1 Timothy, beginning at verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. To Timothy, a true son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith. Now, the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from sincere faith. From which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. Join me in prayer. Father, we commit your word and the preaching of your word to your good pleasure. May you empower me and may you help each one that listens this morning to apply this to our to their lives. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. So this morning I began a series of messages from 1 Timothy. And I'm going to use Paul's introduction as the introduction for my message this morning. Notice that he calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now that may be a bit strange for a personal letter to Timothy And so why does he identify himself as an apostle to Timothy? Timothy knew this. Well, I believe that he identified himself as an apostle because he was going to commission Timothy to take the words of this letter and implement them into the local church. And so he would be ministering with the authority of the Apostle Paul himself. He would have a special commission from Paul. But the recipient, of course, is Timothy, who I assume needs no introduction to you. He was called his son in the faith, not because he was his biological child, but his spiritual child. Now Timothy could have been one to faith in Christ by Paul during Paul's first missionary journey to Lystra. And by the time he returned on his second missionary journey, Acts chapter 16 identifies Timothy as a disciple. He was already a believer by that time. But he also could have been called his son in the faith because it was not unusual for a master teacher to call his disciple his son, spiritually speaking. And so, whether it was because he was one to faith in Christ by Paul, or simply a devoted disciple of Paul, he was spiritually like a son to him. Indeed, Paul became a missionary associate of the Apostle Paul. Timothy was a young man, probably about 35 years old at this particular time, and Paul was about to give him another assignment. Now he gives his usual greeting, which is a combination of the Greek greeting and the Hebrew greeting of grace and peace. Yes, we are saved by the grace of God. But we are also enabled to live the Christian life by His grace, the resources of His grace. But Paul also wishes peace to Timothy. Peace with God that only comes from the forgiveness of sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the grace of God. But he also no doubt wishes upon Timothy the peace of God that passes understanding as he said in Philippians chapter 4 in verse 7. Do you know his saving grace? Do you know what it is to have peace with God? Timothy did, and the Bible wants you to have these blessings as well. But contrary to his usual pattern, he adds a third blessing, the blessing of mercy. You know, I'm glad that God is a merciful God. I'm glad he doesn't give us what we deserve, but he gives us what we need. His saving grace, His peace. Now Barclay believes that Mercy corresponds to chesed in the Old Testament, usually translated loving kindness. But God's chesed is his intervention in your life. to help you in a time of need because of his loving relationship that he has with you. Aren't you glad that God helps you in your time of need? Aren't you glad that he intervenes in your time of need. Well, certainly Timothy experienced God's grace, God's peace, and God's mercy in his life. And God wants you to know these blessings in your own life. And so after giving these blessings to Timothy by way of greeting, He gets right in to the main concern that Paul has concerning the church in Ephesus, and that is false doctrine. And folks, this is a great problem today. There's a lot of false doctrine that has infiltrated the church. The cults on the outside teach false doctrine that has drawn away many professing Christians into the cults. And Jesus and others warned that in the last days there would be apostasy in the church. And so this message about false doctrine is very timely and very needed in our day as well. And so what is the gist of Paul's opening remarks? First of all, He told Timothy, he urged Timothy to stop the teaching of false doctrine. Paul says in verse 3, As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, that you remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine. Paul was going to Macedonia to the Northwest to minister and he told Timothy, I want you to stay right there in Ephesus because I've got a job for you to do. And that is to stop the teaching of false doctrine in the church of Ephesus, which was one of the most influential churches in that part of the world at that particular time. In fact, it was so strategic. It was so important that Paul spent three years ministering in Ephesus longer than any other church. And as he called the Ephesian elders on his way to Jerusalem, he warned them in Acts chapter 20 about the reality of false teaching creeping into the church. And evidently, after several years, and indeed it had crept into the church. Now the fact that he says some were teaching false doctrine meant that this problem was not widespread, but Paul wanted to nip the problem in the bud through the ministry of Timothy. And we know that Timothy was rather timid in character, and so he had to urge him to step up and confront this problem head on. And notice, that he charged, Timothy was to charge them not to teach any other doctrine. That word translated charge is a military term. It was also used in the political world of giving an order that was to be obeyed by the people. And notice that the word for other doctrine here is Doctrine of a different kind. Not just an interpretation of Christian doctrine that may not be widespread, but doctrine that was contrary to the standard of doctrine that had been passed down by the apostles. Timothy was to charge them not to add to the gospel, not to take away from the gospel, but to always teach consistent with the gospel and the New Testament doctrine. You see, Jesus said that Satan is a liar. He is a deceiver. And one of his primary works is to deceive people with false doctrine and false religion. Have you ever been deceived? You know, there's some scammers out there that want to take your money and they will deceive you into falling for giving them your important financial information. There are politicians that, believe it or not, will lie to you to try to get elected. Yes, there is deception. There are lies outside the church. And there is the problem of deception and lies within the church. And Paul says, Timothy, you've got to deal with it. And so notice one reason for the command in the last of verse 4 is because false doctrine will cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Likewise, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 23 says, But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. You know, one source of strife and conflict within the church is when certain people introduce false doctrine. God's people know this isn't right, and so they'll oftentimes get into debates and strife over this false doctrine. But listen, we are not to allow false doctrine because it will generate strife and division and conflict within church. Look at the history of the church and you will see that many churches have split over false doctrine and false practices. Denominations have split over false doctrine. And whole new denominations and cults have spin off as a result. Folks, this is a problem. And so in the last of verse 4, he says, based on textual evidence, that Timothy was to be a good steward of the gospel and the saving plan of God. You know what a steward is? It's someone who is entrusted with something that belongs to somebody else. And Paul reminds Timothy that God has entrusted you with the gospel. God has entrusted you with the saving plan of God. And you are to see to it that God's truth and God's way of salvation is protected and carefully taught within the church. But notice also the purpose of the command. Why is it that we need to ensure that only sound doctrine is taught in the church? That only the gospel is taught in the church? It's because the gospel, sound doctrine, produces and only produces what is mentioned in verse 5. Look at it. Now the purpose of the commandment, this commandment not to allow false doctrine, is love from a pure heart and from a good conscience and from sincere faith. You see, the sound doctrine of the gospel is what produces love in the congregation. You remember what Jesus said, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples by your love for one another. In my ministry, as I've preached sound doctrine, you know what it produces? It produces loving Christians. And I see a lot of loving Christians here in this congregation. And that's what the gospel produces. But false doctrine creates strife and division and animosity and hurt feelings and all kinds of problems within the church. And then he also says that sound doctrine produces a good conscience. You see, the only the gospel will bring forgiveness of sin to know you're right with God and you can have a good conscience. Only the power of the gospel equips you to overcome sin in your life so that you have a good conscience. You know things are right with God. And he also mentions that it's the gospel, the Word of God, that produces a sincere faith, a genuine faith. Listen, false doctrine may produce the appearance of a Christian. They may act like a Christian, but only the gospel and sound doctrine produces an unhypocritical faith. So what you believe makes a difference, Paul says. And one way to examine whether A teaching is of God or of Satan is the fruit that it produces. Does the teaching produce a loving Christian? Does it produce a good conscience? Does it produce a sincere faith? Jesus says you'll know them by their fruit. And so let's take what Paul says. Paul says, Timothy, don't allow false doctrine in your church. Now, let me apply that. If you serve on the nominating committee, it's your responsibility to see to it that the teachers you nominate to this church are of sound doctrine. Whether they're teaching adults or youth or children doesn't matter. They are to be of sound doctrine. And then we have members of the Pastors Search Committee here. Oh, you have a special responsibility to ensure that the candidates that you interview are of sound doctrine. Make sure they give you a doctrinal statement. Read over it. Make sure they're a sound doctrine. Ask them questions. It is so very, very important. And I'm thankful for the music of this church, the great hymns of the faith that have stood the test of time. But some of the music that is in our churches today is not of sound doctrine. It's oftentimes rather shallow and sometimes There's a lot of good new music, and I'm not saying that new music that's sung in the church is necessarily or predominantly not of sound doctrine, but we have to always watch the doctrine of our music as well. And so he charges them, don't allow sound doctrine in the church. Be sure you stick to the gospel. Focus on Christ. Focus on the word of God, especially in the New Testament. But notice, secondly, the examples of false doctrine to avoid. Paul says in verse two that we are not to give heed to false doctrine. Verse four. We're not to listen to false teachers. The subtlety of false teachers is that they use the Word of God. They'll talk about Jesus, but they twist the Word of God and add to the Word of God and take away from the Word of God. False teachers like to introduce something new and novel because people like to hear something new and novel. But you know, we're to be about teaching the old truths, the ancient truths of the Word of God that are timeless, that are never outdated because human nature never changes and the gospel and this plan of salvation never changes. 2 Timothy 3 verses 3-4 says, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. Be careful about being attracted to novelties and so-called Christian teaching. And so what are some of the false teachings that we are to avoid? Well, Paul doesn't specify in this text what are the false teachings. Rather, he mentions the instrument or channel of false teaching. First of all, in myths and fables, Paul says in verse four, nor give heed to fables, which is literally the word for myth. Now, based on the near and remote context I believe Paul is primarily talking about Jewish myths and fables. You see, there are gaps of information in the Old Testament about the characters of the Old Testament and so forth. And so the Jews would like to write apocryphal stories filling in the gaps, telling us more about some of the great men of the Old Testament or some of the obscure men of the Old Testament. And something else about the ancient world is this. They love their myths and stories, right? The stories of the great Hebrews, the Greeks and Romans love stories about their various gods. They love to tell myths explaining natural phenomena. You remember when you were a kid telling some myth about white thunders, you know, like they were Even something like bowling in heaven. That's where the thunder comes from. Well, the ancient world was highly influenced by myths and stories. And so these teachers would use these myths and stories to introduce false doctrine because people love to hear stories. Some years ago, I bought the book Lost Books of the Bible, which contains some of these very stories that Paul could have been talking about. Yet Deuteronomy 29, 29 says that some things God has chosen to reveal and some things he has not chosen to reveal. And we're not to try to fill the gaps, just take God's word as it is and stick with God's word and God's word alone. And so watch out for those who introduce false doctrine through story and myth. Have you ever looked at the Book of Mormon? It's full of stories in this. In fact, if a couple of those Mormon missionaries come by and see you, let me give you a suggestion. Why don't you tell them, you know what? I found that the Book of Mormon is referred to in the New Testament. And they will be interested to hear that. And all you got to do is open up 1 Timothy 1, verses 3 and 4. And it's right there. It's right there. And by the way, there are some creatures that get up and tell story after story after story, not to illustrate God's truth, but as a means of introducing false doctrine to the congregation. Listen, Paul says you need to watch out for that. And then he mentions genealogies, which is related to miss. Because have you ever read the Old Testament and there's some genealogies in the New Testament? There's name after name after name after name. Have you ever wondered about all those names and who these people were? Well, they would write stories about these different characters. And, you know, Paul talks about endless genealogies. Man, once you start writing stories about all these people and what they did and what they said, man, it's you can just go on and on and on and on with these endless genealogies and their stories that become channels of false doctrine. And so most of us in this room are not threatened by these particular means of false doctrine. But you need to be careful about other means of false doctrine. I tell you, some preaching today is what I call psychological pep talks. I mean, it's not really based in the Bible, but they make you feel good and it sounds good. But folks, there's not gospel there. There's not sound doctrine there. Watch out for false doctrine. And the last of verse 3 mentions other doctrine. And in the context that we'll talk about next week, one of the false doctrines they were teaching is salvation by works of the law rather than salvation by grace through faith. And by the way, verse one, he calls God our savior. Listen, God is our savior. You can't save yourself by your words. And don't you listen to anybody that tells you that you can. This is why I preach expository, text-driven sermons. Because I don't want to get off on some tangent. I don't want to stand up here and just give you my opinions and speculations about things. I want to teach you and preach to you the Word of God. And so when you examine someone's doctrine, let me give you a suggestion. Someone comes to your door and says they've got something new to share with you. There are two big questions that you need to ask them about. Number one, what do you believe about Jesus? Oh, they'll say we believe in Jesus. Yeah, we follow Jesus. But I tell you, they probably don't believe in the full deity of Jesus and the member of the triune God, they probably don't believe in the necessity of the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. So what do they believe about Jesus? And then secondly, what do they believe about how we're saved, how we have eternal life? Every false teacher teaches a worse salvation in some fashion or form. And so put them to the test. And once they fail the test, turn away from them. Don't listen to them. And then finally this morning, we see some examples of false teachers to rebuke. Timothy wants to rebuke. He says, you know, he doesn't name them. He mentions some without naming them, probably because he didn't want to leave somebody out that would fall into this category or to give them publicity. Now, we can assume that they were teachers within the church rather than outside the church. So how do you spot a false teacher beyond what I've already shared? First of all, does verse six describe them? Paul says, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk. They have turned aside from the gospel. You know, Jesus said there's a narrow way that leads to life and there's a broad way that leads to destruction. They've gotten off the narrow way and they're on that broad way of false doctrine, false ways of salvation. And so they turned aside from that. And Paul says they just give empty talk. There's nothing that saves. There's nothing that builds you up in your faith. It's just empty talk. Listen, there's no comparison between the power of the gospel and the Word of God and man's opinions. Oh, this is such a dangerous time for the church. You know why? Because The devil and his false teachers have easy access to everyone that's sitting here today. All you gotta do, it's full, they're full of false doctrine on YouTube and all the other streaming services out there. All you got to do is turn on your television and there's false doctrine that comes through your television. All you got to do is go to the bookstore and the shelves are full of false doctrine. And just because someone draws tremendous crowds, just because someone sells a lot of books does not mean they are teaching the truth. 1 John 4, 5 says, They are of the world, therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. Oh, the world will gladly hear someone that's not preaching the true gospel and the true Word of God. But if you preach the gospel and the true Word of God, there's plenty of unsaved folks that don't want to hear it. So be careful. But how else can you spot a false teacher? Verse 7. Paul says they are desiring to be teachers of the law. Now that word translated teachers of the law is found elsewhere to refer to Gamaliel. It refers to the scribes. It would refer to the Jewish rabbis. And so here are people that noticed the respect, the honor, the love that people would give to the Jewish teachers. And they said, you know, I would like to be respected that like that. I would like to be loved like that. I would like to be honored like that. And so they become not because God called them, not because God equipped them with gifts of teaching and so forth, but. They appoint themselves as a teacher of the law, the teacher of the Old Testament. And by the way, at this time, the Old Testament was about the only Bible that they had. Only some of the Bible had even been written and it wasn't widely circulated yet. And so they were teachers of the Bible. They wanted to be teachers of the Bible. And yes, being a teacher is respected in the eyes of many people. By the way, it was a time when being a preacher was highly respected in even the general population of society, but we've fallen out of the top 10 most respected professions of society. But notice Paul's evaluation of them in the last of verse 7. Understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. What a scathing indictment of people who were so unfitted for the task. Don't be fooled just because they can speak well. Don't be fooled just because they speak dogmatically, which is way verse 7 can be translated. Just because they speak with confidence. It's not the manner of their speaking that is the telltale sign, but the content of what they're speaking. And Paul said they don't even understand what they're talking about. I mean, they talk about these myths based on apocryphal writings and stories that have some connection to the Bible, but they don't even understand what they're talking about, including their teaching of the law, as we'll see next week. And why is it that they did not understand what they're talking about? It's because of this. Let me fill you in on a little secret. There's a lot of preachers that just parrot what other preachers say. It's not something they learned themselves, but they're just taking sermons that other people preach or they take content from other people and without really understanding it, they just repeat it. They just tell it. What a contrast Jesus was to the scribes of his day. In Mark chapter 1 verse 22, it says they were astonished at his teaching, the teaching of Jesus, for he taught as one having authority and not as the scribe. You know why the scribes were so dull and dry is because they were simply quoting what previous scribes had said rather than declaring the truth of the word of God. And so from this text of scripture, Paul tells us how to recognize false doctrine and false teachers to prevent it from being taught among us. Yet, let me conclude by just giving you one other practical way to identify false teachers. First of all, you need to learn the Word of God. How can you identify false teaching if you don't know the truth yourself? And so I encourage you to read God's Word every day. I encourage you to come to church and Bible studies where you can learn more of the Word of God. Secondly, do they add to the Word of God? They always add to the Word of God. They always tell you stuff that's really not in the Scripture. Thirdly, is their focus on something other than the Gospel and the truth of the Word of God? And then finally, do they appear to have selfish motives? Are they in this office? Are they doing this teaching or preaching just because they like the respect and the honor and the other benefits that come with it. Of course, God alone can judge motives, but sometimes they can wear their motives on their sleeve, so to speak. And so we need to be vigilant about maintaining sound doctrine. You know, I'm so thankful that Skan Quarter Baptist Church has endured for over 240 years. Now, one way is somebody stayed faithful to the gospel. Someone down through the years saw to it that this church was going to stay faithful to the gospel and the Word of God. And I'm glad after all these years, I still see a desire for the Word of God and to stay faithful to the Word of God. You know what? Revelation chapter 2, Jesus wrote a letter to this same church. And He said, you've left your first love. And if you don't repent, I'm going to remove your lamp stand from before me. That church will cease to exist. If you don't repent, if you don't renew your first love, let's see to it that Skinning Quarter Baptist Church remains faithful, a faithful light of the gospel in this community still for years to come. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this truth from Your Word and pray You'll bless us as we go through 1 Timothy together. Let us be challenged. Let us be strengthened as a church. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.