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11/27/11 God’s Household: The Church Of The Living God

11/27/11 God’s Household: The Church Of The Living God

1 Timothy 3:15-16;                                                 Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 11/27/11
Inspired by a message delivered by @Greg Lewis@ 10/25/11

“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.”

In this study we want to broaden our understanding of Christian community, otherwise called the church. The church is a unique place, unlike any other. God establishes the church as his own household in the world. The church is where God comes to dwell among his people. This morning let is answer two important questions: (1) What is the church and (2) What does the church do?

God has always wanted to dwell among his people. God dwelt with his people on the Garden of Eden, the Tabernacle and the temple. God came to dwell among us in the person of Jesus Christ. When early believers gathered in the name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and God began to dwell among them. At the end of the Bible, it is promised that at last, God’s dwelling place will be among his people. It has always been God’s heart’s desire to dwell among his people.

Why such an historical effort on God’s part just to be with his people collectively? Individually, we are all sinners, but collectively our sinfulness becomes exponential. It is so hard for the holy God to dwell among us. God is holy and without sin, and at the same time God is also love. For God to dwell among his people, the church must be a place of both love and holiness. If it is not, then God can not and will not dwell there. But the church has not historically been a place of love and holiness. In addition to lacking love and holiness, today it is popular to bring business or worldly, psychological principles into the church. Also people who work hard in the church think that the church is theirs and not God’s dwelling place.

But the church consists of people who have been drawn through the blood of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual leaders know the true nature of the church and help church members conduct themselves accordingly. They help to create an atmosphere of love and holiness so that God can come and dwell among his people.

Part 1: The Church Of The Living Church is God’s Household, God.

God was very concerned the about in Ephesus. Ephesus was the 2nd largest city in the Roman Empire. It was a commercial, entertainment, and religious center. In this environment, God began a great work. The word of God spread widely and grew in power throughout Asia Minor and through this church body (Acts 19:20) Now the world was seeping back into God’s church.

The first part of our key verse reads, “If I am delayed you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household.” (3:15) Paul shared God’s concern for this precious community. They were in a pivotal moment on their development. They had a plurality of leaders working together in Paul’s absence. And these leaders faced many obstacles. There were some dangerous elements knocking at the door and finding their way into the church like false doctrine, godless chatter, lack of spiritual order and the love of money. Paul sent his spiritual son Timothy to curtail and stand against the issues they were facing. Timothy was not fully prepared or equipped to handle such circumstances, but Paul sent him anyway believing that God would work to both raise Timothy up as a strong leader and to make the church spiritually strong again. Paul planned to come soon, but he knew that delay was possible. In the meantime, he emphasized Timothy’s need to know how the people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household.

And so how should we conduct ourselves in God’s house, the church? In God’s household, God is our Father. (1 Tim 1:2), and we are his children. We become members of God’s household when we make the good confession of faith in Christ (6:12) God adopts us as his children. This means that the church is a place where our Father God lives and cares for his children. After spending time in God’s household, people should be able to sing from their hearts, “How Great The Father’s Love For Us!” and truly understand what they are singing.

If God is our Father, then our fellow household members are our church family. They are more than co-workers or servants. Even Jesus once encouraged people around him saying, “For whoever does the will of my Father is heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt 13:50) A relationship-oriented mindset is at the heart and the core of all interactions in God’s household. Even Timothy was specifically instructed by Apostle Paul to exhort older men as fathers, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters (1 Tim 5:1-2). The church is to be a place that is rich with family-like relationships on all levels. It is the place where we desire to spend time and be together with God and with each other.

The Biblical concept of household is different from a nuclear family with 3-5 members. Once, Abram called out 318 men born in his household in order to rescue Lot. Joshua committed himself and his household to serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14) In Acts, the jailer and his whole household came to believe in the Lord Jesus. God’s household could be 2, 5, 10, 20, or several hundred people, which was likely the case in Ephesus. Such extended households require deep love and care and strong household management. For this, God raises up overseers, elders, deacons, and good ministers of Christ Jesus. God’s household has recognized leaders who are called by God and given the authority to carry out their areas of oversight. The first part of 1 Timothy 3 describes the qualifications for such positions like being respectable, temperate and trustworthy, and managing one’s own family well. Such leaders instill love, respect, purpose and order throughout the church community. Their conduct in God’s household upholds God’s love and holiness and enhances its relationships in structure and depth.

This family atmosphere is what attracted me and Julie to fellowship in the UBF church and eventually it was this atmosphere that helped me to open my heart up to Jesus. When I was first drawn to Winnipeg UBF more than 25 years ago, I was so moved by its church family-like environment. Church with the missionaries and the students there reminded me of the “little house on the prairie.” Actually I have 29 reasons why I was attracted to fellowship with the missionaries.(http://christianfamilyonchristsmission.com/why-i-admired-the-christian-fellowship-among-ubf-missionaries-as-a-new-believer/ ) Of course it was not perfect, but the Spirit of God was alive in the ministry and the truth was honored and respected. At one point the household of God was about 70 regular members. Despite of everyone’s tight schedules, with school, work and Bible study, the household of God was very beautiful. It was a place of love and holiness and people wanted to come and spend time together. Julie can testify to the family like, church atmosphere at Downy UBF.

I thank God for the household of God at our Triton Ministry. From Nov 1990 to 1998 we were part of the church family there. At that time there were 50 core members who were like spiritual family members together. Yesterday we went to the Hyde Park UBF dedication. They have a beautiful Bible house. Their ministry is the fruit of 20 years of prayer. It is also the fruit of the relational fellowship between 4 families and 2 shepherds. It is more than just the nice renovated Bible house…it is the people that make up the church and their love for God and love for one another.

It is very hard to maintain the household of God as a community of love. There is a tendency, that over time, our fellowship may seem less and less like God’s household. We get busy surviving in this hard world. We don’t want to come together and spend time together. We don’t even want to talk together. Jenn told me that the average teenager speaks to their parents three minutes a day. This social trend spills over into the church. The church becomes less and less a destiny to be and also less of a place of love and holiness. But we must realize that we have a responsibility to make a church family a spiritual home. We need to listen to, properly support, and embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ. Especially we must pray for one another. That is one reason why we initiated our Sunday night sharing time so we can listen to and pray for each other. Though we are busy we must make room in our lives to serve, care for, and build up relationships with others. We must commit to spend more time praying, meditating, preaching and teaching the Bible. When each member commits to such spiritual expressions of love, then greater things ahead will develop among our small fellowship.

From our key verse, Apostle Paul also characterizes the church as the “the church if the living God.” This is about the church being the place of God’s living presence among his people. Paul emphasizes the primacy of God’s ownership and presence in the church. This means that the church both belongs to God and houses the glorious presence of God. God is the rightful owner and the Lord of the church. The church is where the living God dwells and loves to spend his time. God’s ownership and presence make the church unlike another place or institute in the world.

God is not static; he is living and working to draw us together to become a dwelling in which he lives by his spirit. This is the true Christian church everywhere. Jesus promised that where even two or three gather together in his name, he is there (Mt 18:20) God wants the church to be a united vessel of his loving and holy presence. God wants to live, breath and reveal himself in and through each individual in the church. When a person reflects God and his living presence individually, collectively, the church becomes instructionally incarnate. In this state, the church is magnetic and unstoppable. The living God uses the church to draw people nearer to Jesus and save their lost souls. The next time someone asks, “What is the church?” We can answer, “The church is God’s household, the church of the living God.”

Part ll: The Church Pillar And Is The Foundation Of God’s Truth

The church in Ephesus seemed to be loosing sight of its direction and focus. Certain people were teaching false doctrine and promoting controversies rather than God’s work. Some had wandered away from the Biblical foundation that was once at the centerpiece of their fellowship. They wanted to be biblical teachers but did not know what they were talking about or what they so confidently affirmed. The love of money also had a strong hold on the people in the church. Pride, arrogance and hope in worldly treasures kept many from taking hold of the life that is truly life. In this environment, Paul needed Timothy to be a good minister of Christ Jesus who could re-establish, uphold and maintain the important functions of God’s church in the world.

In the key verse, Paul describes the church as being “the pillar and the foundation of the truth.” This unique distinction of the church was rooted in Paul’s experience in church building, especially in Ephesus. Usually we think about the foundation of the church, not the other way around. But Paul saw firsthand how the institution of the church was able to withstand fierce societal persecution, intense political pressure, and all kinds of false teachings of the world. Paul saw the permanence and eternal significance of what God was doing through his church. God transformed societies, cultures, nations, and even the flow of history through the church.

In construction, laying the foundation comes first. In God’s church the pillar of the truth is prominent. Pillars are intimately linked to foundations. Strong pillars mean strong foundations. Pillars best display the strength of any building’s foundations. Strong pillars also help the overall building structure to stand firm in the wind, storms and rains.

The church as the pillar of truth means that the church makes God’s eternal truth visible to the watching world. Even though the worst storms are thrown at God’s pillars of truth in any generation, the truth of God remains strong, living and active in the church. The church keeps the deep truths of God alive, available and accessible to a world in need. Truth is proclaimed and stands out clearly in the church environment. The church demonstrates God’s truth so that people can feel it, see it, taste it, touch it, and smell it. Church is the place where the truth is proclaimed, honored, and practiced to reveal God and build up his people.

The church is also the foundation of the truth. In the church, God’s truth is deposited and stored for the safekeeping. God’s truth is guarded and kept pure and powerful, not tainted, corrupted or watered down by the influence of a fallen world. The church is the instrument that preserves God’s truth in the world, the truth that transforms lives. Church is the place to go to know the truth and find salvation. It is the one place where God’s truth is the foundation of life in the past, present and future.

In the last part of our key verse, Paul records a doctrinal creed in the form of a hymn about Jesus. It is a deep and poetic description of what mysteriously springs out of the church, the pillar and foundation of the truth. Let’s read verse 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.” The mystery from which true godliness springs is Jesus. More than anything God wants the mysteries of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to spring forth into the world through the church. God wants the church to be the place where godliness and the glory of Jesus overflows and spills over into the world. The next time someone asks, “What does the church do?” We can say that the church is the foundation of truth that reveals Jesus Christ to the world.

Part lll: The life of spiritual leaders in God’s household

Having the right view of the church and its foundations is central to Christian life and in our ministry. For this, each chapter needs leaders like young Timothy, who can be champions of the church as (1) God’s household, (2) the church of the living God, (3) the pillar and foundation of the truth, and (4) the place from which the mysteries of Jesus Christ spring forth into the world. God can make a church spiritually vibrant and strong when even one person wholeheartedly commits to this task.

Spiritual leader ensure God’s household is governed not by human ideas but by the clear teachings of God’s word. They have great faith in God’s desire to dwell with and care for his children as a loving Father. They view the church as one relational family unity and foster acute relational awareness of how people are interacting with the living God, each other, and the overall church atmosphere.

Spiritual leaders both build upon the pillars of truth and draw from the deep foundational reservoirs of truth in the church. They stand together in love and truth to bind the church’s components. Mere human relationships in themselves will not last. They need God’s grace and truth that binds people together for eternity.

The constant joyful tasks of spiritual leaders are seeing the profound, mysteries about Jesus Christ being revealed, believed and taught by more and more people. They bear the responsibility and privilege of conveying the “mystery of our religion” in many Bible studies and messages over a life time. They passionately serve the church to proclaim and affirm the godliness and glory of Jesus through worship, fellowship and daily life.
In conclusion, the church is where God dwells among his people. We are drawn to God’s household by the blood of Jesus and by the spirit of God. The church is like a family, filled with loving relationships that must be nurtured and protected. The church is also the pillar and foundation of truth. It is the entity for the mystery of godliness, Jesus Christ, may springboard into the world. May God may help us to be spiritual leaders who hold onto this right view and foundation of the church, all the days of our lives.
Let’s read the key verse together, 1 Timothy 3:15-16, “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.”




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