The Church's Ministry

Continuing God’s Design for the Church:

Paul’s Thesis: I’m writing for this reason… to tell you who you are as the church and how you ought to behave. A much needed word:

The Church’s low self-esteem: Small and insignificant… The world’s low view of the Church - self-inflicted.

Barbie-themed worship and sermons.

Misguided: church members killed in Haiti, “bulletproof or lacking faith.”

Why men don’t like Church - there’s no call to action.

Kent Hughes - “There is a vast herd of professed Christians who exist as nomadic hitchhikers, no accountability, no discipline, no discipleship,” hoping from place to place.

This morning we are reminded of the Church’s high calling:

Who we are as the Church,

What the our ministry is,

And what our message is!

The Church’s Identity: Household/Church of the Living God.

The Household of God.

Household - economy/order - something we’ve already seen. Elders and Deacons are called to manage their household well, as God manages His house.

This is God’s house, and God decides how the church will be led and how each member shares in ministry. This is not something we make up as we go along. This is God’s house, and we follow God’s way.

Importantly, a Household is built on relationship.

The members of the church are sons and daughters of God. Having been born again through faith in God’s Son, we have been adopted into His family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and every one has a place of fellowship and service in the Father’s house.

We have the blessings & privileges of belonging here: to know that he provides for us; that he hears us when we call on him; that he protects us.

We are also called the Church.

Ecclesia - “called out, chosen, set apart”

We are called out of sin, out of death, out of bondage, out of hopelessness.

We are called into Christ, into life for Him, into a new and living hope, into faith and trust.

The church is built by, and on the foundation of, Christ

Eph 2:20–22 You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The Church of the Living God.

The church Timothy pastored in Ephesus existed under the shadow of the acropolis, the shrine of Artemis.

A stone fell from the sky, was made into the statue of Artemis, and worshiped there. By contrast, ours is not a dead religion. When you come to the Church, you are coming into the presence of the living God.

God is active, working, righteous, holy, unchanging.

Heb 12:22–23 “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all…”

The Church’s Mission: A Pillar and Buttress of the Truth

To Support and Defend the Truth.

Architectural picture of the house: Pillars as main support; buttress and that which reinforces the pillar.

We are to live in such as way as the Church so as to lift up the truth and reinforce it with our lives. God has called the church to be a pillar and support of the truth in a world turning away from that truth.

There are far too many churches that are slowly drifting away from the truth and accommodating themselves to the world. But this is not what God has called his church to do.

Paul is writing to tell the church how we ought to behave. How do we support and defend the truth?

What makes the church a pillar and buttress of the truth? By lifting up and living according to God’s Word.

By living according to it - not being hypocritical, but hearing the truth, and living out the truth.

By proclaiming it - holding it up for all to see as good.

The church’s ministry is to proclaim the truth, not to provide entertainment for unbelievers. We show the lost the way of salvation, we show the hungry where to find food. We are called to feed the sheep, not entertain the goats. T

he Church’s Message: The Mystery of Godliness.

Undeniably Great is the Mystery of Godliness.

Paul was taking the mantra of Ephesus - “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians,” and making it something infinitely better. “Great is Artemis,” you say, “but undeniably great is the mystery of godliness.”

Mystery - something once hidden, now revealed

Godliness - to be god-like in living, to live with a mind and will that seeks to honor and glorify God.

Baxter - “The drift, and aim of our lives is for God and our salvation… and that our great business in the world be the pleasing of God, and the saving of our souls.”

This is central of 1 Tim:

1 Tim 2:2 - we pray for those in leadership so that we might lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way

1 Tim 4:7-8 - we are to train for godliness which has great value

1 Tim 6:6 - godliness with contentment is great gain

What is the mystery of godliness? It is rooted in the person and work of Christ. This is the message of the gospel in brief.

Appeared in the flesh: His pre-existence and incarnation

Php 2:7 He emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Vindicated in the Spirit: His resurrection

Vindicated - justified in all his claims about himself

Ro 1:4 He was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead…

Seen by the angels

Angels heralded his birth - Luke 2.

But also his resurrection. They were the first to see and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive (Matt. 28:1–7; Luke 24:23).

Proclaimed to the nations by the apostles and believers

Acts - the gospel was spread into all the world.

Believed on in the world.

Not just one tribe, one people, but all through the world, Jew, Greek, Slave, Free - have come to believe in Him for salvation.

Raised up in Glory

Taken up in glory” is likely a reference to Jesus’ ascent into heaven, from which he will one day return.

How is this the key to godliness

Not a “how to be godly” rule book, but what a list of what God has already done in Christ Jesus. Godliness requires no rules to keep, no steps to follow, no habits to form, no activities to engage in, no clubs to join, no fees to pay… Godliness is not about us but about Christ.

Christ has secured righteousness for us, through His atoning work on our behalf. Godliness begins and is rooted in, our receiving Christ and identifying with Him

The Purpose of 1 Tim - of my teaching, a reminder:

Who we are as the Church - the household of the living God

What the Church’s ministry is - to lift up and live out the truth

What our message is - Christ’s death and resurrection is our salvation and righteousness before God.