1 Timothy 3:14-16 - Exploring (Worship)

Psalm 19:1 ESV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

I love going on cruises.

It’s the only way I enjoy vacationing now.

The food, the atmosphere, the ocean.

I need to book a cruise.

Some of my favorite views have come from cruises.

Pictures

I’m overwhelmed by the glories of God that are found in these pictures.

But notice that the glory of God is not the sky, water, or mountains.

The sky, water, and mountains simply declare the glory of God.

God has given us creation to reveal a little bit of Himself to us.

God has given us His Word to reveal His character, His will, and His heart to us.

God created us to worship and to declare His glories, just like the sky, ocean, and mountains do.

Big Idea: Exploring through Worship

We’re looking at a letter that Paul wrote to Timothy.

Stand to read

1 Timothy 3:14–15 ESV

14 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 the truth.

Leader: This is God’s Word

Everyone: Thanks be to God

Paul gives Tim a description of the Church and what she should be.

He uses strong phrases to describe the Church.

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV

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 the truth.

As the church, we are the dwelling place of God’s presence.

Worship is the central theme of Scripture and of the human experience.

We were created to worship

When we severely delight in something, our hearts swell and give us a rush of joy.

God created you and I to worship Him and praise His glory.

This isn’t referring to the music part of the gathering.

We worship all kinds of things, but the issue is, we don’t always worship the Lord.

Our lives are filled with idols.

Those things that keep us away from Jesus, but we’re convinced we’d die if it wasn’t a part of our lives.

We worship in weird ways.

Is it weird for a grown man to paint his body and go into a public stadium and go absolutely berserk over a bunch of other men chasing a ball?

God’s original design for our lives is that we would enjoy His presence, the good things He created, and in return glorify and worship Him fully!

That was the original design of the garden of Eden!

Now, we resolve to spend the majority of our time worshipping everything but God.

This can be good things too.

Food, clothes, our children, travel sports, even ministry.

I can’t start a television series because I have to get to the end of the story and I can’t concentrate on ANYTHING else.

Jesus gets an hour of my life on Sunday, but then I have to get back to my previously scheduled programming.

Throughout this letter to Timothy, Paul is consistently reminding Timothy to hold fast to the gospel.

What does this mean for us?

God is worthy of our worship

Throughout this letter to Timothy, Paul is consistently reminding Timothy to hold fast to the gospel.

God is worthy of our worship and praise.

He is sufficient in every aspect of our lives.

There are times where we must wait on the Lord.

These are hard times because it feels as though we are distant from God.

But waiting on the Lord does not mean doing nothing and waiting on God to fix you.

We need to seek and pursuit God as part of our worship.

Growing in our understanding of the Bible

Growing in prayer

Proverbs 25:2 “2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.”

God has revealed Himself through nature.

All of humanity can see the glory of God.

Psalms would say that creation declares the glories of God.

Solomon calls for this pursuit of God.

Proverbs 2:1–6 ESV

1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

If we believe that the Bible is true, and we believe the gospel, and we believe that God is worthy of our praises:

Then there must be a passionate pursuit of His glory in our lives!

We pursue God in worship

Shout it out: “I want the presence of God!”

“I want to know this God who saved me!”

This isn’t a silent, indifferent pursuit.

My life has been changed!

We need a new hunger for the presence of God in our lives!

Psalm 34:8 “8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

It’s one thing to experience honey by inference

It’s another to experience honey by tasting it.

vv. 4—see the desperation

“I have to have this treasure!”

“Well I’m a Christian and I’ve been baptized”

Keep going! Take another step!

“Just because you’ve found the Lion’s track doesn’t mean you’ve found the Lion.”

We must pursue the Lord because He’s worthy of our pursuit.

Some come to church because that’s the good Christian thing to do.

Some see Bible verses on Facebook, and they think they’ve been in God’s Word.

It’s a whole other experience to sit down with God’s Word, and taste that He is good.

Not just looking at it, but being affected by it.

It’s another thing to sit down with your Bible in a quiet place, and know the presence of God has met you there.

You go from saying things about God from His Word to talking to Him.

And the more about Him you learn from His Word, the more you begin to love Him.

Jesus commands us not to be anxious for our lives.

We replace a hunger and desire for God’s Word with our live’s anxieties.

I can’t read the Word now, I have to focus on this.

He commands us: Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

God is worthy to be sought and delighted in. The Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness is worthy of all of our attention in every aspect of our lives.

We live in reliance upon the Spirit of God and give ourselves over to what King Jesus has for our lives.

We cling to this truth.

Paul is telling Timothy that if we want to enjoy the gift of the church and function as Jesus’s church, we stand on the Truth.

Church, this means…

We worship what is true

Analogy. “The church is a household of God.”

Pillar and buttress

A pillar holds up the roof, and a buttress is a support for the pillar.

These two working together is rock solid.

Consider the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus *Picture*

One of the Seven wonders of the ancient world.

It had a massive marble roof, that was held up by 100 columns all around it, each measuring around 59 feet tall.

It was rock-solid and impressive

But it was devoid of life.

It was religious idolatry.

This is how a lot of religiosity is in our day.

We have grand and beautiful buildings that are devoid of gospel-life.

Paul is pointing to Timothy that this is a picture of the church’s guardianship and reverence of the Truth of God’s Word.

We celebrate the glories of God that He has revealed in His Word

We submit our lives to the will of God that He has communicated through His Word

We share the hope of the gospel that God has proclaimed to us from His Word through the mouths of faithful ministers.

As the church we must uphold the Truth of God!

In a society

Where truth is up for grabs, we have God’s Word as a sword against falsehood (1 Tim’s theme)

Where “I feel therefore I am” is the authoritative maxim of the day, we have God’s design rooted in creation (1 Tim 2)

Where authority is characterized as negative, we have characteristics of godly authority (1 Tim 3:1-13)

Where we need to be reminded of who we are and understand the times, we have the prophetic word of Paul (1 Tim 4)

1 Timothy drips with gospel reminders to worship what is true, not what is felt.

Where culture and society walk contrary to the word, we stand firm in God’s promises.

The people of God holding fast to the Word of God is the pillar and buttress of truth.

We don’t hold in high regard man’s wisdom, opinions, innovations, creativity, or possession.

Instead lift high, magnify, amplify, put a spotlight on God’s Word.

When we do that, it naturally flows into the spreading of God’s Word.

1 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

When we hear the word “godliness” we instantly begin closing our ears because we think it pertains to rules.

Paul uses the word 9 times in 1 Timothy.

Let’s redeem this word.

To have godliness is to have a God-consciousness.

This means that we are God-centered in everything we do.

This is more than just ascribing to morality.

This is giving God glory whether we’re awake, asleep, thinking, dreaming, desiring, talking, eating, or drinking.

This is living your life centered around The Lord because of what He’s done for us.

Gospel Presentation

We hold fast to this mystery, that God so loved us that He gave us a Son to redeem us from our sin.

We were dead in our sins and God could’ve left us there.

In His mercy He sent Jesus.

We see that this mystery of godliness has everything to do with Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:16 ESV

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.

Paul puts Jesus supremely above all things!

Jesus is the manifestation of God-centeredness.

Jesus puts on display the glory of God in a person.

Jesus was God in flesh.

Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit, meaning that the Holy Spirit affirms to our souls that Jesus is the Son of God!

It was through the Spirit’s power that Jesus from the dead, and that same Spirit lives in us!

Jesus was seen by angels

He was the King of glory. Angels sang at His birth; they announced His resurrection, and they witnessed His ascension.

Jesus has been preached among the nations and believed on in the world!

Right now, people in Asia and Africa are believing in Jesus unlike never before.

Jesus is saving people from their sins all over the world!

Jesus also displays the glory of God by reigning as the King over all the universe.

This is the mystery of Godliness that Paul lets us into!

Godliness is not a set of rules.

Godliness is a person—Jesus!

Realize what this means for you!

This Jesus, who gave Himself up to die for sins, lives today!

He’s calling you to live in Him!

You have this invitation to live in God’s Kingdom!

This is your invitation to enjoy life in Christ!

Will you follow Jesus today?

This Jesus is the source of Christian joy and gladness!

He’s saved us from our sin!

Concl.

What does this mean for the church?

We must confess the Truth

We live and die on the gospel.

This is our mountain.

All of creation proclaims the glories of God. Why shouldn’t we?

God hasn’t given creation the ultimate act of mercy and kindness by sending His Son to save them. He sent it to us.

This should well up thankful praise in our hearts toward God.

We worship the Lord through singing, praying, and preaching of God’s Word.

This is the purpose of the Sunday Gathering.

We give our lives to worship and enjoy the King of glory, and we gather with His people to express and explore the glories of God together.

This is why we tell our neighbors, “I want you to come to church with me and experience this eternal family!”

Graceland has a pathway that to help move people from interested to disciple.

Shower Pathway slide.

Exploring

Committing

Growing

Discipling

Over the next year, we want everyone to strive to take the next step.

Whatever that may look like for you

Attending the weekly gathering regularly

Baptism

Starting Point

Inviting friends into a relationship with Jesus

Let’s commit to taking the next step toward Jesus together.