Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Bible Study / Statement Of Faith

Introduction Part 1

INTRO: On Tuesday, as I was doing research for todays message on Church Doctrine, I received a phone call from a woman who has been actively involved for 5 years in ministry at a church in our area. This past Sunday, the pastor of her church said this in his sermon, 'If you are serving in ministry and have not received the Baptism of the HS, then you may want to consider resigning from your ministry positions.'

  WOW! Although the churches position on the Baptism of the HS was known before that Sunday morning, it was never emphasized, it was not a major issue...or so she thought. What should she do? She didn't believe that the Baptism of the HS was a 2nd work of grace apart from her initial conversion experience. But now differing doctrines may  require her to resign from ministry and force her out of her church.

  Was that just coincidental? Her phone call and my study on church doctrine? NO!

  Is doctrine important? YES,
  Is understanding your church doctrinal statement important? YES!

 But, you may be thinking,  doctrine is boring, and it's hard. Besides, I am not that smart. I'm no theologian.

EXP: According to author and theologian R.C. Sproul, every Christian is a theologian. They are always engaged in the activity of learning about the things of God.

READ: Ps. 119:9-16
  This text speaks of how a believers keep their way pure, how they honor God in and with their lives.
It is done by
 -by obeying God's Word,
 -by not wandering from His commandments,
 -by treasuring His Word in your heart,
 -by teaching others the truths of God's Word,
 -by meditating on His precepts,
 -by delighting in God's Word.

  Do you desire maturity in your Christian life?
  Do you long for a  renewed passion for God?
  Do you want your life to honor God?
  Do you thirst for a heart burning to know and love    the living God?

  Then your mind must first be informed about the character and will of God. Sproul states that there can be nothing in the heart that is not first in the mind. An understanding of Bible doctrine is necessary for passion and spiritual growth.

 David Wells, theology professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has written a book titled God in the Wasteland. In that book he writes...'The fundamental problem in the evangelical word today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant, His grace too ordinary, His judgment is too benign, His gospel too easy and His Christ too common.'

 What this means is the church has taken its eyes off Christ and has begun to begun to look at themselves instead.If you haven't noticed, we are fighting against that kind of Christianity in our worship service.

  -We are striving to bring glory to God, to add weight to His name, by intentionally directing our focus on Him alone.

  -We desire to lift up God the Son, in this place during Worship so that all will be drawn to God the Father through the work of God the Holy Spirit.

 And since the sermon is part of our worship service, I will begin a new sermon series on the doctrines of God's Word as found in our church Statement of Faith.

Trans: Before we look at the specifics of our Statement of Faith, we need to define some terms that we will be using throughout this study.

I. Definition
    A. Theology
        Webster defines theology as 'the study of God and His relation to the world. It is a system of beliefs.'

  Theology is more than just the study of God and His work with humanity. It is also practical. Theology relates to our actions not only our beliefs.

  How we live (our actions) will reflect what we believe (our doctrine)

    B. Doctrine
      Theology is the study of God and His relationship with the world. Doctrines are the specific truths found in that study.

      In the OT the word chiefly used for doctrine is leqah which means 'that which is received' The word tora is also used as a body of revealed teaching and is most often translated as law.
      In the NT two words are used. Didaskalia and didache both mean 'the act and content of teaching'.

    Doctrine then is a body of principals in a system of belief and these principals are generally accepted as valid and authoritative.

      The leaders of the Reformation taught that doctrine must derive from and communicate the truth of the Bible. That every aspect of church life must be grounded in the Word of God.

 Sound Doctrine is the link
  -between the Bible and powerful preaching,
  -between the Bible and Christ centered worship,
  -between the Bible and every other aspect of  ministry in the Christian Church.

  Is doctrine important? YES!
  Is it important that we understand it as a church fellowship? YES!
  Is it important that we teach Sound Doctrine here at CBC? YES!

      One of the ways doctrine is taught is through the use of creeds and confessions. Creeds and confessions are not intended to be an authority in and of themselves, but they are to faithfully explain and summarize the truths found in Scripture.

      That is one of the reasons we will be studying the Westminster Confession of Faith at our new Bible Study on Wed. evenings from 8-9pm. If you have any questions about what the Bible says about..whatever, it will be covered in this study.

    C. Truth
      Truth is not found in a feeling or an idea. Truth is found in God's Word. Truth is important not only because it is true but  because it defines who and what we believe in.
Let me give you an example...

-Is Jesus the brother of Satan? (Mormonism)
-Is Jesus an angel who became a man? (New Age)  or
-Is He the creator of the universe, the second person of     the Trinity?

  What is truth? Truth is what God says is truth. God's truth is absolute. God's Word is absolute truth.

Ps. 119:160 'The sum of Thy word is truth'
Jn. 17:17 'Sanctify them in truth, Thy word is truth'

 Knowing the truth of God's Word will sanctify you, make you holy and will set you free in Christ Jesus!

    D. Apostasy

John 8:32 'you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.'

  You can be sure that Satan will do all he can to keep you in spiritual ignorance...which leads to spiritual bondage.

  The word apostasia occurs twice in the NT. It means a rebellion, or a revolt against God, His Law, His Will and His Word. It is a falling away from the faith.

  And understand this, those departing from the faith, the truth of God's Word, are those who profess to be of the faith, who profess to be Christians.

2 Tim. 4:3-4 'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears  tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.'

  Sound doctrine, biblical truth has been replaced today with an emotional substitute. Entertainment has replaced searching the Scriptures.

  We live in a culture that demands we do not speak to them of the truth (after all truth is relative) they only want to hear those things that will make them feel good. To have their ears tickled.

  Whether  those who fall away from the faith are truly Christian or not is for God to decide.

  Our job is to teach and hold fast the doctrines of God's Word
  -so that we are not part of the apostasy,
  -so that we are not numbered with those who fall  way from the faith.

What does apostasy look like?
According to 2 Tim. 3:2-5 it looks like this...

Love of God replaced by love of self., Love of money, A spirit of pride, Blasphemy, Disobedience to parents, Lack of thankfulness, Lack of holiness, Without natural affections, Slandering, Lack of self-control, Savagery, Opposition to goodness, Traitors, Recklessness, Love of pleasure, Pretense of worship but lack of godliness.

 How can we avoid apostasy, falling away from the faith, being deceived by those who teach false doctrine? According to Jude 20 by 'building yourselves up on your most holy faith'. By knowing, teaching and living sound biblical doctrine.

Trans: Keep these definitions in the back of your mind as you will need to refer back to them as we get further along in our study. Next we need some direction. Where are we going with this study?

II. Direction
 First let me tell you where I do not want to go.

Hosea 4:6a 'My people are destroyed for lack of  knowledge.'
Rom. 1:22  'professing to be wise, they became fools'
Ps. 92:6      'A senseless man has no knowledge'
Prov. 1:22  'How long, O naive ones, will you love  simplicity, And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing,
                  And fools  hate knowledge?'
Prov. 1:28-29  'Then they will call on me, but I will not  answer. They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me,
                  Because they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of    the Lord.'

 This is not the direction I want to go as a Christian. I can't bury my head avoiding biblical doctrine because I think it may be too hard...or boring. That direction leads to  destruction.

 Where will a study on the doctrines of God's Word take us?

Ps. 119:1      'How blessed are those whose way is  blameless, Who walk  in the law of the  Lord'
Psalm 119:5 'Oh that my ways may be established To keep Thy statutes!'
Ps. 119:32    'I shall run the way of Thy commandments, For Thou wilt  enlarge my heart.'
Ps. 119:38   'Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As  that which produces   reverence for Thee.'
Ps. 119:41    'May Thy lovingkindnesses also come to  me, O Lord, Thy salvation according to  Thy word'

  This is the direction in my Christian life I want to travel. What a blessing! What a challenge!

  Well , next week we will look more specifically at why we must study the doctrines of God's Word.

Let me leave you with this from...