Ephesians 4, verse number 11. Brother Andrew, if you'll give us some air in here, it would be great. Verse number 11. He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive." I've been saved for 40 years. I was saved as a seven-year-old boy, September the 27th, 1976. I knew at that time that I wasn't just giving my heart to Christ, but my life as well. I didn't know what all that meant. But because of my early age, because of my Christian upbringing, there was no thought that getting saved was anything other than a lifelong commitment. To me, salvation was more than just a one-time decision. It was beginning of a journey that would last as long as life lasts. And so I have very little recollection of anything else. I've not been a Christian all my life, obviously. But I've been a Christian long enough to know something about it. I have found that the Christian life is different than anything else. It is difficult. But it's easy. It's demanding, but it's rewarding as well. And like every other religion, there are demands of those who claim it. There are promises to those who follow it. And since the Christian life is something that you should be involved in, obviously, for the rest of your life, it should be something that you know as much about as you can. That is why you read your Bible every day. That is why you pray every day. That is why you actively submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit guides us in the truth. The Holy Spirit teaches us spiritual things. The Holy Spirit teaches us the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians chapter number 2. And by the way, I find that I need more than just a couple of chapters in the Bible every day. That's why I'm constantly listening to sermons on sermon audio, or I wouldn't miss a church service for anything in the world. And the reason why is because I don't want to miss something that the Holy Spirit might want to say to me. Because I want to grow. I want to mature. I want to be perfect unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians chapter 4 talks about this. So God has given us a great truth. He's given us a Bible. He's given us a church. He's given us the Holy Spirit. But against all of that good truth that we have at our disposal, there is also a barrage of lies to combat it. Satan is the master counterfeiter. For every truth, he has a lie. For every true man of God, he has a false prophet. For every right path, he has a crooked way. And his most effective lies are in the realm of religion. Satan has sent more people to hell with Roman Catholicism than he has with Communism. His cults, his false religions have done more to blind the eyes of the world to the gospel than any other lie that he has told. And so that's why you and I need to have our mind, we need to have our hearts saturated with the Word of God because his lies are so subtle. His false teachers are wolves, but they are wolves in sheep's clothing. And what happens is Christians get sucked in by their music and their non-judgmental preaching and their love and their acceptance and all of that, and they lose discernment and they're swept away by false teaching because error can sound so much like the truth. You've got to be careful. In these five weeks, I am going to address some myths, some commonly held errors of Christian growth. Now, they're not damnable lies like denying the virgin birth, but if you buy into these, they're going to hurt you in your walk with Christ. Philosophies that are sincere, philosophies that sound good, but they do not match up with the Scripture. Philosophies that are even pushed by fundamentalists, or at least evangelicals. There is some truth in it, but the error nullifies the truth. So, six myths of Christian growth. This morning, deal with the first one. Here's what I'm calling the first one. No master key needed. No master key needed. Now, that sounds strange, so let me explain what I mean. A master key is a key that works on every door. In these buildings, we have a number of doors and a number of locks and some of them require different keys. Several years ago, because I don't like to carry keys in my pocket, several years ago I had a locksmith come out and we tried to key as many doors as we possibly can the same. Now there are some doors that the lock is just totally different and you couldn't. I think that we have it down to about three keys. I have a master key. My key will unlock these exterior doors, it will unlock the office doors, it will unlock the janitor's doors. Now, we have to have a different key for the nursery, a different key for the print shop, and so there's a few. But you understand the concept of a master key. Instead of carrying five or six keys, I just have one master key that opens up nearly every door on this property. Now, some people take that principle and they apply it to Christianity, and here's what they claim. that there is a master key that will unlock all of the secrets and all of the promises of the abundant life. And if you can find and possess and internalize this one master key, it opens you up to fullness and richness and it solves all of your problems. All you need is you just need to find the one truth, the one master key. Now what's interesting about those who push for a master key is they don't agree on what the master key is. Everybody seems to have a different master key. Let me give you a couple of examples of master key. Take your Bible. Look at John chapter 15. I'll just give you a couple of examples this morning. John chapter 15 and look if you would in verse number 4. Words of Jesus. John 15, verse 4, abiding me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. So, in John 15, Jesus speaking to his disciples about abiding in Christ uses the analogy of the vine and the branches. The branches do not strive to grow. The branches do not try to produce fruit. All that the branches do is they just abide in the vine. The vine does all of the work and the branches are merely the beneficiaries of being attached to the vine. So the application is that the Christian just needs to abide in Christ. Just abide. Don't strive. Don't fret. It's not your efforts. It's just abide. Now listen. It's a very It's a very important truth. It's an object lesson that teaches us our dependence on Christ for fruit bearing, which we believe in, right? Somebody help me. Right? Right? However, I have heard preachers latch on to this truth of abiding in Christ and make it the one truth that is needed in order to have fellowship and to have victory over sin and to be a Fruit for Christians. And if you can live your life in light of just this truth, you will have found the Master Key. All of their preaching, all of their writing is used to push abiding Christ. So there's no other truth worthy of mention. We're not diminishing the truth. It is a truth. It's an important truth. You can't grow, you can't produce, you can't be fruitful without abiding in Christ. But I'm talking about those who make it the only truth. Look at Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Here's another master key that is latched onto. Ephesians 5 verse number 18. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, here it is, but be filled with the Spirit. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, he writes three chapters of practical duties. One of those duties is the command to be filled with the Spirit. Now again, this morning, no one would deny the importance of being filled with the Spirit. It is absolutely required to live a faithful life. It is absolutely a vital principle. You will not be a faithful, you will not be a fervent, you will not be a fruitful Christian because the spirit life is on a different plane than the self life. The Spirit of God is the power behind the Christ life. But some take the emphasis and they preach the Spirit-filled life as it is the only truth that you need to know. You need to get that feeling, your life needs to be evolved around it, every part of your life. And sometimes it's emphasized to the point, get this, that the believer wonders if there's anything that he must do. It's sometimes spoken of in such abstract terms that there is no practicality to the Spirit-filled life. It's just spirit-filled and nothing else. And it's hammered into the believer's head that there is all that there is to the Christian life, that this is the Master Key. If you get this one thing down, you have found the secret sauce to the Christian life. In Romans chapter 6. Romans 6, look at verse 11. Here's another truth that is often latched on to as a master key. Romans 6, verse number 11, likewise, wrecking you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof, neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. Many years ago I heard a preacher preach. In fact, Dr. Johnny Pope preached a message from Romans, Chapter 6. It was probably the single most helpful sermon I've ever heard from Romans, Chapter 6. He highlighted four words in the chapter of the Word. Know, reckon, yield, and obey. And that sermon probably unlocked Romans 6 for me more than any other sermon I've heard from that chapter. Romans 6 teaches a very important doctrine and it is this. We are dead to sin by virtue of our union with Christ and we do not have to serve sin. That's what it teaches. You are to yield. Yield your body as instruments of righteousness just as you used to yield your body, as instruments of unrighteousness. Wonderful truth, wonderful chapter. However, some become so engaged with the teaching of Romans 6 that it becomes the single sermon in their library of sermons. There are some preachers that cannot preach without preaching on their pet doctrine. I've heard preachers that cannot preach without preaching Romans chapter 6. Now to be sure, don't misunderstand, Romans 6 is a great truth, but it is not the only truth in the Bible. I'm trying to say that the Christian life is not hinged upon four words in one chapter. And though I have and others have found great help in the truth of Romans chapter 6, it is not a one-size-fits-all doctrine. It is not the master key of Christian living. I'll give you one more. I'll give you one more. Look at Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2 verse number 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Great verse. In fact, one of the first verses that I remember memorizing as a child was Galatians 2.20, probably because somebody put it to music to aid in the memory. The body of truth in this one verse would take volumes to exhaust. It is a life-transforming verse. Forget this. Some believe if you can get the truth of being crucified with Christ in your soul, it will unlock all the mysteries of Christianity. All that you have to do is you have to learn to live in light of that truth and you will have then found the master key. Now, please don't misunderstand. Please don't misunderstand. All of those passages, all those truths are absolutely vital to the Christian life. I'll go so far as to tell you that you're not going to live a victorious, abundant Christian life outside of all of those truths. You cannot minimize the importance of abiding in Christ, of being Spirit-filled, of yielding the members of your body as instruments of righteousness. You cannot minimize the importance of living the Christian life. But none of those truths, as important as they are, can be called the single master key of Christianity. There's nothing wrong with emphasizing the truths, preaching the truths, internalizing the truths. You cannot over-preach abiding in Christ. You cannot over-preach the Spirit-filled life. You cannot over-preach Romans 6. You cannot over-preach Galatians 2 and verse number 20. However, you must not neglect the other truths of the Bible. You see, I don't live on just one single food. I eat a variety of food. Because I need protein and I need zinc and I need calcium and I need all of that. So I don't live by one chapter, by one truth, by one verse. No, I need the whole body of doctrine. I need all of the Bible. I need every verse. I need every truth of the Bible. So please, please, I want you to understand. I'm not minimizing those truths. I'm not saying that those truths are not important. I'm not saying that you don't need them. You do need them, but you need everything else as well, right? No master key. Now, what is it about having a secret that appeals to men? You know, if you title your sermon, you know, Four Ways to a Better Friday or Three Secrets to a Prosperous Life or whatever, Because people want four keys, three secrets, two A's, five things I've never heard before. And that's kind of a hook to draw the listener in. Because men want to be in on the secret of life. Life is complex. So tell me a simple way, four things that I absolutely have to do to have a super-disciplined, prosperous life. That's how we want life packaged to us. How do Christians fall in with a single truth and they begin to promote it as the one thing that you have to have? And I don't think that Christians who fall into this thing are looking for a heresy to promote. I don't think that they woke up one day and decided that I'm going to climb a mountain and dream up some strange doctrine and just get hooked on one of these things. No. I don't think they stumbled upon the secret in their daily devotions And that's all that they need. But here's what brings men to prefer a single truth over every other truth, and it is their life experience. That particular truth liberated them. What that truth means to them, it was a master key to them. And they then conclude it must be a master key for everybody else. You see, so many times the Holy Spirit will use a particular passage or a verse or a truth to bring you and I into a deeper relationship with God. It may be a doctrine. It may be a verse. And it opens it up. It unlocks it. It opens our eyes. It helps us. And it brings us into a richer experience because of that truth. And we live that truth daily. I have a life verse, maybe you have a life verse, something that God has given you that helps you. But from that it is only natural to reason that since that particular truth was so powerful in my life, that it must be that powerful in your life as well. If that passage, if that verse, if that truth, if that emphasis opens up so much of the Bible to me and liberates me and helps me, if it gives me victory, then surely it will for you as well. Listen carefully. Your life verse doesn't have to be my life verse. So many times somebody would call me, Brother Eric or somebody would call me, and boy, they were all excited. and they've read something in the Bible, they've got a hold of a truth, and they've just got to share it. You've been like, well, they've just got to share this wonderful truth. And for you, it's the most groundbreaking, earth-shattering, this is the most wonderful truth, and you're just feeding on it. And then you call somebody and say, hey man, let me tell you about what God showed me. And they say, oh, that's great. And it doesn't do for them what it did for you. Now wait a minute. It doesn't mean that they're not spiritual. Watch this. God gave that to you. Give it to you. Give it to them. It's okay to share it, but it's not going to mean as much to them as it does to you, because God gave that to you. God can give you a truth. He can put something in your life that opens up so much of the Christian life, but God may give another truth to somebody else, right? Now, here's my theme this morning. There is no single master key. There are many. It is not one verse that you need. It is every verse that you need. It's dangerous to go to seed on any doctrine, no matter how true that doctrine is, if it causes you to neglect the rest of Scripture. You don't need to latch on to a single truth. You need to search the Scripture for every truth that God has given us. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Let me show you this in the Bible itself. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Familiar passage, verse 14. 2 Timothy 3, verse 14. But continue thou, Timothy, continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is possible for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished unto all good works." Familiar passage, Paul writing to Timothy, old preacher, young preacher. He affirms to Timothy the inspiration of Scripture. By the way, for those who would say that our authorized version, our King James Bible, is not inspired I would just counter to say that it is not Scripture. Because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. So if it is Scripture, it has to be inspired. There is no such thing, according to this verse, as uninspired Scripture. So if you're going to say that inspiration does not extend to this, then it's not Scripture. You've got to think these things through. Inspiration, Spirit of God, carrying the Word of God, two chosen men, for them to write them down. The Scripture is not the result of individuals writing down their thoughts. No, it is the product of the Holy Spirit giving holy men of God what to write down. Inspiration. But then Paul affirms the influence of the Scripture. As you read and meditate and study on the Word of God, it has four effects in your life. First, the Scripture is profitable for doctors. Doctrine is truth. There's no other resource for truth than the Word of God. And then it's good for reproof. Reproof is confrontation of wrongdoing. It's like looking in a mirror and knowing there's dirt on your face. That's reproof. It's good for doctrine. It's good for reproof. It is good for correction. Correction is to put it back on its track. It is to straighten up. And so the Bible doesn't just tell us where we're wrong. It tells us how to get right. And so it's good for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. It's our teacher. It's our guide. It tells you what is wrong. It tells you how to get right. It tells you how to stay right. So there's four benefits of the Word. Somebody has described it like this. Doctrine teaches us what is right. Reproof shows us what is not right. Correction points out how to get right. Instruction in righteousness tells us how to stay right. But here's what I want you to notice in the passage, verse number 16. all script. If the man of God is to be perfect and fully furnished and know all good works, verse number 17, then how much of the Word of God must he apply to his life? Paul doesn't say you need one truth. Paul doesn't need to say, find you just one chapter. Paul doesn't say that you just need to study one book. No, no. There's not a master key that's hidden somewhere. No, what you need is you need all Scripture to grow and mature in Christ. Let me address something here this morning. It may be just a preference, but I think it's more than that. I think there's a fallacy. You know, first year, first day of the year, January 1st, everybody starts reading their Bible over. New Year's resolution, I'll read my Bible all the way through this year. And most people fail, but maybe you plan to read your Bible through, and there's different plans, there's calendars in the back, it doesn't matter. But here's what I have heard. I've heard of some Christians that decided, you know, I'm just going to read the New Testament. I'm just going to read Proverbs, I'm just going to do Psalms in my daily devotions. Because you know the Old and New Testament, it's shorter, it's easier to read. I'm a New Testament Christian, I know the Old Testament, whatever, whatever. But I just want to encourage you that the Bible is two Testaments, one book, written by the same author. The Old Testament is no less valuable than the New, even for church-age saints. Because the Bible says in Romans 15 that whatever things were written before time were written for our learning, our learning. So I just want to encourage you, you don't need just the Psalms this year. You don't need just the New Testament. No, what you need is you need all Scripture because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's possible. Look at Matthew chapter 7 this morning. You stand with me and say Amen. Matthew chapter 7. Matthew 7, verse 24, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which buildeth house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was found upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which buildeth house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. We preached on this a couple of weeks ago. Jesus tells a simple story about two men building a house. The most important part of the building is the foundation. The entire structure is only as strong as what goes into the ground. And one man knew that and he decided, made sure that he built his house upon the foundation of a rock. The other man, he ignores this common wisdom. He builds his house on the shifting foundation of sand. It seems from the story that both build a similar style house in the same general location. Both homes are eventually hit by the same storm. The only difference between the two men and their houses is the foundation. That's the difference between wisdom and foolishness. And then here's how Jesus applies his story. Everyone, everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not. shall be likened unto a foolish man which buildeth his house upon the sand." The shifting sand of secular philosophy and human wisdom is not suitable to build a life upon. Only the man who saturates his mind with the Word of God, only the man who devotes his heart to following and obeying the Word of God will have a strong foundation for his life. And here's what I want you to notice in the passage. Everyone, watch to the verse 26, everyone that hears these sayings of mine, how many? All of them. It doesn't imply, there's nowhere an inference in here that you just need one say. Find your favorite thing that I said. Just find it. No, no. Everyone that hears these sayings of mine, Christ does not say build your life on a single key or one single doctrine. No. What you need is you need all the sayings of Christ. Look at Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. This one is absolutely explicit. Matthew chapter 28, verse number 18. Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Watch this, teaching them to observe a master key." Someone has said it. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. As rich and rewarding as fellowship and worship is, that is not the whole of Christian duty. If that's all that you're saved for, then we can go ahead and go to heaven now. But fellowship and worship is not the only thing we're supposed to do. The one Christian duty that we're supposed to do down here that we can't do up there is to witness to the lost. And it's for that reason that we're left on this earth. Most of our Christian activity involves other saints, whether it's fellowship or ministry or worship. But our primary responsibility is not just to do something with the saint, it is to do something for the lost. The Great Commandment has three parts. It is to evangelize, it is to baptize, and it is to disciple. We are to preach the gospel to the lost. We are to lead them to follow the Lord in public identification by believer's baptism, and we are to instruct them into a lifelong obedience to His commands. And evangelism is not complete until all three parts have done. And discipleship is that part that's described in the phrase in verse 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. You already know the word that I'm emphasizing, all things. In teaching new believers, we don't teach them a master key. In teaching new believers, I don't say, hey, let me show you these two verses and this is all that you need to worry about. In teaching new believers, I don't just emphasize in Harper 1 doctrine. No, I may need to start in 1 John. I may need to explain Romans 6. I may need to do that. But you go beyond the ABCs of the Christian faith and you don't stop there. You must observe all that I've commanded. Acts 20. Acts 20. Acts 20, look at verse 26. Acts 20, verse 26, Therefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Paul has finished his third missionary journey. He's on a ship on its way to Jerusalem. He wants to get there by Pentecost. He has an offering from churches that he wants to deliver to the church at Jerusalem, but the ship has docked at Miletus for a couple of days. Now, Miletus is 30 miles away from Ephesus, and Paul has spent three years in Ephesus building a church there. His heart is concerned about some things that he hears going on in Ephesus, and so while he's in Miletus, he calls for the elders at Ephesus to come to Miletus and to meet with them. This is his last face-to-face meeting with the elders at Ephesus. And in his final address to them, he recalls for them the ministry that he had while in Ephesus. From verse 17 down to the end of the chapter, he reminds them of his teaching and his preaching ministry that he exercised from the first day that he came to them in Ephesus, and he wraps it all up in verse 27, I have not shown to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I hope that when my ministry is done and I preach my last message, I hope that I'm able to say that. I don't want to say that in my ministry I drove one tooth into the ground. I don't want to say that I had one favorite hobby horse and I battered people with it. I want to be able to say like Paul in verse 120 that I have kept nothing back that was profitable to you. For three years, I didn't preach a master key. I didn't just give you one secret and just harped upon that truth. No, there's no doctrine that you didn't need to hear. There was no truth that was irrelevant to your living. There was no scripture that wouldn't apply to you. I preached all the counsel of God. One more verse. One more verse. Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. I'm glad we don't have choir because if I go over it, it doesn't matter. Matthew chapter 4. One verse. One verse. Verse 4. But he answered and said, it is written, man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. I don't have time to go through the doctrine of the temptation, Christ being tempted, not to see if he could sin, but to prove that he wouldn't sin and couldn't sin, but believe in the impeccability of Christ. Three temptations, to all three temptations, Christ answered with Scripture. In fact, the first words of his ministry, was, it is written. And his first answer, his first answer, he refutes this master key. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. There's not one truth that will unlock all the secrets of the Christian life. No, it is every word of God. You need the Old Testament and the New. You need the Law and the Gospels. You need Moses. You need Paul. You need every See, here's my first principle this morning. No master key needed. None. None. If there was a master key, you would expect to find it on every page of Scripture. You think about the problems that Paul dealt with in his epistles. He deals with divisions. He deals with lawsuits among the brethren. He deals with abuse of spiritual gifts. He deals with a lack of church discipline for the sinning in the church. He deals with a confusion over Judaism, problems with Christian liberty in the book of Galatians, so many issues. And if there was one secret, one master key, you would expect Paul to give that as the answer to every problem. You would expect Paul to say that the reason why you are divided, and the reason why you abuse the Lord's Supper, and the reason why you have fallen into legalism, and the reason why you tolerate sin, and the reason why you misuse spiritual gifts, and the reason why is because you don't have the Master Key. If that was the case, the New Testament would be nothing but repeating the Master Key over and over and over. But the New Testament doesn't do that. It gives you all kinds of keys. He's not giving you one truth to unlock the fullness of Christianity. No, He's giving you a Bible full of truth and principles. It is not a single text you need. It is the whole motif of Scripture that you and I need. There may be a verse that unlocks victory in your life, but that doesn't mean that it is the verse for everyone. What it does for you isn't necessarily what it's going to do for me. Your life verse doesn't have to be my life verse. And the Word of God is too rich, it is too vast to confine yourself to just one scripture. Because what God has done in your life with one passage, He may be able to do just as much with another passage. So don't waste your time searching for one secret, one single truth. Open your heart to everything that God has given you in His life. No master key needed.