We can get caught up and spend all of our time looking at false doctrine, trying to protect ourselves.  What’s out there that’s false?  That’s changing all the time.  To try to keep up with false doctrines is a full-time job, because it’s ever-evolving, there’s no end to it.  We read in Romans very clearly that, in this hour, people that are doing these things and taking pleasure in them that do them are inventors of evil.  People are sitting around looking for new ways to express their humanism to feed all of this appetite that’s in this flesh through lasciviousness, idolatry, the lists, and we’ve looked at so many of them that are there in this last day, men that are lovers of their selves, without natural affection.  Can you imagine?  Look what people are doing to their children today.  Without natural affection, running off and letting nannies raise their kids because mom needs to fulfill herself and dad needs a new flat-screen TV.  The second chapter of Titus speaks specifically to those issues in the context of sound doctrine.  And here, clearly, doctrine is not an established creed, we’ve shared this before—doctrine is not systematized theology.  Doctrine is a life of obedience that fulfills Christlikeness and deals more with character than it does theology.  Now remember, theology is just the study of God.  Well, you can study God all day and not know Him.  Doctrine is knowing God.  Doctrine is having encountered God and God living through us (Proverbs 4).  So, let’s look there and allow ourselves this understanding of how vital it is for us to not only memorize Scripture, but be doers. 

In Proverbs, Chapter 4:2-7, we find this great statement, “For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.  For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.  He taught me also, and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.  Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  Forsake her not, [sound doctrine, the wisdom, the knowledge of God] and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding”.

We see the emphasis of the Word of God is not to study and be able to quote it, but to live it.  The Scripture says in Mark, Chapter 4, Jesus speaking, astonishing the people, and He gives this parable to us and it says, “and He taught them in His doctrine” (verse 2).  This particular parable points back to Jesus’ teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) where He talks about those who do the Word of God are the wise men who build their house upon a firm foundation; amen?  He brings reproof and brings woe and destruction upon those who refused to do the Word and taught others to be disobedient through their lifestyle and their choices.  How many of you believe Jesus taught sound doctrine?  So, we see there on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus in many different ways comparing the Law to kingdom living, “and you’ve heard it said of those of old, thou shall not commit adultery, but I say unto you, if a man looks on a woman to lust after her in his heart, he’s already committed adultery” (Matthew 5:27-28).  Amen?  So, we see that this kingdom living—this sound doctrine—applies the Word.