Paul's Verdict on False Teachers

Well, let's go ahead and direct our attention to the message this morning. just by way of preparation, feel free to open to First Timothy chapter one. If you have your Bibles, if you're visiting with us, we have Bibles under the seat in front of you. and so feel free to grab a Bible.

Again, turn to First Timothy, chapter one. I, I would like to begin this morning with a rhetorical question. And the question is this, wouldn't it be great if the influence of false teachers never came our way? Wouldn't that be awesome?

Wouldn't it be awesome if we were guaranteed that, that we would never ever be influenced by false teaching. Wouldn't it be great to know that not one of our brothers or sisters in Christ would ever be influenced by and impacted by the deadly doctrines of the false. But the fact is, however, that some from within our own body, have been influenced by false teachers. Historically, if you were to track with us, there have been some from within our body who have deviated from the gospel.

There have been some, sad to say, from within our body, who have rejected the purity and simplicity of the. Gospel itself for other gospels and so we have experienced people from within our body. Other churches have experienced people from within their body who have been held captive to the teachings of false teachers. And so you see, brothers and sisters, we are not necessarily immune from the deadly influence of false teachers.

I'm sure many of you have had the experience of going to the local Christian bookstore and there you, you look at the books on the shelves and you begin to thumb through some of the books and, and for some of you who are discerning and can read between the lines, you read through some of the stuff and you think to yourself, wow, this is absolutely horrible. But no doubt there are some of you who have picked up a book thinking it is good, brought it home with you, and began to read it, and it has had an impact on your life, but it is, it is, it deviates the, the, the things that are being written, the things that are, that are being said they deviate from the truth and, and in some cases, maybe there are some of us who don't even realize that we have, made a departure away.

from the gospel. Well, the fact is that false teachers do exist.

This point, I think can be proven not just by our own personal experiences, but this is proven as well by the text that we are going to look at this morning. In the passage that we look at this morning, it becomes very clear that there is such a thing as false teachers who oftentimes arise from within the church. We must be aware of false teachers. And in our passage, the apostle Paul will present his verdict on false teachers.

He will present his verdict on false teachers in order to protect the people of God from their deadly influence and to motivate the people of God to fully embrace the gospel as the only source of life transformation. And so if you would look with me, please, to 1 Timothy chapter 1, we will focus our attention on verses 6 and 7, but to get the bigger picture, I would like to begin reading in verse 31 Timothy chapter 1, beginning in verse 3. Listen to what the Lord says or to what Paul says to Timothy in, in this, this book here.

as I urge you, Upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogy.

Apologies which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God, which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. For some men straying from these things have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. Join with me in prayer, please.

Gracious heavenly Father, we just come before you and we thank you for your word. It is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. We thank you for your word, because it is life-giving and life sustaining and life growing, Lord, we thank you for your word, for this special revelation that you have given. To us for your word which reveals to us what we need for life and godliness.

Your word reveals to us the gospel itself, and it helps us to understand the centrality of the gospel for daily living. We understand because you have given to us your word, that the gospel itself is the foundation upon which we stand, and I pray, Lord, that you would Motivate us to continue on in persevering, Lord, in terms of standing upon the foundation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We come to you, Lord, confessing the fact that we have sinned and fallen short of your glory, but we also come to you, Lord, embracing your grace and your mercy and your compassion and your kindness, knowing Lord, that you have provided for us.

A savior, and that Jesus, you died on the cross in our place, so that Lord, through faith in you alone, we might have life.

We come to you, oh God, not in our own righteousness, but we come to you now in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, imparted to us who believe. We come to you, Lord, having been Given our sin because Jesus Christ was punished as if he were the sinner in our place. We come to you, Lord, with much praise, with much thanksgiving, asking Lord that you would alert our attention to the reality of false teachers and that Lord God, you would motivate us, Lord, to reject the influence of false teachers and to embrace the gospel as the only source for life transformation.

The gospel is the only thing that can change our hearts from the inside out, so that our lives are changed as a result of us staring into the face of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Show us your glory, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. And so the message this morning is entitled Paul's verdict on false Teachers. Paul presents his verdict on false teachers in order to protect believers from their influence and motivate them to fully embrace the gospel as the only source of life transformation.

And so let us go ahead then and move to the first point. Number 1, false teachers. Often spring up from within the visible church. False teachers and their influence often springs up from within the visible church.

In verse 6, the apostle Paul says, for some men straying, OK, the idea of straying here is that they had been exposed to the truth. They had perhaps to a degree. Embrace the truth of the gospel. They had heard it, they had known it, they had understood it, but yet here Paul is saying, some men straying, straying, they were straying from the truth of the gospel.

We might ask ourselves the question, Paul, are there any particular men that you have in mind? While on one hand, I would say he is speaking generally, On the other hand, I do think he gives us some specificity in terms of who it is that he is talking about. If you fast forward in chapter 1, and move to verse 18, listen to what the apostle Paul says to Timothy. He says, this command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good Father.

Keeping faith and a good conscience, keeping faith and a good conscience. In verse 6, Paul says some men straying from these things, and if we look at the previous verse, that these things include faith and a good conscience. And so he says, keeping faith, Timothy, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck. In regards to their faith, when you fail to keep the gospel central, and you fail in terms of love from a pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith, the net effect of that is that you suffer shipwreck in regard to your faith.

And he says in verse 20, among these, among these who have suffered shipwreck are Hymeneus and Alexander. And so in verse 6, when the apostle Paul says some men straying from these things, no doubt he has in the back of his mind, Hymeneus and Alexander as examples of men who have strayed. And know that she says that I have delivered them over to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme. Any deviation from the gospel is a serious deviation.

It's interesting because the apostle Paul predicted. That false teachers would arise. He predicted it in reference to this church that Timothy is pastoring. He had said before that this church would be influenced by false teachers.

In Acts 20:29. many of us know the background, the apostle Paul, he had ministered to the Ephesians for some 3 years, and here in Acts chapter 20, he, he calls upon the Ephesians elders, and he gathers them together, and he gives to them a farewell speech, and he has a lot to say. But among the things that he has to say, he says this beginning in Acts 20:29, he says, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, from within, men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of 3 years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. You see, the apostle Paul predicted that these false teachers would come. And in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6, when he says, for some men straying, he's basically speaking of those whom he had predicted would come along to begin with. With the reminder that false teachers spring up from within the church.

Let us turn our attention to the substance of their error. Point number 2, false teachers stray from teaching and applying gospel truth. Look back at verse 6 again. He says some men straying from these things.

Now, obviously, we, we ask ourselves the question, what is it that they're straying from? What are these things that he says that they are straying from? What are these things? And the nearest antecedent is in the previous verse.

We go to verse 5 and verse 5 tells us what these things are that these some men were straying from. They were straying from what Paul says is being the goal of his instruction. Paul says that the goal or the effect of our gospel instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. That's what Paul says is the goal of gospel instruction.

When we proclaim the gospel, when we present Christ and Christ crucified, buried, resurrection. directed ascended to the right hand of the Father and coming again someday, when we proclaim the gospel, the effect of the gospel in the lives of the people of God is that they are transformed from the inner man out. They are transformed, they, they live lives of love, and that love is rooted in the inner transformation, love from a pure heart, good conscience, and a sincere faith.

And so this God Gospel instruction and gospel application is what it is that the false teachers were drifting away from.

False teachers stray from teaching and applying gospel truth. They don't seem to understand the power of God inside of the gospel to bring about transformation in the lives of people. They drift away from that. They don't realize that in order for the people of God to experience change, practical change in their lives.

What they need is a presentation of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But these false teachers in subtle ways begin to drift away from gospel centrality in their ministries. They fail to teach, to proclaim the gospel, and they fail in their application of the truths of the gospel. Brothers and sisters, let us learn to never, ever, ever deviate from the centrality of the gospel itself to effect genuine transformation in our lives and in the lives of our brothers.

And sisters. And so false teachers greatly error in deviating from the gospel, but there is more that Paul has to say about them, moving us to point number 3. Number 3, false teachers love to teach. Many of you have experienced, seeing or observing false teachers, and, and do they not enjoy what they are doing?

They love to teach. In verse 7, Paul says, wanting to be teachers, wanting, the word wanting carries with it the idea of desiring. They desire to be teachers, they love to be teachers. They enjoy the idea of being teachers.

They have a strong inner motivation to teach. False teachers love opportunities to teach what they believe and, and they want to have an impact on the people that they are teaching. They are enthusiastic about teaching and eager to seize the opportunities to do so. And so, false teachers love to teach and I believe this is part of their appeal.

They get before the people of God and they start teaching and they're very impassioned about what they're teaching, and there's people that listen to them and they're like, man, I really like what that person has to say, but many of the people of God oftentimes are undiscerning in that they don't detect the error in what the false teachers are saying. Well, let us go ahead and, and move on to the next point number 4, false teachers connect their teaching to scripture, and this also is another part of their appeal.

It is not just that they love to teach, but they, they want to teach the law. They want to teach.

the word of God. In verse 7, he says, wanting to be teachers of the law, and we will understand law here as being synonymous with God's word, i.e. the Old Testament, they want to teach the people of God out of the scriptures, out of the Old Testament. They want to teach and they do so teach out of the Old Testament.

False teachers connect their teachings to the scripture. They are often very good at quoting Bible verse after Bible verse in an attempt to convince the people of God of what they believe. False teachers will typically seek to, to undermine various doctrines, important. Doctrines, central doctrines of the faith, false teachers out there would want to, to lead us to believe that the Bible itself is not necessarily an errant or that it is not sufficient for life and godliness.

False teachers out there would want us to, to not believe that there is power in the gospel exclusively for life transformation. False teachers out there would want us to disbelieve that Jesus Christ is full. Holy God and fully man, false teachers out they would want us to question whether or not it is true that we are indeed saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Earlier in the week, I had some Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door, and so I had the opportunity to speak to these Jehovah's Witnesses and, and they would, they, they took me to various passages of the Bible.

In Colossians chapter one, it says that Christ is the firstborn, and they emphasize that, see, he is the firstborn of all creation, he is the first created of all creation, and I had to explain to them that firstborn actually means preeminent one. He is the preeminent one. He is the one to whom we should worship and pay homage to. the, the Jehovah's Witnesses might take us and, and as they did with me, taking us to, to John 14:28, where Jesus is recorded as saying that the Father is greater than I.

And the Jehovah's Witnesses would say, there you have it, there is a distinction between the Father and the Son. Christ himself said that the Father is greater than I, He is Jehovah God, and Christ is one of his creations, and I have to explain to them and say, what, what he means there is that he is not greater in terms of essence, but greater in terms of position and status. That, that Christ himself said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Christ himself said, I am the Father, we are one.

Christ himself said before Abraham was, I am, therefore making himself out to be equal to God. The Jews knew why they hated Christ so much. It was because of his blasphemy from their perspective, that he was saying that he was God in the flesh. He was proclaiming himself to be God, and the Jehovah's Witnesses, they will say, but the Trinity is nowhere found in the.

Scriptures. You don't find the word Trinity, but I respond by saying, you may not find the word Trinity, but you find what it is that the Trinity teaches very clearly in the scripture, and the Bible makes it clear that there is one God who exists eternally in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And we could spend, hours just looking at the scriptures to prove that Jesus Christ is fully God, that he is fully man, to prove the doctrine of the Trinity.

Our Orthodox and Catholic friends are, are other examples of false teachers who would come along and say, you're not saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

They would come along and, and they would want us to believe that in order for us to be saved, we must have good works in our lives, that good works are necessary for our salvation. And in the process, what they do is they, they, they, they deviate greatly from the pure gospel itself, because the gospel tells us that our salvation is a free gift from God. Jesus Christ himself being the one that paid the price, for we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. It's not a result of any work that we can do.

Our liberal friends would question the inerrant of scripture, and there's example after example after example of false teachers out there, some of them from without, some spring up from within. there are so-called Christian counselors out there who would say, That pastors are not trained. To help the people of God with certain problems. these are just examples of how false teachers come along.

They love to teach the scriptures. They deviate from the truth of what scripture is actually teaching in the process. Moving on to 0.5. Number 4, false teachers connect their teaching to scripture.

Number 5, false teachers are very confident in their teaching. You see, they love to teach. they connect their teaching to scripture and they are very confident in their teaching, and I think that's part of their, their draw, that's part of what makes them alluring because they speak with such confidence and you may hear some of these folks on, I think it's TBN or TBS, one of those stations where you've got these folks teaching and some of them do a halfway. Decent job, but there's so many out there that they are just so far removed from the gospel as the foundation from their ministry that, that they, we, we would deem them false teachers.

in verse 7, he says, wanting to be teachers of the law even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident. Assertions. They are very confident and again, this is to some degree, one of the reasons why they are so alluring. Well, let us continue on then as we move closer to, to Paul's evaluation of them., point number 6, here's what Paul says about these confident, Bible-centered, loves to teach false teachers.

He says false teachers do not know. What they are talking about, false teachers do not know what they are talking about. Look at verse 7. He says, wanting to be teachers of the law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assert.

These false teachers, as confident as they are, at the end of the day, Paul would come along and say, they don't know what they are talking about. You see, they come across in a very energized, Bible-based, confident manner, but Paul would say, don't be fooled. Don't be duped by these false teachers. Their main error, I would say, is, is typically in deviating from an approach that is decidedly gospel centered.

They fail to realize the centrality of the gospel for life and ministry. They go astray in a balanced approach to the scripture, they err in their understanding, they may err on any given teaching of scripture. Oftentimes these false teachers fail in their understanding of the Bible, they fail in their understanding of God. There are those out there who would say that God is in the process of discovering himself, and they in the process undermine the doctrine of his sovereignty and the doctrine of his, his, just his knowing everything and being able to cause everything to work after the counsel of his own will.

There are, there are those who would say that he's not sovereign, but he's discovering himself, and he's coming to learn things about themselves. There are all kinds of examples of, of teachings out there that deviate, from the truth. oftentimes these false teachers fail in their understanding of God. We, we referred to the Trinity before.

They, they, they get messed up in their presentation of Christ and salvation and even the doctrine of sanctification and so on and so forth. Not only does Paul say here that false teachers do not know what they are talking about, he has also already declared that their teaching fails to bear fruit. This brings us to the last point, number 7. Number 7, false teachers fail through their teaching to bear genuine gospel rooted fruit, false teachers fail through their teaching.

To bear genuine gospel rooted fruit. Look at verse 6, he says, having turned aside to fruitless discussion, the substance of what they are discussing is fruitless, and the end result of that is fruitlessness in their lives and ministries. That's not to say that they don't oftentimes look good on the outside. But because they are not proclaiming the gospel as the foundation for life change, the net effect is lives cannot be changed in the way in which God wants them to change.

Verse 5 once again says the, the effect of our gospel instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, a faith without hypocrisy, That is, that is the effect of gospel instruction. So, so with, with these false teachers, any wonder they failed to bear genuine gospel fruit, they have deviated from God's power onto salvation for all who believe. We have considered Paul's verdict on false teachers. Number 1, false teachers often spring up from within the visible church.

Secondly, they stray from teaching and applying the gospel. Third, they love to teach. Fourth, false teachers connect their teaching to scripture. 5th, they are very confident in their teaching, and again, this is part of their appeal, loving to teach, teaching the scriptures, confident in their teaching, but his verdict, his conclusion, what he has to say about them, 7, 66.

False teachers do not know what they are talking about. They are deceived, they are wrong, they are in gross error and then 7 here, false teachers fail through their teaching to bear genuine gospel rooted fruit. Let's turn our attention now to a few points of application. Just a few points of application.

What do we make of this passage? How do we respond to this passage? What do we do having, having considered these, these, Paul's verdict on false teachers? Well, one of the things for certain is this, know the gospel, know the gospel, make sure that it, and, and not just intellectually, but knowing it in your experience, know the gospel.

Understand that the gospel teaches that, that Christ died on the cross for us as sinners, and that as sinners, we needed a savior, and Christ is the savior. Know that our number one need is a savior because our number one problem is that we are sinners, and that in order for us to be right before God, there is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves to be right before him, but we must embrace the finished work of Christ at the cross, know the gospel, know that Christ absorbed into himself all of the wrath that we deserve.

He took our place at the cross, and the wrath of the Father fell upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So that the love of the Father could fall upon us.

Know that through the gospel, we have one who, who, who, who was treated as if he were a sinner so that we would be treated as if we were holy, righteous, and without blame, and had been so from eternity past into the future. Know that there has been a great exchange that took place at the cross. He became sin who knew no sin so that we might be made, the righteousness of God, know the gospel, understand the gospel, read good literature that would direct your attention to a right understanding of the gospel.

Take Pastor Mike Berry's theology courses, those of which when he speaks about the gospel, you can learn more fully the truths of the gospel and how it, works itself out in life.

And so by way of application, know the gospel, know it. Another application, the second one is, knowing the gospel, meditate on it, meditate on it. One of the things that I like to say to people is figuratively speaking, it is helpful to have a set of cards, a set of pictures in your pocket, and on a regular basis, pull those pictures out and take a look at those pictures. Can I take a minute to show you some of those pictures?

Let me, let me show you a picture of the. Gospel. Here is a picture of the gospel. And what do you see?

An old rugged cross with Christ hanging from the cross, with big nails pounded into his hands and into his feet. Look at this picture closely. And what do you see? Blood dripping from his hands, blood dripping.

from his feet. What do you see as you look closer at this image, at this picture of Christ on the cross, you see a crown of thorns pressed hard upon his brow, and blood dripping from his face. You see a man there writhing in agony underneath the torment of those who have sinned against him and You have nailed him to the cross. What do you see there at the cross, the wrath of Almighty God being poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ, every last bit of his anger towards sinners poured out directly upon Christ and Christ alone.

Do you hear anything? As you look at that picture, do you hear the words that Christ is speaking? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Do you hear that in those words, he is receiving upon himself wrath to such a point that God the Father had to turn his back across, back away from his son.

You hear what he says from the cross, you hear that the groans of agony, That's coming from Christ at the cross. Do you hear him say in his prayers for his enemies, Father, Forgive them. Forgive them countless numerous times. Father, forgive them, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

Do you hear Christ from the cross whispering, it is finished, it is. Finished, that the work of redemption was complete in Christ at the cross. You take a look at this picture and stare at the picture of the cross and see Christ's suffering and know that therein is the power of God unto salvation, sanctification. Justification, sanctification, glorification, the power of God unto salvation is in the cross.

But you see, I would, I would put that picture away. Because it's not just enough to see that picture. I've got another picture to show you. And take a look at this picture and what do you see?

You see him dead. And you see him in the tomb wrapped in cloth. Christ is dead. What a sad situation.

The Lamb of God, God Himself dead in a tomb. And you take some time to look at that and meditate upon it and absorb that into your being. That God the Son died for you and I. But I have another picture to show you, and I want to take this picture out and show it to you.

And what do you see? You see Christ risen from the dead. You see in the tomb that, that the cloth is empty, and that they're just laid there in the tomb, but then here in the corner is the glorious Jesus. Christ raised bodily from the tomb, shining bright and full of joy and full of life.

He has overcome death, he has conquered. And you see, as we look at this, the gospel, it has power to transform us. What do you see him risen from the dead? What does that mean?

It means that God has conquered death and sin. What does that mean for you? It means that the very power that raised him from the dead is the power that can be at work and you live, allowing you to live a resurrected lifestyle. You have through faith in Christ, the ability to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

And this is exactly what Paul does. What does he do? He shows us a picture of the gospel in Ephesians 1 through 3. And then finally, in 4:1, he says, walk in a manner worthy of the calling.

He does the same thing in Romans. chapters 1 all the way up until, the end of chapter 11, he's giving us the gospel, he's giving us a picture of the gospel, and then he says, in view of the mercy of God, offer your body as a living sacrifice. What is Paul's approach to ministry? Gospel-centeredness, the gospel itself is the foundation for life and for ministry.

I've got another picture to show you real quick as we meditate upon the gospel. What do you see? You see Christ ascended onto the right hand of the Father, living to make intercession for all of us who believe, pleading our case before God the Father, innocent, innocent, forgiven, forgiven, I paid for him. And you see there, that we have forgiveness for sin and an advocate who presents our case before the Father.

One more picture. It's a future picture, and in this future picture, what do you see? You see Christ returning for his bride. You see that he is coming back for us again someday.

You see in that picture, your resurrected body. You see and you experience as you take a look at that picture that the day is coming in which you and I will no longer struggle with sin, all the sorrow, all the sadness, all the sickness, all the death will be done away with, and we will stand before Christ, beholding him face to face, worship, worshiping him perfectly throughout all of eternity. This is the gospel. This is the gospel, and this is what it is that we must meditate on.

And so by way of application, know the gospel, meditate on the gospel, and apply the gospel, apply the gospel, maintain a thoroughly gospel centered approach to life and ministry, begin to understand, how it is that the gospel relates to everyday people in everyday life. Learn to understand how the gospel is indeed relevant. It is functional in the life of the people of God. Let me illustrate this for you or let me give you examples of this.

Maybe you are struggling with loneliness. Maybe you are a woman in her later 30s, and you have never been married before, there's a sense of loneliness, or maybe you have experienced the death of a loved one, and there is along with that, a sense of loneliness that you feel, and I would, I would encourage you to look at the gospel. What part of the gospel to look at? Any part, but let's look at the cross, look at the cross, and what do you see?

You see Christ abandoned by all of his friends, you see Christ abandoned by God, the Father himself, you see Christ lonely, all by himself with no friends, and what? In your loneliness, You can praise God, because you have a God who knows what it is like. And in your loneliness, you in fact have an opportunity to experience the gospel in your life. You now understand just a little more what Christ himself must have went through in his loneliness.

And so you have a, a, a better ability to appreciate what he did. And so perhaps someone out there, an old person, dealing with much physical pain. Not to say that young people can't have physical pain as well, but you're dealing with physical pain. And it's getting the better of you.

And your lower back is just killing you to where you just feel as if you can't get up and move, and you just wish it would go away. But look away from self and look to the gospel, look to Christ on the cross, what do you see? One who understands what it is like to suffer excruciating physical pain. And you, by God's grace, have been given the opportunity to share to a small degree in what it must have been like for Christ Himself to experience the physical pain.

And perhaps you are struggling to forgive someone who has sinned greatly against you, and I would urge you to look to the gospel. You have been sinned against, but as you look to the gospel, as you look to the cross, what do you see? You see the Lord Jesus Christ dying for his enemies, you were his enemy, and he died for you. And in the same way that he has laid down his life for you and has loved you, God calls you to love others with the love that has been given to you in Christ.

And so if you struggle in forgiving someone, remember that Christ from the cross said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. You see, there is power in the gospel, as we meditate on it, as we stare at it, as we apply it to life, and as we actually live it out, God has through it the power to transform our lives. And perhaps you are struggling. With life dominating sin.

A, a pattern of life, a, a habit pattern, a sin pattern, lust, or anger or materialism, or the fear of man, or whatever idols of the heart that may grip you. Look to the gospel. At the cross, your sins were forgiven, but at the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is power over sin. And you have died with him.

And you are raised to walk in newness of life with Him, and in the power of the gospel, you have the ability to say no to sin, not that the presence will go away, but the power of sin has been broken and you can indeed walk in the newness of life. We have been set free. From the law of sin and of death according to the scriptures. You see, there is nothing in life that cannot connect to the gospel at some level.

Maybe you are struggling with your lot in life. Maybe you feel as if the Lord has dealt you a bad deck of cards, the rug has been swept out from underneath your feet, and you are very discouraged, and the setting doesn't seem to be a good one. The, the, the hour seems to be a dark hour. Look to the gospel, and, and know that on the other end of the darkest hour, Christ raised from the dead.

And look at the gospel and realize that there is a future day coming. And in the meantime, we are called by God to give him glory and to endure momentary light afflictions in such a way that he is glorified, no matter what he and his sovereignty allows to take place in our lives. You see, The gospel applies to life. The apostle Paul knows and affirms this.

And you and I, brothers and sisters, we must by God's grace learn. To, to connect it to life. We must grow in connecting it to our lives and, and using it in, in the ministries that we have as parents to your children, husbands, to your wives, Sunday school teachers, to the kids in your class. Application.

Know the gospel. Meditate on the gospel. Apply the gospel and perhaps this one goes without saying, but suffice it to say, watch out for false teachers who undermine the gospel. Be on the alert and later on in chapter 5, Timothy will basically say reject them.

Reject the influence of false teachers, turning away from them and turning towards the gospel, because as Paul says in verse 5, that the effect of gospel instruction is transformation from the inside out, love, from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. If we have the gospel, why in the world would any of us want to turn aside?