Paul comes to the point of Timothy's mission. Paul can't be everywhere at once, but he cares about the Ephesian church, and beseeches Timothy to please stay there and stand against bad doctrine. Timothy is on a mission. This is the fundamental reason he's there. The rest of this letter expands upon this. Of tremendous benefit to us is that this letter will also help us establish good doctrine in our church!

Paul besought Timothy to abide still and not leave. This shows us that evangelism is not a one-night or a one-week job. It takes time and work to make disciples.

Charge some: This is a strong word. Charge them that they teach no other doctrine. Good doctrine is crucial. We can't ignore it in the church, and we can't separate it from the importance of the gospel.

Good doctrine is absolutely, positively, unequivocally true, and without compromise we need to obey it. Paul didn't make this up, even though it was his opinion. It needs to be our opinion too, because it's God's opinion.

People who want to deny God don't always like absolutes. It's not politically correct to hold to certain biblical and moral truths. Absolutes are good, though, as long as they are absolutely true. God's Word is absolutely true. Scientists use absolutes all the time (or at least they are supposed to). Many improvements come from gaining more understanding of the facts that surround us, such as the light I turned on when I woke up, and this computer that I'm typing on. Computers are built from exact specifications of applied scientific absolutes, and not from a "pick and choose what you want to believe" mentality. People don't complain about Engineers holding to absolutes, because they see the obvious benefits from doing that. We merely seek to understand and apply good doctrine, which has an enormously profound affect on our well being. If we like to take advantage of scientific facts, we should love applying God's Word.

People who accept sloppiness in doctrine wouldn't like it if God was actually that sloppy. We want to know that He will do exactly what He says he will do, and that His promises are 100% true. It's good to know that we can take Him at His Word.

We can't allow the world's standards to hinder us holding others to good doctrine. This is especially true in the church, which is the emphasis of this passage. Doctrinal unity can be a reality, and not just a hypothetical. Paul doesn't say here that it's ok to settle for agreement in 80% of our doctrines. The early church experienced unity, because they applied all of the word of God. If we really want to obey all of God's Word, than we will be able to come to agreement!

A lot of Pastors run to another church when the going gets tough. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. The man of God should be able to remain still, and help resolve conflict. He needs to strengthen those who love the truth, and have the guts to address those who have bad attitudes. It's not easy to remain still in Timothy's position, but God wants to empower us to fulfil His purpose.

The average churchgoer thinks he would get along fine with the Apostle Paul, but if he were here today, he would have a lot of enemies. He would probably be labeled a divisive, legalistic, unloving cult leader, because he would be taking a stand against all false doctrines. The popular preachers of our day accept one another without working through their doctrinal differences. That is quite a contrast. People tried to stop Paul, although he was hard to shut up because he loved the Lord so much.

Sometimes people will ask us to back off doctrine, because "people need to be saved". It is true that people need to be saved, but that's no reason to settle for inferior doctrine. We need good doctrine in order to be all that God wants us to be, and thus reach the lost most effectively. Paul helped save many, many souls, and yet he said we couldn't settle for any bad doctrine. Don't allow people to make the two seem as if they oppose each other. Hang tight to the Word of God!

It's a foolish athlete who skips his training to just "get out there and win games". It takes a lot of effort behind the scenes to succeed in sports. How can we ignore parts of God's Word and think that we will be effective soul winners? Let's not treat sports with more reverence then we do God, lest we be found to be lukewarm, and make converts that are twice the child of Hell.

Car companies don't just sell cars and forget about quality. Sure, it's really important for Chrysler to sell cars, but they also have to worry about what kind of car they turn out. They put a tremendous focus on manufacturing processes, efficiency, and design. They put a big emphasis on doctrine, as it were. How well their cars turn out will have a big impact on how many cars they sell. Similarly, how accurately we live the Scriptures in front of others will effect how many people we truly lead to the Lord.