doctrines of men that we are to avoid, those that have no basis in truth.
Matthew 15:1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
Matthew 15:2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” [Jesus Christ then turns the tables on them]
Matthew 15:3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
Jesus Christ then shows them exactly how they do this
Matthew 15:7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
Matthew 15:8 ‘THESE PEOPLE DRAW NEAR TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME.
Matthew 15:9 AND IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’ “
Add to or take away
Deuteronomy 12:32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
Revelation 22:18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;
Revelation 22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
This is because God has given us what we need and we do not have the prerogative to alter that in any way. We are to live by every word in the Bible, nothing more, nothing less. As we consider this is, what are we willing to leave out? How do we remain sound in doctrine?
Our role
Realize that the Bible is God’s Word and comes directly from his mouth to your ears
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Theopneustos: divinely breathed or God breathed in: – given by inspiration of God.
The real question then is how do we come to the truth, because as we all know and may already be asking now, is that some say this and some say that and both claim to be preaching from the Bible.
So here is one of the great keys to knowing the TRUTH: It is understanding doctrine AND doing it, both by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What I am saying is that there is an:
Interdependency of doctrine and action and the holy spirit
To understand doctrine you have to have the holy spirit. To understand doctrine you have to put it into action and live it. To live it the way God intended you have to have the holy spirit. To grow in the spirit you need to study and put into practice doctrine.
Without this process and co-dependency you cannot come to a fuller understanding of the truth.
Notice first that we are admonished to do this
Deuteronomy 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, [not only do we not head towards the truth, but we can actually go the wrong direction]
Deuteronomy 11:17 lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.
Deuteronomy 11:18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Do what it takes to learn this…not just you but those you are responsible for.
Deuteronomy 11:19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deuteronomy 11:20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
Deuteronomy 11:21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
Deuteronomy 11:22 “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
Deuteronomy 11:23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
Deuteronomy 11:24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.
Deuteronomy 11:25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
Deuteronomy 11:26 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
Deuteronomy 11:27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today;
Deuteronomy 11:28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
We are told to do this because there is a relationship between knowing and doing.
Let’s see that in:
Doing / action
Matthew 7:21 “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.
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
Matthew 7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
Matthew 7:25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Matthew 7:26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
Matthew 7:27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Matthew 7:28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
Matthew 7:29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
If we don’t do
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
Galatians 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
Galatians 5:21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Understanding through the holy spirit
1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
1 Corinthians 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
1 Corinthians 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Holy spirit necessary
2 Timothy 1:6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Same word – sound mind leads to sound doctrine and this comes from His spirit
2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus
2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.
We see this even more clearly:
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send it to you.
John 16:8 And when it has come, it will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
John 16:9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
John 16:10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
John 16:11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
John 16:13 However, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth; for it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears it will speak; and it will tell you things to come.
Puts it all together
Ephesians 4:20 But you have not so learned Christ,
Ephesians 4:21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Ephesians 4:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, [and conforming to the world]
Ephesians 4:23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
Ephesians 4:24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Do we see the correlation of the three?
Understanding the word of God and doing it are interdependent
Ministry’s role
How else does God help us to understand the truth?
Ministry
Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
Ephesians 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Ephesians 4:13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Ephesians 4:14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Ephesians 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
1 Timothy 4:2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
1 Timothy 4:3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
….
1 Timothy 4:6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.
1 Timothy 4:7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Titus 1:9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
Titus 1:10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
Titus 1:11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.
Titus 1:12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
Titus 1:13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
Titus 1:14 not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.
Titus 2:1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
Titus 2:15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority [of God and Bible]. Let no one despise you [for doing this]. To despise the truth is to despise God.
This is where authority comes from
1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
God reveals by them
Another means by which truth comes
Ephesians 3:3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
Ephesians 3:4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
Ephesians 3:5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
Words against false ministers
Jeremiah 23:30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor.
Jeremiah 23:31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’
Jeremiah 23:32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the LORD, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:33 “So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the oracle of the LORD?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:34 “And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ I will even punish that man and his house. [EVERYONE in the body of Christ will be held accountable EVEN THOUGH it was the ministry leading them astray]
Jeremiah 23:35 Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’
Jeremiah 23:36 And the oracle of the LORD you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.
Jeremiah 23:37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’
Jeremiah 23:38 But since you say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the LORD!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ ”
Jeremiah 23:39 therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence.
Jeremiah 23:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”
For for information about false minister and false prophets, view Deception Within the Church
1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
1 Timothy 1:4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
1 Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
1 Timothy 1:6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,
1 Timothy 1:7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm [assert confidently].
This can be members or ministers [love from :5 above is a tell-tale sign]
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep [guard, prevent from escaping] My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 14:24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words;…
2 Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
2 Peter 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
2 Peter 1:21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Summary: ministry
Three different but related points
Hebrews 13:7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
Conclusion
When “new stuff” comes around, it isn’t actually new.
Babylonian system; time of Christ; Paul combatted; and of course today; Because Satan has been alive and well that whole time so it should come as no surprise;
We have the more sure word, the truth, the answers to the questions of life. We answer them with sound doctrine
We know the way to act
The way others should act
We can identify false doctrine
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…
Let’s do this by enduring in sound doctrine
Extra
Jude 1:17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Jude 1:18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.
Jude 1:19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.
Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Heresies began right away
Colossians 2:18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Colossians 2:19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
Colossians 2:20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
Colossians 2:21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”
Colossians 2:22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
Colossians 2:23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
2 Peter 2:2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
2 Peter 2:3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
2 Peter 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;