We continue this from the part 1 last week. In case you missed it click here
3) Timothy's third priority in building Christian character is DOCTRINE.
One of the most disturbing facts about Christian young people today is the absence of doctrine to guide their lives.
Doctrine is God's absolutes. It is the teaching of God regarding His standards for our moral and spiritual lives. In Proverbs 4:2 God says, "I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law." Isaiah 29:24 speaks of this malady. He says, "These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine."
As Dr Ironside says, "These words tell of a time when the spared of Israel will be all righteous because taught of God, and instead of following after the vain imagination of their own hearts, as in the past, they will be brought to the place of perfect subjection to His holy will." That's where we want to be. We want to be in "the place of perfect subjection to His holy will." That can only happen when we begin to understand good doctrine. Good doctrine is the teaching that comes from God. It is the word of God. God's word is truth. It is good doctrine.
Robert Mounce says, "In a day when heresy was threatening Christian orthodoxy it was supremely important for believers to know with certainty the fundamental truths of their faith. Correct theology is still the best antidote for error even today."
It does make a difference what you believe! Sincerity is not enough! You can be sincerely wrong. You may be very sincere thinking that your plane will leave the 7 airport at 2 P.M. But the pilot doesn't ask what time you think we ought to leave. He's on a schedule. If you arrive at 3 P.M. you miss your plane. If you miss your plane you miss your connections on the other end. You can be in a heap of trouble.
God doesn't tell us when the rapture will occur. He doesn't tell us when we are going to die. He just tells us to be ready. What you believe really is important. The Bible is the Word of God. It isn't wise to second-guess it. God said it. Jesus did it. I believe it. That settles it. Satan, there's no room for you, hit the road.
4. The fourth priority in building spiritual character is to identify and use your SPIRITUAL GIFT.
Do you know what your spiritual gift is? If you are a Christian you have one. Paul gives us a seminar on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12.
He begins by saying, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant..." He goes on to say in verse 4-7, "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all ..." We each have different gifts. They are not given for our enjoyment or to impress others with our outstanding ability in a given area. According to verse 7 "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all ..."
Paul describes the gifts ape parts of a human body. We can't be all. We can't all be eyes. We can't all be ears. We can't all be thumbs. Each member has its own function. Working together your body can do wonderful things. If everybody thinks they are a nose and starts running—that's trouble with a capital T.
So our task is to discover how God has gifted us and to use that gift to build up His church. When we all do our part the results are wonderful. When we sit back and watch the body struggle we shoot ourselves in the foot and the church limps along never realizing its true potential.
So Paul admonishes Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14, "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all." Here Paul is describing the gift of pastor-teacher. He describes this gift in Ephesians 4:11-12, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers..."
The pastor-teacher gift is given for a specific purpose. It is "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ..."
Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:14 that this gift was recognized and acknowledged by the laying on of the hands of the elders. In other words the church has recognized and affirmed the giftedness of this man. They have ordained him to the pastoral ministry.
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