...by clause and almost word by word.
In the ninth verse of the first chapter,
we hear the Holy Spirit say that a
bishop, a presbyter, a teacher, a leader, a
pastor, must have, among other things, these qualifications.
He must hold fast the faithful word of
sound doctrine.
We want to talk about that today.
Now, among the qualifications for Christian leaders, this
is one.
That he may hold fast the word of
sound doctrine so he can do three things.
Teach the teachable, correct the mistaken, and silence
the false teachers.
These three things are mentioned here.
That he can teach those who are teachable.
You can't teach any other kind.
That he can correct those who are teachable
but mistaken.
And then that he can squelch the gainsayers
convince them, at any rate, those who are
contentious and argumentative and take positions which are
not tenable according to the scriptures.
Now Christ and the apostles and the church
fathers held that there is a fountain out
of which truth proceeds.
This was part of the teaching of Christ.
This was taken up by the apostles and
was taught by them.
The same Holy Spirit teaching them has taught
the church fathers later that there is a
fountain out of which all truth proceeds.
So that Christ and his church are not
searching for truth.
They have found it.
Christ is himself that truth.
I suppose that there is scarcely anything a
man may set himself to do or claim
for himself that is any more comforting to
his carnal ego than to imagine himself as
a searcher for truth.
I have talked to many intelligent people, otherwise
intelligent, who assured me that they were seekers
after truth.
But I want you to hear that Christ
was not a seeker after truth.
Christ was the truth.
Christ is the truth.
And his apostles were not seekers after truth.
Neither did the church fathers claim to be.
They of course searched in the truth that
they might know more of the truth.
But the idea that they did not know
where the truth was found, but that they
were out searching up and down the universe
throughout all the corridors of possible human thought,
that they might locate the truth, that is
a pagan concept and is not Christian and
was never uttered by Christ.
Not one such idea ever entered the mind
of an apostle.
And the church fathers, so far as they
held by the truth, never uttered any such
ideas.
They believed that there is a criterion against
which all ideas are to be judged.
That there is not, as some believe, a
relativity of truth, but that there is an
absoluteness of truth.
Some truth, of course, may be pragmatic and
relative, the truths that are down here in
this world, the truths between men and men,
the truths among nations.
But the Christian truth is not a relative
thing nor a pragmatic thing.
It is an absolute thing.
It is spoken from the heart of truth.
It flows out of the fountain of truth.
It is the criterion against which all supposed
truths are judged.
And our fathers believed, along with Christ and
his apostles, that there is a divine revelation,
the same fountain, the same criterion, but now
a divine revelation telling us what we need
to know.
Not telling us everything, but telling us what
we need to know about God.
The Bible does not tell us everything about
God.
To believe so would be nonsense.
If it could be said properly of Christ
that everything he did, if they were written
in a book, would fill the world, the
world could not indeed contain them, then how
much more could it be said that if
everything that could be known about God were
to be put down in a book, we
would not have one small volume like this.
We would have shelf after shelf filling the
world and rising thousands of miles into the
air in all directions.
For God being the infinite, God cannot have
all that's known, all that can be known
about him revealed.
So the Bible does not tell us all
that can be known about God.
It simply tells us all that we need
to know about God.
That's quite a difference.
And so that the Christian is not one
who is reading through all the philosophy of
the Greeks to find out about God.
He believes the scriptures tell him all that
he needs to know about God.
In addition, of course, to the revelation he
has within his own heart, in his human
conscience, and in nature.
For the heavens declare the glory of God.
Then he believes also that there is a
divine revelation which teaches him all he needs
to know about man and all he needs
to know about moral responsibility and about sin
and about salvation and that this revelation has
validity and veracity and authority and finality.
There are those, I suppose, who would say
that this is a very narrow view of
things.
This is Christ's view of things and this
is the view of all the apostles and
of the church fathers.
That this revelation, this fountain, this criterion, this
revelation has validity and veracity but has also
full authority and finality and that it is
either or.
Christ said, He that is not with me
is against me.
You're either for me or you're not.
You're on my side or you're not.
No compromising, no modifying, no editing.
There it stands, the holy book of God.
And this criterion, this revelation, we call the
holy scriptures.
Now that's what Christ taught and that's what
the apostles believed and that's what the church
fathers held and that's what the founder of
every one of the major denominations believed.
Whatever their children believed, that's what the fathers
believed.
That's what John Knox believed, the founder of
the Presbyterian church.
That's what John Wesley believed, the founder of
the Methodist church and that's what John the
Baptist believed, the founder of the Baptist church.
And that is what the fathers believed.
That's what Luther believed, who founded what's known
as the Lutheran church.
Every reputable Christian denomination, the fathers and founders
of those denominations, believed what I have said,
that along with Christ and the apostles, that
there is a fountain, a criterion, a revelation,
which is full enough for us to spend
a lifetime studying, which is authoritative and final
and thus the Holy Ghost says a teacher
should be one who is convinced of the
faithful word and who holds sound doctrine.
Now, there are some who believe contrary to
this and while I rarely do this, I
want to take time out to step aside
a little bit and notice this.
For there are those who believe otherwise than
what I have stated and if they do
so believe, this is their right.
As free moral agents, they have a perfect
right to believe what they want to believe
if they're willing to pay the price and
take the consequences.
For not all men have faith, said Paul,
therefore we're not to be indignant because not
all men have faith just as not all
men have sight and not all men have
hearing.
But faith that is mere conformity is not
faith at all.
The faith of our fathers is not an
operative, efficacious faith until it becomes the faith
of their sons.
Merely to believe something because you were brought
up in a church that believes it is
to indicate that you are taking your beliefs
second hand and borrowing your convictions.
Borrowed convictions never mean anything to any man.
I believe I'll step further aside if you
can step aside from where you've stepped aside
and say that the problem and trouble with
America today is that so many good Americans
take their democracy for granted and they have
borrowed their conceptions, they've not thought them through
and the result is they're victims of whatever
winds of doctrine may blow from Moscow or
somewhere else.
Borrowed convictions and ideas that are inherited are
of no value whatsoever.
I believe in the faith of our fathers
but I'll not rest until the faith of
my fathers becomes the faith of their son.
And when the faith of the fathers becomes
the faith of their children then their children
will have the same power and position and
hold the same position as they.
I say I do not believe in enforced
faith.
We should set the truth before men and
we should show them that faith is impossible
to pride and that there must be penitence
before there can be faith and we should
warn them of the consequences of impenitence then
we should leave them to their God and
their conscience.
For Christians that are made under pressure are
not Christians at all.
They bear the same relation to a true
Christian as a cultured pearl bears to a
real pearl or a plastic flower bears to
a flower that blossoms in the garden.
Now there's a strange incongruity among those who
hold otherwise and there are many and they're
getting more to be more of them every
day They hold that the Bible is not
a fountain out of which truth proceeds that
it is not a criterion against which religious
ideas may be judged that it is not
a revelation a valid revelation having authority but
it's something else.
This is a strange incongruity indeed because these
persons have churches and they have churches forgetting
that the very word and the very thought
and idea of having a church grows out
of the New Testament and yet they do
not believe the New Testament except the parts
they want to and have no authority for
existing as a church.
Now I want to ask you a question
or two just think it over with me
today.
What about believing that the Bible is a
book of moral myths?
This is the kindly language that's used about
our Bible by some that it is a
pious fraud they say a pious fraud, a
pious myth that it is useful just as
a mother when she tells her child that
if he doesn't be good a policeman will
get him it has some validity and some
usefulness though it is not sound and certainly
is pragmatic it's not absolute.
Now there are those who believe that about
the Bible that it is an inspiring book
but it's not a fountain out of which
all truth grows that it's a comforting book
but it's not a criterion against which all
truth can be judged that it's a helpful
book but it is not a valid and
final revelation from God and so each Sunday
these people assemble to quote from a Bible
which they hold is not trustworthy to pray
to a God they read about in a
book that they do not believe in the
name of a Savior who said he was
God and wasn't and who for that reason
was either false or deceived and they seek
to bring in the kingdom of heaven which
they have heard about in a book they
no longer believe and they bury their dead
and in burying them quote the words I
am the resurrection and the life spoken by
a man who is still dead or they
quote at their burial of their dead let
not your heart be troubled words spoken by
a man whose heart was shortly thereafter broken
I consider this infinite nonsense and I understand
what Jesus meant when he said I would
thou art hot or cold because thou art
lukewarm and neither hot or cold I will
spew thee out of my mouth and I
believe that to join the legions of the
damned and to march self-consciously and honestly
in the legions of those who stand against
God brings more respect among the white robed
angels in heaven and the very God himself
than to go to a church which is
false and contribute to the delinquency of those
who hold truths that are not so either
what he said is true or it's not
true if it is true we are under
plenary obligation to believe it and if we
believe it we are instantly responsible to obey
it and if it is not true then
the whole concept of the church is false
and if every time we enter a church
and put a dollar in the basket we
are contributing to the falsehood and helping to
propagate error if Christ be not raised says
the Holy Ghost if Christ be not risen
then is your preaching vain and your faith
is vain and we are found fault witnesses
if Christ be not raised ye are yet
in your sins and them that sleep in
Christ are perished and if in this life
only we have hope we are of all
men most miserable there is no question about
it salty old agnostic Henry Mencken said years
ago that there is no question about it
if the Bible is true the fundamentalists are
right he wasn't a fundamentalist he said there
was never anything written by any fundamentalist that
he liked except the colored poem on creation
but he said nevertheless we'll all have to
admit either the Bible is true or it
isn't if it isn't then anybody can be
right if it is then the orthodox people
are right those who hold that there is
a fountain out of which truth proceeds and
this is the fountain that there's a criterion
against which all ideas can be measured and
this is the criterion that there is a
divine revelation having authority and finality and this
is that revelation now that's what a great
unbeliever said who was a salty, downright honest
man though an unbeliever and I grant a
man a right to be an unbeliever but
I cannot find it in my heart I
cannot find any wells of charity deep enough
within me to enable me to respect a
man who will go to a church which
is supposed to have been founded by Christ
and at the same time not believe in
the deity of the Christ who founded that
church who follows slavishly along in a weakened
and watered down tradition of a Bible which
they do not hold to be the word
of God I say again I would rather
boldly lay my Bible down and walk out
into the sunshine breathe deeply and say from
here on I'm on my own than weakly
to hang around an organization whose Christ is
not Christ and whose God is not God
and whose Bible is not valid and whose
doctrines are not sound and whose faith is
not true I say it's infinite nonsense and
it ought to be known for what it
is I've used a lot of ifs here
you notice a lot of ifs if Christ
be not praised then we're self-deceived and
he was self-deceived and we are fools
indeed to seek comfort on the bosom of
a psychopath a man who had visions and
dreamed dreams but had no foundation under what
he believed and what he dreamed but ah
my brethren I thank God that I can
say now is Christ risen from the dead
and become the first fruits of them that
slept for as by man came death by
man also came the resurrection from the dead
and Jesus Christ our Lord before he died
said destroy this temple and in three days
I will build it up again and three
days passed and he raised it up again
and they said of him God has made
this same Jesus whom you've crucified Lord and
Christ you and I are not looking for
light we're not searching for truth but reverently
and meekly we can say upon us has
the light shined all the birds and bees
and toads and bugs and frogs and beasts
and flowers and trees in the meadow yonder
and in the forest and over the plain
when the sun rises in the morning could
if they had intelligence reverently say thank God
the sun is risen but they would take
no credit for the sun they would not
beat their little chess and say I am
better than thou for I have the sunlight
they didn't bring the sun up they didn't
create the sun it was not because they
were good or worthy that the sun shone
the sun shone because God made the sun
to shine and so you and I can
say I thank him reverently that the sun
shines upon me this morning that the light
of truth has reached my heart and I
believe in the book and I believe in
the Christ of the book and I believe
in the gospel that flows out of the
book and I believe in the reality of
the faith of our fathers and yet I
do not proudly arch my chest and say
I am better than thou I say just
as the poor little toad there in the
meadow or the rabbit in the briar patch
might say thank God for the sunshine but
I didn't give it thank God for the
light but I didn't create it thank God
that the sun shines on the meadow and
on the pond this morning but I didn't
make the sun nor the pond God made
both what hast thou that thou hast not
received when you begin to speak with dogmatism
and I believe we Christians ought to be
dogmatic when we begin to speak with dogmatism
they shy away from us and say you're
dogmatic you're sure of yourself you're holier than
thou you're better than we how little they
know the true Christian how little they know
that in his heart he feels he's the
worst of all men not worthy to be
a Christian indeed and that Jesus Christ has
come out of mercy and grace and kindness
alone and saved him and that he's earned
nothing if he got his own desserts the
best Christian in the world knows if he
had his own desserts he'd be in hell
this hour he knows it and he believes
it so all the praise goes to the
one who made the sun all the glory
goes to the one who made the light
not to the one upon whom the light
shines the light shines upon me but the
glory of the light belongs to the one
who made the light not upon the poor
little one upon whom it has fallen and
after he had risen from the dead Peter
said God has made this same Jesus whom
you've crucified both Lord and Christ and he
showed himself alive after his passion by many
infallible proofs and the Holy Spirit in that
book of Hebrews said that God who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets
hath in these last days spoken unto us
in his Son whom he hath appointed heir
of all things by whom also he made
the worlds who upholding all things by the
word of his power and when he had
by himself purged our sins sat down at
the right hand of God from whence he
shall come the creed says to judge the
quick and the dead being given a name
says the Holy Ghost which is greater than
angels and as he has inherited a more
excellent name than they and the Father judgeth
no man but he has given all judgment
into the hands of his Son and again
he said the words that I speak unto
you they shall judge you in the last
days people say I am confused there are
so many doctrines not by any doctrine preached
by a mortal man will God judge his
people or judge any people in the last
day he will judge them according to what
they have done with light received he will
judge them according to what they have done
with his words the words that I speak
unto you the same shall judge you in
the last day and then our Lord Jesus
Christ laid this down on the line forever
and forever and forever and said if any
man will do my will he shall know
of the doctrine whether it be of God
or whether I merely speak from myself so
he threw faith back upon morals and made
it a matter of conscience and a matter
of penitence a matter of righteousness or sin
whether we believe or not those who do
not believe who say this is a comforting
book but it's false in spots this is
an inspiring book but it's not true what
nonsense that I am man made in the
image of God capable of judging right or
wrong that I should go to a comforter
that can't comfort himself that I should seek
immortality from a man who couldn't get out
of his own grave that I should go
for comfort to a man who was so
badly mixed up he needed a psychiatrist who
believed he was God and wasn't who believed
he had come from God but was mistaken
who was a victim of his times and
a child of his age as our friends
say no no my brother now is Christ
risen from the dead and has become the
first fruits of them that slept God has
given into his hands all power in heaven
and earth and under the earth and in
the day to come they will crown him
with all crowns in heaven above and on
earth beneath and from the hot caverns of
hell they'll drag some kind of crown and
offer it in bitterness and self-accusation to
the man Christ Jesus who was born of
the virgin to die upon his pilot and
to rise again the third day no no
my Christian friend you need not fear my
Christian brother you need not worry about what
the liberals say you need not worry about
what the radicals or what the cults say
this week I got a letter I think
I still have it here I do Pastor
Tozer Christian Missionary Alliance and that letter said
thank you for your preaching over the radio
I appreciate it so very much and I
see that you're seeking something I am giving
you some literature and I respectfully ask that
you read this literature and see if this
isn't what you want enclosed a five dollar
check for your personal use that was from
a member of the Latter Day Saints I'm
going to write the kindest letter that I
am able to write and send back the
check I don't want to be supported by
false teachers and I am going to say
I am not seeking anything only more of
what I have I am not searching for
anything only to know my God better that's
all I don't want to know yours I
am not seeking in a church or a
false church that claims that Adam and Jesus
Christ were gods I am not seeking for
truth in a black confines of a coal
mine but in the book of the Lord
God not in the book of Mormon but
in the book of light but I'm not
going to be unkind this is a kind
woman meaning well but I don't want her
money and I don't know why she should
ever enjoy my preaching but anyway if any
man will do my will he shall know
of the doctrine let me say to any
self-appointed truth seekers who imagine themselves to
be golden haired noble bright faced young people
marching out into the world of thought looking
for truth let me tell you you're deeply
deceived and deluded you're doing nothing of the
kind you're seeking to escape truth not to
find it for truth is a hard master
and truth will not impart itself to sinners
truth will not give itself to rebels if
any man is willing to know my will
and to do my will he shall know
and as soon as a man is ready
to do God's will the light flashes in
on him and his nose is converted and
everything is right with his soul so my
dear friends let us stop kidding ourselves let
us stop worrying about the wisdom of the
liberal the wisdom of the liberal is a
compound of incongruity and nonsense too awful too
terrible to be understood by a mortal man
either he's God or he's not God either
this book is God's book or it's not
God's book but for me timidly like a
frightened mouse to crawl on the edge between
belief and unbelief in the little twilight zone
of uncertainty is impossible for my nature either
I'm for him or I'm against him I'm
on his side or I'm not I believe
his book or I don't he did rise
or he didn't if he didn't the whole
thing's a hoax if he did the whole
thing is a glorious sunburst of everlasting reality
and I believe that he did so my
dear friends take the book believe the word
accept the truth may put Jesus Christ before
your eyes and keep him in focus and
as you obey him and believe him light
will grow on you then you can seek
truth seek it within the book but not
outside the book this is why I dare
not add anything to the book I dare
not come here quoting Plato I dare not
come here though I've read all that stuff
I still dare not come here teaching you
that which was taught even by Epictetus or
by Marcus Aurelius or by Hammurabi or any
of the great Hammurabi or any of the
great teachers not one of them do I
dare teach this is the book this is
the criterion this is the fountain this is
the revelation and standing tall and white and
glorious and beautiful up out of that book
is a man a man destined to rule
the world and to judge it and to
hurl the unbelieving nations down like a broken
vessel kiss the sun lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his
anger is kindled but a little rush to
the arms of Jesus surrender to his will
and the light will break and your doubts
will disappear and you will know in whom
you have believed Amen