Sunday’s Sermons

Text: 1^st Timothy 3:14-15                                                2/10/08 AM

Thesis: God expects the church to behave like the church.

 

Intro: When I read a passage like ours today, 1^st Timothy 3:14 &15, I am given a fresh reminder of why I am where I am.

This is my goal; this is why we give ourselves to knowing Christ, growing together, and going to the ends of the earth.

The church is central and necessary.  The church is crucial and purposeful.

It is my desire as pastor of Mambrino Baptist Church that being a member of Mambrino Baptist Church means something.

I long for the day when we take greater pride in our church membership than we do in our last names.

I’m giving my life so that you will experience what it is to be a functioning part of God’s household.

Why do I preach the way I do? Why do I live in the church parking lot? Why do I go to bed praying and thinking about this church and why do I wake up praying and thinking about you, this church? Our passage this morning makes it clear.

We’re not talking about what God expects of us for an hour on Sunday. We’re talking about what God expects of us every minute of every hour of every day.

Our passage today tells us why the church matters.

 

Read 1^st Timothy 3:14-15

 

I) The Holy Spirit expects us to behave like the church

a)      When I say behavior I’m referring to manner of life.

i)        We’re talking about the way we live.

ii)      The reason for 1^st Timothy is so that we will know how one ought to live within and as a member of God’s house (Knight, 178).

iii)    It is unfortunate that every English translation uses the ‘ought.’ It makes it sound like what the Spirit has inspired Paul to write about an option for the Christian life. Like if we have time and really want to this is what church should be about.

iv)    But in chapter 3 verses 2 and 7 the translators get it right on, “therefore an overseer must be,” and “moreover, he must be.”

v)      It is necessary that a pastor be these things. It’s not just an option for a pastor to be above reproach and well thought of by outsiders. It is necessary that he be these things.

vi)    Let’s understand that the word ‘ought’ in verse 15 is referring to a requirement for the church in the same way that this word refers to a requirement for pastors only a few verses before.

vii)  Let’s also understand that 1^st Timothy is not a manual strictly for how to act when we are on church property without any implications for how we act when we are not on church property.

viii)            You do not cease to be a member of Mambrino Baptist Church once you drive off the property.

ix)    The church meets in a building but the building is not God’s house. We are God’s house, we are the temple (1 Cor 3.16, 6.19; 1 Pet 2.5).

x)      As God’s house it is necessary that we bring all of our lives, every day of our lives, every aspect of our lives into agreement with Scripture.

xi)    These commands are for our joy.

xii)  So, let’s be humble but perfectly clear here. To live life as individuals or as a church in contradiction to Scripture is not acceptable.

xiii)            It is naïve to believe our generation is the first to think we are more advanced than the claims of Scripture.

xiv)            The church in Corinth was arrogant and celebrating sexual freedom and a disregard for marriage.

xv)  Attempts to redefine sexuality and marriage based on the idea that now we know better is nothing new.

xvi)            The church should not fear when the world stands against us. The world has stood against God’s people and the church since their inception.

xvii)          Instead, the church should fear when the world does not stand against us.

xviii)        We will one day give an account for how we behaved as a church.

xix)            This isn’t theoretical stuff appropriate for the seminary classroom but not the everyday living room.

xx)  This is how-to stuff.

II) Here are the requirements for our life as a church

Read 14&15

a)      We are the household of God

i)        It’s not by chance or coincidence that Paul here in verse 15 refers to the church as the household of God.

ii)      Of a pastor or elder it is required that he manage his own household well because “if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” That’s chapter 3 verse 5.

iii)    God calls men to lead and serve in his house. The church in this capacity is no different than the home.

iv)    But the church and home are not the same things. No where in Scripture is the biological family referred to as the house of God.

v)      On the other hand, there are numerous places in Scripture where God’s collective people are referred to as the household of God.

vi)    Hebrews 10:21 refers to Christ as our great High Priest over the house of God.

vii)  1 Peter 2:4-5 says, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

viii)            The principle that guides us here is that as the church we are God’s and God is among us.

ix)    No one is saved and left in solitary confinement. Everyone is saved and brought into God’s house.

x)      An individual is not the household of God in the same way that there is no such thing as the priesthood of the believer.

xi)    We are a household, we are a priesthood, it’s not about the individual member it’s about the body.

xii)  With infinite strength and great compassion God is bringing together His household.

xiii)            We belong to God and through the sacrifice of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit we experience the presence of God in our lives as the church.

xiv)            It’s the great doctrine of adoption. Through the Spirit we cry out to Him, “Abba, Father.”

xv)  Adoption means we have a perfect Father who loves us completely and we have every right as sons.

xvi)            Christ is our brother and every other believer is a family member.

xvii)          Many of us experience frustration in our spiritual lives because we do not value the church like Christ values the church.

xviii)        Alone we try to walk with God. Alone we try to gain victory over sin and temptation. But we get no where.

xix)            The reason could very well be because we are trying to live life contrary to God’s intention.

xx)  God has called you into a household. We are intended to be a family carrying each others burdens, sharing each other’s joys, enduring each others sufferings.

xxi)            Think of the damage done to a marriage when a husband or wife withdraws.

xxii)          Now think of the blessing in a family when a spouse fills his/her biblical role.

xxiii)        Think of the blessing of a father who cares for and invests in his children.

xxiv)        Think of the blessing of mother who nurtures and trains up her children.

xxv)          Are you doing damage to Mambrino by withdrawing and staying at a distance?

xxvi)        Or are you a blessing to us by filling your God given role and exercising your God-given gift among us and for our good?

xxvii)      We need you to engage. We need you to be a blessing.

xxviii)    You do belong. You do have family. You are a part of the family of God. You are not and cannot be alone.

b)      We are the church of the living God

i)        Church is the Greek word, “ekklesia”. It means literally called out.

ii)      It’s a word often used to refer to an assembly of people either for religious or secular reasons.

iii)    The church is a group of people who have been called out.  Called out of what?

iv)    Called out of self-centeredness into Christ-centeredness

v)      Called out of darkness into the light.

vi)    Called out of sin into righteousness.

vii)  Called out of unbelief into faith.

viii)            It is God who gathers us. He is the great Assembler of the church. It’s not just one denomination that is the Assembly of God.

ix)    The Church universal is the Assembly of God.

x)      He calls us out so that we will know Him as Father and joyfully serve Him as Lord as a part of his household.

xi)    The individual who is serving God in his biological family, spiritual family, and community will see the glory of the living God in so many different avenues.

xii)  When I became a husband I learned more about God.

xiii)            When I became a father I learned more about God.

xiv)            When I became a pastor I learned more about God.

xv)  He is living and powerful in so many ways. 

xvi)            This phrase, ‘the living God’ gives us two very important ideas.

xvii)          First, our God is alive. Our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob revealed to us in the god-man Jesus Christ is the only living God.

xviii)        Everything else is a dead lifeless idol. Every other religion is empty of life because the living God of the Bible is absent.

xix)            He is alive and will always be alive. He is the beginning and the end. We can trust Him. He is not dead as a figment of our imaginations.

xx)  He is not dead because our progressing intelligence has killed him.

xxi)            He is not dead because his body is still in a tomb.

xxii)          He is alive forever more; the living God.

xxiii)        Second, as the living God He is the giver of life both physical and spiritual.

xxiv)        Hebrews 10:30 tells us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

xxv)          This living God is not an old man with a beard too slow to catch you and too out of touch to be of significance.

xxvi)        This living God is the most glorious entity from eternity past or eternity future.

xxvii)      And He has died to bring you to life.

xxviii)    No one and no group can compete with his power, wisdom, knowledge, love, and wrath.

xxix)        The living God will bless us his household with abundant joy and strength in Christ.

xxx)          The living God will punish all those outside his household with never ending pain and eternal torment.

xxxi)        Abigail and I took the car through a carwash the other day and I made the mistake of not preparing her for what was about to happen.

xxxii)      I spent the entire time ensuring her that I would keep her safe, that nothing would harm her, that daddy was there and everything was going to be okay.

xxxiii)    What was going on outside the car was terrifying but as I held her hand and reassured her she clamed down; she was with daddy.

xxxiv)    Together as a church we are with God; we are his family. He is alive and well. Trust Him and know His love or turn from Him and know His wrath.

xxxv)      As the household of God and the church of the living God this is what we do:

c)      We are a pillar and buttress of truth

i)        It should be understood here, as it was in chapter 2 verse 4, that ‘truth’ is a reference to the gospel.

ii)      2:4 says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

iii)    There is no salvation outside of the truth of Jesus Christ. To come to a knowledge of the truth is to comprehend and trust the real work of Christ to save us from sin and death.

iv)    It is too vague to imply that the church is only the pillar and protector of truths such as 2+2=4. Though we are seeing more need of support for those truths in our day.

v)      But what we do stand against is the postmodern denial of truth. We stand for truth based on a right understanding of and faith in Jesus Christ who is absolute truth and the creator of all things.

vi)    There is truth because God exists and this God has created all things through and for Jesus Christ.

vii)  The church is a pillar and buttress of the gospel truth of Jesus the Savior.

viii)            Now both of these words, pillar and buttress, are architectural words referring to different means of support.

ix)    We are called to add up the sum of our lives as the church and give support to the gospel.

x)      Everything we do is a proclamation that Jesus saves and is calling out a people for himself.

xi)    When anyone asks where that blessed joy-filled household of God is we say, “come and see Mambrino Baptist Church I’ll show you.”

xii)  The way the glorious pillars stood in Solomon’s temple is the way the church is to stand glorious as God’s assembly of Christ-centered people.

xiii)            The meaning of being a buttress of truth is given to us in 1 Corinthians 15:58:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

xiv)            It’s the word ‘steadfast.’ It means to stand firm.

xv)  The church as the household of the living God stands steadfast for and because of the Gospel.

xvi)            It is wrong to think that the truth is built upon the church; like without the church there is no truth.

xvii)          The idea is more like that of protection. The church should support the truth by being a pillar.

xviii)        And the church should protect and uphold the truth by being a buttress of truth.

xix)            Church, we must hear biblical preaching and be a part of sound bible study groups where application and accountability happen.

xx)  We must grow together and we must go out.

xxi)            In our day and time the church must be a lighthouse of truth. Jesus is what lights our life and He’s what we want people to come to know.

xxii)          When we live like the church it gives credence to what God has said and done.

III) When we are told that the church is a structure called to uphold the truth of Christianity we are also reminded that the church is a household called to display that truth in its conduct and to conform to it (Knight, 181).

a)      Because we are changed by the gospel everything we say and do must be because of the gospel.

b)      I preach the way I do so that you will know the truth and seek by God’s grace to conform to it.

c)      I want you to know the joy of abiding in Christ’s word and being set free by the truth.

d)     Knowing what God expects of us and what Christ has done for us is meant to produce holiness in us.

e)      Church we must stand up for the truth. God expects it.

f)       In the weeks and months that lie ahead of us in 2008 I’m going to do everything I can to equip us to stand firm for the gospel.

g)      We will require that every new and old member of Mambrino Baptist Church clings to and lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

h)      We are a Baptist Church that means we are committed to the understanding that every member is a believer.

i)        We are committed to knowing Christ.

j)        Our 2^nd Sunday members’ meetings are going to focus on hearing the testimonies of new and old members plus reaching out to hurting or AWOL members.

k)      We’re going to start some new Sunday School classes.

l)        We’re going to restart our Through the Bible Fellowships so we can discuss what we are reading every day.

m)    We’re going to grow together.

n)      We’re going to do some evangelism training and go out on mission. We will be a church going to the ends of the earth.

o)      I’m going to clarify the expectations of deacons and we’re going to invest in these men so that they can in turn invest in this church.

p)      We’re not going to play church or leave the work of evangelism and discipleship to the big boys.

q)      We’re going to be the church, the household of God, the church of the living God, a pillar and protector of truth.

r)       We’re going to focus on knowing Christ, growing together, and going to the ends of the earth.