Overview
Knowing the doctrine means knowing the teaching, and Scripture identifies that teaching more by its character and its effect on people than by a strict definition. In this first part, Rev. Rico Magnelli opens 1 Timothy 4:16, where Paul tells Timothy to take heed unto himself and unto the doctrine so that the wholeness that comes from salvation reaches both the leader and those who hear him. Sound doctrine is not legalistic and not unrighteous. It appeals, encourages, comforts and even refutes those who speak against it, and it nourishes and educates in the words of faith. Jesus gives the decisive mark in John 7: my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. True doctrine gives God the glory.
Transcript
Knowing the Doctrine Means Knowing the Teaching
1 Timothy chapter 4, please. We want to consider knowing the doctrine. Knowing the doctrine is a very important aspect of leadership. Once we know it, we can adjust ourselves accordingly, so we line up ourselves with it. The doctrine just means the teaching. That’s what it means. In so doing, as we line ourselves up with it, we continue to introduce the wholeness that comes from salvation. Salvation is our eternal life, but we realize the wholeness in our life now, and that is through grace. And we realize this wholeness that comes from salvation through grace on a daily basis as we walk. And then we see it in the lives of people that we serve as we share this truth. God, by His grace, guides us in this endeavor.
1 Timothy 4:16: Take Heed Unto Thyself and Unto the Doctrine
And here in 1 Timothy chapter 4, the Apostle Paul speaking to his protege, Timothy, says in verse 16, Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself. And he’s not talking about salvation. He’s talking about the wholeness that comes from salvation. And them that hear thee. There is a wholeness to our life. The missing pieces that perhaps Christians need is the understanding and application that they are saved and they have eternal life.
Timothy was to take heed unto, which means to pay attention to. He was to pay attention to himself and to the doctrine. This is not talking about soul searching and sitting in a dark room and getting morose and being confused and in despair. That’s not what it’s talking about. It’s just talking about reading your own fruit and how it lines up with the doctrine, the teaching. But see, we must know the doctrine first to help anybody.
The Bible Describes Doctrine by Its Character, Not by a Definition
Interestingly enough, one emphasis we see about the doctrine or the teaching is the character of it is more emphasized than a strict definition all the time. In other words, you don’t see all the time in the scripture. The doctrine is boom. And then it gives a definition of what the doctrine is. You don’t see that everywhere. But what we see is the doctrine is described as sound or healthy. The doctrine is described as good. And we see in the scripture its effect on people, both positive and negative. So the emphasis is not necessarily an intellectual definition as much as one might think. But in the Bible, it describes the characteristics and the effect of the doctrine. And this is something that Timothy was to be aware of as he taught the word and as he listened to the word being taught.
Sound Doctrine Is Neither Legalistic nor Unrighteous
For example, the sound doctrine, healthy doctrine is noted in 1 Timothy 1:10, 1 Timothy 1:10. You don’t have to turn there. I’m just going to reference it. And there it notes that legalism and unrighteous behavior is contrary to this doctrine. So it begins to shape the character of the doctrine. It’s not legalistic and it is not unrighteous. Another place you see is in 2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Timothy 4:3, where it notes where some who have itching ears, they will not listen to the doctrine. But what they do is they accumulate for themselves teachers that suit their own passion. It starts to begin to describe the doctrine has an effect on people.
Doctrine That Appeals, Encourages, Comforts and Refutes
It says in Titus 1:9, Titus 1:9. It says that the sound doctrine is the basis to appeal, encourage, comfort, and even refute those that speak against it. So it has great ability to win people. That’s a characteristic of the true doctrine. It says in Titus 2:1 that our words when we speak, our words are to complement or harmonize with or fit with the sound doctrine. That’s right. What we say doesn’t contradict it, goes right along with it. And then as good ministers of Jesus Christ in 1 Timothy 4:6, 1 Timothy 4:6, it references the good doctrine. And that good doctrine provides nourishment that we need that educates us in the words of faith. That’s 1 Timothy 4:6.
So you see how the doctrine has characteristics, has effects on people. It educates us in the words of faith. Once we understand these things, we can identify the doctrine.
1 Timothy 1:3: Charge Some That They Teach No Other Doctrine
Look at 1 Timothy chapter one. That’s important. Because Timothy was to take heed unto himself and unto the doctrine, the teaching. In 1 Timothy chapter one, it says in verse three, as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia that thou mightest charge some, that they teach no other doctrine. This is when there’s only two involved. There’s the doctrine that we just mentioned and then there’s everything else.
It’s interesting to note here that the words mightest charge in their Greek grammatical construction are a prohibitive charge. They’re prohibiting something. And this prohibitive charge is before that thing, whatever it is, has begun. Isn’t that amazing? So Timothy was to charge some that they teach no other doctrine before they started teaching another doctrine. So you have to know what that teaching is and how God characterizes it.
Lead Us Not Into Temptation: The Same Prohibitive Language
This prohibitive charge is exactly the same construction you see in Matthew six and Luke 11, which many of you are familiar with. When Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, one of the aspects of that prayer in Matthew six and Luke 11, he says, lead us not into temptation. It’s the same prohibitive language. What is that saying? That the prayer idea is to help us before we’re in the temptation. You can pray to God about that because each of us have unique situations that might tempt us. Not necessarily we’re all tempted by the same thing. So we can pray to God to guide us away from temptation. What a great thing to pray for before we’re even in it. Like we’re supposed to charge some to teach no other doctrine before they’re teaching it.
You know, and then temptation still come along in life. So if needed, we know in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that God is faithful to make a way to escape it. Leadership has very unique and challenging temptations at times. Anybody that’s led anything can attest to this. And certainly as a good minister of Jesus Christ. But God has provided for us.
John 7: My Doctrine Is Not Mine, but His That Sent Me
Look at John chapter seven, please. John chapter seven. Probably the greatest characteristic of doctrine is noted here in John chapter seven by our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, which really helps to encapsulate what teaching should be. In John chapter seven, Jesus is being challenged on his teaching. In John chapter seven, in verse 14. Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. He’s teaching. And the Jews, the Judeans marvelled, saying, how knoweth this man letters, having never learned. He was not taught. Jesus was not part of the rabbinical universities and schools. He had not been trained as a rabbi. He was a carpenter in Nazareth of Galilee. So how does he know this? They marvel at his teaching.
Verse 16. Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine. Now what does he mean by that? Well, he’s talking about where it came from. The source of the doctrine. Even at times. We see references to the Apostles Doctrine, or My Doctrine, Paul writes. But that’s where they have made it their own. They’re not indicating that they’re the source of it. Jesus is making very clear what the source is. He says, my doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. That’s where it comes from. The doctrine, the teaching that brings all these positive things and separates out things that are not positive, all comes from God.
If Any Man Will Do His Will, He Shall Know of the Doctrine
Then he goes on to say, if any man will do his will, God’s will is his gracious plan for your life, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. Wow, that’s amazing. He will not only know it, he will experientially know it. He shall experientially know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.
See, there is a spiritual frequency that you can tune into. Those individuals that genuinely want to do the will of God, they’re not just playing church, or they’re not looking to attract people to themselves. Those people, they’re the ones that will know, because they genuinely want to do the will of God, so they tune their ears and their heart into listening to people that truly want to do the will of God.
See, the personal pursuit of the will of God, which is God’s gracious plan for your life, offers an inside track into true doctrine, because God knows whether you’re playing or not. God knows whether you’re endeavoring to promote yourself. Sure, we all can fall into this, so I’m not saying that to get in any condemnation. We all get tempted and challenged, and certainly in leadership that comes up. But the glory to God seekers, if you will, are on the same wavelength when it comes to doing the will of God, and they are the ones that experientially going to know whether the teaching has God in it or not.
Seeking God’s Glory Instead of Your Own
Verse 18, He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. There it is. But he that seeketh his glory, God’s, that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. So this is something that Timothy would have consistently paid close attention to, making sure that he’s not seeking his own glory, he’s seeking God’s glory. And it’s not necessarily done with words or some phony humility. It’s done in the heart. It’s done in the heart of a person. It’s done in the heart of a leader. That’s right.
He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. So that tells you that the person that’s doing it right, they absolutely know they’ve been sent. They’ve been sent by a higher authority. There’s no ego in that. It’s just knowing the source. The source is God.
Why They Could Not Receive Jesus, and Who Hears His Voice
Did not Moses, verse 19, give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? See, the reason why they couldn’t accept Jesus Christ because they were given the law and none of them kept it anyway. So why would they listen to Jesus Christ? They didn’t want to do the will of God, and he’s challenging them because they didn’t want to do the will of God.
I think of John 10:27, where Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Those sheep, of course, are figurative reference to those individuals, those disciples that were willing to listen to Jesus Christ. And they were ones that knew what he was speaking was from God. They knew it because they really, genuinely wanted to do the will of God so they could recognize when it was presented to them. They were the sheep that hear the voice of the Lord.
Surround Yourself With People Who Will Tell You the Truth
And let’s close in 2 Corinthians, please, 2 Corinthians, chapter 4. So giving glory to God is a key component to taking heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Surrounding yourself with people that will help you when perhaps maybe we are getting off track a little bit, that’s going to be honest with you, somebody that’s going to be loving and tender with you, but tell you, a good leader will surround himself with the best people he can, honest people that will tell you the truth lovingly, tenderly, sure, because we all need help.
Timothy was in a bad way because many people at that time had walked away from the apostle Paul by the time Second Timothy is written, and he was to take heed unto himself and unto the doctrine, and he was to continue in them. In so doing, he was going to bring salvation wholeness to himself and to those that heard him. He knew the way it worked. It started with his life, and it works that same way with any Christian leader. That salvation wholeness lives within us, and it doesn’t mean that we’re going to be perfect. Of course not. No, no, no, no. That’s where mercy comes in, and then we just pick ourselves up and keep going. But giving glory to God is very, very key. The ones that recognize that glory to God are the ones that truly want to do his will. They really want to submit to God.
2 Corinthians 4: Hold Forth the Truth and Let People Decide
In Second Corinthians, chapter four, verse one. That’s all you can do. You can hold forth the truth of the word. You can let people see your life, and I’ll tell you what. Let them make up their own mind, because that’s what Paul is saying. By the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience, they can make up their own mind. Some people are going to be critical of you. Some people will not agree with you. Some people will walk away from you. But you’ve got to make up your mind. I have to make up my mind. All you can do is demonstrate the truth in front of people, and then they have to make up their own mind.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost or are perishing. They’ve got too much world in them, too much senses, too much agenda that comes from the world, in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
We Preach Not Ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord
For we preach not ourselves. There it is. Now, sure, we all preach, we all teach. Somebody’s got to open their mouth, but we don’t preach ourselves. You understand? We preach Christ the Lord. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, referencing Genesis chapter 1, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. And that’s the true doctrine. It gives glory to God. Jesus Christ gave glory to God in everything he did in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the up front, visible, if you will, demonstration of the light of the glorious gospel. That’s right, Jesus Christ was up front.
Treasure in Earthen Vessels: Only God Gives the Increase
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. You know, we can plant and water, but only God can give the increase. First Corinthians chapter 3. And that’s a great thing to remember. You cannot increase the word in people’s life. They have to decide. You can hold it forth every day. Absolutely. Demonstrate the truth in their presence. Hold it forth. But they have to decide.
The Marks of True Doctrine, and How It Gives God the Glory
And this true doctrine, this teaching, is characterized as sound or good. And it has many benefits. It stands in contrast to legalism and unrighteous behavior. And there are times where it will not be listened to by those with itching ears. They run there, run there, run here, run all over the place looking for stuff. They’re only interested with teachers that agree with their personal passions. They don’t really want to change. They don’t really want to do the will of God. That’s why they can’t hear it.
This true doctrine has the power to appeal, encourage, and comfort, and even refute those that speak against it. This true doctrine allows us to speak words that harmonize, complement, and fit it. And as good ministers of Jesus Christ, the good doctrine provides nourishment to our soul and educates us in the words of faith. So Timothy was to pay attention to himself and the doctrine, and above all, that it gives God the glory, the recognition due him in all regards. So that’s a little bit about knowing the doctrine.
Key Takeaways
- The doctrine simply means the teaching, and taking heed to it is reading your own fruit and how it lines up with that teaching, not soul searching in a dark room.
- The saving in 1 Timothy 4:16 is not eternal life but the wholeness that comes from salvation, realized now and passed on to those who hear.
- Scripture emphasizes the character and effect of doctrine rather than an intellectual definition: sound or healthy, good, and never legalistic or unrighteous.
- The charge in 1 Timothy 1:3 is a prohibitive charge in the Greek, given before the wrong teaching starts, the same construction as lead us not into temptation.
- Jesus settles the question of source in John 7:16: my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me, and anyone who will do God’s will shall experientially know it.
- He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory, so the true test of a leader is done in the heart, not with words or phony humility.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine mean?
It means to pay attention to yourself and to the teaching. Rico Magnelli is clear that this is not soul searching, sitting in a dark room, getting morose and confused. It is reading your own fruit and how it lines up with the doctrine. And the saving in 1 Timothy 4:16 is not eternal life, which the believer already has, but the wholeness that comes from salvation, realized now for the leader and for those that hear him.
How does the Bible describe sound doctrine?
More by its character and its effect than by a definition. 1 Timothy 1:10 shows that legalism and unrighteous behavior are contrary to it. 2 Timothy 4:3 shows that those with itching ears will not listen, but accumulate teachers who suit their own passion. Titus 1:9 makes sound doctrine the basis to appeal, encourage, comfort and refute those that speak against it, Titus 2:1 says our words are to harmonize with it, and 1 Timothy 4:6 calls it good doctrine that nourishes and educates in the words of faith.
How can you tell whether a teaching is really from God?
Jesus answers this in John 7. He says my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me, and then adds that if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. There is a spiritual frequency you can tune into. Verse 18 supplies the test: he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
Scripture References
1 Timothy 4:16; 1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9; Titus 2:1; 1 Timothy 4:6; 1 Timothy 1:3; Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4; 1 Corinthians 10:13; John 7:14-19; John 10:27; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; Genesis 1:3; 1 Corinthians 3:6
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
