“A PILLAR & BUTTRESS OF THE TRUTH”
1 Tim. 3:14-15
FBCF – 6/6/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Hymn #380 in my 1956 edition Baptist Hymnal that I regularly use in my quiet time is “The Church’s One Foundation.” First verse:
“The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation by Spirit & the Word:
From heav’n He came & sought her to be His holy Bride,
And w/ His own blood He bought her, & for her life He died.”
The Church – For many of us, it’s been a vital part of our lives for as long as we can remember.
- Some of us have the testimony that we’ve been in church since 9 months before we were born.
- Some of us had a drug problem when we were kids – Our parents drug us to church every time the doors were open!
We have sweet memories of pastors & staff members & SS teachers & others who impacted our lives w/ the Gospel & the love of Christ in so many ways. Our lives were deeply imprinted in the Church w/ many of the major spiritual markers in our lives happening in the church.
Some of you started off in the church, but then something happened & you drifted away. Like the 3 pastors who got together for coffee one day & found that all their churches had a bat-infestation problem. "I got so mad," said one, "I took a shotgun & shot at them. All it did was make holes in the ceiling, but the bats were still there." Next pastor, "I tried trapping them alive. Drove 50 miles away & released them, but they beat me back to the church." Last pastor, "I haven't had any more problems," "What did you do?" asked the others, amazed. "I simply baptized & added them to church rolls & I haven't seen them since."
Seriously:
- Maybe you graduated from high school, went off to college, & got out of the habit.
- Someone in the church disappointed you or hurt you. Could have been a pastor or staff member. Or a friend. But the pain drove you away from the church.
- You went through a divorce or other family struggle & felt out of place.
- You got involved in some sinful activities & felt uncomfortable when you came to church, so you just stopped coming. Felt like folks were judging you. Right or wrong, you pulled away.
It happens. And if that’s you, I just want to say that we’re glad you’re here today. This is a good place. It’s a hospital for wounded people, not a country club for well people.
Others of you didn’t grow up in the church. It’s still a new experience for you. You’re still trying to figure out why we do what we do. You still have questions about different aspects of the church.
- Why do we do some of the things we do?
- What’s a deacon? What’s a deacon supposed to do?
- Why should I give my money to the church? What’s it used for?
- Why do we sing the songs we sing?
- Do I have to dress up to come to church?
- Why isn’t the membership of the church more diverse?
- What’s the big deal about baptism?
- What’s the Lord’s Supper all about?
- What’s the invitation at the end of the sermon? Why do that?
These are some of the questions that we are going to try to answer as we start this news series, “How to Do Church.” Whether you’ve been in church your whole life, or you’re still trying to decide if you want to be a part of the church, this series from the NT book of 1 Timothy is for you.
EXPLANATION – 1 Timothy 3:14-15
Quick background on 1 Timothy:
- Written by Apostle Paul to Timothy. Paul was a mentor to Timothy, but more than that, like a spiritual father to him.
o 1 Timothy 1:2
- This letter, along w/ 2 Tim & Titus – pastoral epistles that deal w/ issues related to the church.
- Timothy was a young pastor in Ephesus, & Paul wrote this letter to instruct him & counsel him in the work of the church – basically teaching him how to do church.
o Church organization
o Worship & prayer
o Leadership needs & qualifications
o Doctrinal purity & theology
o Dealing w/ false teachers
o Godliness – Words “godly” & “godliness” are used 8 X in the 3 pastoral epistles. Paul wanted Timothy to know & teach that the true Gospel will always lead to life change & godliness as opposed to worldly false teachings.
Timothy needed to understand the importance of the Church & its place in the lives of Christ-followers. And we need to understand its importance, too.
APPLICATION – We need to understand the importance of the Church.
WHY STUDY “HOW TO DO CHURCH”?
B/c the Church is not just a building – not just an organization – not just a normal group of people. It’s the Body of Christ, called & commissioned to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our world. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Body, & each of us who know Him are parts of that Body, members of the Body. And each of us have been gifted w/ specific gifts that are to be used in the Body to build it up, strengthen it, & exalt Christ in everything we do.
- 1 Corinthians 12:27 – “Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body, and individually [you are] members of it [each with his own special purpose and function].” (AMP)
5 Reasons we need to understand how to do church:
IT’S HOW WE LIVE – “behave” (v. 15) – Paul wanted to visit w/ Timothy in Ephesus (v. 14). Wanted to put his eyes on him & have some face-to-face fellowship time, like brothers & sisters in Christ want to do.
But, in case he wasn’t able to get to Timothy or was delayed in his trip, he wanted to make sure that Timothy had these words of instruction. Verse 15 is a very significant verse in this book b/c sums up Paul’s reason for writing to Timothy – that Timothy & the Christ-followers in the church at Ephesus would know how to behave – how to conduct themselves & live their lives for the glory of the Lord & for the building up of the church.
The Church is one of the main places where are instructed in doctrine. That word simply means the teaching that we receive from Godly pastors & teachers from the Word of God. Doctrine helps us understand the will of God & how our lifestyle should reflect Christ.
Paul told Timothy that there are certain ways that Christ-followers should behave b/c right doctrine leads to right living.
- R.C. Sproul – “Without right doctrine, right living is impossible. We have not really understood Scripture if we are not changed as a result of our study.”
- Neil Anderson – “Believe, declare, & act upon the truth of God’s Word, & you will thwart Satan’s strategy.”
Why do we need to know how to do Church? B/c we must rightly teach the right doctrine that leads to right living.
IT’S WHO WE ARE WITH – “household…church” – Remember doing this as a kid: “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple. Open the doors, there’s all the people.”
Nothing really wrong w/ kids doing this. But truth is that the Church IS the people. When you pulled into the parking lot this morning, you saw a building. But when you opened the doors of this building this morning & walked into this room, THAT’S when you actually saw the church. You saw the Church when you came into this room.
- You saw imperfect people.
- You saw hurting people.
- You saw people who are growing in their faith.
- You saw people who have stagnated in their faith.
- You saw people who’ve made mistakes & who will make more mistakes in the days to come.
- You saw people who’ve sinned & who will sin again.
- You saw a FAMILY
And like every family, this family has times of joy & happiness, & times of difficulty & grief. It has times when we are doing really well, & times of great struggle. It has times of plenty, & times of want. But as a FAMILY, we love each other. We are in this thing together, on a journey together, working together to show the world that Jesus has changed our lives, & that He can change theirs, too! Church is who we are with, doing this thing called life together.
IT’S WHO WE WORSHIP – “the church of the living God” – We are the church of the LIVING God, not a dead god.
- God the Father is alive & is on His throne, sovereignly ruling of all creation.
- Jesus the Son is alive & is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, awaiting the Father’s instruction to come back & get His people, the Church.
- The Holy Spirit is alive & is living in each of us who are saved. He’s given us everything we need to live a life of godliness & to serve the Lord in & through the Church.
God is the living God! We are the Church of the living God & we worship HIM!
- When we sang songs today, we sang to a living God who heard us & saw us.
- When we read the Scriptures, we are reading a living Word given to us by our living God.
- When we pray, we are praying to a living God who hears us & responds to His children.
This living God is worthy of our worship! We’ve got to know how to do Church b/c the living God is worshiped by the Church. We better get that right!
Last 2 points together:
IT’S WHERE WE STAND – “foundation” & IT’S WHAT WE BELIEVE – “truth” – This is such an important part of why we need to know how to do Church: It’s the “pillar & buttress [foundation] of truth.” Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:19 that “God’s solid foundation stands firm” (NIV). That solid foundation is the Church. We are built on the rock of Christ Jesus, the rock of the truth of God’s Word, & we ain’t going anywhere! Jesus said, “the gates of hell will not prevail against” us (Matthew 16:18).
- When the gov’t crumbles & falls, the Church will stand.
- When the schools & universities crumble & fall, the Church will stand.
- When the economic systems & structures crumble & fall, the Church will stand.
- When the entertainment industry crumbles & falls, the Church will stand.
- When the morality of our communities & society crumbles & falls, the Church will stand.
- When all other false religions & false teachers of the world crumble & fall, the Church will stand.
The Church will stand b/c it’s built upon the Truth, & Truth has a name, & His name is JESUS!
- The Church is the pillar of truth – We hold Jesus & the truth of the Gospel up!
- The Church is the foundation of the Church – We are built upon Jesus & the truth of the Gospel!
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS – So do you see why we need to know how to do Church?
- It’s how live
- It’s who we’re with - FAMILY
- It’s who we worship – We worship the Living God
- It’s where stand
- It’s what we believe
When you make a commitment to Jesus Christ, you’re making a commitment to His Church. You’re making a commitment to invest your life for the cause of the Gospel w/ a body of believers who are committed to the same thing. So LET’S GO!
