More and more, preachers are departing from doctrinal preaching. A church sign recently read, "Doctrine divides but Christ unites." We think that we are doing people a favor by skipping the doctrine and preaching the sermons on finances, health, friendships and family. The fact is that sound doctrine is the foundation for sound practical living. If you have false doctrine it will lead to false practice. A perfect example of this is found in Simon Peter. We read in John 18 about Judas and his men coming to get our Lord, but before they could take Him, Simon Peter takes out a sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus. Jesus rebuked Peter and healed Malchus. Later in the same chapter Jesus makes a statement that gives us some insight as to what Peter's problem was. In verse number 36 Jesus says "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight". Obviously, Simon Peter believed that this was the timing for the kingdom. His faulty interpretation of doctrine led him into faulty practice. Obviously good doctrine leads to good practice. So what kind of practical living does your doctrine produce?
After Jesus cast an unclean devil out of a man in a synagogue service, the people cried, "What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out" (Luke 4:36). Many bibles will take passages that refer to "power" and change it to "authority." However, here we see the importance of both. Authority is the right to do something. Power is the ability to do something or to make something happen. Among men, a person can have one without the other. A man may have a position that gives him the right to make a decision (the authority), but he may not have the power to make it happen. On the other hand, some people have the power to do certain things even when they do not have the proper authority to do them.
John 6:66 says, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."
In early April of 2006, many of the major news media outlets (including MSNBC's website: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12152740/) carried a story about a Florida State University professor who tried to help the Lord out by explaining a miracle, a supernatural event, in natural terms.
