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Scripture Text:
1 Tim. 3:14-16 (NIV)
Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions
so that, [15] if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church
of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. [16] Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He
appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was
believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
1 Tim. 3:14-16 (ESV)
I hope to come to you soon, but I am
writing these things to you so that, [15] if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which
is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth. [16] Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
The Sermon
After the assassination of President Kennedy
here in Dallas, the United States government
appointed a special commission to determine the truth of what happened, who
the murderer or murderers were, and in particular, if there was a larger conspiracy or not. This commission sought to get
at the truth of this infamous event for the sake of the American people.
I quote you from the opening paragraph of the
Warren Commission:
“THE ASSASSINATION of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a cruel and shocking
act of violence directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind. A young and vigorous leader whose years
of public and private life stretched before him was the victim of the fourth Presidential assassination in the history of
a country dedicated to the concepts of reasoned argument and peaceful political change. This Commission was created on November
29, 1963, in recognition of the right of people everywhere to full and truthful knowledge concerning these events. This report
endeavors to fulfill that right and to appraise this tragedy by the light of reason and the standard of fairness. It has been
prepared with a deep awareness of the Commission's responsibility to present to the American people an objective report of
the facts relating to the assassination.” (Warren Commission Report, from Internet)
The conclusion of the
Warren Commission was that Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin and he acted alone, the culminating act of a frustrated, unhappy,
and violent man.
Not everyone agrees with the conclusion of the Warren Commission, but it you read it, it seems to
be an objective and unbiased analysis of the events and available evidence. It is certainly an admirable effort to get at
the truth of who assassinated President Kennedy.
The matter of truth is no small matter. In fact, everything depends
on it. Most of us want to know what the truth is; we don't want to live or believe an illusion, something that is false, that
is not in accord with reality.
In the matter of religion, as in every other area of human endeavor and research, truth
is of supreme value. Religion involves ultimate truth - matters of cosmology - our ultimate understanding of the cosmos, the
universe - and what is ultimate reality, what is our world-view, what is truth.
Today's passage in Paul's first letter
to Timothy deals with the matter of truth. Truth as it relates to Christianity and its beliefs, truth as it relates to the
church.
There is a direct relationship, an inseparable binding and interweaving, of the truth of Christianity and
the church, the people of God.
Today we will look at the truth that the church ...
I. Practices
II. Upholds
III. Confesses
Let's remember that this letter of 1 Timothy was written by Paul to this young pastor of the church
at Ephesus, where Paul had left him. He has been giving him advice on how to deal with certain issues in the church at Ephesus.
One problem was false teachers. Paul also gave him instructions about public prayer, about women's place in the congregational
worship, and about qualifications for church leaders, overseers (pastors) and deacons.
In verse 14 Paul states that
he hopes to visit Timothy soon but he goes ahead and writes him some instructions - just in case he doesn't get there when
he hopes to. We see that written correspondence and teaching was an essential part of Paul's ministry and discipleship practice
and strategy. We should therefore not underestimate the value of written materials in the matter of the Christian faith. We
should read such materials and produced them. Those of us who are pastors and teachers in God's church should invest much
of our energy in producing written materials that explain and defend the Bible's teachings. All Christians, however, can write
and teach and witness to and encourage others. We can use letters and e-mail to communicate with people we care about. There
is something about putting our ideas and instructions down on paper that makes them permanent. They can be studied and analyzed
and thought about. They remain fixed where our oral communication can be forgotten or fade away with time.
Paul is writing
to a man who is involved "smack-dab" in the middle of the life of
the church in the first century. At the time he is a
pastor in Ephesus; not the only pastor there, but evidently a leading pastor. So Paul's remarks here are written to a churchman
in the midst of the local church. My friends, this is what it means to be a Christian in the NT sense of the word.
God
has ordained that we be churchmen and churchwomen in the midst of the
local church. This is where the rubber hits the
road. This is the whole tone and flavor of the NT. It is written by churchmen, the apostles such as Paul, and Peter and John,
who were pastors and their whole lives were bound up, " lock, stock and barrel," in the life of the church, the people of
God, as they gathered in local assemblies.Are you a churchman today? Are you a churchwoman? If you would be a NT Christian,
you must be such, you must grow to become such.
I. The Practice of the Truth
1 Tim. 3:15
if I am delayed,
you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar
and foundation of the truth.
In verse 15 Paul hits on the first matter of truth - the practice of it.
He says,
I'm writing you these instructions so that you will know how the people of God should conduct themselves, how they should
behave, in "God's household". In other words, how they should conduct themselves in the family of God, as brothers and sisters
united together under the heavenly Father with Christ as the Head of the church.
What he is saying is that he has written
some instructions to Timothy about how the people of God should practice the truth in the midst of the life of the church.
As I mentioned, previously in this letter Paul gave instructions about congregational prayer in chapter 2: who to pray for,
how to pray - especially the men. He spoke about the proper conduct of women in public worship. And he spoke about proper
qualifications for overseers and deacons.
All these matters must be practices by the people of God. These matters are
not optional. Paul was not serving truth cafeteria style - take what you want and leave the rest- but he was setting the table
with a meal which he expected all God's people to eat and clean their plates!
So, practicing the truth is required; it
is essential.
We can legitimately apply this exhortation of the apostle to timothy and the church at Ephesus to all of
his teachings, in fact, to all of the NT. We need to "flesh it out" in the life of our church.
II. Upholding the Truth
1 Tim. 3:15
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is
the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
The second matter of truth that Paul deals with
is the matter of upholding it. You remember in the book of Exodus after Israel had escaped from Egypt and was in the wilderness
the Amalekites attacked them, so Moses sent Joshua and some men to fight them. Meanwhile, he stood on a hill with the staff
of God in his hand. When he held it up, the Israelites would be winning, and if he lowered his arms, the Amalekites would
be winning. So Aaron and Hur would hold his arms up and they continued to do that until sunset and until Israel had defeated
the Amalekites.
So, we the people, of God, are called to uphold the truth of God in this world against the attacks
that come against it.
In verse 15, Paul uses two illustrations to describe the church. First, he calls it a household,
a family. Secondly he calls it the church of the living God. What he is doing here is describing the church as the temple
of God. It is the place where God now dwells on earth. Just as his special presence dwelt in the Holy of Holies, that inner
sacred room in the tabernacle, so he now lives in the midst of his people; his special presence is there whenever they gather
in his name. He’s not talking about a building, but a gathering of people. The building is only to keep the rain
and sun off.
“It is not occupied like a heathen temple by a lifeless idol, but it enjoys the manifest presence
of the living God.”
Next, Paul says something very important about this gathering of God’s people,
the church. He says that they are the “pillar and foundation of the truth.” Here we are, back to the matter
of truth.
He describes the church’s responsibility in the world: it is to be the pillar and foundation of the
truth. Almost all the translations use this word “pillar.” There are some variations in the way “foundation,”
as it is in the NIV, is translated – they include ground, bulwark, buttress, and support. In other words, it is
a very substantial and fundamental part of a building. I think the word “foundation” is a good word and
I’ll stick with it.
The picture that Paul paints for us is that the church is both the foundation and the pillar
which upholds the truth of God in the world. It is like the truth is the roof part of a building, and the roof rests on pillars,
like the Parthenon in Athens with its great, long columns, and the columns or pillars in turn rest on a very deep and solid
foundation. The Parthenon stands to this day, in spite of the fact that, as my dad was telling me, it was used in WWII to
store explosives and they accidentally went off one day.
The church, you see, as a crucial role to play in this matter
of truth. It is to uphold the truth of God in the world, it is to be the guardian of the truth. If the church doesn’t
uphold the truth, no one else will, and it will be lost to our generation.
Listen to what John Calvin said:
“This
truth is preserved in the world only through the Church’s ministry. Thus what weight of responsibility rests upon
pastors to whom has been entrusted the charge of such an inestimable treasure.”
“Is not the Church
the mother of all believers, because she brings them to new birth by the Word of God, educates and nourished them all their
life, strengthens them and finally leads them to complete perfection…the office of administering doctrine which
God has put in her hands is the only means for preserving the truth, that it may not pass from the memory of men. …the
Church maintains the truth, because in her teaching she proclaims it and preserves it pure and complete and transmits it to
posterity. If there by no public teaching of the Gospel, and no godly ministers who by their preaching rescue the truth from
darkness and oblivion, [then] falsehoods, errors, impostures, superstitions and corruption of every kind will immediately
seize control. In short, silence in the Church means the departure and suppression of the truth.”
Lenski
notes that the “truth” of God stands by itself; it is independent, no matter what man does or does not
do. But the church has the privilege and responsibility to “bear it as a pillar, as a foundation. The church thus
bears God’s saving truth for all the world.”
Why would God entrust such a heavy responsibility
to sinful, frail people like you and me? It’s because he gives us the privilege of being his co-laborers in the
world. It’s because he’s not depending on our weak and fickle human strength but on his own almighty grace
and power to preserve his church in a hostile world, and not just preserve it, but to make it victorious. “The gates
of hell shall not prevail against the church.”
IV. The Confession of the Truth
1 Tim. 3:16
Beyond
all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was
seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
:16
“Mystery” is something revealed to those who have a spirit of true piety of ‘godliness’
which is the essence of true religion, says the New Bible Commentary, Revised.
The world does not know or understand this
“mystery.”
“Godliness” is translated “devotion” by William
Hendriksen (in his commentary on this letter) i.e., “piety in action” or godly living” “the
conscious devotion of our lives to God.”
The New American Commentary calls it “ …a synonym
for the Christian religion.”
Gordon Fee offers this translation in his commentary: “No one can deny
how great is the secret (“revealed truth”) of our religion.”
Literally, the expression
is “confessedly great.”
[thus realizing how important the church is, the minister should be
supremely concerned about its health, life, and witness, and ordering and obedience according to the will of God, says Charles
Erdman]
What follows next is thought by many to be the words of a Christian hymn that was sung in the church of the
1st century. (v. 16):
He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached
among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
“Appeared in a body”
is literally “manifested in the flesh.” This implies that he existed beforehand. There were 2 things happening
at once: a self-revelation of God and a self-concealment of his full glory.
cf. 1:15 – this expression is even
clearer than in 1:15 (Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…). Other Scriptures which touch on this doctrine
of the incarnation are:
Phil. 2:8 “in fashion or appearance as a man”
Joh. 1:14 “The
Word became flesh and tented among us”
Heb. 2:14 Christ “partook of flesh and blood”
Rom.
1:3 - regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David
Lenski in his commentary states that
“flesh and blood is not only the physical body but all that belongs to our human nature, the body animated by soul
and spirit. This is the incarnation: he who was manifested in flesh existed before that” (Jo. 1:1).
The New
American Commentary says that “the term “body” [literally, flesh: sarx] is a reference to all
that belongs to our human nature except sin. Paul was asserting that in Christ, God himself had appeared in a human body.”
Vindicated by the Spirit – Whether this should refer to the Holy Spirit or to Christ’s spirit
is a agreed upon by Bible scholars
William Hedricksen sees the Spirit as in natural contrast with flesh. He was vindicated
in that he lived a righteous life and vindicated by Holy Spirit raising him from the dead (Rom. 1:4)
“By
‘spirit’ he here means the inmost being of Christ – his heart, his soul, the spring of all his
motives and desire; even in this realm he was shown or declared or proved to be just and sinless and faultless and perfect.
The first line speaks of his real humanity, the second of his complete holiness; the former of his actual manhood, the latter
of his spiritual perfection.”
Lenski says:
“He was forensically declared just and righteous…How
was he declared righteous by God? In and by the act of raising him from the dead.” The effect or result in our behalf
is this:
-He is made unto us righteousness – 1 Cor. 1:30
- he was raised for our righteousness –
Rom. 4:21
- that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 1 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 10:4
The New American Commentary
follows Lenski: “Lenski takes “spirit” to be a reference to the vindication of Christ’s
spirit of holy obedience even to the death of the cross. Since the first line of this hymn refers to being manifest in the
realm of the flesh, it seems that the parallel in line 2 is suggesting that Christ was vindicated or declared righteous in
the sphere of his spiritual nature. The resurrection becomes the means of publicly declaring this vindication. What Paul was
saying is that just as Christ was manifested in human flesh, so he was proved to be what he claimed to be in the spiritual
realm. The resurrection of Christ declared that he was God’s Son.”
Thus the two lines parallel
Rom.1:3-4 and 1 Pet. 3:18
Seen by Angels
All 4 gospels report that angels appeared after his resurrection. Though
some of his disciples doubted, none of the angels did. This was something they had longed to know about: 1 Peter 1:12
It
was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told
you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these
things.
So his resurrection was seen and confirmed by the heavenly beings. They testified to it to the disciples at
the empty tomb and also they explained to them his disappearance into the clouds, which was his ascension (see Acts 1) back
to heaven.
So, the angels “expounded” the resurrection and ascension. They verified it.
In
addition, this expression probably refers to the worship given to Jesus by the angels at his ascension (Phil. 2:9ff
Implications:
it was not just left to humans to verify the resurrection. Heavenly beings from God also confirmed it; they removed all doubt
as to what had happened to the body. That they were true messengers from God is confirmed by the fact that their prophecy
came true: that they would see him in Galilee. They also reminded the disciples of Christ’s own prediction of his
coming death and resurrection on the third day when he was still among them (Lu. 24:6-8). They were used of God to confirm
and seal to the disciples Christ’s own prophecies of his death and resurrection.
In John’s gospel
(20: 12,13) the fact that one was sitting at the head and one at the foot of where Jesus had been laid implies that they had
come from heaven as God’s servants [to at least observe his resurrection. At any rate, it indicates that heaven
(God) was involved in his resurrection.
Preached (Proclaimed) among the nations
This great world wide work in
fulfillment of the Biblical prophecies was in full swing when Paul wrote this. It is a declaration that Christ alone is the
universal Savior of mankind.
This great work began at Pentecost and continues to the present hour.
Believed on
in the world
The fact that men and women in every place around the world believed in Christ, received him, and were changed
and gathered into local churches again is confirmation that this mystery of godliness is true and great. Humans themselves
are valid witnesses to the reality of Jesus Christ. In their radically changed lives we can see the Word of God confirmed.
Taken up into glory
“taken up” is the common NT term to refer to Christ’s ascension
{see Lu. 9:51; Acts 1:2, etc}
The ascension proved that Christ’s work of redemption was accepted and approved
by the Father. This was God the Father’s stamp of approval on the work of the Son.
Sum’y:
We
thus see Christ from his incarnation to his ascension…
Fee: “Thus the great “mystery of
godliness” we believe in, Paul sings, has to do with Christ’s own humiliation and exaltation and the church’s
ongoing witness to him, who is now the exalted, glorified one. This double focus, especially the emphasis on the ongoing ministry
to the nations, returns to a theme sounded earler in the creedal words of 1:15 (Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners)
and 2:4-6 (there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus).”
Why was this hymn
placed at this point in this letter?
Gordon Fee says there are “…two possibilities: the double emphasis
on humiliation/exaltation, focusing on the present, triumphant glory of Christ, probably stands in …contrast to
the Christology of the false teachers. Secondly, Paul is about to return to a censure of the false teachers, with an exhortation
to Timothy to stand in sharp contrast to them. This hymn prepares for that censure by boldly expressing what the truth is
all about, as a contrast to their demonic errors.”
Application I – Practice of the Truth
Apostolic
doctrine is to be believed and applied, put to work, in the life of the local church. We do not have the option to take what
we like, to take what’s culturally acceptable, we must implement it in its fullness if we are to have a church which
fully glorified Christ.
Application II – Upholding the Truth
If you would be a witness to the world
of the reality of Jesus Christ, you must join yourself to a local church.
If you would seek to uphold the truth of the
gospel in the world, you must align yourself with a local church. The church, the local church, is the only vehicle through
which God’s truth is proclaimed, defended, guarded, and maintained.
Why is this? Because only in the local church:
1) Do people gather regularly to worship the living Christ.
It is the only place on earth where the Word of God is
taught in a purely devotional matter for immediate application to the spiritual lives of its people, in order to mature them
together as a local expression of Christ’s body on earth.
2) It is the only gathering of Christian people where
there is a commitment to one another to support the church and its witness and support and uphold one another in love through
all the joys and sorrows of this life.
3) Here only are the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) celebrated.
It is only when the ordinances are enacted is the gospel fully preached by both word and action.
4) It is only in the
church that the Christian family gathers to share in worship and fellowship, to share sorrows and joys, to exhort one another,
to pray for one another. It is only in the local church that the NT can be fully lived out and manifested to the world as
we implement all the “one another” passages: “encourage one another, forgive one another, pray
for one another…”
Application III – Confession of the Truth
We must know the essential
doctrines of Christianity and defend and proclaim them – in society and especially through the ministry of the local
church.
The local church should be a confessing church. We should have our core doctrines printed and explained and defended
and preached.
Creeds, statements of faith, and creeds (statements of what we believe) are Biblical practices and we need
to practice them.
The historic creeds such as the Apostles, Nicene, the two London Confessions of Faith of the 17th century,
and our own 11 Article Statement of Faith should be used in the life of the church. Catechisms are also valuable teaching
devices, such as the Heidelberg, and Shorter Catechism.
The church must
I. Practice the truth
II. Uphold the
truth
III. Confess the Truth
The Warren Commission sought the truth of President Kennedy’s assassination.
How much more should we be “valiant for the truth” regarding our God.
“Confessedly great
is our Christian faith.” Let us practice it, uphold it, and confess it.
Amen.
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