The Truth and The Church 1 Timothy 3:14-16

1)The urgency we must display in responding to an attack on truth (3:14-15a).

As the apostle is introducing the purpose of his entire letter to Timothy and the church at Ephesus, he makes a few things very clear. First, we see his intention. Paul intended to travel to Ephesus. That was his plan, but as a professional traveler of the ancient world, Paul knew he would probably be delayed. In fact the Greek seems to imply that the apostle was already being delayed. As I was literally typing out my thoughts on this first point, I was sitting in the airport in Memphis, TN trying to come back from a conference and my phone buzzes… informing me that my flight home had been delayed! I was hoping to get home at a decent hour, I was hoping to get a full nights sleep in my own bed. I had hopes that were delayed, because of things out of my control.

The apostle Paul is saying, I had plans to come to you, I was hoping to be on my way, but since something came up, I’m writing you! To be honest, we have no idea if Paul ever arrived in Ephesus. Maybe he did, maybe not. But Paul couldn’t stand by and do nothing as truth was attacked in Ephesus, so he writes to Timothy to encourage him and direct him and the church in how to fight for the truth. Now, I want to remind you, this letter was written long before email, long before text messaging. The apostle didn’t simply write a quick note and drop it in the US mail system. No, Paul wrote this letter with great care and intention. He labored over it as the Holy Spirit inspired him and as he poured his heart to his young protege. And one the letter was completed the apostle sent the letter to Ephesus to be hand delivered by someone he trusted. Someone who would risk their life to deliver the message that the apostle penned. This letter we have in our hands today, was delivered at a great cost to someone.

All that to say, the apostle Paul knew he had to urgently respond at whatever the cost, as the truth the church proclaimed was being questioned. Listen to me my church family, we live in a world where the truth of God’s Word is constantly under attack. It’s questioned, it’s ridiculed, it’s even laughed at. And sadly, the church has shown little urgency in standing up for the truth.

Last week, I spent some time in my home town, where I grew up on the western border of Kentucky and Tennessee. Deep in the South where things move at much slower pace. People are in no hurry at all in the South.. In fact, when I go home I feel like I’ve entered some type of time warp. It’s disturbing to me! I have relatives, that literally sound like Saturday night live characters because they talk so slow. I find myself finishing their sentences for them. And I’m sure all my relatives talk about how rude I am behind my back, they are probably like, he needs come back home, those new englanders and yankees are changing him! Sadly, I fear that our modern christian culture has grown very southernly slow in our response to defend the truth. There is no urgency. There is no hurry, we are often apathetic, indifferent, passive, and unconcerned when truth is questioned or attacked.

2) The role of the church in regard to proclaiming and defending the truth (3:15).

3) The life-changing truthful confession to which we must hold fast (3:16).