HOW IMPORTANT IS SOUND DOCTRINE?

SOMEONE TO CARE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES, INC.

Rev. Shirley J. Cunningham

  Do you know sound doctrine?  Should you know sound doctrine? 

THE DEFINITION:          DOCTRINE:

 1.  A particular principle, position, or policy taught or advocated, as of a religion or government:  Catholic doctrines; the Monroe Doctrine.   2.  Something that is taught; teaching collectively: religious doctrine.

1.       A body or system of teachings relating to a particular subject:  such as the doctrine of a particular church.

2.       Noun  a creed or body of teachings of a religious, political, or philosophical group presented for acceptance or belief; dogma   2.   A principle or body of principles that is taught or advocated. 

SOME OF THE SCRIPTURES THAT YOU CAN LOOK INTO

Deuteronomy 32

 1.  Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

2.   My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

 3.  Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

 4.  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Proverbs 4

 1.  Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

 2.  For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

 3.  For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

 4.  He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

 5.  Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

 6.  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

 7.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding

Isaiah 28

9.  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10.  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

 11.  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

 12.  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

 13.  But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

 14.  Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 10:8  speaks of a doctrine of vanities.

Mathew 7: 28.  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

 29.  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Mathew 16 :12.  Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

 13.  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

 14.  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

 15.  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

 16.  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 17.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Mark 4:

 2.  And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,

Mark 7:

7.  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Mark 11:

17.  And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

 18.  And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

 19.  And when even was come, he went out of the city.

 20.  And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

 21.  And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

 22.  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

 23.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

 24.  Therefore I say unto you, What things so-ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

 25.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

 26.  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Mark 12:

38.  And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

 39.  And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:

 40.  Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

 41.  And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

 42.  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

 43.  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

 44.  For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Luke 4:

32.  And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

 33.  And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

 34.  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

 35.  And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

 36.  And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

John 7:

16.  Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

 17.  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

 18.  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.

 19.  Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

 20.  The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

Acts 2: 42.

 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 5:

28.  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

 29.  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Romans 6:

16.  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

 17.  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

 18.  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Romans 16:

17.  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

 18.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Ephesians 4:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

 14.  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

 15.  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

 16.  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

1 Timothy 1

 1.  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

 2.  Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

 3.  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,

 4.  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

 5.  Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

1 Timothy 4

 1.  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

 2.  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

4.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

 5.  For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

 6.  If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

2 Timothy 3

6.  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

 17.  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 4

3.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

 4.  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

 5.  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Titus 2

1.      But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 

2 John 1

9.  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

 10.  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

 11.  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

In Revelation we can also learn what God thinks of some of the doctrines of the church. 

MY THOUGHTS AFTER LISTENING TO HEAR THE LORD.   Pastor Shirley

I have opened this subject up in order to bring unity and understanding into our midst.  There has been much accusation against other ministries doctrines.  I do not know if ours has been included in any accusations or not.  It really does not matter.  Most people do not really know what they believe or what their church believes.  This gives the devil a free run and he has a field day with it trying to destroy churches and ministers. The Lord expects us to be responsible preachers, but still he is able to get his children into a right place with him, if we use His doctrine of love and compassion, His judgements, and prayer.   As we know and understand our beliefs; then we will know if we are working on the same things, the same way and for the same purposes.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and without him I can do nothing.   If you find you are believing something wrong, be quick to change, repent and follow the Holy Bible and stay right with God. 

I am not called nor capable to judge whose doctrine is right or wrong.    I decided to look into the Word of God and saw that there was a lot of information concerning doctrine that should be considered.  I have not listed all, but some scriptures for your help in getting started.   The scripture themselves will lead you into SOUND doctrine.   In other words it will give you a stable foundation that the Lord will bless.  So every ministry must find out what the Lord has called them to be and to do and put sound doctrine in place to accomplish it.  

I do not think we need to condemn a ministry that is different from ours because their doctrine is different.  Does all of our doctrine have to be correct?  Yes, it should, but probably is not.   In fact I really doubt that there is anyone person or organization that is so like God that it is all just perfectly correct.  Sounds nice, but it also sounds a bit self-righteous and prideful to think such a thing.  Yes, we should strive for perfection, but Jesus was the only perfect one.  Yes, we can have the mind of God, but that does not mean we have all of His mind.  You see we are still growing and learning.  At least if you are a living being you ought to be, and this is why I do not want to put any ministry down that is winning souls to Christ, feeding the hungry, visiting the prisoners  and the widows,  healing the sick and teaching people how to live more like Christ.  It all starts at the cross of Christ and the blood that He shed for us, but as I said it starts there, it does not end there.  We have so much to learn and so much to grow into. 

OK  Here is what got me started on this.  Subject came up, “Did Jesus die spiritually?”    Well, I do not believe he did, but I also do not believe that he will send people to hell that have great ministries and doing His work out of a sincere heart when they are leading souls to Him because of their doctrine. When a person accepts Christ and He comes into their lives, He saves them.  Not a doctrine of some ministry.  It is Christ Himself by the Holy Spirit.  I have sat under the teaching of many ministries.  I studied with Rhema many years ago and I was never taught that Jesus died spiritually.   It really does not make sense to me to adhere to that teaching.  Jesus is life, and was with the Father in the beginning and only died in His physical body. Eph 4:8.  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  9.  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  10.  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)  You see death could not even hold his physical body as he appeared to many while walking on earth before His ascension.  He arose and it took life to rise.  He is alive and always has been.  Now if someone wants to believe that He died spiritually, I don’t see how an error in their doctrine, can send them to hell if they asked Jesus to save them, come into their life and have served him out of a right heart.  It is the rejection of Jesus Christ that sends a person to hell.  

I guess there are a lot of faith ministries that believe Jesus died spiritually, but I have learned a lot about Faith and the fruits of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit through them.  Many times I have turned them on the TV and the Lord convicted me to shape something up in my life and act better.  That sure helps you to become more like Jesus when you do that.  The religious crown doesn’t seem to get into that so much.   I am so glad for the teachers and preachers and singers that the Lord has allowed me to come in contact with.  I sure do not want to judge any one of them as to doctrine or the letter of the law.  I do want to judge them on how they love and how they go into all the world and preach the Gospel and how they win souls and how they are dedicated to do work of the Lord.  Well that kind of judging is just for me and helps me know who I can trust to help me in my Christian  growth.  I have been preaching the Gospel for about 30 years now and I still love Jesus and still want to learn and still want to see the body of Christ get along with itself.    When you are judging someone else, it keeps the finger off of you, or so you think.  Go ahead and you and God work on you and let God work on the others. 

Ministries that I like to listen to.

Born Again anointed people of God.  Teaching the Word and preferably the KJV of the Bible.      Wining souls to Christ.  Lifting up the name of Jesus.   Giving the Glory to the Lord.   Building up the body of Christ instead of tearing it down.   Not being bound in religious talk and critical spirits.  Believe in Healing and deliverance and prosperity.  Have goodness and joy before them.  Well that is some of the things that I know pleases our Lord.  Are you pleasing him???  I guess that is the main question for now. You will have to answer that for yourself. 

Lead people to Jesus, not self or a ministry. 

DOCTRINE; 

 1.  A particular principle, position, or policy taught or advocated, as of a religion or government:  Catholic doctrines; the Monroe Doctrine.

 2.  Something that is taught; teaching collectively: religious doctrine.

                A body or system of teachings relating to a particular subject:  such as the doctrine of a particular church.