Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. And we're welcome to church. We're
welcome to church. It's always a blessing to
have us around and we are going to continue.
with the teaching that we have been on which
is standing fast on the faith and the scripture
is first corinthians 16 13 i'll read it to us
again first corinthians 16 13 from new king james
version it says watch stand fast in faith be
brave be strong watch stand fast in faith be
brave be strong this is supposed to pose words
to the church and current in the church and current
And this word is very relevant to us. This word
is timeless, this word is very relevant to us
today and always. And in the series we started
to teach, I think I started with that whole paying
attention, being aware, being conscious, paying
attention to God's word, paying attention to
the disciplines. And we talked about learning
and how learning is important for our group.
If you don't learn, grow and in this kingdom
learning is very important learning is a priority
and then it has to be a priority to you if you
want to grow and apostle paul says watch watch
watch watch and then he continues by saying stand
fast in the faith so what i want us to what i
want us to see is that apostle paul here makes
use of military terms and it's no surprise to
us that he will use that on the basis of his
surroundings, right? He's surrounded by military
personnel and it's a very interesting situation.
It just communicates to us that we can learn
from what is around us. We can learn some form
of learning that happens when you look around
you, when you observe. Some of us don't take
time to observe our environment. Some of us don't
take time to understand what is going on. On
Wednesday, We're encouraged by our lead pastor
from the world from i think that was second corinthians
13 Five examine yourself There's an examination
that you have to do. There's an examination you
have to do of yourself There's an examination
you do of your surrounding. There's an examination
you have to do of what is going on. Praise god
and apostle paul Is someone that you will see
He talks he's very much around the prison or
very much around situations where he's around
soldiers, right? is around soldiers and and he
he looks at the way the soldiers behave and that
word watch is the military term that word which
is a military term and the Greek word means to
be a lot to be awake to be vigilant and when
i say awake this is not the time that you want
to sleep praise god to be a lot and and he sees
that in the way the soldiers take They are always
alert. They're always alert. And I want us to
see a couple of instances, because what has happened
is that he's either guarded by the soldiers,
or being escorted by the soldiers, or even rescued
by the soldiers, or even he travels along with
them. And in all of these encounters with them,
he's observing certain things. And in fact, the
four different phrases he uses here are military.
very military term and I want us to see it and
some of us in I think even here on the island
you know the you know the kingdom is a kingdom
right and with kingdom there are terms and terminologies
you know we have to learn to understand that
people outside don't understand the language
here you know you will do things like general
we we we call men we call them generals we in
fact on this island you use Invasion. You use
different things that are military terms and
terminologies that are not literal, right? Because
they're not physical or literal in that sense.
And Apostle Paul uses the different military
terms and he says like a good soldier. In Timothy,
he says like a good soldier. He uses all of that
because he picks that. In Ephesians, you see
him talking about the armor. Praise God. Talking
about an armor. And he gets that whole inspiration,
he communicates what he's communicating through
the lens of what he sees, through the lens of
the observation from around himself. And we see
in Acts, in Acts 27, when does it go to Acts
27? Acts 27 verse one, we see that it says, and
when, It was decided that we should sail to Italy.
They delivered Paul and some other prisoners
to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan
Regiment. That is a soldier here. That's the
centurion Julius. We see him being delivered
and they were traveling along and you can get
a sense of his looking at the soldier, observing
the soldier. Even in Acts 16, we see him being
guarded. we see the story of him and Silas in
the prison being guarded by a soldier that ended
up getting saved we talked about this in the
previous teaching and then even in Philippians
1 verse 13 we get a sense of in Philippians 1
13 let's go to Philippians 1 13 we'll see another
instance where we will see him it says so it
became evident to the whole palace guard and
to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.
That my chains are in Christ. So it means that
he will have encounter with the palace guards,
and he will be able to draw some form of inspiration.
There are instances, even in Acts 21, where the
mob was coming at him. He was rescued by the
mob. Acts 21, 35. He was rescued by the mob.
Acts 23, 24. We see a situation where he was
escorted when he got an information that he was
going to be killed. He was escorted. So he has
so many encounters or so many interactions with
soldiers. And he, even in the one that we just
looked at in Philippians 1 .13, we understand
that these soldiers were keeping watch over him.
They were keeping watch over him. They were looking
at him and he had the opportunity to preach the
gospel to them since there was no other thing
to do. They are coming around. He had a free
opportunity to preach to them. Praise God. And
he says watch. And a soldier, I think the last
time I was speaking I talked about a security
guard. The role of a security guard is to keep
watch. A security guard sleeping on duty will
mean that a lot of things can go wrong. Will
mean that certain things will happen in their
sleep or happen without their watch. And we say
that that word speaks about being alert, speaks
about being awake, speaks about being vigilant.
And vigilant in one sense. So what is the danger?
Because you have to if there would have to be
a danger for you to be alert, right? If there
is nothing, you sleep peacefully, right? And
for some of us, we have a, we're in a place where
it is secure. We don't sleep locking and, you
know, but locking and locking things to keep,
to ensure that nobody comes in and then you're
safe inside. Praise God. And then the point is,
for him to make this statement, it means that
there's a reason why you're watching. There's
a danger you're trying to avoid. There's a danger
you're trying to protect. And he says, the next
phrase is, stand fast in the faith. And it means
that that is a way that you can be able to watch.
That is the way that you can be able to watch.
Stand fast in the faith. And we have been learning
and we're being taught that anywhere we see the
word faith, you don't jump into conclusions.
You want to look at the context and understand
what that faith will be speaking of what the
faith is and we've learned that faith first and
foremost is what can be speaking of what salvation
right faith can be speaking of salvation it means
the means by which a person is saved that can
be what it will be talking about when you have
to read it in context and we see in Ephesians
2 verse 8 it says for by grace we have been saved
through faith so that faith there will not be
speaking of that's faith they will be speaking
of salvation being saved same or similar in Galatians
3 26 where it says, for you are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. The faith there
will be speaking or the faith there will be,
that's Galatians 3 verse 26, that faith there
will be speaking of salvation, that's an individual
being saved. And then faith can also be speaking
of doctrine or teaching. We have been taught
that. I'm just recapping so that we will see
what is implied in this particular text when
you see stand fast and faith. Is it doctrine
or teaching? And that will be the content of
what is believed. And the faith will mean a body
of doctrine. And we see that in the passage that
we're asked to read in Jude 3. We'll see an example
in Jude 3 where there's an instruction to contend
endlessly for the faith. You can be contending
for something that you have already received.
So you can be contented for salvation. Salvation
has already been contented for and received.
The victory has been won. The contenting there
is for the doctrine and the teaching, the doctrine
or the teaching that you have been taught. Praise
God. The doctrine or the teaching you have been
taught. And we'll see that again. And there's
also the thought bit, which is the response of
a believer, right? The thought bit is the response
of a believer. And that response will be that
of trust. to God's command or trust to God's
instruction or trust to God's promise in the
case of Abraham and in Romans 10 verse 8 Romans
10 verse 8 it says but what does it say the word
is near you in your mouth and in your heart that
is the word of faith which we preach means that
he has received it and the response to it is
preaching right is the word of God or the word
of faith that is being preached that faith there
will not be that faith there will not be it's
the response that faith will be an action or
response to what god has done and then the last
bit is the believers conduct the believers conduct
faith will be expressed in how a believer conducts
himself and sometimes in some passages we'll
see in galatians five or six i will want to read
from the nlt galatians five verse 6 because he
words it Galatians 5 verse 6. So it says, it
says for we have our faith in Christ There is
no benefit of being circumcised or being uncircumcised.
What is important? What is important is faith
expressing itself in law. Praise God. What is
important is faith Expressing itself in law meaning
that it's not just I have faith. There's an expression
of that faith. Praise God There's an expression
of that faith in how the believer conducts themselves,
and it's very important. So it means that when
we see faith, we want to look at the context
and understand what does that mean. Will it be
speaking of salvation? Will it be speaking of
doctrine or teaching? Will it be speaking of
the believer's response or will it be speaking
of the believer's conduct? And in our passage,
in our passage, we'll see it because it says,
Stand fast in faith. Stand fast in faith, very
kind of similar to the part where you're contending,
right? Stand fast in faith, contend, and we'll
see that that is what has been said. When we
go back to the 1 Corinthians 15, not the 16 now,
1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, it says,
moreover, brethren, I declare to you, the gospel
which I preach to you which also you received
and in which you stand praise God in which you
stand means that they are standing on something
right they're standing on the gospel which they
have received right the gospel which says I preach
to you and which you have received says and you
see the instruction is to stand in it The instruction
is to stand in it. And when we go down in the
passage, you'll see more reasons why the instruction
to stand in it, because there is an eminent danger.
Praise God. There's an eminent danger, and it
requires us to be alert. Because if you're not
alert, if you're not awake, if you're not vigilant,
you will have other things coming. Praise God.
You have other things coming. And know that He's
not asking them to stand fast in the salvation,
right? is asking them to stand fast in the doctrine
that they have received. Praise God. Going back
to Jude 1 verse 3, in the four, just the four
part, it says, for certain men have creeped in
on notice. Praise God. The four. The first line
of the four. It says, for certain men have creeped
in on notice. And we understand that if you are
not alert, some things will Some group of people
will enter, some people will creep in. You see
for certain men have creeped in on notice. Remember
we said that contending there is contending for
the doctrine because some people will creep in
and teach you something else or creep in and
communicate something else other than the truth.
Praise God. Something else other than the truth
and that's why it's important for us to realize
there's a danger when you don't even know what
the truth is. Right? There's a danger when you're
not learning. There's a danger when you're not
growing, you'll be very, you'll not have any
immunity against a lie. Praise God, you'll not
have any immunity against a lie. And what we'll
see is the first danger, which is he's warning
against false doctrine. He's warning against
false doctrine. And we'll see a couple of reasons
why he's warning, he's passing that warning.
We'll see, we'll delve into it even. more. It's
one and against false doctrine. But first and
foremost, we want to understand what doctrine
is. What is sound doctrine? What is sound doctrine?
What is the word doctrine or teaching? We'll
see that a lot in the New Testament. We'll see
that a lot in the Gospels. We'll see that a lot
in the Epistles. We'll see that a lot. And when
you see that word in your Bible in English, that
word can mean or Yeah, can be different, can
be three different words in the Greek. It can
be three different words in the Greek. That's
why we go to the Greek, not because we want to,
but going to the Greek will help us establish
or clarify what the word is. The same way you
have the word faith, and we say the faith is
pistes. It's a Greek word, pistes, but it can
mean different things. But this one is one word
that can be any of these three. The first...
The first word we will be looking at is dida,
he. D -I -D -A -C -H -E. D -I -D -A -C -H -E.
And this will be speaking of the context of the
teaching or what is being taught. Or the truth
that is being passed down. The content of the
teaching or what is being taught. or the truth
that is being passed down. And this Greek word
appears 30 times in 29 verses. It appears 30
times in 29 verses. It appears 30 times in 29
verses in the New King James Version. And I will
just go through some of the instances. I will
review myself again. It speaks about the content
of a teaching. what is being taught or the truth
being passed down or the truth being passed down
and and we'll see a couple of times or we'll
see most of it in the gospels we'll see a good
amount of it in the gospels we'll see instances
where it describes the content of jesus's message
it describes the content of jesus's message and
and you will see instances where the listeners
were amazed because of the authority by which
Jesus spoke. The listeners were amazed because
of the authority by which Jesus spoke. That is,
there was something, there's a truth that was
being passed down that results in them being
amazed. Praise God. And we'll see the first in
Matthew 7 verse 28. Matthew 7 verse 28. Matthew
7 verse 28, it says, And so it was when Jesus
had ended the saints. that the people were astonished
at his teaching. That teaching there is the word
didahé. That teaching there is the word didahé,
it's pronounced that way. And it means the truth
has been passed down, what was being taught.
They were astonished at that teaching. And also
in Matthew 22, 33, Matthew 22, 33, we'll come
back to this passage and see, we'll come back
to this passage again. He says, and when the
multitude heard this, they were astonished at
his teaching. We see them being astonished at
the teaching. And then Mark 1, 22, and then 27.
Mark 1, 22, and 27. He says, and they were astonished
at his teaching, for he taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribes. 27, he says,
then they were all amazed so that they questioned
amongst themselves saying what is this what new
doctrine is this for with authority he commands
even the unclean spirit and they obey him with
authority commands the unclean spirits and they
obey him and then we look at look 432 look 432
says and they were astonished as his teaching
for his word was with authority who has done
it as his teaching, for his word was with authority."
And then lastly, let's look at John 7 16. John
7 16. It says, Jesus answered them and said,
my doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me.
My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me.
And we see that he, There was something about
the content or something about what he taught
and communicated that amazed or captivated or
astonished The congregation who was all the people
he was speaking on people that were listening
to him praise God was something about the content
things he taught and Note that it was truth Right?
Not that it was truth. The way the truth was
communicating, praise God. It was truth it was
communicating. And we'll also see in Acts of
Apostles, we'll see where the early church devoted
themselves in Acts 2 .42. Let's resize the Gospels
now. We'll see an instant where the apostles
themselves. It says, and they continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread and in prayers. And we know
that the apostles doctrine, as we understand,
we know that the doctrine that it was what was
handed to them, right, is a doctrine of Christ
that was what they communicate, that what they
were teaching, what they were teaching was a
doctrine of, and we see that in the NLT we refer
to it as teaching. In the New King James we say
this doctrine. So that word, you can see it interchangeably,
doctrine, teaching, and so on. And then we'll
now see false teaching. We'll now see false teaching,
and we'll see that in Revelation 14 -15. It says,
but I have a few words against you, because you
have there those who hold the doctrine of Balak
who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before
the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed
to idols and to commit sexual immorality and
we see we can see all of this in Numbers 22 to
25 and then 31 this is toss you also have those
who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which
thing I hate, which thing I hate. So we see two
doctrines here, and we know that these doctrines
are not of Christ, right? We see these two doctrines,
and it says the doctrine of Balam, and it clarifies
what the doctrine was, right? Means that there
was a teaching, right? And it says, who taught
Balak to put a stumbling block before the children
of Israel? So there's a, somebody would have
had, somebody had to do it, right? And we know
that the story was that Balak, Balam was summoned
to cause them and he had a hard time doing that,
right? And then he had to now, since he couldn't
do it, he had to now give, he had to teach Balak
on what he will do that will result in what he
desired, praise God. And we see that this was
the, when we were reading numbers, we read and
then all of a sudden, it changed and then in
31 numbers 31 that's when we see who was responsible
for what had happened because something had happened
and then you're wondering what had happened and
when you read further in that numbers 31 16 you
will see that it says in number 31 16 says look
those women caused the children of israel through
the council of balam to trespass against the
lord and incident of paul and there was a plague
among the congregation the Lord there was a plague
among the congregation of the Lord and we see
that is Balam's own and we can clarify what Balam's
own is and we see that there are doctrines so
we'll have false doctrines that are not the doctrine
of Christ and you want to be able to be alert
right you want to be on the watch you want to
be vigilant so that you can be able to and if
you know what the doctrine of Christ is when
you see something foreign you can be able to
spot it right you can be able to spot it you
come be able to say this is not of the Lord and
if there is anything we'll see how God still
and in that same revelation 2 verse 6 you see
that that doctrine you see that the doctrine
will result in actions means that the deeds of
these people is what they taught and remember
I was saying something about just looking at
the way people behave around you you can learn
and that's why you want to be careful of what
you surround you or who you surround yourself
with Because if you surround yourself with the
same subconsciously, you are picking on things,
you are seeing things that your brain is not
necessarily processed. You don't even understand
it, but you would find yourself acting along
that lines. Asides the fact that somebody teaches
you is the unconscious learning that happens
when you watch. Certain things happen and for
many of us, we grew up in environments and certain
things are norm, but they are not, they are norm
in those environments, but they're not the normal.
Praise God and that is why teaching learning
is very important learning and teaching is very
important because you get to you get to Break
away from what you have always known as normal
to what really is truth. Praise God You get to
break away from it and in this day and age we
have many false doctrines available You don't
you just need to be alive to be able to to see
And in fact, you think that it's not over, new
ones are being cooked. Praise God, and it's not
new in a sense because it's still old stuff because
you just bring it back and then it trends again
and then we see. So the main thing that Apostle
Paul will be communicating or is communicating
to the church in current is to be alert, to watch,
to be vigilant. And the worst form, and I know
that all of these things are all inspired. Yes,
they can call it the doctrine of Balaam, the
doctrine of the Likudai, but we know where the
source is. We know the source or the origin of
it. The source of the origin of it is from the
devil. And in 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 4
verse 1, this will lead us to the other news.
It says, now the Spirit especially says that
in the later times, some will depart from the
faith giving heed to deceiving spirit and doctrines
of demons and doctrine of demons the doctrine
there is the second use of the word that is didascalia
that's the second use that's didascalia i want
you to write the second one now which is d i
d a s k a l i a d i d a s k And this is the activity
of teaching or learning. It's a process of instruction.
It's all a process of instruction. This activity
of teaching or learning is a process of instruction.
And it can sometimes, because it's a process,
so it can sometimes be used for the first one,
which is didahe. because sometimes we use for
it. And you know, teaching is a, learning is
a process, right? Teaching is a process of being
instructed, and the first time you don't get
it, the second time you hear it again, it makes
sense, it doesn't make sense, but it's continuous,
it has to be continuous for it to be effective.
It has to be continuous for there to be good.
And then let me go back a bit. Most dangerous
forms of errors are the ones that are laced.
They are subtle distortions. They don't come
in. Most of us are trained to see error because
we have seen and we know, okay, this is bad,
this is good. But the worst forms of errors are
the ones that come in with a bit of truth laced
with the error on the inside. when something
is sugar coated or when something is coated with
something that is nice but inside it you have
the error right in and you have to taste of it
to be able to know or to and when you taste of
it it's already in except if you're a lot enough
to spit it out praise god and it's very subtle
distortions from sound what is what is sound
just subtle distortions that happens and that
is why the process that's why we commit to a
process praise god that's why we commit to a
process and we don't even we we do we do we do
the learning with others praise god we do the
learning with others we have and as a church
we have different times where we are engaged
in learning so that we get used to the process
of hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing
again because we forget because we have a tendency
to forget and an apostle paul uses this one a
lot he uses this particular one a lot. This didaskalia,
he uses it a lot. He uses it out of the 21 times
where it appears, he uses it 19 times. He uses
it 19 times, out of the 21 times. I just want
to help us see something. He uses it 19 times
out of the 21 times it appears and it's no surprise
because he emphasizes on sound doctrine and you
don't get sound doctrine from just a session
of teaching. You can get it, but it doesn't sink
in. It requires coming into it again, and even
in the passage that we're looking at, it highlights
the need for vigilance, discernment in teaching,
and also what leadership you're under. Because
if you're under a leadership where you are not
taught again and again what is true, what is
true, you are seeing error as normal. And we
remember we say that it will just result in erroneous
actions, praise God. It will result in actions
that are erroneous. And I want us to see this
because it's very much dependent on the leadership.
1 Timothy 5 .17, it says, let elders who rule
well be counted worthy of double honor, especially
those who label in the word and doctrine, that
doctrine there. is didascalia so label in the
word and doctrine and then in second Timothy
4 2 to 5 it says preach the word for second Timothy
4 2 to 5 it's a preach the word be ready in season
and out of season convince rebuke exalt with
all long suffering and teaching note that the
teaching here the teaching here is didache it's
not the didascalia it says in all the teaching
for a time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine, when they will not endure sound
doctrine. That doctrine there, at the sound doctrine
together is Yizaskalya. But according to their
own desires, because of their itching ears, they
will heap up for themselves teachers, meaning
that if you are someone that want to hear what
you want to hear, other than what you need to
hear, You will find a way or you'll gravitate
towards those that will tell you what you want
to hear and you will not grow. You will just
be, you will just be pacified with something
that is erroneous. You'll just be, it's going
to be convenient, but it will not be fruitful.
It will be convenient, but it will not be fruitful.
It says, verse four says, and they will turn
their ears away from the truth. Meaning that
you have to desire, you have to want to listen
to and because that action itself means that
you will not be listening to any other thing
other than what you want to hear and be turned
asides to fables five now says but be but you
be watchful in all things praise god but you
be watchful in all things remember that whole
idea of being a lapse be watchful in all things
endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist
Fulfill your ministry. It says endure afflictions,
you know, sometimes I you know in church, right
That is nowhere the soundness of what you have
received will be challenged, you know, you know
when you're in church Nobody is going to ask
you. What do you believe? It can happen sometimes
right just to check but when you go outside that
is when you will be able to that that's when
it will be exercise right as when you have to
Be sure of what exactly it is that you believe
in. And for many of us, we don't, we learn and
forget that there's going to be exams. Right?
We learn and we forget that it's going to be
that time where what you think you know will
be put to a test. Or you're surprised when you
have an exam. But like I told you, we're just
meant to just do it. Praise God. It says, do
the work and And difficult, like if you're, learning
is not a enjoyable process, I don't know. If
you are in that place where you are learning,
it's not fun. It's difficult, it's hard. Sometimes
you have to, you will not believe the things
you do because you really want to learn. The
lens you will go. because you really want to
learn. And sometimes you are in a school situation
where you are taking courses that you don't necessarily,
you're not the one that chose the courses. The
curriculum was set already before you came. You
can now sit down and be discussing with your
advisor. Can we remove this? I don't like this.
You can only do that with courses that are electives,
right? You can select that one because they are
electives. They are core courses that you have
no choice. It's handed to you. Praise God. And
so is the saying that things that you are handed
and there are learnings that you have to do whether
you like it or not because those are the things
that will help you succeed in the work and he
says do the work of an evangelist means that
that work that work has to be done and the way
you can do it is when you are watching in all
things when you are able to endure because it's
how you can feel down that the work will suffer
praise god is how you can be down and then the
work will not make any progress in the work.
And we don't allow the things that we go through
affect the work, praise God. The things that
we're experiencing shouldn't affect the work
because the work is priority, praise God. Romans
15, four. Romans 15, four, it says, for whatever
things were written before were written for our
learning. that we, through the patience and comfort
of the scripture, may have hope. It says, we're
written through patience and comfort. Patience
and comfort, they say, that we, through patience
and comfort of the scripture, may have hope.
And I think, let me just talk about the word
patience. Patience, you know, Lenin, you know,
A whole four years to arrive at a destination
doesn't look like, is a lot of time. But if you're
not patient, you will not see that finish line
for any journey at all. Means that the learning
will take time, but you have to be patient with
it. You have to trust that you will get there.
And even for us, the learning doesn't end, praise
God. The learning doesn't end, it continues.
And you will need to be comforted all through.
Praise God. You need to be comforted all through.
And there's hope, there's great hope, there's
great encouragement that comes when we do the
work. And you know, all of this will not be beautiful.
All of this, what makes all of this beautiful
is that you're not doing it alone. You're doing
it with others. And when you're down, and when
you're down, you have somebody that will be there
for you. And we're not doing the work of God
in isolation. We're doing the work of God together.
and that should encourage us that should stir
us up and that should help us the word the word
the word is learning like the word the didascale
here in this passage is is learning that our
learning and i told us that the word can be teaching
there's also learning for didascale too there's
another word that that comes in then the third
one or the last one is hetero didascale is H
-E -T -E -R -O -D -I -D -A -S -K -A -L -E -O.
Hetero and then the Dascaleo. H -E -T -E -O -T
-E -R -O, sorry, D -I -D -A -S -K -A -L -E -O.
And this is to teach something other than what
is correct. This is to teach something other
than what is correct. The hetero there, if you're
familiar, it means different, contrary, or other.
And then you will notice that it's similar to
the Daskalia, which is to teach. So it means
that you are teaching something that is other
than what is correct. You're teaching something
that is other than what is going to be, that's
contrary to the truth. And this one appears just
twice. This one appears just twice and you can
guess who would have used it is Apostle Paul.
So on the two occasions where this appears is
Apostle Paul. Remember we said he's very big
on the soundness of the teaching, the soundness
of when he had written a good amount of the epistles.
So it appears in 1 Timothy 1 .3 and 1 Timothy
6 .3. 1 Timothy 1 .3 and 1 Timothy 6 .3. 1 .3
and 6 .3 of 1 Timothy says, as I told you, when
I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you
may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
that they teach no other doctrine is the word
hetero didascale, that they teach no other. doctrine.
Then 1 Timothy 1 .6, it says, if anyone teaches
otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words,
even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
to the doctrine which accords with godliness.
The doctrine there is the Dyskalia, the teach
otherwise is the hetero -dyskalia. So we see
that there's continuous warnings against false
doctrines that are taught by false teachers.
Praise God. These false doctrines don't just
appear. The false doctrines are taught by false
teachers and they are contrary to the doctrine
of Christ. They are contrary to the doctrine
of Christ. And I want us to see, even Peter highlights
the same thing. Apostle Peter highlights the
same thing in, he gives a whole chapter. A whole
chapter to tell you how possible does the same
thing. But Peter gives a whole chapter. That's
2 Peter 2 verse 1 downwards, but we'll just look
at verse 1. 2 Peter 2 verse 1, it says, but there
were also false prophets. There were also false
prophets as the teachers that are running the
false doctrine, false prophets. Yeah, it's pseudo.
You see the word pseudo. Pseudo means false.
Even in English language, when you use pseudo,
it's very much adopted. When you use anything
pseudo, it just means false, anything false.
So they are false prophets amongst the people.
So know that these people are not outside, right?
Yeah, you can have them inside teaching false.
They say even as they will be false teachers,
so they are false prophets. false teachers the
false teachers are pseudo didascalios even among
you it says who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies secretly bring in destructive heresies
even denying the lord who brought them and it
says who brought them and bring on themselves
swift destruction so these people are bringing
in destructive heresies and then the worst of
is they're denying the Lord, right? They're denying
the Lord to just cap it up. So he gives a whole
entire chapter to warn, to strongly warn against
false teachers and their destructive heresies
and how they come in to exploit believers for
their own gain. They're exploiting believers
for their own gain. So we see, even in that same
2nd Peter, we see him make reference to Balam,
right? We see him make reference to Balam. Let's
go to the 15 and 16, just to see. 15 and 16,
it says, they have forsaken the right way and
gone astray, in order to move away from, gone
astray, following the way of Balam, the son of...
Note that this... There's, you know, if you,
I think we were reading our canonical, you see
that Jehovah, the son of Nibbeth, is the standard
for when people, you would say they say according
to, when you have done so much evil that they
are, you set the standard for, when we are saying
evil, we say according to, like, in the simi,
in fact, some people will go higher than, but
we see that they use, that is being used in this
case you say following the way and because it's
now it's now a part that you choose to follow
not that we say that yes he did that but there's
a source of it right there's a source of it so
it says who loved the wages of unrighteousness
so his own what the drive for it was the resource
he was going to get and the 16 is an interesting
process but he was rebuked for his iniquity a
dumb is it a dumb donkey speaking with a man's
voice, restrained the madness of the prophet.
So it had to take a donkey speaking to him, it
didn't even restrain him, it still went ahead
because we saw that he had to, it gave the counsel
that resulted in what befell the children of
Israel, praise God. And sometimes when people
want to do evil or when people want to for the
benefits or the gains they will do, you find
yourself doing, because it's madness, right?
It's madness. You know that this is error. In
fact, you couldn't even do the thing that you
went for. You failed several times. The man had
to take you to different points. You failed several
times, but you still went ahead and told him
what he was going to do. So we see it here as
a way and then it later becomes a doctrine because
people now, that's what people look at it and
then they learn. So the question is, what are
you learning or who are you learning from? Praise
God. What are you learning or who are you learning
from? When you open your Bible and nowadays people,
you do a lot of learning online. You do a lot
of learning online and when I mean online, I
don't mean you taking courses online. I mean
you watching all manner or all forms of content
and you learn and you learn and you learn and
you are surprised when you manifest. You're surprised
when you manifest know that it's a product of
what you have bombarded or what you have received
that you Given off and that's why you scripted
time and time again will warn us to guard There's
a guard that there's a garden that you do to
ensure that you don't go off You don't you don't
enter into error. Praise God and we see In in
Galatians 1 69 I want to read this very quickly
says Galatians 1 .69, it says, I marvel that
you are turning away so soon from Him who called
you in the grace of Christ to a different, that
different there is, heteros, gospel, that is
Eugelion. It says, which is not another, but
there are some who trouble you. and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ. They want to pervert it.
He says, but even if we, see what he says, even
if we or an angel from heaven preach any other
gospel to you than what we have preached to you,
let him be accursed. Now he says, as we have
said before, so now I say again he has said it
before he's repeating himself again because it's
very important that is said again if anyone preaches
any other gospel to you other than what you have
received let him be uh cursed and it means that
there are people that will pervert if you want
to get other words the nlt says they are deliberately
twisting the truth concerning christ they're
deliberately they know what the truth is but
they are twisting it. Remember we say they are
doing it for their own gain. There's a benefit
and they are gain. The ESV will say they are
distorting the gospel. They are distorting the
gospel. And we see that Apostle Paul's emphasis
continually is on the purity or the soundness
of what is being communicated. Praise God. The
purity and the soundness of what is being communicated.
And in Hebrews, I want us to see Hebrews first
before we go back to where we close in what we
are. Hebrews 6 verse 2. Hebrews 6 verse 2, you
see a list, you see that there's a doctrine of
baptisms, the laying on of hands, there's a resurrection
of the dead, and there's the internal judgment.
And we'll see that in 1 Corinthians 15, the focus
is on that resurrection of the dead. The focus
is on doctrine on the resurrection of the dead.
That's what we'll see in that 1 Corinthians 15.
Just go to 1 Corinthians 15, 12, to 14. 1 Corinthians
15 12 to 14 says, now if Christ is preached,
if Christ is preached that he has raised from
the dead, how do some among you say that there
is no resurrection of the dead? Notice that there
are some that are saying now that there's no
resurrection of the dead. Note that there's an
implication to that statement. When somebody
says there's no resurrection of the dead, it
means that Christ didn't, so, but if there is
no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not
risen. Remember when we, the previous teaching
where I, in Matthew 28, where we talked about
how the soldiers were lying that he never resurrected,
his body was stolen. You know that his body being
stolen means that he did not resurrect, that
he took it physically. So now you have people
saying that he never resurrected and then, yeah,
and if Christ was not risen, then the preaching,
is empty and your faith is also empty. So the
preaching is empty. There's no need to preach.
Why are you preaching? Why are you going about
and telling people that they should surrender
to this, to Him, to believe in Him? Because the
whole thing is anchored. They say, yes, we have
found false witnesses of God. So we that are
saying it are in error. Like we are the ones
now in error, they are the ones in the truth.
That's basically how he's trying to, he says,
because we have testified of God that he raised
up Christ whom he did not raise up, if in fact
the dead do not rise. And we see that all of
this, let's just stop there. So it's a very interesting
matter. It's something that shakes the core of
our faith, something that affects the core of
our faith. And we know that the people that hold
on to this are the Sadducees. The people that
hold on to this belief system are the Sadducees.
And you understand that because they have believed,
there are some people that are still holding
on to the belief of the Sadducees, right? And
they're the ones that doing this back and front.
And we'll see that this whole matter that our
support is trying to address did not start today.
Let's go back to the Matthew 22, where Jesus
Christ was dealing with the same situation. Start
from 22, 23. Just to give us a bit of context,
Jesus Christ had just finished dealing with the
Pharisees. The Pharisees came with their own
issue with regards to tax, their own government
issue. So they finished dealing with him, and
their own was a failed attempt. They did not
succeed in trying to trap him or trying to trick
him. their own was a failed attempt. Then the
Sadducees now come with theirs. That is a bit
of a spiritual, it's a bit of religious issue.
And then they said in the 23, it says, the same
day the Sadducees went and they say that there
is no, they say the Sadducees, who say? Not that
they are on the core of, and these people are
no longer in it. They're no longer there because,
you know, when, when everybody, when a good amount
of people believe that Jesus Christ resurrected
your entire, the core of your whole belief, is
useless. They are no longer there. So they say
that there is no resurrection, right? They came
to him and then they asked, saying, that's in
24 now, saying, teacher, Moses said, they now
anchor it on what Moses has said. They start
from the premise of Moses trying to make their
case. Because if you want to anchor it on some
authority so that you can move from there and
then make your point. So if a man dies, having
no children his brother shall marry his wife
and raise up offspring for his brother he says
now they are they see they were there was there
were they were with us seven brothers the first
died after he married and having no offsprings
left his wife left his wife to his brother then
26 likewise the second also and the third even
the seven, so it kept happening till the seven.
So it's like seven, it was where it stopped.
The last of all, the woman, they say last of
all, the woman died also. So the woman now concludes
it. It says, therefore in the resurrection, whose
wife, whose wife of the seven shall, will she
be? And the all, it says that for the all had
her, right? For the all had her. So we see that
they bring up a hypothetical. bring up something
hypothetical, right? I said, okay, this person
is married to this person that has seven brothers,
and then you have, you know that this is practically,
it doesn't even make sense, right? So Jesus Christ
now answers them saying, Jesus answered and said
to them, said, you are mistaken. And that word
mistaken is, as I explained now, means you're
deceived. it says not knowing the scriptures
nor the power of god not knowing the scriptures
nor the power of god see for in the resurrection
they neither marry or are given in marriage but
i like the angels of god in heaven 31 now says
but concerning the resurrection of the dead have
you not read anaginousko have you not read what
was spoken to you by god saying I am the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. God is not a God of the dead, but of the
living. Praise God. God is a God of the living.
It says, and when the multitudes heard this,
which is what we read earlier, they were astonished
at his teaching because he demolishes the entire
belief system of, because he says like, look,
he's not God of the dead. It's God of the living.
And in case you're wondering, you serve a living
God, a God that death could not hold, a God that
came out of the grave, he conquered death. And
on the basis of him conquering death, we will
do likewise, praise God. Scripture says it's
the first foot, right? So meaning that we are
not just, when we don't, in fact, all through
scriptures, you see the word used as sleep. And
that has turned it as his teaching. Remember,
he said that that teaching there is the dida
key, meaning that he corrected something. And
you would think that that was where he started.
These people have been at it before 2022. They
have been at it since 16. They have been at it
since 16. They come from time to time to test
him. And Jesus Christ has even warned his disciples
to go back to that whole warning them to be alert.
Just write Matthew 16, 1 to 12. We'll just read
1 and then we'll read 12 for the sake of time.
Just read 1 and read 12. So what is going to
happen is that in the subsequent teaching, I'll
give us examples of individuals, even in the
Old Testament, that didn't bow down. They knew
the truth and they held on to the truth. They
were persecuted for it, but God delivered them.
You know, one thing that we fail to, or one thing
that sometimes we can fail to realize is that
When we're standing for the truth, because of
whose truth we're standing for, God will always
deliver. And the way He's going to deliver might
not be the way you want to be delivered, right?
You might not even know how you'll be delivered,
praise God. You're going through stuff, you're
going through situations, you don't know how
God is going, you have been praying, you don't
know how God is going to deliver you. You want
to just trust that He is going to deliver you
because you are His property, praise God. You
are His own, you are His child. So Matthew 16,
Verse 1, it says, then the Pharisees and the
Sadducees came and testing him, asked that he
would show them a sign from heaven. He will show
them a sign from heaven. And he goes on and on
and on about, he points them to the sign of Jonah,
right? The sign of Prophet Jonah in 5. It says
now the disciples are, he points them to the
sign of Prophet Jonah. And then now he now wants,
he now tells the disciples, that they should
take heed. In verse 6 Jesus said to them, take
heed and beware of the living of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. The disciples were confused.
They were like, is he talking about bread? Is
he talking about bread? Because prior to that
there was a situation that happened where people
were fed, multitudes were fed. But in 12 now
we see, it says, then they understood that he
did not tell them to beware of the living of
bread but of the doctrine of the Pharisees. and
the Sadducees. Praise God. He was calling the
attention to beware of the doctrines of the Sadducees
and the Pharisees. And even Jesus himself warns
his disciples. Jesus is warning us through Apostle
Paul in the letter that we should watch. We should
watch. We should stand fast in the doctrine of
faith that we have received. We should be strong
about it. We'll look at that even further. The
other translation we see, we should act like
men, right? we should act, we should be able
to take on on it, we should be brave, we should
be strong. And the strength that we exhibit is
not the strength that, it's not solely the strength
that comes, it's the strength that comes from
God, praise God. The strength that is being exercised
is the strength that comes from abundance of
strength that relies in God, that comes from
that relies in God, praise God. It's not the
strength that we, because most of the times we
have... We appreciate you being here today. We
hope you carried this word with you throughout
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
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stay blessed.