Good evening to everyone. Welcome to our Wednesday evening adult Bible class. Glad you are here this evening because we’re going to be starting a new series of lessons based upon Bible doctrine.
“Why a series on Bible doctrine?”—may be the question coming to your mind. First of all, let me say that “doctrine” is a word that is misunderstood by many. Many think of the word “doctrine” and they think of something like just hard cold facts, things that maybe “I wouldn’t be interested in.” Some would also think perhaps of theological matters—deep, deep theological matters—things that, once again, “I wouldn’t have any interest in, I just don’t get that deep into the Scriptures.” Some would hear that word “doctrine” and they would think of “arguing of issues,” [for example] maybe someone in a debate. Also a word that may come to mind would be “legalism.” Yes, to many, the word “doctrine” is a bad word.
What IS doctrine anyway? Our word “doctrine” in the English comes from two Greek words, which mean “teaching” or “instructing,”or “that which is taught.” So when we speak about doctrine, we are talking about TEACHING. What’s bad about that? Teaching the Truth is a GOOD thing!
Why is Bible doctrine important? First, because God has chosen to reveal His Will for us through the written Word, that is, the Bible. That’s how God communicates with us today. Thus, God—The God of Heaven—The Creator of all things—Jehovah God—is actually speaking to us, to you and to me, through the doctrine, through the teaching, if you will, that is contained in the Bible. This teaching of God becomes our means of understanding the Truth of God and how He wants us to live, and how He expects us to respond to His grace.
Without His doctrine—or teaching—we wouldn’t know much about God or anything at all about His Will for us. There are some who would say, “Oh well, I know God—I see God in nature; He’s all around us,” and that is certainly Truth, there is no question about that. But, if we only experience God as He is seen in nature, what do we learn—what do we know—about His love, about His justice, about His mercy, and about so many other things concerning our Great God? You see, these things cannot be found out in nature, nor can they come from the minds of men. Jeremiah said in the long ago, “It is not in man that walks to direct his own steps,”Jeremiah 10:23.
Bible doctrine gives us knowledge—it gives us guidance. It’s where we find the Truth. It’s also where we find our greatest encouragement. So “doctrine”—specifically Bible doctrine—is not a bad word. On the contrary, it’s a very GOOD word.
But even with this understanding, there are those who still may shun the subject of Bible doctrine—or teaching—in favor of something else. Some people would prefer “emotionalism.” You know, their “belief,” their “religion,” so to speak, is one that is better “felt” than “studied.”
Also, some people want to rely on “testimonials”—“My experience is what my understanding of doctrine is.” There are many in this world today who consider themselves to be “religious,” whose religion—whose “doctrine,” if you will—is based on “man-made doctrine”—“man-made teaching.” For such ones as these, Bible doctrine is seen, perhaps, as being “too confining,” “too restrictive,” “out-dated,” and so on.
Jesus spoke out against those who would “teach for doctrine the commandments of men,” Matthew 15:9. In that verse He says specifically, “In vain do they worship Me.” So, there are those who are seeking some other doctrine, some doctrine besides THE doctrine—THE teaching—that is contained in the Word of God. As they try to apply that and try to worship God with doctrine other than the doctrine of God—the doctrine of His Word—Jesus said they “worship Me in vain.” That word “vain” means “empty,” or “meaningless.” The things that they do are meaningless.
So “doctrine,” the “doctrine of the Bible,” which is come from God, is a GOOD thing, and as children of God and His followers, we desire to know and to understand HIS DOCTRINE.
Having said that, let me further impress this on your mind. How important is doctrine? Just how important is it that we know this doctrine of the Bible—that we understand it—that we follow it?
Well, in addition to those things that I’ve already stated, let me point out to you that the Church was established by doctrine. The Church was established through, or by, the preaching of doctrine. You see, Jesus spent three years here on the earth in what we refer to as His “earthly ministry,” and during that three-year period, He spent much time presenting doctrine. We think about it as teaching. Yes, He was the Master Teacher, but He was presenting doctrine to His followers, especially to those specially selected followers—those who were His Apostles. He was instilling His doctrine in their minds. The night before His death, He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to remind them, that is, that they might recall all that He had taught them during this three-year ministry. The Holy Spirit was to give them a complete knowledge of all Truth. We might substitute the word doctrine for “Truth.”
Let’s look over in the Gospel of John. John, chapter 14 and let’s start with verse 25: Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” Well, there is the promise of the Holy Spirit to come—to come to instruct—to teach.
Then let’s go over to John 16, and look at verse 13. Here Jesus, continuing to speak, says, “However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all Truth; for He will not speak on His Own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Verse 14, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” Then verse 15, “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” So there we have Jesus promising to His apostles that the Holy Spirit would come, He would guide them, He would further instruct them, He would help them to recall the things that they had already been taught, and He would present to them the things that He hears. What will He hear, where will that come from? It will come from the Mind of God.
After Jesus’ resurrection, He commissioned the apostles to go into all the world and preach and teach this doctrine. You can read on your own Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20 [“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”] See also Mark 16, verses 15 and 16 [“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’”], and Luke 24, verses 44 through 49 [“Then He said to them, ‘These are the Words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.’”]
Let’s turn over together this evening and look at Acts, chapter 1. This is just one more evidence of what we have just said regarding Jesus’ commissioning of the apostles to go forth and to teach His doctrine. Acts, chapter 1, beginning with verse 6, “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His Own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”There you see Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit. Just before ascending back to the Father, Jesus is commissioning the apostles to go forth and to preach His doctrine, and gives them another promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then in Acts, chapter 2, on the Day of Pentecost in A.D. 33, the church was established, and that was the beginning of God’s Kingdom on earth. This came after the visitation—after the fulfillment of that promise that Jesus had made to His apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit. We can read about that in Acts, chapter 2, beginning with verse 1, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as the rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Well, there we have it—there is the fulfillment of that promise that was made by Jesus that the Holy Spirit would come.
Now having been filled with the Holy Spirit, we’ll see later on here in Acts, chapter 2, that Peter stood up and he preached a doctrinal sermon, a sermon that was centered on Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. And Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection was followed then by His ascension back to the Father and His being exalted at the right hand of the Father, Acts, chapter 2, verses 14 through 36.
So, what was the outcome of this doctrinal sermon—this Christ-centered sermon—that Peter presented on the Day of Pentecost? Well, we know what it was, don’t we! There were 3,000 who responded to that doctrinal sermon, they were baptized and, thus, the church, that earthly kingdom, had its beginning. We see further there in Acts, chapter 2, verse 40, that the apostles encouraged them “with many other words.” Those who were being saved were added by the Lord to the church, Acts 2, verse 47 [“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”]
Thus, the church began with the preaching of doctrine. As people heard this doctrine, they believed it and they obeyed it. So, with the presentation of the same doctrine, even 2,000 years removed from that occasion, doesn’t it make sense that the church can be—and IS established—and is perpetuated—based upon that doctrine?
We’ve noted that the church was established by doctrine. Let’s notice, too, that the church continued in doctrine. Go back to Acts, chapter 2, and verse 42. This, of course, is part of the description of what that primitive church—that first congregation of the Lord’s people there in the city of Jerusalem—was doing following the Day of Pentecost. In verse 42 we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Yes, from the very first day of the church’s existence, doctrine was important. Just as Jesus had commanded, the church continued to teach all things that He had taught the apostles. “Teaching them”—you remember those words there in Matthew 28, verse 20—“teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Those were Jesus’ instructions to His apostles. He was saying, “No, don’t make up what you want to make up, don’t present things based on emotionalism or upon your experiences. Rather, what you teach, what you present, are the things that I have instructed you. You present My doctrine.”
Years later Paul would write to a young evangelist named Timothy, exhorting him to “Preach the Word!”2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Also, Paul would charge Timothy to charge others not to teach any other doctrine, other than that doctrine that he had been presented, 1 Timothy 1, verse 3 [“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine”].
All aspects of the church are presented to us doctrinally in the New Testament. Therefore, the church today is able and must continue in this doctrine, just as they did in the first century.
We must heed another admonition from Paul to Timothy. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 13, Paul writes again to this young evangelist, his young protégé, “Hold fast to the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” Hold fast to the pattern of sound doctrine? Yes, it fits. Hold fast to the pattern of sound words or doctrine, or teaching, or instruction, which you have heard from me.
So, the church was established and the church continues IN the doctrine of the Bible.
Thirdly, doctrine is the basis for faith. You see doctrine—what we believe as it is presented to us in God’s Word—forms the very basis of our faith as Christians. We might consider the question: How does one come by faith—that is, true faith? Well, Paul said, as he wrote to the church in Rome, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” Romans 10:17.
Could we say then that faith comes by the doctrine of God? Sure, that fits! Faith comes by the instruction, by the teaching, by the doctrine of God. That takes us back to a point that we made earlier, that doctrine is contained IN the Word of God—IN the Bible.
Faith is what we believe, and we put what we believe into action. One cannot hear the wrong doctrine, believe that false doctrine, and expect to be pleasing to God, or to be saved by God!
Do you ever wonder why there are so many faiths—and I’ll put quotations around that word—so many “faiths” around these days? Well, it’s simple. There are so many “faiths” in the world today because there are so many doctrines. I’m not talking about Bible doctrines. I’m talking about doctrines—teachings, instructions, writings—that have come from the minds of men, and many people are following those to their peril! Only the true doctrine of God can produce an authentic faith that produces the proper works of faith. To believe a lie and act on that false information causes everything else we do to be wrong.
Have you ever heard the statement, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what you believe.” Well, brethren, I’m here to tell you, it does matter what we believe! Our very salvation depends upon what doctrine we hear or read, what doctrine we believe, and what doctrine we obey. Can there be anything more important than that?
Here’s a fourth point about making this impression—Just how important is doctrine? Doctrine is what we will be judged by. Once again, we clarify that by saying that, the doctrine of the Bible is what we will be judged by.
John’s vision of the judgment day, that we can read about in Revelation 20, verse 11 through 15, says in part in verse 12, “the Books were opened” and all were “judged…by the things written in the Books.” [“Then I saw a great white throne and Him Who sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” Revelation 20:11-15.]
What are the Books that John speaks of here [Revelation 20:12]? Well, there is more than one. One book would be what is referred to as the Book of Life, but the other clearly has reference to God’s Word—the Bible—God’s doctrine.
You see, the standard of judgment for you and for me and for the rest of mankind will be the doctrine of the Bible. And each will be judged according to what it says there, and whether or not we have believed and have obeyed. Jesus said it this way: “the Word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day,” John 12, verse 48. It can’t get much clearer than that, can it?
So just how important is doctrine? Oh, my friend, that’s what we’re going to be judged by in that last day. We better know it, hadn’t we! We’d better observe it! We’d better obey it!
A fifth point: Doctrine is the basis for unity in the church. This is another reason why doctrine is so important because it forms the basis of Christian unity. Paul beseeches the early church in Corinth to be of the same mind and the same judgment, and to speak the same thing, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10. [“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment”].
How can we possibly do what Paul was pleading for? When you consider the congregations of the Lord’s church which are scattered around (we have several in this community, there are many in this State, they’re all across this great nation from shore to shore, and we can go around the world and find congregations of the Lord’s people), how can each congregation speak the same thing, especially when you consider the diversity that exists in each local congregation? For example, right here in this congregation we have various age groups, we have various education levels, we have different kinds of ethnic and social backgrounds—just all kinds of differences. You know, we have different tastes when it comes to the food that we eat, to the clothes that we wear, to the cars that we drive. You name it, we have many differences. So how is it, I ask you, that we can fulfill this admonition of Paul to “speak the same thing” [1 Corinthians 1:10]?
Well, we may not all agree on the kind of chili we prefer, “red chili” or “green chili.” But when we’re talking about spiritual things, when we’re talking about religious matters, when we’re talking about our faith—THAT unity must come from a single source, and THAT IS the doctrine of God’s Word.
Peter tells us, as he writes in his first epistle, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God,” 1 Peter 4, verse 11. Oracles… now there’s an interesting word that we don’t hear or use much these days. What that word means, according to one writer, is the “utterances of God presented through a teacher.” Also, we can go back to a Greek lexicon to learn the Greek origin of the word, and we see that this word “oracles” means “a divine response or utterance.” Such things that constitute, or fit into, this definition would be the contents of the Mosaic Law, Acts 7, verse 38. [“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us.”]
Also, the utterances of God were written, being recorded by the Old Testament writers, as we read in Romans 3, verse 2. [“Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.”] And then also, the utterances of God are the substance of Christian doctrine, Hebrews 5, and verse 12. [“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”]
The church can only be united when each congregation follows the doctrine of Christ. When men change the doctrine of Christ—the very oracles of God—by adding to it, or by taking away from it, divisiveness and division result. Jesus prayed that the church—His followers—would be one, just as He and the Father are One, John 17, verse 21. [“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”] There is no division between Jesus and His Father. There is no divisiveness there. They are united, and this is the kind of unity that Jesus desires within His Body.
Well we must strive to achieve and to maintain such unity. Thus, we cannot minimize the importance of doctrine—the doctrine found in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. How well we know it and how well we follow it will determine the unity of the church here on the earth now. It will also determine where we will spend eternity.
We certainly live in an age when people seem to be unimpressed and, well, even uninterested in Bible doctrine. Paul describes such a time and people as he writes his second epistle to that young evangelist, Timothy. 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 10, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance.” Notice there that Paul had instilled his doctrine in this young man, Timothy. How did Paul do this? He did this through his direct teaching, through the epistles that he wrote to him.
Now, what was the doctrine of Paul? Well, Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guided the things that Paul said. Thus, the things that Paul said were from God. And so when Paul speaks about “my doctrine,” what he is really saying is “the doctrine of God.” He praises Timothy for following the doctrine of God.
In 2 Timothy, chapter 4, beginning with verse 1, there is a description of the condition of our age, although I’m confident that it probably describes the condition of every age. But, after all, this is the age that we live in, and this is the reference point in time that we have. But just listen to these words—this warning—that Paul will give to Timothy. He says, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word!” (Ah, there’s that “preach the Word.” We can as easily say, “preach the doctrine.”) “Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 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. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Yes, we live in a time when they, that is “people,” just will not endure sound doctrine. Frankly, many are just not interested in sound doctrine, just as Paul had predicted here [2 Timothy 4:1-5].
Well, what to do? Brethren, we need to be reminded about sound doctrine. We need to understand what doctrine is. We need to understand and appreciate the importance of doctrine. And so I trust that our study on great Bible doctrines over the next few weeks will be of benefit to us as we strive to better understand and rightly divide the Word of Truth, 2 Timothy 2:15. [“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”] And, we must strive to put this Word—or this doctrine—into practice in all that we do.
In the weeks to come, we are going to be looking at the great Bible doctrines—the teaching, the instruction—that the Bible has to say about God, about His Son Jesus Christ, about the Holy Spirit, about the inspiration of the Scriptures, about salvation, about worship. We are going to cover many other topics and subjects during this series.
And by the way, it would be unprofessional on my part, or unthinking on my part, if I didn’t tell you that much of this information we’ll be presenting during this series is based on a book entitled, “Great Bible Doctrines,” written by a brother by the name of Walter Swain.
Our time is up for this evening, and I appreciate your kind attention as we have presented this introduction—this first in a series of lessons on great Bible doctrines.