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[0:00] Let's go to the Word of God, to Deuteronomy 32, and we'll go there shortly. Talking about doctrine, doctrine. It's something you don't always hear much preaching about, doctrine.

[0:14] and really sound doctrine, sound doctrine. Doctrine, it's good for you. And we're going to go to Deuteronomy 32, from verse 1 it reads, Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak.

[0:29] And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew. As the small rain upon the tender herb.

[0:42] And as the showers upon the grass. Because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock, his work is perfect.

[0:56] For all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity. Just and right is he. So that first verse there.

[1:09] I will speak and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew.

[1:21] We can wonder why it is that in some quarters, and it can happen in our own movement of churches too, why the church can seem weak.

[1:36] And many believers seem lukewarm and weak in their faith and their walk. You could even say they look malnourished. Malnourished. Like they're victims of a famine.

[1:47] And could it be because some avoid doctrine? Doctrine. It's like the truth of doctrine. It's discounted. It's disregarded.

[1:58] Disregarded. People shy away from the word doctrine as if there's something dreary and dry about it. They scorn it. Yet God describes doctrine right here as something that's a good thing.

[2:10] It's a blessed thing. It's like the rain. It's like the dew on the grass. The fresh morning dew that refreshes the grass.

[2:21] It's like life-giving rain that nurtures the earth. So God's doctrine is a good thing. It's good for you. And God's doctrine, it's life-giving.

[2:32] It's refreshing. And it's essential for us to grow spiritually as God's people. It's really a foundation of the Christian life is doctrine, sound teaching. Just as rain nourishes the earth, God's doctrine is going to sustain life and help us grow.

[2:49] And so we're going to look at the theme of doctrine along a number of points. The meaning of sound doctrine, the importance of it, the source of it, the urgency of it, the responsibility of it.

[3:04] And how do we know what's sound doctrine and not? How do we test it? It seems like, as I say, in some quarters Christians seem a bit malnourished. Again, you could think of the analogy of a famine.

[3:19] And of course the Bible tells us of such a famine of hearing the word of God. It tells us in Amos there, chapter 8, that God says, I will send a famine in the land.

[3:31] It's not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from the sea to sea, from the north to the east, and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it.

[3:46] There's the truth here that there's a famine of hearing the word of God. And when there's a famine, there's malnourishment. But God says, my doctrine shall drop as the rain.

[4:01] Think of doctrine and what it means. And really, sound doctrine, it's not an optional thing. It's something we ought to want to have. We want to have sound doctrine. It's vital for us to know God's truth.

[4:15] When we talk about doctrine, for example, what's the doctrine about the Godhead? The triune God. The doctrine about the gospel, how we can be saved, salvation.

[4:26] The doctrine of the authority of the word of God, that we can trust the word of God, the Bible. The doctrine of the fundamentals of the faith. These are all important truths, aren't they?

[4:39] We need good doctrine, Bible doctrine. So let's find out why doctrine matters. Firstly, think about the meaning of sound doctrine. What does sound doctrine mean?

[4:50] The word doctrine, it means teaching or instruction or learning. And we've got the body of truth revealed in God's word. That's sound doctrine. It's in the Bible. It's God's truth.

[5:02] The word sound means healthy. So it's the opposite of unhealthy. It's healthy. Sound doctrine is something that's life-giving.

[5:14] That's healthy doctrine. It's healthy teaching, in other words. So we think of the word health, healthy, wholesome. Think of it's truthful.

[5:24] It's uncorrupted. It promotes life. And so sound doctrine, basically you could put it, you could translate it as healthy teaching. Healthy teaching.

[5:36] And yet, as I say, it seems that these days, and it can happen to any one of us, that so many seem to be stunted in their spiritual growth. They've grown only so far in their faith, and they've kind of got stuck, and they're not growing.

[5:54] And there's churches that are not giving sound doctrines. So there's churchgoers, but they're not disciples. And that's a big problem, isn't it?

[6:05] Maybe they're not even saved, because they haven't heard clearly the doctrine of salvation. So why are they not growing?

[6:17] Because there's a doctrine problem. There's a doctrine problem. Sound doctrine will help us to grow. When we have sound, healthy teaching, we'll be healthy. We'll be growing.

[6:27] We'll be vibrant. We'll be a healthy, wholesome. In our walk, in our spiritual vitality, in our growth, in our walk with God, we'll grow stronger.

[6:38] And that's healthy doctrine that makes that happen. Sound doctrine, it nourishes the soul like the rain. As God says, my doctrine is like the rain, and it's like the dew on the grass.

[6:50] What does the Bible tell us then about sound doctrine? And so we see, firstly, that sound doctrine is Bible doctrine. That's why we care about the Bible.

[7:02] That's why we read the Bible. That's why we preach the Bible. It's not just stories. In some churches, the preacher just tells stories, fanciful stories sometimes.

[7:13] Maybe interesting stories. But it's not Bible. And so it's a problem. But we need Bible doctrine, Bible teaching. So, for example, as it tells us 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.

[7:32] It's going to be helping us have right doctrine when we have a love for the Word of God, the inspiration of the Word of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, so for warning, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

[7:48] So sound doctrine, it must come from the Bible. That's why we need the Bible. The Bible needs to be very much central. And what we teach must line up with the Bible, not human traditions or opinions.

[8:01] Paul urged Titus to hold fast the faithful Word, as he hath been taught, that he may be able to buy sound doctrine. Sound doctrine, both to exhort, so to encourage and stimulate and guide people, and to convince the gainsayers.

[8:17] So there's a building up of the people of God, and there's an opposing of those that would be contrary. So it's sound doctrine that helps us promote truth and counter error, refutes it.

[8:32] Sound doctrine is teaching that's faithful to the Word of God, the faithful Word. Sound doctrine is Bible doctrine. In contrast to that, we see what false doctrine is.

[8:43] That's the opposite. False doctrine can lead to disaster. We see Ephesians 4, 14 tells about some, tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine.

[8:56] And there's so much of that now. I know there's a new Christian bookshop open in Adelaide, but amongst the content, there's all manner. There's a plethora of different views, of contrary views, of views that are quite extreme.

[9:14] Some of the teachings and teachers that are promoted, it's not always sound doctrine. And it's like people are getting blown around with all these winds, these contrary winds.

[9:24] It's like a picture of instability, these winds blowing around, where there's false doctrine. It's abounding. And it's like junk food. It's not the healthy teaching.

[9:36] It's unhealthy. It's like spiritual junk food as well. A false doctrine. And so rather than false doctrine, we need sound doctrine. We need to search for that and hunger for that and want that.

[9:49] Bible doctrine. That will give us spiritual health. Because we know, and for myself, I've travelled here and there and been amongst different groups. And some, on reflection, haven't been very biblical.

[10:01] They've got away from the Bible. And it's happening all over, isn't it? False teachings, they just abound. It's abundant. And so we must hold fast to the truth of God's Word. And the good thing about right doctrine is it's going to help us with right living.

[10:15] When we've got biblical teaching, when we've got right teaching, it's going to help us to live right and to walk right. And so there's a big challenge, especially in these days, I think, for all of us to be wary about false doctrine.

[10:30] And really, false teaching is not just different. It's not just a difference of opinion. False doctrine is actually not just different. It's dangerous. We know the Bible talks about doctrines of devils.

[10:44] And there are doctrines of devils out there. So in other words, the devil's behind it, behind some teachings that are out there. And popular teachings too. So how can we distinguish and understand God's truth when there's so many false doctrines and false prophets?

[11:00] We'll get to explore some of that tonight. Just touch on that tonight. So we see that Bible doctrine is true doctrine. And notice the importance of sound doctrine.

[11:14] What does sound doctrine bring? It's like a feast. In Hebrews 5, it talks about the Word of God as being like strong meat. It's like this feast that God gives to us, a smorgasbord, a banquet of truth.

[11:28] The Word of God, it's likened to fresh bread. It's likened to nourishing meat. And likened to sweet honey. As Jeremiah 15 reads, Thy words were found, and I did eat them.

[11:42] And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. And Psalm 119, 103 says, How sweet are thy words unto my taste. Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

[11:55] So sound doctrine, it's healthy. It's nutritious. It's nourishing. It's like a joy and rejoicing of my heart. It's like honey to my mouth.

[12:05] It's like fresh bread, like meat, like sweet honey. Sound doctrine is going to build you up in your faith and help you to grow. It's going to give you strength and fruitfulness.

[12:16] And it's like every bite is going to strengthen your body. So the more you can eat of this truth of God's Word, of sound doctrine, of healthy doctrine, you're going to be healthier for it. Spiritually so.

[12:28] It's going to build your stamina spiritually. It's going to build you up in your faith. And when we've got sound doctrine, it's going to help us to discern that which is not sound doctrine.

[12:40] A fundamental reason we should want sound doctrine is that sound doctrine leads to salvation. When we've got Bible doctrine, we'll have Bible preaching, we'll have gospel preaching.

[12:53] And Romans 10, Paul tells us that faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. So when we hear the gospel, we'll hear the way to be saved, we'll trust God, we'll have faith, we'll have soul-saving faith.

[13:08] So we need to be in a church where it's Bible preaching, where it's a gospel preaching church. The sound doctrine delivers the gospel, the power of God unto salvation. In some churches, they scarcely talk about the gospel.

[13:21] They scarcely tell people how they can be saved. People can go to church week after week and never hear the gospel. And that's a tragic thing, isn't it? Whereas the Bible is very clear, the gospel is very central.

[13:34] And false doctrine in Galatians 1, it perverts the gospel. It takes away the gospel. As Paul says, if someone comes, even if it's an angel from heaven, and tells you something else, some other kind of gospel, don't even listen to it.

[13:48] The false gospel is going to damn the soul. There's people that are knocking doors and talking about all their works-based kind of salvation and other kinds of ways to basically earn salvation.

[14:03] They're going to miss out because it's not about that. They're missing the whole point. That it's not the gospel of God's grace that saves. Another good reason we should want sound doctrine is that sound doctrine promotes right living, godly living.

[14:18] We see 1 Timothy 6, it talks about how it describes sound doctrine as wholesome words, as the doctrine which is according to godliness.

[14:30] When you hear the gospel, when you hear sound doctrine, it's going to impact how you behave. Doctrine matters because what we believe affects how we behave.

[14:42] When we hear the gospel, when we hear how to live the Christian walk, we'll find out what righteousness and holiness is about, and God will help us to walk right.

[14:53] It's been said, how you live is what you really believe. It's true, isn't it? Like, if we really believe the gospel, we really believe Christ is our saviour, it's going to impact where we walk and how we talk and what we do.

[15:08] It's going to shape everything about how we live. True doctrine promotes godliness. Another thing about sound doctrine is it guards against deception. As we talked about before, the winds of false teaching, there's many references to false teachers in the Bible about destructive heresies.

[15:28] 2 Peter 2, we see that there's many reasons why we must yearn for and find sound doctrine. So, where is the source of sound doctrine?

[15:39] Where does sound doctrine come from? And really, it's God's Word. It's the ultimate, isn't it? God's Word is the only standard. There's churches that don't open the Word of God.

[15:53] And the Bible is scarcely declared or proclaimed. But sound doctrine comes from the Word of God. It's His truth. As the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father, Sanctify them.

[16:09] Make them holy through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. Think of it, what the Bible talks about of itself. It's like milk. It's like meat, like honey.

[16:20] It's about your spiritual health. There's a whole nourishing resource right here. A smorgasbord at your disposal, isn't it?

[16:33] The Word of God. It's like a wonderful smorgasbord of spiritually healthy truth. It's a sword that cuts through the lies. It's a lamp that lights our path.

[16:45] The Word of God. It's God's truth. And yet, there's many substitutes out there. Colossians 2, verse 8, talks about man's traditions. It talks about philosophies, vain philosophies.

[16:58] Men try to contradict the Word of God and confuse people. You know, evolution, the theory of evolution. Many of man's kind of machinations of philosophies of man, they fall short.

[17:14] We need the sustenance of the spiritual food, the Word of God. We must go to the Word and get that sound doctrine, all right?

[17:25] To lift up our Lord. Another thing about sound doctrine is that it's very Christ-centered, that we see it's gospel-centered. The gospel. The gospel. As Paul tells, For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.

[17:48] So, sound doctrine articulates the gospel. It presses on people the saving grace of God, as seen in Christ's death, burial, and the resurrection.

[18:00] Christ is at the center of sound doctrine. In these times we live, there's the truth of the urgency of sound doctrine. It's our crying need.

[18:14] As I say, it's sad when there's churches that scarcely care about sound doctrine, and it's no wonder they're flooded with all kinds of false ideas.

[18:25] Paul tells Timothy, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, preach the word. The instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.

[18:39] Paul tells Timothy, Hey, preach the word. That means you're going to have to stand firm. You're going to have to give warning and rebuke. You're going to have to give exhortation, with all long-suffering, so with patience and with doctrine.

[18:54] So doctrine matters, people. Doctrine matters. Again, in some churches they discount or disregard doctrine. They almost treat doctrine as if it's a dirty word, as if it's too divisive to actually talk about doctrine.

[19:12] But it's very important that we settle and ensure that we're standing on sound doctrine, on right teaching. People reject sound doctrine for fables. We see that in...

[19:24] 2 Timothy 4, it tells us about, The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

[19:40] It's almost... It's almost... In some quarters, it's like the sound system is more important than sound doctrine. They've got to have the flashy lights and the entertainment and everything, the whiz-bang, all the coloured lights and the show and the spectacle, but the doctrine is missing.

[20:03] It's not even there. It's scarcely there, if at all. But Paul tells Timothy, Preach the word, use doctrine, and the time will come, our Lord tells us, when...

[20:15] Actually, there's a time coming when they're not going to endure sound doctrine. They're not going to want to know about Bible teaching. They just want to have a feel-good kind of message or fables.

[20:26] And that's why in some quarters, they're all going on and on about trips to heaven and spectacular things and sensations and entertaining kind of sensual things.

[20:39] Getting away from the word of God, that's a danger. It's not to say, God can't give us good feelings and bless us with amazing things. But the emphasis is the word.

[20:51] It's got to be spiritual. It's got to be scriptural as the foundation, not a foundation of fables. It's really a sign of spiritual decay. The urgency of sound doctrine and the danger of false doctrine.

[21:07] We know our Lord was very strong in rebuking those who had the teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men. That can be a mistake too.

[21:18] Some might say, oh, we're very strong on doctrine, but it's all about legalism and about some kind of measuring of others and a kind of standards and systems that are actually not Bible founded.

[21:31] They're invented and manufactured and really not biblical at the heart of them. And that's a danger too. So we don't want to be teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

[21:42] We want to be teaching the word of God. We want to teach biblical truth because false doctrine really comes from the enemy and it just leads to ruin and disaster. So we started off really describing how God describes doctrine.

[21:57] He says it's like rain from heaven. He says it's like the refreshing, life-giving rain. He says it's like the blessing of the morning dew upon the grass. That's the kind of doctrine we're talking about.

[22:09] And some further illustrations of what doctrine looks like, you could go to Psalm 1, that familiar one which talks about the blessed one, the blessed man, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.

[22:25] His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. It's got the picture here of the one who is grounded, planted by the river, planted this mighty tree, planted by the river with deep roots and green leaves and good fruit.

[22:41] And it represents that believer that's nourished, that's flourishing, that's nourished by sound doctrine. That's the wholesome teaching of God's word. They're growing in faith, they're bearing fruits of righteousness.

[22:56] What a picture that is too. When we have that nourishment of the word of God, then we'll be a healthy tree. And you could think of another picture of a healthy body.

[23:06] Paul tells Timothy how we can be nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine. Think of someone who's a very strong person, a strong man, a strong woman, they're well fed, their muscles are firm, their bones are strong, they're steady, they're eating nutritious food, they're exercising regularly, they're keeping themselves disciplined, and this body is functioning, every part's properly nourished and working together.

[23:32] Here's a picture of the believer that we ought to be nourished up. We should have that nourishment. And so we could think of it as feeding on that sound doctrine, on that healthy doctrine. Our faith is going to grow strong because we've got Bible truth, we've got biblical teaching, we've got healthy teaching, the word of God.

[23:50] We can have discernment so we can tell right from wrong and which way to go and what to do. And we can withstand trials. Sound doctrine, it's going to nourish you, it's going to feed your faith, it's going to help you to see false doctrine and see the danger of that because false doctrine is going to do the contrary.

[24:10] It's going to starve your spiritual life and it's destructive. So may the Lord encourage our hearts to have this thought, this desire, this yearning for that which is sound doctrine, that we would declare it as Paul told Titus to speak it, to declare it, to declare the things which become sound doctrine, to boldly and faithfully tell the truth of God's word of sound teaching.

[24:41] And in the context of Titus 2, you can kind of unpack that a little more as Titus goes on to say how you should teach the older man, you should teach the younger man, how you should teach the older women, the younger women and the servants.

[24:55] So there's a whole chapter there of speaking that sound doctrine, of making it applicable to whatever the circumstance is. Our churches must declare sound doctrine. We shouldn't hold back from that.

[25:07] Another thing about this responsibility of sound doctrine is as Paul tells Timothy, he says, study, study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[25:22] It's important here the word study, study. Now many Bibles, many modern translations take out the word study and put something else there. But the Bible tells us, I believe, it's a very appropriate and accurate translation as the King James puts it, study.

[25:40] It's very important that we study. We need to be students of the word of God. Very, very critical truth. And we don't want to negate that. It's how we ensure sound doctrine is we study the word of God.

[25:52] We study to be a workman approved that is not going to be ashamed. And another thing too is we've got a contending to do as well. It tells us here in Jude 1 how we should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

[26:10] So sound doctrine is something worth fighting for. It's worth us having a contending, like a spiritual contending, not a contentiousness or a divisiveness or sowing discord but that we should contend for, we should fight for the faith.

[26:25] So the truth of God's word. Sound doctrine is something we should stand firm and sure upon and not hold back from standing up for it and defending it.

[26:37] And sound doctrine is not just knowledge, it's life, it's strength, it's health. Sound doctrine is healthy doctrine. And so it's something we should want to have. We want to be healthy in our spiritual life and walk, it's something we should want to have healthy, sound doctrine.

[26:53] Something we want to cling to and feed upon and guard it and stand up for it and withstand false doctrine. There's many Bible verses that caution us about false doctrine.

[27:06] In Galatians 5 it talks about a little leaven and spreads through the whole lump. Galatians 5 verse 9 that's false teaching. We see Paul warns about deception.

[27:17] It's going to increase unto more and more ungodliness. 2 Timothy 2 He compares it to like a cancer, like a canker, a gangrene. A spiritual danger can cause decay.

[27:31] False doctrine it just brings so much destruction. False doctrine we could compare it to the snare of the fowler. It's like this trap that's laid for the unwary. It's a web of lies.

[27:43] You see that? I've been in churches where false doctrine just seems endemic. It's just so full of it that you know you can't really you've got to escape that.

[27:57] False doctrine is the voice of the false shepherd calling the sheep away where the wolves can devour them. And our Lord warned about false prophets and such things as wolves in sheep's clothing wanting to tear the unsuspecting to shreds.

[28:15] And so that's why it's good for us if we see something that's false doctrine we want to counter that tactfully, scripturally, lovingly exhorting the one that is in false doctrine that they can hopefully come to the truth but we must stand firm.

[28:30] False doctrine is like a counterfeit light. It's like an angel of deception in 2 Corinthians 11 14 like the devil himself is called this dazzling angel like he's masquerading as an angel of truth and yet he's not leading men to heaven but to hell and we know that only too well I know some of us have been in cults or false teachings and you think the dangers of all of that of leading people astray is such a shameful thing we know how various ones have claimed extra revelations new revelations angels speaking to them and giving them another testament of Jesus Christ or another revelation of something that historic Christianity has never known it's a hallmark of Satan and we need to be warned against it so just as we come in closing to some further thoughts

[29:30] I came across this kind of list of different ways that we can test something and it's good that we test things how do we test for sound doctrine here's some biblical tests that you can use so we see for example the scripture test does it accord with the bible does it align with the bible or does it rest on extra biblical authority you see that for example Ellen G White and all her teachings it's almost like they put that on a par with the word of god extra biblical revelations she's another one who claims to have had an angel tell her this and that and various revelations and visions and such things but yet her revelations do not accord with the bible it's extra biblical in other words it's outside of the bible and so the scripture test does it line up with scripture the christ centered test does it exalt christ alone or is it something other than christ that's getting elevated maybe another personality other than christ christ centered does it exalt jesus alone the gospel test you know galatians 1 talks about the false gospel another gospel does it teach salvation by faith through grace in christ alone or is it adding something else salvation is by grace through faith in christ alone you don't want to blur that or add to that or confuse that in any way the gospel has to be very clear and not confused the basic gospel of how we can trust christ to be our savior and know eternal life not by works of righteousness that we have done ephesians 2 8 and 9 but it's by grace through faith it's christ alone the gospel the gospel test the holiness test does this teaching does this doctrine does it promote godliness or does it not holiness is a very important factor isn't it that the teaching that we take hold of promotes holiness it promotes godliness and then we see the last one there the separation test any doctrine that promotes unity at the expense of biblical truth is not sound it's if it's promoting unity at the expense of biblical truth the ecumenical movement is a classic example of that well-meaning people but they're joining forces with rome with all the falsehood of the seventh days of all of the plethora of false ideas out there of the charismatic movement we see the ecumenical thing is so dangerous there's a need for firm separation because we cannot promote a unity that is at the expense of biblical truth and so we've got much need of discernment today the bible tells us that we should try the spirits whether they are of god test things hold fast that which is good think of the holy spirit and scripture they are together if it's the holy spirit he will act in accord with the holy scriptures it's important that the church is doctrinally sound so can I urge you in closing to stand firm on sound doctrine let's stand firm on the word of god and reject false teachings the final authority the veracity of the inspired inerrant word of god we have one in our hands that we can have complete assurance that we have the words of god we have his words every word every jot every tittle there's nothing that we can have any doubt about god has given us his word and we can be assured of that the final authority

[33:31] of it and the bereans were commended for diligently verifying doctrine through scripture they even tested the apostle paul as it reads of them that they were more noble than those in thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and they searched the scriptures daily oh let's check out what this preacher is saying chapter and verse you know is it right they searched the scriptures daily day after day whether those things were so do that with me do that with anyone who you receive teaching from make sure it accords with the scriptures search the scriptures to see whether those things are so so to recap sound doctrine it's vital and it's not something to shy away from to be afraid of it's like refreshing rain it's like the dew upon the grass it's not something to scorn it's something desirable it's something precious and sound doctrine it's healthy it's wholesome it'll do us good deep down in our soul it'll revitalize and refresh our spiritual life so sound doctrine it's thoroughly biblical it's centered on Christ and there is such a thing as false doctrine too sometimes we get a bit blasé oh they've just got a different opinion actually there's only one truth it's not shades of grey it's actually is it true or not true is it biblical or is it not biblical and we need to be alert and discerning because false doctrine is a thing and it can be disguised as something that looks good like the angel of light but it's deadly and so doctrine matters we've got to get the doctrine right

[35:12]  God helping us it matters what we believe the teachings that we follow to recap the meaning of sound doctrine it means healthy teaching it's going to do you so good it's a healthy thing it's healthy for you to have sound doctrine it's good for you healthy teaching is bible doctrine and it's the opposite of false doctrine the importance of it it brings spiritual nourishment salvation the most blessed doctrine is the doctrine of salvation we've got to get that right and then godly living follows on doesn't it the source of sound doctrine God's word alone let this be the standard the plumb line the measuring the measurement of everything whether it's straight up and down we've got to be biblical the urgency of sound doctrine we're commanded to preach it we can expect a rejection of truth we can expect a falling away we can expect a time when they will not endure sound doctrine and we can expect a time when there's a danger of false doctrine we've seen that sound doctrine it's like the refreshing rain it's like the dew upon the grass it's like a healthy tree as the man that's godly is stationed there planted there by the river and it's like a healthy body as well and so let's study the word of god defend the truth of the scripture withstand false doctrine and have those tests that we talked about is it scriptural is it christ-centered is it gospel is it holiness driven is it according with separation stand firm on sound doctrine it matters what we believe and friends here tonight what matters really the most for every soul have you trusted christ for your salvation we can get confused with all kinds of teachings that are wayward that are not scriptural that are false ideas about how to be saved it's trusting christ alone for your saving it's trusting christ alone christ died for our sins and you can trust him you can trust christ alone for your salvation just come to him and let his truth transform your life let us pray lord we thank you that your word tells us we can know the truth and we know the truth shall make us free we pray lord for that truth of the soul saving gospel to not be clouded that we would have a very clear understanding of that message of salvation and lord for the soundness of doctrine that it would be something that we'll yearn for it we'll yearn for right doctrine for true doctrine for bible doctrine help us lord to discern between true and false between the spirit of error and the spirit of truth lord that we can be a biblical people and we'll be firmly grounded and planted like that man planted by the rivers of water lord like it tells of your word as being that life source as that refreshing rain as that dew upon the grass lord may we love your word may we grow in this faith may we have a healthy faith as we have a healthy feeding of our soul with that healthy teaching of that sound doctrine of your word we pray in Jesus precious name amen