our Bibles to 1 Timothy tonight. 1 Timothy chapter 1. We'll pick up where we left off in a moment. We're going to be reading from verses 3 to verse 11. And as you're turning there, just to draw your attention to some resources that may be of help to you that are available. In our bookstore, you'll find these booklets. Some of you saw them. They're $7. It gives you 1 and 2 Timothy as well as Titus, but it really is just the scripture passage and then a journaling page on the other side. I draw that to your attention because it may be a help to you as you're going through it. Otherwise, there are handouts. Otherwise, you can grab your own copy. Your own journal, our only goal is that you'll be reading God's Word, because the best copy of God's Word is the one that you're actually reading. So we wanna make sure that you are in it together. As you're turning to 1 Timothy though, and returning there, this is only the second time we've been through it, you may ask, why is it that we are studying the book of 1 Timothy? We'll read our verses in a moment. I wanna give you two reasons why we're studying this book. Number one, We study this book because this book, of course, outside of the other most obvious one that this is God's word, we study this book because it has a lot of teaching and encouragement for churches, and specifically that churches that want to be faithful churches in a ever increasingly complex and difficult world and climate that we find ourselves living in. In fact, if you, think about the world that Paul and Timothy were in, you will come up to find out that Paul and Timothy are ministering in a very complex world. It was an unsettled world, it was a confusing world, it was an unpredictable world. Indeed, it was a culture very much like ours in that respect. It was corrupt, complex, and challenging. Find that sometimes living in our culture. How then do we faithfully and fruitfully follow God's plan for this church in that kind of a climate? I think the book of 1 Timothy helps us in that respect. And should we retreat into our little bunkers and hunker down because everybody is getting hostile towards the things of God? You might be tempted to do that at times. What do we do? Well, 1 Timothy really addresses that. So it's a good book to study for churches that want to stay faithful in a ever-increasingly corrupt and complex culture. But secondly, we study this book because this is a wonderful book for individual Christians who want to know what pure doctrine is, and as a result of that pure doctrine, what direction they should go in. So if you're an individual who just wants to know this is what is true, what is righteous, and this is what righteous living looks like, this is a good book for you to study. This is a book that's full of doctrine, we could say, and direction, both of those things are on the heart and pen of the Apostle Paul. It's a message, as we noted, for the corporate body, the church, and it is a message for the individual Christian. Now, as you'll see, and some of you, I trust, have been reading ahead in this book, you will see the practical instruction of how doctrine fleshes itself out in direction. And so, Paul, to Timothy, will address some very practical instructions for how the church corporately lives and should live, and how the individual lives and should live. He'll talk about female and male relationships in this book. That's a very practical instruction, to say the least, because all of us fit in one of those two categories. It'll talk about leadership in the church and leadership in the home. And by the way, that is a very important and pressing need in this or any generation. We want to see the next generation of leaders rising up in the church. We want to see another generation of good, godly men and women who are equipped and ready to lead according to what God has said in his word. He'll talk about relationships between the church and the state. How do you live under increasingly constraining and unholy rulers? How do you do that? We're memorizing that a little bit in chapter two, are we not? And how we're supposed to pray for them. He'll even talk about personal evangelism and how do you kind of put boots on and walk around. And so all throughout, and many other themes are developed that all play to the beat of that two-pronged drum, I wrote the two words there, doctrine and direction. I want to say what we'll mention even on Sunday night, and that is our theology informs our practice. And so this is how he works it out. But notice, even by way of review, that Paul begins, and as he begins, he writes that he is Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Why is it that Paul starts by saying he's an apostle? That's kind of a strange introduction. After all, who is it that Paul is writing to? This should be an easier question for you to answer. Timothy, did Timothy already know that Paul was an apostle? Yes, he did know that he was an apostle. Is there any inclination that Timothy doubted that Paul was an apostle? Not really that we know of. Why does Paul start by saying he's an apostle? Well, apparently there were people who doubted that, questioned that, and needed to be reminded of that, and those were people within the own church. There was an increasing group of people, even leaders in the church, who opposed the apostle Paul. And so Paul establishes from the beginning that he is an apostle, and who made him an apostle? Jesus Christ, by, he notes, the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a commission that Paul has been divinely commissioned for. So he starts immediately with authority, but then he uses another interesting phrase, at least for the Apostle Paul when he says, which is our hope. Now this is not a common phrase in Paul's writings. You won't find this often in other of Paul's letters. It's addressed probably because of who the letter is written to, and that letter is written to Timothy. What do we know about Timothy? What are some things that you know about young Timothy? We know that the book is addressed to Timothy. What do we know about Timothy? What are some things we know about Timothy? What's that? He had a Christian mother and Christian grandmother, for that matter. In fact, he probably had, it was a Jewish mother who was converted to Christ. We also know that his father was Greek, by the way. What are some of the things that we know to be true about Timothy? Paul was his disciple. After all, we just saw a moment ago, he's writing to his son. What are some of the things we know to be true about Timothy? Loved by Paul, definitely. In fact, only two years after Timothy was converted, Paul called on Timothy to accompany him on his missionary journey. That's pretty remarkable. What are some other things we know to be true about Timothy? Tammy? He's not real confident, is he? He's not a very confident guy. There's a lot of encouragement Timothy has to have, both in this letter and the second one that's addressed to him, because he's a rather timid guy. But I think that may be why Paul opens by saying, this is who I am, I'm Paul, given to that by the command of God, and I'm encouraging you, timid, fearful, little tentative Timothy, that Jesus Christ is our hope. By the way, if you add that up, only two years after Timothy was converted, Paul already had him on his missionary journeys with him, which is remarkable. And only three years after that, Paul says to Timothy, go back to Ephesus, you're gonna be established as pastor there. Only five years post-conversion, Timothy was already the pastor in Ephesus. I think we need to pause for a moment, because we are notoriously bad at what the church collectively or historically has been actually really good at, and that is training up young men into the ministry. Paul was certainly good at that. We're not as good at that. But we can also look at other historical examples. Did you know George Whitefield was preaching to crowds of the thousands before he was 17 years old? Think about that. Charles Spurgeon was already a famous preacher by the time he was 21. Jonathan Edwards, who became a preacher later in life, actually would frequently and eloquently from his pulpit implore his congregation to not always use the same Sunday school teachers, because if you did, you may not train up the next generation. That was interesting. But in his youth, Timothy was a bit fragile. He was not naturally confident in his personality. And I believe this brings Timothy a little bit more close to us. He's a little bit more of a realistic hero, right? You don't find Timothy to be missionary commando, right? Just kind of blazing this trail. He's timid, you find him fearful, you find him weak in his letters, you find him sick at some point. Paul encourages him to take some medicine. But you find Timothy to be very, very, very reliable. In fact, Paul leaned heavily on Timothy. And to be honest, that's why I wanted to study this book. Because Timothy is a wonderful example for young pastors. In fact, he stands out as an example to be emulated, someone to be admired and followed, and he shows us how to be useful even when we feel young, weak, fearful, and tired. That's Timothy. Timothy really is a call for young pastors that they would be like Timothy in many real ways. But notice he says in verse two, this is Paul's plea to Timothy. This is what Timothy really needs. You need grace, mercy, and peace. Which really sums it up, doesn't it? This is what every person and every believer needs. All that God is from all that God can give to all that we need. Grace, mercy, and peace. And that is really a beautiful greeting from Paul. But unlike other letters, as we come now to verse three, unlike other letters where Paul will begin with praise and thanksgiving to the church that is addressed, Paul here just gets right to the meat and potatoes. Here's his introduction, pretty brief. I'm gonna get right to the real core of what I'm writing about. And so he says, beginning in verse three. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, Thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith, so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. from which some have swerved, having turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." Now, as we've done in the past in this series, I like to break these things down into two different headings with you, and I'm going to give both the headings to you right away. I want to note, together, we're going to look at the wrong use of the Bible and the awful effects it has, and then we're going to look at the right use of the Bible and the blessed effects that it has. I want to start with the wrong use of the Bible and the awful effects that it has on the Word. This section begins with strong words. Look what he says, beginning in verse three. Paul says that thy mightest charge some. That's a very strong word. We kind of defined it last week. What is the word charge? What kind of word is that? Anybody remember? What's that? It's a command, exactly. What kind of command is this? This is a military command. Bob gets both gold stars for this evening. This is an authoritative instruction. I command you, Timothy, because there are these people using the Bible in a wrong way, and it has devastating effects, and there are two different particular ways that they are using it wrongly. First, they are teaching, they are teaching a different doctrine. That's one wrong way that they're using the Bible. They are actually actively teaching a different doctrine, heterodox, a different truth. Look at verse three, how's he end? Charge them, some teach, notice what he says, what exactly is their problem? Some teach that they teach no other doctrine. Now before we move any further, who was teaching a different doctrine in this church? I'd say this is probably elders in the church. This is leadership in the church. Remember, we looked at this last week, Paul gathers together the church of Ephesus before he leaves, and in Acts chapter 20, I'll put it on the screen so you can go back to it, but we looked at it last week. In Acts chapter 20, Paul gathers these elders together, and he warns them, after my departure, there are going to be those that come in teaching false doctrine. And here, just a few years later, it's already happened. And it's probably elders who were teaching that doctrine. And I say that for two reasons. Number one, this book is primarily a book addressed to an elder. by the name of Timothy. And later in chapter one, if you see the end of chapter one in verse 20, he names two other men, there they are, Amenius and Alexander, who are being, for lack of a better term, excommunicated by Paul. because they are actively teaching this false doctrine. And they have thought they were teaching God's word, but they're not. They're undermining God's word, they're subverting God's word, they're smothering God's word, they're suffocating God's word, and they took the Bible and they start teaching a wholly different kind of doctrine. That's one of the problems that's going on in this church. But the other problem is that they're twisting divine doctrine as well. Not only are they teaching it, but they're actually taking what is good and they're making it into something totally different. Look at verse four. This is what they're doing. Particularly, he lists two different things. They are teaching fables and endless genealogies. Now what What are we talking about when we see Paul referring to these particular fables and endless genealogies? There's two possibilities here. This could be referring to some form of Gnosticism. You know, Gnosticism was this idea that there's all these different strata, if you will, between you, person, and God, and there's all these layers, and you gotta kinda unlock that, this mystery, and if you could kinda understand that, you're always constantly trying to get to the next one, and they had all these series of complex explanations for all of these strata that are seemingly endless, There's just constant speculation about the relationship between God and man, which, by the way, has been and should be made clear just by one name, Immanuel, God with us. But they have all of this strapped. That could be one explanation. But it is more likely that this is rooted in Jewish error, particularly the misuse of the Old Testament. Put a different way, they are reading in between the lines of the Bible. Put a different way, they are making doctrine out of the white spaces. You know what I'm talking about? That's this space here, right? I just erased it a little bit. That's this space here, right? That's the white spaces where there's no words there. And they were reading the most remarkable, imaginative, and creative ideas into the text. And they are filling in the gaps, if you will, or reading between the lines. Now we don't have people do that anymore, do we? That never happens in our churches. We would never be guilty of making up doctrines from the white spaces like they would. Of course, I'm being facetious. But I want to also acknowledge that these people, just like what happens if that happened here, are probably not intending to go into error. It probably starts with some kind of conversation like this. Well, we just want to go deeper. Or we just want to see a deeper meaning than the average person is seeing. And we just want to explore the complexities. And we just want to multiply meanings to the smallest iota of the letter. And unfortunately, these kind of peddlers get a sort of standing in the church because they're saying things that you go, I've never seen that before in the text. And maybe you haven't, quite frankly. And the deeper you're teaching, it seems the more authoritative and spiritual it must be. I mean, if you've got a spin in our heads, it must be really good. Now please understand what is happening here. It's not as though they are teaching salvation by works. That's not necessarily what's going on here. It's not as though they are just blatantly, in your face, flying against the Bible. They're not like blatantly, necessarily contradicting the Bible. What's their problem? Their problem is they're focusing on the minutia within the lines of the Bible, multiplying so many words and so many ideas that they have absolutely smothered the gospel. It's not that they've rejected the gospel, it's just that they have so layered the gospel, it's hard to penetrate and grasp the real deal. So again, it's not so much that they are subtracting from the gospel, that's not their error that caused them this problem, it's that they are adding to the gospel. In other words, I believe they've actually, in some cases, may have started with a pure heart. Here's the purity of the gospel. We don't want to contradict that purity. And so, in an effort to not contradict it, we gotta put this fence around that. And if that fence is not good enough, look at my fence over here. And then, if that fence is not good enough, I gotta put this fence over here. And pretty soon, because of their fences, you can't see the gospel. They've smothered the gospel. Now, friend, that is a bad way to use the Bible, but it is still with us today. And there is no end to this kind of approach, is there? I mean, it's always new, it's always imaginative, it's always creative, they always have cracked the code of the Bible. Anytime I read passages like this, For my part, I'm reminded that normally these kind of folks can often become best sellers, whether nationally or in their local assembly, they can attract attention. I'll give you, for example, there was a guy named Jonathan Cahn. You may have heard his name. He wrote a book in 2011 called The Harbinger. The subtitle was The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America's Future. It was a best seller. And still is. Here's what the book claims. The book claims to reveal biblical secrets from the book of Isaiah that show clear parallels to America's history. For example, Kahn says that Isaiah 910 is applying directly to America because America is now Israel, because America is a second nation dedicated to God and set apart for his purposes. And Isaiah 910, if you look at the numerology, will tell you that, according to Kahn. And the book then shows nine omens which unmask America since 911. And if you would follow them, you would see that these warnings were already woven through numbers in the book of Isaiah. You know what you do with that kind of stuff? You could call it hogwash, and it might be. I think it's dangerous. you're approaching Isaiah's scrolls as if there's some number code to unlock a greater mystery. I think it's actually very dangerous, but I also tell you, as I said before, I don't think men like him or others intended to go to God's word to eliminate the gospel, but to add to it, and now we've created a new kind of numerology that some in this room that have pastored before me probably thought was long since weeded out of our churches. It's back, and it's very popular. Now some of the best-selling books today are devoted to those kinds of fables and myths. Now let me ask you, what is the result of this kind of wrong teaching? I heard confusion, and that is one of them. In fact, Paul gives to us four direct results of this, and one of them is most definitely confusion. So you must have been looking at my notes, right? Look what he says, look what he says in verse four. Which minister Questions. That's what it does. Endless disputes. Endless coffee shop conversations. Endless arguments. And this produces, as this kind of stuff often does, a kind of spiritual elitism and spiritual snobbery. And people come to church looking down their noses at other people who just don't get it as good as we do. And if they just knew what we knew, then they would be better Christians. It's a confusing controversy that has leaked its way into the church, and not only does it produce confusion, but eventually it actually produces apostasy. Look what he says in verse six, look at verse six. As a result of these, some having swerved In other words, they were going a right direction, and then something else caught their attention, and that something else were these fables and endless genealogies, and they begin to major on the minors, and they get it all twisted up and confused to the point they leave the church. Let me just ask you, is this perhaps the precise reason why we've lost an entire generation? Is it possible that our churches have so minored or majored on minors that it's become confusing and we've smothered the gospel to the point that they don't even understand what they mean by the gospel? I don't know if you've ever read Ken Ham's book Already Gone. It can be helpful in its own right with statistics. The statistics, if you just want the bottom line, indicate that most people who were teenagers who grew up in church and went to youth group don't go to church anymore. That's pretty much it. But he did miss one question I wish he would have asked. In his research, and the one helping him with it, never asked those people whether or not they were born again in the first place. That would have been an interesting question. But regardless, he didn't need statistics to say that. You could have just read 1 Timothy. It leads to apostasy. It leads to empty talk. It leads to empty talk. Look, I actually like the King James use of vain jangling. I think it kind of creates exactly what it is. To me, I think of like the keys on your grandpa's belt that just kind of walk down the hallway do nothing but wake up grandma from her nap, right? That's all it is, just meaningless, idle talk. They just talk a lot with nothing very helpful. There's not clarity to that noise. There's not purpose to that noise. It's just, frankly, just noise. That's all it is. And ultimately, sadly, it leads to number four. In the church, it leads to pride. Look what it says in verse seven. This is what these men particularly want, desiring to be teachers of the law. That word teacher is the teacher for rabbi, or the word for rabbi. These men just wanna be the guy, that's all it is. They don't wanna particularly benefit or bless people. They just want power and prestige and position. That's what they want. And in spite of all of this, in spite of all of this pride, Paul highlights to them, they don't know what they're talking about. That's what he says. In spite of all of that. They don't even know what they're talking about. So friends, a false doctrine, a wrong view of the Bible is poisonous to churches and destroys individual lives. That's what Paul is saying. And you should view this kind of approach to the Bible much like you would view a terrorist threat. you want to be on guard against it, you wanna fight it when you see it, it is very, very dangerous. And so Paul says this is the wrong use of the Bible, but praise the Lord, we don't need to stay in the wrong use because there is a right use. And while the wrong use of the Bible leads to awful results, there is a right use. But before we look at the right use of the Bible, I wanna ask, Whose job is it primarily to be on guard and fight against the terrorists of the false wrong use? Remember the phrase we kept repeating in verse three to Timothy? What was Timothy to do? What was his instruction? Abide still in Ephesus. The pastor's job is to protect the purity of the church with vigilance, courage, and discernment, and yes, action. And so he says, here's the right use, and Paul is now going to do something, because having spoken on how people have abused the Old Testament and the Bible, he wants people to be sure that you understand that the Old Testament is not the problem. So shoot the messengers, not the message, if you will. Because the Bible itself is not the issue here. Now people have abused it, and will, and still do, but don't run away from the Bible. Look at verse eight, look what he says. You need to know something, knowing this, that the law is what? Good. By itself, not a problem. Now what does the law mean? It's used not just in verse nine, verse eight, you'll also find it there in verse nine. What is he using it? Well, to look at Paul, you'll find Paul using the same word in a variety of different contexts to refer to a variety of different things. Sometimes Paul uses this word to refer just to the 10 commandments, and he'll use this same word, law, so that could be an option here. And I want you to look at context as we come to the understanding. Sometimes Paul uses this word, same word, to refer to a ceremonial or even a national law in Israel as a country. Sometimes he'll refer to it that way. Sometimes Paul refers to just the five books of Moses and says that that is the law, using the very same word. Sometimes Paul will refer to the whole Old Testament collectively and say that's the law. Sometimes Paul uses it to describe the moral law, which was perverted by the Jews by their teaching. So there's a lot of different, there's actually five different uses of the word law in Paul's letters. So which is it here? He uses it in verse eight, and he uses it in verse nine, so we better get it straight. Which use of the word law is he using here? And I'll go ahead and tell you what I believe he's using it. I believe Paul is using this to refer to the whole of the Old Testament. And the reason I believe that is because of Paul's reiteration of a theme that he began to develop on their misuse of things like fables and endless genealogies, and not specifically landing his plane on where those fables and genealogies are. I believe Paul here is referring to the whole of the Old Testament. He says that if a man use it lawfully, That law is good. If the man actually takes the time to use it lawfully, what is he saying when he says it should be used lawfully? He's saying if it was interpreted correctly, if you actually used it the right way, if it was constructive and for edification. Don't blame the Bible for the way people misuse the Bible. Blame the abusers of the Bible. And don't let the misuse of the Bible turn you away from the Bible. Rather, keep your focus on the Bible. This is why we don't follow men, we follow God. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man. Now, what is he referring to when he refers to a righteous man? Really, you could probably, maybe it will help you to refer to it as a self-righteous man, right? This is someone who believes themselves to be righteous by basics of their ethics and moral behavior. This is someone that regards themselves as righteous, even though they are not righteous. And the law was not made for someone who is a self-righteous man. This is the kind of person that is misusing the Bible. But the law is not for that person. It's not for the person who doesn't think they need help. Who is the Bible for? Who's the Bible for? Sinners. Did you see the list? Look at the list that Paul gave. It's for the lawless, it's for the disobedient, it's for the ungodly, it's for sinners, it's for unholy, it's for profane, it's for murderers of fathers, it's for murderers of mothers, it's for manslayers, it's for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, it's for the man stealers, it's for Liars, it's for perjured persons. Quite the list, huh? Really glowing reviews, Paul. By the way, Paul starts with general categories, lawless, disobedient, ungodly, sinners. He then moves to very specific categories. He refers to murderers of mothers, and manslayers, and whoremongers, and the like. And then he adds, in case he may have missed anything, and any other thing that is contrary. When you read a list like that, you might think, don't give the Bible to that guy. And Paul is saying, that's exactly the person who needs the Bible. You might say, don't waste your time in all the speculation of all the minutia. The Bible's not for those kind of people. The Bible's not for the white space readers. That's not who that's for. The Bible is for needy sinners. My friend, understand something, you and I sinned against the gospel, and you and I sinned against God's Word, and yet God's Word is for us. Think about that. And Timothy is ministering in an incredibly corrupt culture, and Paul is reminding Timothy that the Bible is for that corrupt sinner. And Timothy's culture was not unlike ours. And we may be tempted to think, well, let's not try to say too much, right? We don't want to preach that here. We might want to only preach it in here, but we don't want to be too vocal out there, and just witness among friends, and the world is super scary, and Paul says to timid Timothy and to timid us, no. These are the people who need the Bible. You preach the Bible to them. You don't hold back. This is the right use of the Bible. And you might be thinking, the Bible can't be for me. I'm too unholy to look at the Bible. It's the Holy Bible and I'm unholy. or I'm too far gone to change my life, or my past will not allow me to open the Bible, and Paul says, actually, the Bible is precisely for you. The Bible is for unholy and unrighteous people, which is a great ministry slogan. Don't get covered in yourself Cover yourself in God's word. And Paul says, now what's the result of this right use? And there's four results. Like there were four results of the wrong use. There's four results of the right use. And the first of those is love. Come back to verse five. Look he says, this is the result. Now the end of the commandment, you could say, the result of this, the end of the commandment is, See it there? Charity. The aim, you could say, or the end, the aim of this is charity, the aim of all Bible study and all sermon preaching is love. And if it doesn't produce love, it's not good Bible study. Isn't that interesting? I had a fun conversation with someone recently who said, why is the fruit of the Spirit singular? And I'll tell you my speculative answer. Because the fruit of the Spirit is love, and if you wanna use English punctuation, colon, all of those other things. And all of those other things are outgrowths of love. That's the aim. We learn about this. I appreciate the ask of that question, right? Does God hate sinners? And the answer is yes, but here's the real answer. God hates perfectly, we hate imperfectly. But here's the rest of the answer. God loves perfectly, just like we love imperfectly. And so God can both because we can't. We are not that. We need to learn love. And as we learn love, we're also learning purity. Notice he says, and charity and purity out of a pure heart. A heart that is not perfectly pure is purified out of that, and as a result of this purity, you will find what's next. If you get love, you'll have purity, what else will you have? You'll have a clear conscience, a good conscience, he says. Not only will you have love, that will result in a good conscience. You can be assured that you're doing the right thing. So many people say, what is God's will for my life? And they kind of wring their hands and they don't know. And Paul says, just get in God's word and be assured. And what else? Not only is there gonna be love and a pure heart and a good conscience, but what else? a pure faith, a faith that is unfeigned, you could say. This is what I'd say is sincerity, if you will. This is the real deal. We live in such a hypocritical society, don't we? I mean, we don't even know which politicians are telling us the truth, frankly, let alone when you shave in the mirror, if you're telling yourself the truth, frankly. We are such hypocrites. You know what a hypocrite is? Everybody sometimes that's a hypocrite. And Paul says this is the right use of the Bible produces in us. Now, I don't want you to miss something. This is for everybody. This is where Paul has immediately just ripped to shreds any tiered system within the church. where there are certain folks who have this knowledge, and now that they've had this knowledge, they are prepared to bestow this knowledge to these other people out here who must need them. And now I am their savior. And friend, I hate to tell you, but there are many people who actually actively serve in the church with that approach. Like, I'm gonna serve because I'm now gifted to help you. And Paul says, that is such a backwards mentality. You don't need other people, you need the word. And the word together is what iron sharpens iron, and sometimes, frankly, it's the person that I least expected to be my teacher who is actually my best teacher. Everyone, if you're a student of God's word and a godly Christian, you may be able to run down in your mind at this moment people in your life who have taught you invaluable lessons on what it means to perhaps be a godly prayer warrior, or what it means to be successful and victorious over temptation, or what it means to be a good husband or father or what have you, and they were not the person you would have expected. but God put them in there. And Paul is saying, that's what the Bible is for. And the moment the church begins to think, well, we need to just maybe just guard the Bible and keep it to our little group over here because they're sinners and they're not ready, Paul says, that is a false teaching. You say false teaching is a strong word. It sure is, isn't it? You're saying, is it possible that there are false teachers who spend hours reading the Bible. Yeah, that there are active false teachers who have memorized entire books of the Bible. You missed the forest for the trees. I love that expression. They have endless genealogies, and fables, and questions, and in conclusion, we all have to judge our teachings, and we judge our teachings by our fruits. What fruit does it produce? And if you're teaching false doctrine, the fruit will be pride, It will be self-centeredness, it will be division, and tons of questions. That will be the fruit of false doctrine. But what's the fruit of true, pure doctrine? It will produce humility, it will produce selflessness, it will produce sacrificial service, it will be full of love, and it will edify the hearer. What a vastly different list that is. No wonder he says the wrong use has some terrible consequences. But the right use of God's word, you could go back to the same passage that they had terrible consequences with, and the right use is eternally blessed. There are the two, the right use and the wrong use of God's word. Questions, comments as we close this evening. Yes, Portia. Was this before Paul wrote to Ephesians? Was this before Paul wrote to Ephesians? Yes, in some sense, yes. But there's a lot of time in there. But I appreciate going back to the Acts 20, because I think it gets a little bit of a... of a settled understanding of Paul's heart, of where he's at when it comes to these people. I do wonder if Paul knew when he gathered those people together in Acts 20, yeah, it's probably gonna be you. You ever wonder that? Like, yeah, you might be the guy. I wonder if as he's writing this, and he doesn't name them, except for the end, he names two men. I wonder what broken heart Paul had. Like, I opened God's word to these people, but they weren't doing. John would become it later. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This word you're talking about, charge. Yeah. Yeah. That's that paraclet. J.R.? Sure. Yeah. It could be that could be part of what and and that certainly probably lends more credence And I I want to save my bullets for when we get to the end of chapter 1 Because I got to have some meat left on the bone to get to but yes absolutely appreciate you bringing that up though That's what you get for telling people to read ahead, and you got all these really good students, but yes absolutely there Yeah Well, you ever heard the phrase idle hand or the devil's workshop? I'd change it to say lazy Bible students are the devil's workshop, right? I mean, if we're not on the offensive here, taking this charge creed very seriously, we could very easily get sucked into all of those kind of weird things that come out all the time. Any other questions and comments? These are good. Yes? All right. Paul relies on what a wonderful thing we can teach others under the authority of God. He talks about being a prophet. That authority, proving to those who will listen. Yeah, if you didn't hear, he just said Paul starts by saying I'm reliant on the authority of God's word. Of course, in Paul's case, writing under a pen of inspiration, I'm an apostle. gives him that authority, but we can still come back to that authority and say, as Paul the Apostle wrote under a pen of inspiration, we believe, right? I had a friend that used to say, well, don't blame me for my Bible convictions. If they're really Bible-based convictions, don't blame me. I want to be careful that I'm a student of God's word. If you're going to accuse me of R.S. of anything, I hope that we'd be accused of being so rigid to the word that we will just not even budge from that. Well, I hope this has been a conversation starter as you continue on, and we'll continue to plow ahead. Paul's got some tough plowing ahead for us as we continue into the book of 1 Timothy, as you can already imagine. He's only just a few verses in, and look at the list of sins he's willing to address. I don't know, sometimes we felt like when we're in the book of James, James just really is just the sledgehammer kind of guy. Paul is too, in case you were wondering. Here he is already willing to wield the hammer of God's word, which breaks the rock in two. and I hope we'll take great courage in that. Before you go tonight and before I pray, I'm going to leave that list up on the screen. Here are some of the things that we do need and are being moved. We do ask that you direct your attention to Mr. Dave up there who will help. If you are able and willing to help with some of the moving parts of putting that together tonight for the ladies event that's coming up, I certainly appreciate it. It is a large group of ladies that's coming, so this will help us get those things together. So if you're able-bodied and willing, where can they meet you, Dave? Meet you in the Oasis, all right? So if you're able-bodied and willing to help, that would be a wonderful blessing tonight. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the privilege to come back to God's Word, and we do look forward to continuing this exploration of this book. Lord, there's a lot of material that are still left unexplored from this book, but already we can sense that Paul has a passion for purity in the church. Lord, may we take that passion and really personalize it in our own lives that we would have a passion for the purity of your Word. We pray this in your name. Amen. Thank you.