And Saul, still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to Damascus to the synagogues; so that if he found any of the Way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 But in going, it happened as he drew near to Damascus, even suddenly a light from the heaven shone around him. 4 And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? 5 And he said, Who are you, lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. 6 And trembling and astonished, he said, Lord, what will You have me to do? And the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the city, and you shall be told what you must do. (Acts 9:1-6)

Paul was on his way doing what he thought was the will of God. Then he realized it was wrong, and was saying, 'Now what?' His heart was not completely off-track – he was implementing the will of God incorrectly. That is why it was so easy for him to have a realignment of his molecules and go on preaching the gospel. How many times does this happen to us?Matt. 15:6b-9, 'And you voided the commandment of God by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8 'This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.''

We have been taught certain things, but it is not the doctrine of God.
You have people in churches that sincerely believe they are doing the will of God but they have been taught wrong.

'And He called the crowd and said to them, Hear and understand. 11 Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.' (Matt. 15:10-11)

'Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbaths. 17 For these are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. 18 Let no one defraud you, delighting in humility and worship of the angels, intruding into things which he has not seen, without a cause being vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding the Head, from whom all the body, having been supplied with the joints and bands, and having been joined together, will grow with the growth of God. 20 If then you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to its ordinances: 21 touch not, taste not, handle not; 22 which things are all for corruption in the using, according to the commands and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have a reputation of wisdom in self-imposed worship and humility, and unsparing severity the body, not in any honor for the satisfying of the flesh.' (Col. 2:16-23)

You have died when you were baptized. At the time doing these things looked like they would solve the problem. You think you are so clever to obey these things, but they do not help you to overcome. The commandments of men are of no value. In the battle against the flesh, 'Don't, don't, don't' will not cut it. The doctrines of men have no power, no authority, and so many things. There are times where you need to abstain from certain things, but do so in holiness, not in doctrines of men.

We have things where we think we have overcome and we have not, we have just suppressed. How do we go about rectifying this, living the doctrines of men?

'And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. 13 And this until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 so that we no longer may be infants, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the dishonesty of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit. 15 But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ; 16 from whom the whole body, fitted together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of each part, producing the growth of the body to the edifying of itself in love.' (Eph. 4:11-16)

When we allow ourselves to be molded by the five-fold, we grow up – then we can discern what the doctrine of men and is the doctrine of God. That is why the five-fold is so vital. That is why it's easy for this church to say, 'No that's wrong.' or, 'Yes, that's right.'

When I was starting out in IT I tried desperately to keep up to date by the time you have learnt it is out of date. Later I made peace with it that I do not need to know everything. You get people who see what the latest is, and they are so confused. It is the same in the church – following this one, then that one. They are confused. I believe that God will tell me what I need to know when I need to know it. We are so easy to go after the latest teaching – when you are in a Body; there is stability.

'And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added about three thousand souls.
42 And they were continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship and in the breaking of the loaves, and in prayers.' (Acts. 2:42)

'Doctrine' actually means, 'To teach.' To speak in a way as to teach, as opposed to other forms of public speaking.

'And fear came on every soul. And many wonders and miracles took place through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things common.' (Acts. 2:43-44)

When we go out from that doctrine, then you see the church loses its power. However, there are good and bad Apostles. How do I know which is which?

'But you have fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, patience, 11 persecutions, afflictions, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. What persecutions I endured! But the Lord delivered me out of all. 12 Yea, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers will go forward to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them , 15 and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.' (2 Tim. 3:10-17)

Know whom you learn things from do not just learn something – know its source. If you know its source, it gives it credibility, but you can also look at the lifestyle of that person and see the fruit.
Otherwise it is only hearsay. Is it a reliable source? You do not want to teach something and think its brilliant, and then find out its New Age or whatever. The safety of the Body is to get the teachings from people you know. Rather learn from people you can see, that you know their doctrine, their manner of life, their love, the perseverance, what they have been through, learn from people like that. Then you know that what they teach comes out of that, not that they just heard it.

'Remember your leaders, who have spoken to you the Word of God.
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