Amen. Please be seated, folks. And Dale, if you'll come. In the back of your hymnal, either the red or the blue, I believe, is our church covenant that we read together each month. And may the Lord help us to see these things realized in our church fellowship. And so read it, but think of it as a prayer also, asking the Lord to help you. Let us begin. Having been led by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now solemnly make this covenant with each other as one body in Christ. We will walk together in brotherly love. We will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over each other. We'll faithfully admonish and help one another as the need may be. We will be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation without delay. If any stray from the path of truth, we will endeavor to restore them in the spirit of meekness. We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together or neglect to pray for ourselves and for others. We will seek to educate our children in the scriptures. We will seek to win our kindred and acquaintances to Christ and to holiness. As stewards of the Lord, we will aid in the support of a faithful evangelical ministry among us, and in efforts to preach the gospel to the whole human family. We will live circumspectly in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and according to our ability and opportunities, we'll do good to all men. We will endeavor, as long as we live, to glorify him who has called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light. Amen. The Lord's Supper is for the Lord's disciples. Not everybody is encouraged by the Lord to eat and drink of this supper. In fact, only those who are committed disciples of Jesus Christ should do so. For a non-disciple, a non-Christian to eat or drink, the scriptures say they're actually eating and drinking damnation of themselves. This is for true believers in Jesus Christ, disciples. who have committed themselves to believe upon and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord. And they've shown forth that in their baptism, confessing their new life in Christ. If you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, we invite you to eat and drink with us. And of course, with the trays, we have both wine and grape juice offered, depending on your conviction. The wine is in the purple shaded cups around the perimeter of each tray. And by the way, also, with the bread, we do have some gluten-free bread. A few of our folks are in need of that. And so only if you need to have a gluten-free bread, would you take one of those, please? Well, let's first pray and we're gonna ask God to help us in confession and petition as set forth long ago. Our holy Lord, we have sinned times without number and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find thy mind and thy word, of neglect to seek thee in our daily life, Our transgressions and shortcomings present us with a list of accusations, but we bless thee that they will not stand against us, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue our corruptions and grant us grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring our spirits into subjection, but do thou rule over us in liberty and power. We thank thee that many of our prayers have been refused, desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to thy rule. We thank thee for thy wisdom and thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which we are subject, for sometimes putting us into the furnace in order to refine our gold and remove our dross. No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin, Thou shouldst give us choice to live in pleasure and keep our sins, or to have them burn away with trial. Give us sanctified affliction. Deliver us from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of thy grace in us, everything that prevents us taking delight in thee. And then we will bless thee, God of Jeshurun, for helping us to be upright. For we pray these things, our Father in Jesus' name, amen. I trust that we prepare our hearts and minds for the Lord's supper before this occasion when we gather together on the first Lord's Day of each month. We are to examine ourselves, acknowledge wherein we transgress, ask God to forgive us, and of course, assert our dependence and faith in Jesus Christ alone. as the basis of forgiveness. Let's just take a few moments and pray yourself, asking the Lord to forgive you of your sins, if you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, to cleanse you and set you right, restore your soul, as we look to Jesus Christ and him crucified to do his good work in us. Our Father, we thank you for this bread that's before us. And as we hold it, our God, and as we ingest it, we do so in faith, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom this bread so beautifully portrays before us. And we thank you, our God, for the life that you give us through him, through faith in him. And so help us, our God, as we eat this bread. as we look to Christ afresh to invigorate us, our God, to strengthen us, our Lord, to give us a holy resolve afresh to live for Thee. Bless this bread to us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. you So, Well, the Lord after supper took the bread and gave it to his disciples and said to them, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me. We thank you, Father, that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed so long ago is effectual today to cleanse us of our sin, even to the cleansing of our conscience before you. Lord, we come as believers, but we come as ones who sin and are in need of ongoing cleansing and forgiveness of sins. And so we look to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, thanking you, our God, for a full and complete atonement. May we experience a fresh, our God, a renewal of the cleansing of the conscience, our God, the cleansing of our life of our sin. We pray not only will you forgive our sins, but we pray as we look to Jesus Christ, our God, to deliver us from further sin to the degree that that's possible in this world, in this life. And so help us, our God. We thank you and praise you, our Father, for giving your Son to die for us. And we thank you, dear Son, for your effectual blood, sufficient, our God, to atone for our sin. Bless this cup to us as we drink it in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. you you Well, then our Lord took the cup in the same manner that he had taken the bread. He gave it to his disciples, declaring to them, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, this new as often as you drank it in remembrance of me. And if you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, you ate and drank in faith, confessing your sins, you may Rejoice in the reality, your sins are forgiven you, amen. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would help us now as Pastor Jason opens your word to us. May you reveal your will, your word to us, our God, and may your Holy Spirit enable us, our God, to believe it and conform our lives to it. Bless us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. This morning, excuse me, we return to our study of 1 Timothy. We've been working through the first seven verses, this is part three, and this really sets the stage for the rest of the book. By way of reminder, in 1 Timothy 1 verses three through four, Paul instructed Timothy to remain at Ephesus and to charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine. nor to be devoted to myths and endless genealogies, because all of these things, different doctrine, myths, endless genealogies, promote controversy and divisions within the church, rather than advancing the work of the Lord God through the proclamation of the gospel. In 1 Timothy 1.5, in contrast to the false teachers at Ephesus, Paul reminded Timothy of the true aim or goal of Christian ministry. Love, love for the Lord God and love for one another. This love comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. A pure heart refers to a heart that has been cleansed through the washing of regeneration. The Lord God makes the heart new. The spirit of God breathes new life into it. enabling man to live spiritually and to respond freely to the truth of the scriptures. A pure heart is undivided in its loyalties and it strives to walk in obedience to the Lord God by putting sin to death and living to righteousness. A good conscience refers to a conscience that is clear and right before the Lord God. The conscience is the work of God's law written upon the heart of man. It is an internal, independent witness that examines and passes judgment on our conduct. The conscience accuses and condemns us when we have done wrong, or it approves us and commends us when we have done right. A sincere faith refers to authentic and genuine faith. It is a faith that fully trusts and rests upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his work at Calvary. It results in loving God and loving others because you want to please the Lord God out of gratitude and thankfulness for all that he has done and all that he is. A sincere faith is a faith without guile and hypocrisy. to faithfully minister to the church at Ephesus, Timothy would need to be reminded of these things, but he would also need to be warned about what happens when one departs from these things. Please turn with me to the book of 1 Timothy. Our text this morning is 1 Timothy 1, verses three through seven, specifically verses six and seven. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. The church at Ephesus had significant leadership problems, particularly among the teachers. And their problems stemmed from their lack of love, verse six, and their overabundance of pride." Verse 7. Remember, love is the hallmark, the chief, or the primary characteristic of authentic Christianity. Christians are to have a love for the Lord God and a love for one another. Galatians 5.14 says, the whole law is fulfilled in one word, love. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Yet the false teachers at Ephesus did not focus on love for the Lord God, nor on one another. 1 Timothy 1.6, certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussions. The certain persons at Ephesus had swerved from the fount and source of love. They had swerved from a pure heart, swerved from a good conscience, and swerved from a sincere faith. To swerve means to miss the mark. It means to deviate. It means to stray or to turn from. The literal meaning of this term means to not aim at. The certain persons at Ephesus were not aiming at love. Their purpose was not love. Their goal was not love. Their end was not love. The reason being, their hearts were not pure, but impure. Their consciences were not good, but seared and condemning. And their faith was not sincere, but insincere and hypocritical. It's no wonder these certain persons and their teaching had missed the mark of love altogether. and by swerving from these things, by missing the mark of love, these false teachers had wandered away into vain discussion. The phrase wandered away is an interesting one. It's a medical term used to describe a limb dislocated or put out of joint. A dislocated limb, a dislocated arm or leg, cannot accomplish its purpose within the body. It's no longer a help to the rest of the body. It's unable to assist the rest of the body. A dislocated limb hangs limp. It's a hindrance. It's a handicapped. It is an encumbrance to the rest of the body. Teaching, service, ministry without love are disconnected and disjointed from the will and purpose of the Lord God. Beloved, we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. But without love, our teaching, our service, our ministries will hang limp, like an arm or a leg out of joint. Without love, our words and our works will be a hindrance, a handicapped, and an encumbrance to the rest of the body. 1 Corinthians 13, one through three. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing. Teaching without love is like a noisy gong. It's a clanging cymbal. It is nothing more than an annoyance and an irritant to the listener. To understand all mysteries and to possess all knowledge and all faith so as to move mountains but have not love, is nothing. Incredible generosity, overwhelming charity, selfless sacrifice, even sacrifice to the point of death, without love has no gain. It has no benefit. It serves no purpose. Beloved, love is crucial for exercising our spiritual gifts within the body. The Lord God requires us to serve one another in love, a sacrificial love, a selfless love, a love that seeks the benefit of others without expecting anything in return. The reason the Lord God expects us to love in this manner is that he first loved us. First John 419, we love because he first loved us. If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. If you hate your brother, you do not love the Lord God. But if you love the Lord God, you will love your brother. But how? How can I love my brother, my sister, or my neighbor if I don't even like them? Well, demonstrating a love for others does not necessarily mean possessing a warm and fuzzy feeling towards them. Love does not always include emotion. but it will always include action, specific action. As Paul went on to describe in 1 Corinthians 13 verses four through eight, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. Notice how love is defined in this passage. Love is defined by verbs, not adjectives. In other words, love is defined by what it does, not by what it is. In this passage, there is no emphasis on feelings. There is no emphasis on emotions. There is no emphasis on warm affection, but on action. Love is patient. Love is kind and humble. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It is not selfish, but content. It does not insist on its own way, but is considerate and conciliatory. Love is not irritable. It's not resentful. Instead, it is understanding. It is forebearing. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things. It covers up people's faults. It covers up their sins. It defends, it shields, and protects them. Love believes all things. It sees the best in others, and it gives others the benefit of the doubt. Love chooses to accept and acknowledge the best about them, not the worst. Love hopes all things. which means that it entertains the best expectations. Love looks to the bright side, and it does not despair in adversity or difficulty. Love is not pessimistic, but it shows a godly optimism. Love endures all things. It is persevering. It is tenacious. It endures pain and suffering. It endures loss and loneliness. It endures insults, neglect, misunderstanding, and being taken advantage of. It endures being sinned against and the 70 times seven offenses of a brother or sister in Christ. Love never ends. Beloved, do you love one another in this manner? Do you bear all things? Do you believe all things? Do you hope and endure all things? Beloved, 1 John 4, 11, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. If the Lord God loves us, we must also love one another. In the same way the Lord God loves us, we must love one another. If we do, the Lord God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. The certain persons at Ephesus did not love others in this manner. By swerving from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, the certain persons at Ephesus had wandered away into vain discussion. The term vain discussion refers to empty discussion, fruitless discussion. It refers to discussions that are futile, senseless, unprofitable, vain talks that have neither substance nor gain. They are noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. In his commentary on 1 Timothy, William Hendrickson remarked, naturally they also miss the true destination, the final goal, namely love. They are like marksmen who miss their target, like travelers who never reach their destination because they have taken the wrong turn and have failed to look for the familiar signs along the road. The path which these people have taken is not even a detour. It is more like a dead-end street, beyond which lies a swamp. In their case, the swamp of feudal talk. Useless reasoning, argumentation that gets nowhere, dry as dust disputation, a wrangling about fanciful tales, anent pedigrees. Yes, their vaunted learning has finally landed them in no man's land. of ceremonial subtleties in the dreary marsh of ridiculous hair splitting. And the owner of that quagmire is Satan, who heads the welcoming committee. This warning to Timothy has significant application for you and I. The phrase swerving from these in verse six is in the active voice, which means the subject is the one who performs the action or exercises the activity. What made the certain persons swerve from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith? It was their own choice to swerve from these things. By their own volition, the certain persons at Ephesus made a conscious decision to turn away and depart from these things. However, the phrase wandered away in verse six is in the passive voice. The passive voice contains, conveys the idea of an outside force or power that is acting upon the subject. In other words, due to their own volition to swerve from these things, a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, the result was their wandering away, being dislocated from the will and purpose of the Lord God. Beloved, actions have consequences, often serious consequences. In Acts chapter 20, the church at Ephesus was on the right track. The church at Ephesus was striving to hit the mark. It was a sound and healthy church, with sound and healthy doctrine, with sound and healthy leaders. But a short time later, through a series of poor and unwise decisions, The church at Ephesus had abandoned their love for God. They had abandoned their love for one another. And they had abandoned the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness. And in abandoning these things, the result was spiritual drift. They wandered away into vain, empty, and meaningless discussions. In Acts chapter 20, they were on the right track. They were diligently following the narrow way. But by the time 1 Timothy was written, they were off track. They were following the wide and easy way and drifting aimlessly away from the Lord God. Spiritual drift away from the Lord God is a dangerous and perilous path for the church. It's a dangerous and perilous path for the Christian. Our adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. He is working hard for your destruction. He is continually scheming, planning, and plotting your failure and demise. Always remember, Ephesians 6.12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. But not only is our adversary and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places scheming, planning, and plotting your failure and demise, so is your very own flesh. Romans 7, 18. Paul writes, I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me, our flesh. Galatians 517, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to one another, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Always remember the spiritual battle that is presently raging and warring against you. If you do not take this spiritual battle seriously, If you don't take your walk with the Lord God seriously, rest assured that the adversary will. He is a relentless attacking enemy who will stop at nothing to snare and entrap you. Your enemy is strong. Paul referred to him as the prince of the power of this world. the prince of the power of the air. He opposed the Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry. He opposed the disciples in their ministry. All throughout history, he has opposed the church, and he will oppose you. He is opposing you. Your enemy is restless. He never sleeps. He remains alert. He remains undistracted. He continually moves back and forth on the earth and walks up and down on it. You may be careless about your walk with the Lord God. You may be careless about your soul, but he is not. Your enemy is cunning. J.C. Ryle remarked in his book, Thoughts for Young Men, for thousands of years he has been reading one book, and that book is the heart of man. He ought to know it well, and he does know it. all its weakness, all its deceitfulness, all its folly, and he has a storehouse full of temptations, such as are most likely to do the heart of man the most harm. Never will you go to a place where he will not find you. Go into the city, he will be there. Go into the wilderness, he will be there also. Sit among drunkards, and he will be there to help you. Listen to preaching, and he will be there to distract you. Beloved, the adversary is working hard for your destruction. He is working hard to deceive, to discredit, and to make your testimony meaningless and without influence. He's working hard to destroy your marriage. He's working hard to destroy your children, your family, your church. You are the prize for which he is contending. So your life will advance his kingdom and bring great reproach to the name of the Lord God. Now there is no need to fear our adversary because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world, but you must never underestimate him. Thus, you cannot remain in a state of spiritual slumber. You cannot remain in a state of spiritual neutrality. You cannot claim to be a Christian while aimlessly drifting in this world, not without grave and serious consequences. You are either growing in your love for the Lord God, or you're swerving, deviating, and turning from him. Thus, do not be careless about your walk with the Lord God. Young men and young women, do not be careless about your walk with the Lord God. Do not put off till tomorrow what you can accomplish today. Once you begin to drift away from the Lord God, you have no idea how far or where it will take you. I'm sure that when Paul left Ephesus in Acts 20, after he warned the congregation that from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them, I bet the men at Ephesus probably thought, not on my watch. That's not gonna happen to us. And yet, a handful of years later, different doctrine, myths, endless genealogies, and vain discussions, all running rampant within the church. If you make a poor and unwise decision, then you will reap the fruit of that decision. If you choose to neglect your time in prayer, your time in the scriptures, your time in fellowship with other believers, the worship with the gathered assembly, then your walk with the Lord God is going to suffer. If you neglect or swerve from these things, like the certain persons at Ephesus, you too will wander away into vain, empty, and fruitless discussions. Hebrews 2, 1 through 4, therefore, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? Beloved, pay close attention to the eternal things of the Lord God, lest you drift away. Pay closer attention to the eternal things of the Lord God, lest you drift away. Give heed, lest you drift away. Keep alert, lest you drift away. Be sober-minded, lest you drift away. Paying closer attention, giving heed, keeping alert, and being sober-minded, these are your responsibilities. The Lord God requires this of you. It is your duty. It is your task. It is your work to accomplish. No one else can do this for you. Therefore, you must pay close attention. You must ground and settle your mind upon what you read and hear in the scriptures. You must bow your will and bend your knee to them. You must surrender and conform your life to them in the power of the Spirit. If you ignore or neglect the eternal things of the Lord God, then you risk drifting away, drifting away into futility and judgment with eternally damning consequences. On this verse, Charles Spurgeon remarked, you see, dear friends, that we need not be great open sinners in order to perish. It is merely a matter of neglect. See how it is put here. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? You need not go to the trouble of despising it or resenting it or opposing it. You can be lost readily enough simply by neglecting it. In fact, the great mass of those who perish are those who neglect the great salvation. Let that question ring in our ears. How shall we escape? There will be no escape, there can be none if we refuse the Lord Jesus. Do we mean to be lost? Dare we continue to neglect the great salvation? All that it takes to perish eternally is to do nothing. Live your life, follow your desires, and worship and serve whatever it is that makes you happy. Follow the many travelers on the wide and easy way, that leads to everlasting destruction. Beloved, do not neglect such a great salvation. Do not neglect the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not neglect the message of the gospel. Do not neglect the ordinary means of grace. There is nothing in this world as important as your soul. Nothing in this world as essential as your walk with the Lord God. Thus, pay attention to it. and do not neglect it. The first commandment is Exodus 23. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall have no other gods before the face of God. You shall have no other gods in the sight of God. Nothing is to be placed before the Lord God. No person, no thing, no ideology, nor purpose. You cannot serve the Lord God and serve something else. You cannot serve the Lord God and yourself. You cannot serve the Lord God and your flesh. You cannot serve the Lord God and your sin. It is either one or the other. It is all or nothing. Hebrews 12, 1 and 2, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. To run this race, we must lay aside every weight and every sin, and we must run the race that is set before us with endurance. Well, what's the difference between the terms weight and sin? What is meant by using the term weight? Let us lay aside every weight. Well, the word weight means a bulk, or a burden, or a mass, and it refers to anything that is heavy, anything that will slow you down. It refers to anything that hinders your ability to run the race, anything that diverts your attention, or anything that drains you of your energy to run. A weight is an encumbrance. It trips you up, it slows you down, it renders your running ineffective. The term weight is not necessarily negative or positive, it's neutral. Good things can weigh you down just as easily as bad things. Take, for example, money. Money is neither good nor bad. You can use money for good or for evil. Money can assist you in your race, or it can hinder you in your race. It all depends on the hold that money has in your heart. Some of the best things in life are things that can hinder us in our walk with the Lord God. But not only does added weight hinder our performance in running, so does our sin. Sin is when we miss the mark of perfection. It refers to the slightest departure from absolute obedience to God. If perfection is the bullseye, then sin is everything but the bullseye. And sin clings very, very closely. It entangles us, it ambushes us, it encircles us, it entraps us. To run the race that is set before us, you must deal with your sin. You must deal with all your sins, even the seemingly little and insignificant ones, as if there were seemingly little and insignificant sins. The sooner you repent, the sooner you turn from your sin and turn to the Lord God, the sooner you can start running. Again, J.C. Ryle remarked, sinful habits have long roots. Sin, once allowed to nestle in your bosom, will not be turned out at your bidding. Habits are like stones rolling downhill. The further they roll, the faster and more ungovernable is their course. Habits, like trees, have strengthened by age. A boy may bend an oak when it is a sapling. A hundred men cannot root it up when it is a full-grown tree. Custom is the nurse of sin. Beloved, do not nurse your sin. Do not take your sin lightly. Do not take your little sins lightly, because your little sins, if allowed, will continue to grow and will most assuredly become grander and more prominent in your life. These sins will not be easily turned out. Late repentance is seldom true. Do not develop a peaceful coexistence with your sin, for it will restrict your running in the race, and you will drift away. You will drift off course. If you look to anything or anyone else besides the Lord Jesus Christ, you will drift. This is the end result of those who lack love. This is the end result of those who lack love for the Lord God and love for others. The certain persons at Ephesus drifted spiritually because they lacked love, but also because they were filled with arrogance and pride. Look at verse seven. Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussions, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Here we see the motivation behind the certain persons at Ephesus. They desired to be teachers of the law. They had a strong desire, a resolve, a settled determination to be teachers of the law. The term desiring in verse 7 explains the preceding statement in verse 6. In other words, certain persons wandered away into vain discussions because of their desire to be teachers of the law. Now there was nothing wrong with them wanting to be teachers of the law. The problem was their lack of knowledge. The problem was their ignorance. They were teaching without understanding either what they were saying or about the things which they made confident assertions. These men were filled with confidence and pride in their assertions. Their teaching was absolute. It was authoritative. It was dogmatic. It was domineering. But it was wrong. It was a different doctrine. It was erroneous doctrine. Arrogance and ignorance are a dangerous mix, the fruit of which is disastrous to the church. First Timothy 6.4, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth. Imagining that godliness is a means of great gain. Why would these certain persons desire to be teachers of the law if they had no understanding or no knowledge of the law? Why even bother? Well, it was because their interest was not in the law itself, but rather the prestige, the reputation, and the financial gain of being a teacher of the law. Their desire was to be known as a teacher of the law and to receive the respect and benefits of such a position. To them, the position of teacher was merely a means of prideful gain. Paul warned Timothy about these motivations in chapter 6, verses 9 through 10. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Desiring to be teachers of the law, but without understanding, without knowledge, resulted in temptation, which then became a snare, leading them to many other senseless and harmful desires, eventually plunging them into ruin and destruction. two of whom are mentioned by name in chapter one, Hymenaeus and Alexander. Holding faith in a good conscience, by rejecting this, some have made a shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. The pulpit is no place for an arrogant person. The pulpit is no place for an ignorant person. The pulpit is no place for those who seek the applause and the praise of men. The pulpit is no place for those who desire to get rich and gain financially through the work of the ministry. This is why teachers are given a stern and sobering warning in the book of James. James 3.1, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Here, James is giving a command to the church. Not many of you should become teachers. Unless the Lord God has called you to preach and teach, don't do it. Because those who preach and teach will be judged with greater strictness. Those who preach and teach will be judged with a greater condemnation. Those who preach and teach will incur a stricter wrath. The authority to preach and teach comes with greater and higher accountability. And if your preaching and teaching does not produce a love for the Lord God, nor a love for others, then it is vain, empty, and worthless. It will be judged with greater strictness. Preachers and teachers who proclaim false and erroneous doctrine are conceited and arrogant. They are engulfed in their own smoke, blinded by their own pride and ignorance. In their own self-worth and self-importance, they set themselves and their teaching as superior to the Lord God, superior to the teaching of the Word of God. False teachers understand nothing, even though they make confident and convincing assertions. They have a complete lack of understanding regarding the eternal things of the Lord God. And it's not surprising that their teaching produces unhealthy interests in controversial questions and disputes. Their teaching brings about envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction. Beloved, be on guard against false teachers. Be on guard against false teaching. Do not be like a child tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Instead, be grounded in the truth. Love the Lord God and love others. This is the aim of our charge. Love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Don't be like the certain persons at Ephesus. Do not swerve from these things because you will wander and drift away from the truth if you do. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. And we thank you for the Holy Spirit who teaches us your truth. Lord, apart from the spirit, we would all be lost. We would have no understanding. But you've given us a truth teacher who resides within us. And Lord, you've given us men and women over the years who have been wonderful teachers, who have helped equip us. And we pray, Lord, that we would always keep our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. and that we would evaluate all teaching through the lens of the scriptures, through the lens of sound doctrine. We pray, Lord, that we would not be led astray by false teaching. We pray, Lord, that our church would be protected from false teachers, from false teaching, that we would always pursue a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Lord, we thank you for all of these things. In Jesus' name, amen.