One in Hope, Faith, and Doctrine

Very beautiful. Appreciate that, Courtney. Like I always say, I could do that in a million years. I always have to clarify it. It might take a little while for me to do it, and I think you, all of us, could probably say that, couldn't we? In a million years, we'll be able to do that. But appreciate the talent in serving God's people in that way.

Brother, the Church of God goes forward on its knees through prayer, because all of us, as we pray, as we talk to God, we're talking about basically the same goal, aren't we? Brother, the Church of God used to ask the question, why are we here? Well, whenever we're all here, hopefully, pursue the same goal, the goal of the Kingdom of God. I mean, is that why you're here, by the way? Is that why you've been up this morning?

Is that why you pray every day? Is that why you hold to the Word of God? You're going to follow it out what pleases God? Because you want to be in the Kingdom. You want to be a part of God's family in the future. Brother, God is pleased, if we are in unity with regard to the pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

He wants all of His children to be pursuing the same goal of the Kingdom of God, as a family, to work together. You can imagine a father having a number of children and wanting to make that family he has into a cohesive team to accomplish a goal. Even on a physical level, by the way, sometimes families can get a vision of what they're trying to accomplish, but they can do a lot.

There have been many families, as we know, in the United States. You could probably name a few. Rockefellers would be a family like that. Maybe some would say the Carodies. You know, even if they're not necessarily caring for some of the morality of people, at least they all have a goal that they will work in toward. No, you could go through a number. The Bush family is another family like that.

But God has a family, and, brethren, He wants to work with that family as they pursue the same goals as well. The goal of His Kingdom. Hello, brethren. We have all of those, and we should have one faith. One faith. We should have one hope, and hope of the future, Kingdom of God, the world of oil, and all that that is going to entail ahead of us. And again, brethren, it pleases God if we're in unity about those things. We were walking to the sound beat of the sound drummer, as it were.

David was a man after God's own heart, and back in Psalm 133, verse 1, he said, He said, They all have the same desire. Let's go to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4, here Paul says in verse 1, and we'll go down to verse 6, He says, It's like Mr. Lewis talking about how can such a small group do such a humongous job of preaching the Gospel. Well, brethren, one of the ways that we can do that is if we're all walking worthy of our calling that God has given to us.

But notice it says going on, with all awareness, it says in generalness, with all suffering, bearing with one another in love, with governing to keep the unity of the Spirit and the body of peace, with governing working at keeping the unity, in other words, pushing for the same goals. It goes on to say there is one body, well, we're not multiple bodies, but we're one body, one Spirit, just as your calling and the one hope of your calling.

We all have the same hope. One Lord, one faith, one faith, one baptism, one God, and the Father over there, who is above all, and through all, in all your world. Well, there are people today that think that there are many roads to heaven. You probably have heard that, haven't you, in the Church of the World? There are many, many roads, other than you. You can be a Buddhist, you can be a, you know, a religion, you know, Hindu, and you all end up in heaven.

Now, when you come into the Church, you find out that nobody ends up in heaven. And we come to see that. But there is a oneness, brethren, about God's people. A oneness of thought, the way we think, a oneness of judgment. And so, brethren, the message that, in fact, we follow here, if he was for, is yours, isn't it?

Oneness. One is the purpose. And we go on to read, in Ephesians 4, how the Church's purpose is to equip the saints so that they have a firm foundation.

And as the Bible says, no longer, as children, tossed to and fro, and cared about, if you read on down here, in Ephesians 4, by every wind of doctrine. Here's this word, doctrine, which is like a dirty word to many people, by the way. You know, when you talk about the doctrine of your Church. But it says that some are carried away by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking of truth and love, they grow up in all things in the hymn, Who is the Head?

That Head, of course, is Jesus Christ. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, remember, there was a disparity among other people. Some were rooting for Peter, some liked Paulus, and some liked Paul. And sort of tongue-in-shake, you know, Paul said, well, even something like Christ.

But let's say we're here in 1 Corinthians 1. It's been a while since we've read this particular verse, but we're reminded of what the Bible says.

But in 1 Corinthians 1, over here, just one verse here, verse 10, your Paul was writing to a very dis-certified church there in Corinth. And in verse 10, he says, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. You all speak the same thing. And there'll be no divisions among you, but that you'll be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment.

Let me ask you, brethren, does that describe this church here? Are we a cohesive group of people? Are we unified in oneness and purpose? Or, brethren, do we allow the doctors here and there to influence us and to affect us? You know, are we, brethren, like a Ephesian church was told, you know, tossed about by every wind of doctrine? Here the church is called, and we'll read this a little bit later on, it's called a pillar and ground of truth. Wherever the truth, you don't have to go elsewhere. You find it in the church. So it's a pillar and the ground of truth. And I'm going to use this word, doctrine, again, it's a very rude to some people. It's almost like the word Jewish to some people. But sound doctrine, brethren, is vital to our foundation. It is vital to the church. The church has to have sound doctrine. Now, if I were to stand up here and try to prove to you the Sabbath, I don't think I'd have any meaning. We would debate that. Or if I tried to prove the Holy Day, so I would prove and prove to other things. We wouldn't try, of course. We would do it. So then, doctrine, brethren, sound doctrine is vital to your foundation. And it's vital to the church. Both local church and the church, in fact, worldwide. Let me tell you, brethren, there are many people who have fallen away. Max or Lou, if you're from the South, because they lack an understanding of the foundation of truth in their lives. And there are, like the Ephesians were warned, tossed about by everyone to doctrine.

Here there is coming a time where it talks about how people, because they did not receive a love for the truth, that they're going to believe the lie, the very big lie, that's coming. Again, the emergence of that beast power and the false prophet that comes on the scene where the will is going to be swayed. So this message today, brethren, is you and I need to establish a firm foundation of truth, of the doctrine of the church, so that we can be saved from this generation. There's a Bible that one calls an evil and a perverse generation. And you know, it is getting more and more perverse as time goes on. I just was listening to the news last evening how the Supreme Court is going to examine the question of sense of marriage. Now where did that go? I don't know. But I believe the news said that 37 states have already accepted same-sex marriage. I wonder, brethren, if this is going to be a watershed event. If, in fact, the Supreme Court allows same-sex marriage across the country, if God will say, you know, okay, guys, you're on your own, you know, from now on, you know, God's protection, maybe is off this country, then we'll begin to see all kinds of bedlam that begins to come almost soon. And maybe that wouldn't happen. I don't know. But we'll have to see what happens. But it certainly would be a watershed event if the Supreme Court were to approve that from, you know, sea to sea, as they say. But we're willing to establish a firm foundation of sound doctrine that we can be saved from this evil and perverse generation. And the Bible rules us to try the spirits. I gave a sermon, I believe, on the subject of trying the spirits some time ago, to try the spirits whether they're of God. Not everybody that says they're of Christ or of God really is. There are two things that we need, two major facets to ensure that we try the spirits, and that is, number one, we know what the truth is. And number two, brethren, is we have God's spirit. We know what the truth is, and we have God's spirit. Because Jesus, when He came in John 4, verse 3, said that the Father seeks those that worship Him in spirit and in truth. In spirit and in truth. We sound doctrine very important. Now, to worship God in spirit means that we have to have God's spirit, right? That's working in us, so the Holy Spirit is vital to true worship. And also, the spirit here could mean attitudes, the right attitudes. To worship in truth, brethren, means to be teaching the truth in the Church of God, and believing the truth is God's people. So we both worship in spirit and in truth is God's people. And, brethren, the truth that we understand within the Church of God is basically codified in our foundational doctrines. We have, of course, a statement about the foundational doctrines of the Church that all of us need to be familiar with. And there are many of those doctrines that, frankly, reveal truth that has been read since the foundation of the world. This world simply has not understood those doctrines, brethren, that you've come to see, but most in this world simply do not. I was looking at one of those such doctrines this morning, and that is the subject of the Trinity. Understanding, again, that God is not a Trinity. We, of course, understand also that we don't believe in the immortality of the soul, that we believe in the spirit in man, the Bible talks about. Quite different. You know, the spirit of man, the immortality of the soul. So there are foundational doctrines, brethren, in the Church that all of us need to know.

If we're going to be soon from this generation. But, brethren, what is doctrine, anyway? What is it? It's not a dirty word, by the way. It is basically a word, though, that can be very volatile in the churches of this world. There have been many splits over the subjects of doctrine. In fact, we get over this in our own experience, didn't we, in 1995. When our associated church went one way and we went the other way, we went away. In fact, we'd always been going. And that is teaching those things which we knew would have been true. In the churches of this world, often doctrine is established by tradition rather than the Bible. Sometimes even doctrine is developed from philosophy. If you've ever studied the subject of the Trinity, you'll find that much of what is believed about the Trinity comes from, basically, philosophy, Plato. And we write it as a Plato. And he emanated from the eastern part of the Roman Catholic Church. And back in 1995, and prior to that, those philosophies crept into the Church of God, by the way. And ended up destroying the World White Church of God, and I'll just again speak to the name in 1995. And that's how the United Church of God resulted. The word doctrine, by the way, is from the Greek word diavash, and I'll spell it for you. It's di d-a-c-e, c-o-t. D-i-d-a-c-o-t. The word doctrine means the act of teaching what is taught. That's all that means, brethren. And for us, it means teaching the truth.

It means also accepted learnings of teachers.

Jesus Christ was working with the disciples. There was not a book that was developed, obviously, where you could go through all the doctrines. There was a fundamental belief, in other words. The fundamentals of beliefs that we have are right here. This book, which is interpreted by many a hundred different ways. There are about 1200 different denominations. And as we always tell people, everybody can't be right. They can't be right. There's really only one way. One way of understanding. At least in the major issues, what color color you have, that's a different subject, obviously. But when it comes to true teachings and truth and doctrine, there is only one way. So the word dai dash means simply teaching. What is a teaching? And when we talk about doctrine, what is a teacher of the church? But when Jesus Christ was with the disciples, there was nothing really written down. The Bible came much later, in fact. Put together, we believe, by Paul had some description, and John probably put it all together himself before he died. The New Testament, at least, and of course the Old, was already formulated and together. But after Christ was crucified, then it became necessary to have something that was more hard and sure, and of course we have in the Scriptures that came about. Then we're inspired by God. Let's go over to John 7. What was the teaching of Christ? There was a consistency in the Bible, very consistent. Things that we see in the Bible. But then in John 7, John 7, verse 16 and 17 over here, in verse 16 of John 7, it says, And Jesus answered them, He's answering the Jews, and said, My doctrine, here's our word, doctrine, that is My teaching. Jesus is saying, It's not mine. It's not mine. But He who sent me, He who sent me, the Father, and if anyone wants to do His will, He shall know concerning the doctrine. And of course, there are people during the time of Christ that never accepted what Jesus Christ taught. Now the disciples did, they accepted it. But it says, if anyone wills to do His will, He shall know concerning His doctrine. The doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority, He shall know. And there is something about the truth, though, when God's Spirit begins to enter them with our minds, that when you see it, you recognize it. You recognize it. You see it. It is truth. I don't know what the word was with me when God's Spirit really began to work in me, but I could see it. It's like it jumped off the page. It's like a light bulb goes off and we're fed. Then finally you see it. You're illuminated. Chapter 17. Let's go to chapter 17.

In chapter 17, over here, in verse 17, here, remember Christ was praying to the Father, and He said, So that a doctrine is very important, or the teachers of God are very important, because we are sanctified by the truth. Though will anybody tell you that doctrine is not important? The alligators believe in Christ, you know, just be good people and go to heaven. This is very easy, that kind of fall to our reach. But set them apart, Jesus Christ could have said here in the modern day vernacular, by your truth. Then Jesus said, Your word is truth. Remember Pilate said, What is truth? Well, that's the answer. The word of God is truth. As you set me in the world, I've also set them in the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, but they also may be sanctified by the truth. So here, twice, we're told that, again, we're set apart by the truth. Now, one thing we find, rather, about the Bible, is you don't have to interpret the Bible. The Bible interprets itself. And one of the problems that people have had is because they have interpreted the Bible, themselves. And they've put all kinds of things out of the Bible, but frankly, we're never there. But if you start comparing Scripture to Scripture, and you cover, again, what is said within the Bible, you come up with the truth. So the Bible interprets itself by interpreting its own symbols and its own meanings. I mentioned about the beast, the concept of the beast. Where does that, again, concept come from? Well, we looked, of course, back specifically in the book of Daniel, and a beast, you know, of course you read that, initially, what is this leopard that is described here in the book of Daniel picture? What is this other animal that is described? And, you know, it really comes to understand that it pictured world-ruling empires that were fierce in their nature. They dominated the world. And actually, over every three world-ruling empires are identified. That's not my purpose to go through, but to show, again, the Bible interprets its own symbols. Also, the word star we find in Scriptures. We'll talk about, it talks about there in Revelation 12, how the tale of Satan pulled a third of the stars of heaven. Well, it is a star. Revelation 1.20 says a star is an angel. So, again, the Bible interprets itself. But we don't have to, again, figure it out. All we do is find out what the Bible says about itself, and then we'll find out what the truth is. I want to take a little time here, brethren, to talk to you about sound doctrine and how we can determine sound doctrine from the Bible. How we can come to see sound doctrine from the Bible. Well, like I already pointed out, Jesus Christ said that God seeks those that worship Him in spirit and in truth. The number one thing that is important, brethren, to find the truth in the Bible is humility. Humility is the key. Wishing God in spirit means that our attitude, brethren, is right.

Let's go to Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66, very important verse.

So, I'll mention about how what pleases God is the unity of God's people. But, over in Isaiah 66, in verse 2, let us hear what the prophet Isaiah says. It says, for all these things, God says, my hand is made, and all those things exist. Talking about, again, the creation of the earth and all those things. Says the Lord, says the eternal. But on this one, will I look, this person I will look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Who trembles at what I have said.

Now, we should not tremble again before human beings, but we should tremble before what God says, what God commands as God's people. So, whether in humility, a contrite spirit, a light attitude is so important. I remember when God began to reveal to me, the truth of that, I've conveyed this to you before, how I was reading the Bible, and I kept reading it over and over again. We all do this, don't we? To begin with, we read the Bible, and it's like, what did it say? Sometimes you read a book, and you'll read maybe 10 pages down the line, and you'll find out you didn't understand a third of the set in the book. Well, it was that way when I read the Bible. It's like I read these scriptures, but they didn't really mean a lot to me. And I do remember, you know, getting into an attitude where I said, God, I'm going to understand this stuff. I sort of became very rigid. I was like the German. I didn't understand this, you know. And it was not really better until I basically prayed to God, and I said, God, okay, let me come at it this a different way. Okay, if you were revealed to me what this book means, I promise you I will do it. No matter what it is, you tell me to do it, I will do it. And you know what? Then the light lights began to go off in my head. God had to know, though, I was committed to do that. It wasn't a fake humility. Yeah, God, let me know what it means, and I'll do it. Yeah. Now, I really didn't mean it. So humility, brethren, is a key. You may understand the truth.

In Isaiah 28 verse 13, we don't have to turn there, but I want to show you... Well, let's do turn there, since you're already in chapter 66. You show Matthew Grover to chapter 28, just from where you are there. But in Isaiah 28, down to verse 13. You know, the Bible, brethren, is written in such a way... Yes, it does interpret its own symbols, and it interprets itself, but it is written in such a way that, in fact, the Lord at large cannot see the truth.

Because it's spiritually discerned. But in Isaiah 28 verse 13, let's notice here, it says, The word of the Lord was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, lie upon lie, lie upon lie, hear a little, and bear a little. Why is it written this way? Why, if you don't know the truth, can't you go like if you don't know about that? baptism. When you go to this segment in the Bible, it says baptism, right here. All you ever want to know about baptism. If you don't know about baptism, you know, this is it. The whole book, it tells you about baptism. You know, eternal life, the whole book tells you about eternal life. You can go in here and there, things, tidbits about your little things. So it's written that way. But why is it written that way? Let the rest of this verse tells us why. That they might go and fall backward and be broken and smeared and caught. Remember what Christ said about those who couldn't understand the parables?

He said to the disciples, it's given to you to know the mysteries, but it's not given to them right now. Of course, that time will come where it will be given to the real, as we know, according to the plan, the loving and beneficent plan of God. So the truth of God, brethren, the doctrines, the teachings of God are written such that they are spiritually discerned. The Bible, again, interprets itself. And that truth is determined by putting the Old Testament and the New Testament together. Not as the Church is the will, sometimes some toss out the Old Testament, but it's the whole Testament, you might say, the Old and New together, the testimony of God, God's message to mankind. Another thing that is important, brethren, to understand teaching is that teachings and doctrines of the Church are not established by one Scripture. But it must be determined by, unless that Scripture is absolutely clear, you know, I would say, put that connoisseur on that. And it has to be clear if it establishes a doctrine, of course. I don't know any doctrine that is established just basic on one Scripture, no, in the Church that we have. But doctrine, again, must be established by the Scriptures from cover to cover in the Bible. You come to understand what the truth of God is. But again, number one key, brethren, to understand some doctrine is humility. Number two.

You know, doctrine and teachings within the Church, we're told in the Bible there's a safety and a multitude of counselors. In the Church, of course, we have many elders back in 1995. Many of the elders became what is called in the Church the general conference of elders. And many elders, by the way, are needed if we change a doctrine teaching within the Church. Three-quarters of the elders would have to agree that a doctrine teaching is changing the Church. The doctrine of safety, brethren, comes with a multitude of counselors. Second Peter chapter 3. Second Peter chapter 3 over here is known as this.

I encourage you, brethren, to look up the word doctrine and go through it. You know, there's, of course, many of you that talk about false doctrines in the Bible. But much said about the true teachings of the Church as well. But second Peter chapter 3 over here, as it is, verses 1 through 3.

Here Peter says, He reminded, you know, here Peter said of what the apostles have said and what the prophets have said. So you have to put it all together. In verse 3 it says, So scoffers are, of course, to come in the last days. But you notice here that Peter says, Be reminded of what the apostles have taught and what the prophets have taught. In other words, brethren, the truth is not conveyed by one person, nor just a few people. It involves numerous people. In fact, maybe a further proof of that, I won't go over to Acts chapter 15, but remember when the confrontation over circumcision came about, all the elders agreed with the church that took place because, of course, we find Paul and Barabas being sent out basically to give the decree to the churches that they served. In the Gentile world. In Acts 15 again, how many elders were there? I don't know. But I know we have felt that in Jerusalem there were as many as 60,000 people in the church. So you kind of figure out how many elders there might have been in such a situation. Let us on down here in chapter 1, then verse 20, also.

2 Peter 1, verse 20, known this verse that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. And it shows again over here very long what it means. For prophecy, he said, never came by the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And you know that the Bible that we have in our lives, brethren, God inspired many men. And frankly, the things that Jesus Christ gave proclaimed them had been talked about since the foundation of the world. By the prophets, you know, who earnestly desire to look into the things that, in fact, the church came to know and came to understand. So, there is doctoral safety in the multitude of counselors, not, well, just one, but a multitude. Chapter 3 over here, chapter 3 of 2 Timothy, once again. 2 Timothy, I guess we haven't gone to Timothy yet, so not once again, but 2 Timothy 3 here in verse 13. Let's notice here what Paul was telling Timothy in verse 13. It says, but evil men and imposters will go worse and worse. You see, being a boy, you see. But what did God, through Paul, tell Timothy? Verse 14, but you must continue in a phase which you've learned, which says it's been assured of, knowing from whom you've learned them. And then he shows in verse 15 that he knew these things from barehood, and he learned about salvation from the Holy Scriptures, the only Scriptures he had at the time of the Old Testament, by the way. And I'm sure some of the letters of Paul, that would clarify some of these things. Chapter 3, down here, verse 16. Here, Timothy is told, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is profitable for doctrine, for teaching. For reproof, for correction, for the structure of righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fairly equipped for every good work. It was so that a man can live in his life and live a godly way of life in the course of doing the works of God. And we know why I'm never going to go to John 6, 44, with the Father, himself, hand-picked as a call to the church. The Father draws us to Christ, and Christ said, I will raise him up in the last day.

Here, the Bible again was a collaborative effort. It was a collaborative effort. Within the United Church of God, there was ministry, and the membership works in a collaborative effort to prepare people and to preach the gospel. Of course, there is a process. We have, of course, a doctoral committee. If somebody has a doctoral position that they would like to write center up, then it goes through a procedure. And, like you say, if there is a change in the doctrine of the church, there must be agreement among the elders. But, you know, it's important for us to understand, too, brethren, with all of the doctrines that the church has, and with the teachers that are within the Scriptures that we see that very clearly are brought out, even so, we all need guides. We can't go alone. No man is an island, as they say. Let's go over to Acts 8. Acts 8. You may be the most brave person to ever walk the face of the earth.

Well, I hope you are. Of course, we will talk then about humility, don't we? But, well, here in Acts chapter 8, in verse 30, there was an individual that was very much like Eli, where we began to study the Scriptures, who read, and we said, oh, what that means? But God miraculously sent someone to help him. But here in verse 30, let's do this again. But Philip ran to this Ethiopian willic, remember, who was a treasure for a clean condition. And notice in verse 31, Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He may have been reading Isaiah 53, by the way. He said, you understand what you are reading. Often people don't. And he said this, and this is inspired to put in your book, which you have on your lap.

How can I, lest someone guides me? Then he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. And the place in which he read was again, Isaiah 53, where he talked about the crucifixion of Christ. And so Philip went up and apparently talked to the man, talked to him about many things. He wasn't just about that, but many things. And later, you know, happened along the way, he was able to baptize with the symbol of ritual. But the Ethiopian willic needed a guide. Cornelius was called him, and he had a guide. The group Peter went to talk to Cornelius.

The brethren up in the Samaritans needed a guide. Philip, of course, was there as well. But always, by the way, when there's a guide, somebody leads somebody in the right way, you'll notice that there's always somebody else that is there to lead the wrong way. And when Philip went up there to the Samaritans to teach them, and many people were converted, there was Simon Magus right there, who was looking for an opportunity.

And some say that he established his church in 33 A.D. You can carry that out for a little bit more study if you want to, what that means, what that entails. By the way, the true church began in 31 A.D. That gives you any clue. But Philip was necessary to guide the Ethiopian unit. Let's go over to Romans 6. Romans 6 over here. Romans 6 over here. In verses 16 and 17, he says, I'm sorry, did I read that right?

It's like the form of doctrine. How many times were we told when we came to see some of the truths of God that it's like a picture that's being painted? It's a form of doctrine. You can see a picture, and it begins to be filled in by the truth that we learn, that we grasp, that we understand. But here, in this case, Paul is saying that they understood and obey from the heart the form of doctrine that was given to them.

And of course, that form of doctrine didn't come just because of Paul. It came because of multiple individuals. So, that doctoral safety, again, is in a multitude of counselors, like the Bible says. Number three, number three. Number one, humility is a key. Number two, doctoral safety is in a multitude of counselors. And number three, the church's foundation, brethren, is the prophets and apostles, and Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of all doctrine, of all teachings within the church.

Ephesians 2, so, Ephesians 2, over here. Ephesians 2, verse 19. Now, therefore, it says, you are the only strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with a sense and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. In whom the whole building being fit and framed together, grows into a temple in the Lord. In whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God, it says, in the Spirit.

Well, God is building a spiritual temple, as we see from this, with the foundation of it all. The foundation of teachings, brethren, come from the apostles, the prophets, and Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not going to go over to this verse, but in Acts 2, verse 42. You'll notice that the church, at that time, of course, they were all from various parts where the room in the world had come together for Pentecost. And while they were there, many of them became converted.

They were baptized, and many, multiple thousands were added to the church. They shared things with one another, because otherwise those that traveled from a long distance would not have been able to survive. And it says that they continued in the apostles' doctrine, the apostles' teachings. Not apostles, by the way. Not Peter, as, of course, when religion says he was the first papa, the first pope, but in the apostles' doctrine. And so, brethren, the church's foundation is the prophets, and the apostles, and Jesus Christ.

Number four, brethren. Number four. And this, brethren, is really a very important point here, and I just encourage you to make a study of this, maybe even today, to make a study of this when we get home. Christianity, brethren, and the teachings of the church are a way of life. A way of life. And Jesus Christ came to mirror that way of life for us. We're here in Acts 18, Acts 18, over here. And there are not many scriptures like this, brethren, you can go to, and I won't take the time to go through all of them.

But you need to rehearse through them, in fact, on the subject of how, through the Bible, when we do, we, Tesla, talk about this way of life. And what, again, we mentioned earlier that they obeyed, the brethren that were there that had submitted to God, obeyed the form of doctrine, the form of teachings. They lived in other words. But Acts 18, verse 25 and 26, which says, And this man, talking about Apollos, had been instructed in the way of the Lord, the infirmative spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.

So Apollos baptized by John, or one of his disciples, so he began to speak boldly in the synagogues. When Apollos and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

You know, the fine tune, what he understood. Sometimes when Christ would talk to someone, he would say, you're not far from the kingdom. You're not too far away. So, you know, they had to take Apollos aside. It's like all of us have to be taken aside, as it were, to be taught the way, the way of God, the form of doctrine, the understanding that we should have. And he nearly again is a very important aspect of breading, coming to see these things. Now, the Apostle Paul himself said this to the Corinthians.

He said, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So Christ came to mirror the way. When Paul himself was trying to imitate Christ, as we should try to imitate Christ, we can use Paul's writings. Also, brethren, the Bible tells us that the Scripture cannot be broken. This book cannot be broken. I don't know how many times, you know, there have been some who have said, well, you know, Bible's wrong about this archaeologically. You know, nearly every time they've done that, the later it's come out, the well-known discovered under this tell, you know, in Israel, you know, after all, the Bible might be right.

Of course, they don't believe what the Bible says, you know, in the other aspects. But the Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus Himself said that, John 10, verse 35. In fact, Jesus Himself said, brethren, assuredly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one John and one tenon, where by no means pass from the law, until everything is fulfilled. Look around you, brethren. I saw the sky when I came down here. Today, everything's still here. So the book is still here, isn't it? The Scripture cannot be broken.

Number six.

Paul's advice, brethren, for the male-like Titus and Timothy are good enough for us, should be good enough for us today. Let's go to Titus 2. Titus 2. Titus 2. He says in verse 1, But as for you, speak the things which are proper, he said, for sound doctrine. That they only will be sober, reverent, tougher, sound in faith, and love in patience. The only women, likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not foreigners, not giving them much wine, teachers are good things, but they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children. So you can go through all of this, brethren. Then, you know, God is instructing here Titus through what Paul says to him.

And, you know, basically, he's telling him how to pastor a church. But again, what was good enough for Titus should be good enough for you and me, shouldn't it? We should talk about those things that make for sound doctrine. Jesus Christ talked about, yet let your yay be yay and your may be nay.

Sometimes people say, well, you know, the Bible's just outdated, archaic. That was the first century. In fact, in 1995, part of that, they were talking about, well, you know, these views about women not preaching in church, that was the first century. And, you know, that former association now is ordaining women as elders within the church.

But, you know, Paul gave the advice, teach that which is sound doctrine. And, you know, the Jesus Christ, we're told in Hebrews 13, verse 8, is the same today, yesterday, and forever. God doesn't change from one generation to another. You know, we know that He teaches the same.

You know, we may not necessarily go cap out in the rumors of, you know, as they did in ancient Israel time. There's a modern-day approach to some things, but again, the way of life doesn't change. The way of living does not change. Number seven, number seven. All members must see the importance of having the unity of faith and hope and doctrine within the church. All members need to see that. Again, we have one body, one faith, one spirit. We go through 1 Corinthians 12. I mean, the word, God, is used a number of times. So God wants us to get the message that He's pleased with unity, that we all speak the same thing. And when God was telling Titus, when we're like there in Titus, let's notice in Titus chapter 1 and verse 7, He told Titus, this is for a bishop must be boneless as a steward of God, not self-will, again, having a humility, not quick-tempered, not driven to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, never good of what is good, silver-minded, just holy and self-controlled. The minister's lying here, holding fast the faithful word as He has been taught. That He may be able by sound doctrine both to exert and convict those who contradict. So, brethren, that is what is good enough for you and me, all of us, brethren, within the church, that we are grounded in sound doctrine. Then we can convict the gainsayer. Both Timothy and Titus were told to do this, in fact.

As I mentioned to you, brethren, there is a form of doctrine of teaching the church of God has. We need to be very acquainted with that. Ministers of the church were told, time and again, in the scriptures, to teach what you have been taught. In fact, Paul admonished, he said, the things that you have heard me say before multiple witnesses, that is what you should teach. Nothing private type of thing, but before everybody, that is what you ought to be teaching. One of the keys, brethren, of conversion is, again, humility. We come out at the word of God. I am not going to go into 2 John 1, verse 10, but one of the things that Paul, or John, I should say, admonished the church, and probably he was in his 90s when he was doing this, maybe about 90, 95 A.D. around there, he says, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, he says, do not receive them in your house nor greet them. You know, you can read the scripture yourself. Over there in 2 John 1, verse 10. Brethren, the ultimate goal of one doctrine and one faith and one hope is the kingdom of God. And God desires we all be in unity. You know, by the time that Jude wrote what he wrote in Jude 1, verse 3-4, he says this, he said, Brethren, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, see, the common salvation of the church. Not many ways to salvation, but the common salvation. It was made for me to write unto you and exert you that you should earnestly contend. The Greek word, by the way, for contend is struggle for. Struggle for. All I say contend for the faith, the word faith in the Greek is persuasion, conviction, and truth.

We'll contend for the faith, which was once delivered under the sense. For there are certain men, crept in unawares, who were before they were named to this condemnation. Ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, brethren, I hope that by talking about these things with you here today, that you and I will strive to do as Paul admonished the Corinthian brethren to do, to speak the same things. To come to see what are the teachings of the church, first and foremost, and that we speak the same thing. But, brethren, if we adhere to the same doctrine, we will have the same belief, we will have the same judgment, and we'll have the same faith, and we'll have the same hope, and we'll have the same end, which would be to be in God's wonderful kingdom. So then, let's be one in faith, one in hope, and one in doctrine as God's people.