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ministry of
Stephen &
Brooksyne
Weber
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Friday,
February 16, 2024
This
Lebanon County
farm with all
the white
buildings
always looks
nice in the
snow
Click on image to enlarge
Click on image to enlarge
"The
Pattern Of
Sound
Doctrine"
Message
summary: Today
the Church is
in dire need
of faithful
proclaimers of
sound
doctrine,
unswayed by
emotional hype
or by the
patterns of
this world and
its passing
fancies.
Listen
to our message
on your audio
player.
"Hold
on to the
pattern of
sound doctrine
that you have
heard from me"
(2 Timothy
1:13). "The
things which
you have heard
from me in the
presence of
many
witnesses,
entrust these
to faithful
men who will
be able to
teach others
also" (2
Timothy 2:2).
"For the time
will come when
they will not
endure sound
doctrine" (2
Timothy 4:3).
"But as for
you, teach
what accords
with sound
doctrine" (The
apostle Paul
to Titus in
Titus 2:1)
This Sunday I will be teaching our Adult Bible Fellowship (Sunday School) a lesson on the importance of sound doctrine. I share teaching duties with several others and we are beginning a series studying our church's Statement of Faith.
As a young man of 21 right out of Bible college I got my "license to preach" as a minister in Southern Missouri and began my first pastorate in a little Ozark town named Fair Grove, MO about 18 miles north of Springfield. After our move to the northeast I was ordained to ministry on May 8, 1979 which was also our 3rd wedding anniversary.
At
the service
Phillip
Bongiorno, our
District
Superintendent
(seen right
with us in
photo at a
minister's
fellowship
picnic about 6
years ago),
read a solemn
passage of
Scripture
verses from 2
Timothy.
Pastor
Bongiorno, who
is still
living, is a
short Italian
man who, prior
to his
conversion to
Christ, had
some mafia
associations.
He would often
begin any
message he
preached with
a brief
testimony and
inevitably
wept as he
shared it.Standing in a long line with other ordinands I held my Bible and faced the congregation. It has become a lasting, memorable experience. Pastor Bongiorno didn't rush through the Scripture reading but slowly enunciated each phrase and sometimes a single word, pausing at times to let them sink in.
"I solemnly
charge you in
the presence
of God and of
Christ Jesus,
who is to
judge the
living and the
dead, and by
His appearing
and His
kingdom:
preach the
Word; be ready
in season and
out of season;
reprove,
rebuke,
exhort, with
great patience
and
instruction.
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. But
you, be sober
in all things,
endure
hardship, do
the work of an
evangelist,
fulfill your
ministry" (2
Timothy
4:1-5).
What a powerful Scripture selection; then, now and for all time! Today I especially consider the phrase, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine". I suppose to some extent that has always been true but it seems, in my nearly forty-five years of ministry as an ordained minister, that the ability to "endure sound doctrine" has diminished greatly.
What does that phrase mean, "endure sound doctrine (teaching)"?
Sound doctrine is established in Scripture. This pattern is fundamentally found in the changeless Word of God and has been expressed by the Church down through the centuries in creeds, catechisms and doctrinal statements. It is a declaration of what we believe.
We
must endure
due to the
constant pull
of the world
to conform us
to this
world's
pattern Romans
12:2. It takes
great
endurance to
resist this
pull to
worldly
conformity and
stay faithful.
The mission of
the faithful
minister of
the Gospel in
each
generation is
to "contend
earnestly for
the faith
which was once
for all handed
down to the
saints"
(Jude 3). That
is, obeying
from our
hearts, the
pattern of
sound
teaching.
The Greek word for "sound" is "hugiaino" which gives us our English word "hygiene" which of course refers to "clean or healthy practices". It connotes healthy, sound, wholesome, free from flaw, defect or error and emphasizes the absence of disease, weakness, or malfunction.
Bible commentator Albert Barnes describes sound teaching as "words conducive to a due observance of the proprieties of life; doctrines leading to contentment, and sober industry, and the patient endurance of evils (trials)."
Today the Church is in dire need of faithful proclaimers of sound doctrine, not swayed by emotional hype or by the patterns of this world and its passing fancies. "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:17).
A.W. Tozer, who died over 50 years ago, had such insight in the condition of the church (in his own time and looking to the future). He wrote, "Increasing numbers of [Christians] are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition."
Let us resolve to faithfully follow and proclaim the pattern of sound doctrine as established in the Holy Scriptures! Paul challenged believers in Romans 6:17, "Obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed our allegiance". Let us do so today and all the days ahead that lead us to our future eternal home in heaven.
The Greek word for "sound" is "hugiaino" which gives us our English word "hygiene" which of course refers to "clean or healthy practices". It connotes healthy, sound, wholesome, free from flaw, defect or error and emphasizes the absence of disease, weakness, or malfunction.
Bible commentator Albert Barnes describes sound teaching as "words conducive to a due observance of the proprieties of life; doctrines leading to contentment, and sober industry, and the patient endurance of evils (trials)."
Today the Church is in dire need of faithful proclaimers of sound doctrine, not swayed by emotional hype or by the patterns of this world and its passing fancies. "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:17).
A.W. Tozer, who died over 50 years ago, had such insight in the condition of the church (in his own time and looking to the future). He wrote, "Increasing numbers of [Christians] are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition."
Let us resolve to faithfully follow and proclaim the pattern of sound doctrine as established in the Holy Scriptures! Paul challenged believers in Romans 6:17, "Obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed our allegiance". Let us do so today and all the days ahead that lead us to our future eternal home in heaven.
Be
encouraged
today,
Hebrews
3:13
Stephen
&
Brooksyne
Weber
Daily prayer:
Father, we as
followers of
Christ, must
be careful to
follow the
Bible's
pattern of
sound
teaching. At
times we find
ourselves
arguing with
Your truths
and teaching
from
Scripture, our
thoughts being
at odds with
Bible teaching
that doesn't
fit in with
the views and
lifestyles
we're drawn to
which are
patterned
after the
world's
thinking. Yet
You are the
Author of
truth, You
know that
which will
bring us good
and that which
will bring us
harm. Help us
not to read
and interpret
Scripture so
that it aligns
with our view
point, instead
we want to
align our view
point in
accordance
with the
Scriptures. We
want to love
You with all
our heart so
that we will
follow the
pattern of
sound doctrine
and walk in
accordance
with the
Scripture.
Help us to do
so through
Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Amen.
Why
is sound
doctrine so
important? from
the
gotquestions
teaching site
We
have attended
a variety of
churches
throughout our
lives. As
chaplains we
have had
opportunities
to minister in
a variety of
settings; I
(Stephen) as a
pastor and
guest
preacher,
Brooksyne
leading
programs to
women, as well
as her Pilgrim
presentation.
Churches
vary a lot,
worship and
music styles,
dress, some
more, some
less formal,
etc. But the
main criteria
is in regard
holding to
sound
doctrine,
fidelity to
the
essentials.
That's why we
believe
doctrinal
statements are
so important.
Doctrinal
statements or
statements of
faith are
similar among
Bible-faithful
churches
although there
may be
differences in
secondary
doctrines.
Here is a
representative
statement
expressing the
essentials:
We
believe the
Bible to be
the inspired,
the only
infallible,
authoritative
Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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