The Mission and Message of the Church.
House Rules: 1 Timothy • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsFollowing this service we observed communion.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
The passage we've just read together this morning serves as the beginning to the next division of the book of 1 Timothy. From this point on, Paul will be dealing with our behavior and relationships in the church. These three short verses contain the greatest description of the church in all of scripture.
Verse 14 and part of 15 give us the very purpose for Paul’s writing to Timothy and are actually the key verses to the entire book. The reason for Paul’s writing to Timothy was to tell the believers at Ephesus how they should “behave” or conduct themselves within the church.
We must always understand that the church belongs to God. It is not a man made institution, it’s a God made institution. It is the Lord’s church.
Because the church is God’s assembly, He alone has the authority to mandate what the mission and message ought to be.
It is not “our” church, it’s His church and when we leave behind God’s mission for our mission, we will fail. When we begin to preach another message other than God’s message we become corrupt.
So what exactly then is then are the mission and message of the church
Paul lays that out for us in vs. 15-16
1.) The Mission of the church. (v.15)
1.) The Mission of the church. (v.15)
Paul gives three descriptions of the church here that spell out what our mission is:
A.) The “House of God.”
This is not referring to the physical building a church meets in, but to the people who comprise the church.
It is metaphoric language for family. It is better translated as “Household.”
Familial language is often used when referring to believers. .
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
The church is a body of people who have committed their lives to live as the family of God. God is our Father. Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father. We, believers, are the adopted sons of God.
This familial relationship shows us how we are to behave toward God and each other.
As a family we...
Love, obey and learn from our Father,.
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
Love and help each other.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
B.) “ The church of the living God.”
Church- an assembly or gathering. A congregation of people who have been called out from the world by God.
In the Old Testament, God is referred to as the living God as a way to illustrate the deadness of idols. It is also a phrase that shows up 15x’s in the New Testament as well.
Ephesus was the home of the worship to the false God Diana, but she was a dead idol. A lifeless God. A figment of man’s imagination. a dead God can’t bring life, only death.
But, the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, actually speaks to the human heart and calls people to follow and live for him. To join, his church, his called out assembly of those who have been given new and eternal life.
C.) The pillar and ground (foundation) of the truth.
These are architectural metaphors.
A foundation is essential to a building. A structure is only as strong as its foundation.
Pillars stand up on the foundation as columns and give the building its structure and beauty.
Why this imagery? Again, the temple to the goddess Diana was in Ephesus. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world becuase of its unique pillars. The temple had 127 pillars and every one of them was a gift from a king. They were all made of marble, but many were overlaid with gold and studded with jewels. Besides serving as a monument to the king who donated them, they also served to hold up the massive structure of the temple and presented a gorgeous display.
Paul is saying that the church is the demonstration or display of the truth that attracts people to Jesus. It holds the truth up high for all the world to see. The church is God’s instrument for the proclamation of the truth to those without Christ.
What is the truth?
The divine revelation of God, including the Gospel of Christ and the content of the faith.
It is the responsibility of every church to solidly, immovably, unshakably uphold the truth of God’s Word!
Application:
From these three pictures we see that the mission of the church is to: To be the family of God, called out from the world, to stand on and show out the truth of God’s Word!
This is why God’s word is so adamant that believers meet together.
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
When we assemble together we collectively read God’s Word, sing the truths of God’s Word, practice God’s word and hear God’s Word preached. Doing all of these things alone is good, but doing them together is far better.
Our hearing and singing intensify when when we are with brothers and sisters in whom the spirit of God also dwells.
TV and live stream church won’t do! In order to effectively accomplish the mission of God in this world believers need to regularly assemble with each other. We are far better together then when we are apart.
2. )The Message of the Church. (v.16)
2. )The Message of the Church. (v.16)
This is one of the most profound verses in all of scripture. It is the only place in the entire Bible where the phrase “mystery of godliness” is used and it is said to be “without controversy.” (indisputable, undeniable, beyond question.)
Mystery- something not revealed in the old covenant but now revealed in the new.
The mystery of godliness- is the truth that the church must confess.
The mystery is the message and the message is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. We have no other message than this.
The gospel contains wonderful truths.
A.) Christ revealed.
God was manifested in the flesh,Justified in the Spirit,
The eternal Son, who is without beginning and end, the creator of the universe robed himself in human flesh and entered this world through the womb of a virgin. He came with one purpose and one purpose alone to die for the sins of mankind in order that we could be reconciled to God.
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
But, he didn't stay dead,
and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
The resurrection of Christ is the bookend to his life on this earth. It is the death, burial and resurrection that brings eternal life to those who call on him in repentance and faith.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
This is the Jesus we confess, God robed in flesh, who died for the sins of man and was gloriously resurrected to live forever. To confess anything less is blasphemy.
D.) Christ witnessed.
Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles,
Angels foretold of his birth to Mary, then to Joseph then to the shepherds in the fields outsider of Bethlehem in Luke 1-2.
It was angels who ministered to him after he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness in Mathew 4.
In Gethsemane as he sweat great drops of blood leading up to his death, it was angel who was sent to strengthen him in Luke 22.
Angels were a witness to his resurrection and sat by his tomb in Luke 24.
It was angels who comforted his disciples following his ascension into heaven in Acts 1.
In Revelation 5 he is seen surrounded by Angels in Heaven who sing his praises.
And in 1 Thessalonians 4 we are told that this same Jesus will return with his angels as our King and deliverer.
This same jesus, constantly surrounded by the angels of God is the same Jesus who was preached around the world to those who couldn't have been farther removed from him. The gentile peoples.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
E.) Christ received.
Believed on in the world, Received up in glory
Here we see the reception of Christ in two differing geographical locations. On Earth and in Heaven.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
At the end of his life in this world, he was received with a royal coronation heaven. Where he is seated at the right hand of the Father waiting his glorious return to claim his bride, the church.
Application:
This is our one and only message. Christ, God in the flesh, left the throne of heaven to dwell among men in order to pay the price for their sins. Died and was resurrected and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
The missions of the church is to preach the message of Christ to the entire world. We do this every time we gather and every time we tell others about the Lord Jesus. We cannot forsake the mission and message. To do so is to cease being a biblical church.
One of the ways we declare the mission and message of the Lord is through the observance of the Lords Supper which we will prepare for in a few moments following a time of quiet reflection.