1 Timothy 3:14-16 - Foundation and Mystery

Man, I don't know about you guys.

I hope you guys are doing well.

Um this is kind of a crazy weekend for our family.

Um just because uh we just took our oldest daughter to college yesterday, dropped her off.

So the emotions, I have two other daughters, so the emotions at our house are running extremely high.

And then tomorrow is our wedding anniversary.

And so that's yeah.

And uh it's exciting because it's it's uh tomorrow means that we'll have been married longer than we've not been married in our life.

It's that milestone where it's like, yeah, and so over half our life tomorrow.

And so it's just this weird mix.

I don't know how your week has been, but mine has been, I don't know.

Like I'm still trying to figure it out.

Um, but I think that's really a good reason for us to go before the Lord.

Um and so let's pray.

Um, Lord, as we all, I'm just reminded how we all are coming from different directions and different places, Lord, and and some of us have so many reasons to celebrate and so many reasons to mourn.

Um and then we just we learn about people that have passed away this week and other people that are, you know, life is going well, and and we're just all in different places.

But the one thing that we can count on is you, and that you are our foundation.

Um in this moment, whether it be that we're coming from an amazing place of you speaking to our lives or good things happening or depression and doubt, I pray that we can cling to you, that we can hold to the foundation that you are in our life, Lord.

Um let us just sit in your presence, Lord.

And we pray this in your son's name.

Amen.

All right, let's read our scripture.

We are in 1 Timothy, continuing our study, and we're in chapter 3, and it's the end of chapter 3 that we're studying tonight, and it says this in verse 14 through 16 All I hope, or I'm sorry, although I hope to come to you soon, I'm writing you these instructions so that if I'm delayed, you will know how the people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.

Beyond all question, the mystery which true godliness springs is great.

He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory.

So how we see something affects, how we look at it or we view affects how we approach something.

And it changes how we interact with that thing.

Um at my house, it's I have on the wall, if you go into my bedrooms, there's some pictures of my grandparents, um, and they happened during World War II.

They visited the town of Lake Arrowhead and they took these pictures.

We didn't know these, we didn't find these pictures until after, several years later, after we were married, and that was actually where we had moved right when we were married, um, was Lake Arrowhead.

And so we got to see these pictures that were happened 60 years before.

And next to it is this level, like a tool.

But it's one of the old school, it's made of wood.

It is just this now, it's this beautiful thing that's this piece of art on our wall, and we view it as that.

I walk by it, I don't even really think of it because it's become part of the background, but it's this piece of art, this old thing that's on our wall.

It's an antique.

But my grandfather, who used that level, viewed it very differently, right?

I mean, he viewed it as this was a tool that he could use to actually construct things, to make sure they were right.

He used that very tool to build a swimming pool, like to make sure everything was working with the pipes and everything.

I mean, this was a tool to him, and so he viewed this tool or this thing as a tool, something to be used to do that.

I now view it as something that, oh, it goes on my wall, it sits there, we look at it, that's nice.

Because I have a I have a level that I use now, it's a lot lighter to carry around, a lot better, right?

But we view the same thing, but the way we look at it changes the way that we interact with it.

And the same goes with the church.

We look at the church, and some of us see it as, oh, okay, this is a place where that's just where I go.

I spend Saturday nights or Sunday mornings or I watch online, and that's what we do.

And so we go, that's just a way that, you know, we kind of be able to connect, or it's a check mark that I have to click off my box, and if I want to maintain my relationship with God, that's what I do.

Uh, some people it's it's a social network.

This is where they come, this is where I interact, their friends come here.

We go to that particular church because so-and-so goes to that particular church, and we just like them, and then we put up with the guy up front, but we like these people, right?

And so we interact, and so maybe it's that.

Or some people view the church as a whole as, okay, this is something social justice.

The church is there to fight for those people that can't fight for themselves that are to help the helpless, you know, the powerless.

And so the way that we view the church interacts and changes how we interact with it.

See, if we think it's a check mark, then oh, we're gonna make sure we hear that we're at least in the building.

Our mind might be somewhere else.

But every week we're gonna be here and we're gonna sit in that chair and go, hmm?

And then we stand up at certain points and we sit at certain points and we do this at certain points, and then we leave and done, checked off.

But if we view it, how does God view the church?

Because that's the way we should be viewing it.

And that's what Paul tells us, right?

When he talks to Timothy, when he writes to him, this is exactly what he says.

He talks about the church, and he says, although I hope to come to you soon, I'm writing you these instructions, though that if I'm delayed, you will know how the people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar of foundation of truth.

So the first thing that he says is he says, God's household.

Now, normally when the church is spoken about, or we read about the church, the word ekklesia is used in the Greek.

And ekklesia means the called out or the assembly, um, and so it refers to the people, never to a building, but it refers to a group of people, the called out ones, or the assembled.

This ecclesia is also used of non-church groups.

If there's a group of people that are meeting together, and I think it's in Acts, a couple places they use it to refer even to people that come out to assemble together to riot against Paul.

And they called and they assembled together, they ecclesed, right?

And so they did this.

And so it's that.

But here he says first, he actually uses both terms, he uses ecclesia, but for God's household, he uses this different words.

It's oikos, right?

And oikos means household.

And it can be translated or used often too as house.

But here, because of the context, we realize it's not a building or a structural spatial area.

It is a household, more like the members or the family of the house.

Now, Paul uses this example quite a bit when he talks to the Ephesians.

And this is where Timothy's out now.

In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19, he actually talks in depth about this.

Ephesians 2:19

He says, Consequently, you are no longer foreigners or strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people, and also members of his household.

Now, Paul likes to do this quite often where he combines metaphors together, and he does it here about a household and a structure together.

So he says, You are also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as a chief cornerstone.

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple, and in him you two are being built together to become a dwelling which God lives by the Spirit.

And so Paul reiterates this idea of being a household or being a family.

Now, if we're looking at the church as a household, as a family, we should notice a few different things.

We're never, first, we're not a household of one, right?

We're a member of God's household.

Our faith should never be a solo endeavor.

It is so important that we were united with God, but we need to be part of a family of God and be part of his household because it shows that we're not supposed to do this together.

Now, it also should change a few different things if we view God's church as a household.

The idea is our faith, of course, is not a solo endeavor, but also it changes how we should treat one another.

Because if we see each other as a household, then you see each other as mothers and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers, aunts, uncles.

In fact, later in this book in 1 Timothy, P um Timothy is told by Paul, he says, do not rebuke, this is chapter 5, do not rebuke an older man harshly, but extort him as you would your father.

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

Treat younger men as brothers, older men or women as mothers, and younger women as sisters with absolute purity.

Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.

See, like a family, we should treat each other with respect.

And then also in regards to other gender, to the opposite gender, we need to be treating them as sisters and brothers and family members, which means we need to look out for one another's purity.

Right?

Now, a lot of times, as a youth minister, I grew up so much thinking, you know, just like, okay, we have to help these teenagers realize, you know, hormones are going and they need to make sure they're staying pure and treating each other and brothers and sisters.

I gotta be honest.

I've dealt more with the purity, sexual purity, with seniors than with I'm serious.

They have these questions.

How far is too far?

I'm like, wait a minute, hold on.

I guess that makes sense.

But that so we don't just think of this as a young thing, but that continually we need to, even as we get older, continue to look at our sisters and brothers as just that brothers and sisters in the Lord.

We also, as family, need to prioritize one another.

In Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, it says, Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 6:10

So we need to prioritize one another.

One of the other things that happens when we have a family is you get those crazy uncles, don't you?

Those one guys that show up at Thanksgiving and you go, Oh, I wonder what he's gonna say this time.

Right?

And they say that crazy thing, and you're like, okay, that was off the wall, but we still gotta love them.

And if you're like, what?

There's no crazy uncle in my family, maybe you're the crazy uncle.

I don't know, right?

But we need to, even though we have these people that maybe we we don't get along with all the time, if we're family, we still love those people, we still forgive them, we prioritize them.

Right?

Now, Jesus draws a connection in Matthew of our relationship with God and our relationship with our brothers and sisters.

In Matthew, in chapter 6, after he does the Lord's Prayer, he teaches disciples how to pray.

He says this in verse 14, he says, For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their sin, your father will not forgive your sins.

So he very closely ties how we are treating one another to our relationship with him.

So as you guys sit here, if you needed to zone out for a minute and think through your relationships, maybe there's somebody that you need to forgive.

Maybe there's somebody that you need to go and you need to apologize to, or you need to ask forgiveness of.

Because that's what families do for one another.

So we need to see God's household.

Now, Paul, if we go back to our original scripture, right?

Paul says in verse 10, if I or 15, if I'm delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the Ecclesia, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

So he says, yes, we're a household, but you also are an assembly.

Now he says, the assembly of the living God.

Why would he put that in there?

Because all of these Christians came out of either Jewish temple, right?

Or before this, if they were pagans, they were worshiping Diana or Artemis, depending on, you know, Greek Mars, that whole thing, or Greek um Roman, they were worshiping this false goddess.

Yet Paul points out, you are the assembly of the living God.

See, because they worshiped a stone, they worshiped a statue, this idea that didn't have any power behind it.

But they now are set up as the stones, the living God, right?

They were worshiping the assembly of the living God.

Now, this was obviously great contrast to that.

In 1 Corinthians, he actually points out in chapter 3 don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells within your midst?

See, Diana wasn't a real God, so they had to go to her and they had to go to the statue and offer their sacrifices or offer their place of worship.

But God dwells within our midst.

And do we recognize that?

When we come here, when we sing and when we praise or when we take communion, do we recognize, do we put in the effort to realize that God is here in our midst?

See, we're called together also to worship, and we need to recognize that fact.

Now, we're also called together, and I love this if you turn with me, Hebrews.

We'll be back to that, to 1 Timothy in a second, but I want to go to Hebrews chapter 10, because this is a scripture that we reread.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

You're probably very familiar with it, which is all the reason more reason we need to read it to make sure we're on the same page that we're together.

In chapter 10, verse 24, um the writer says this, and he talks about being together.

He says, and let us consider how we may, I'm sorry, um, let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as the day approaches.

So do not give up meeting together, right?

But what's he say?

Do you see anything in there about what you are gonna benefit from going to church?

Go to church so you're gonna feel good, and do so all the more as the day approaches.

What does he say we're supposed to go to church for?

Let us spur one another on to love and good deeds.

See, we come here and we have the privilege of, yes, we've filled up, or we are filled up from God.

You know, we come here, we've meet in his presence.

But that's not the reason we're supposed to come here.

The reason that we come and we meet together is to spur one another on.

See, you are here, that's fantastic, but you're here because the other people in your row need you here.

You're here because the people behind you, the people in front of you, need to worship with you.

They need the encouragement you can give.

See, when we focus on ourselves, and if we go to church for ourselves, it's easy.

Saturday night rolls around, you're like, you know what, there's a special show on tonight, and I can catch the church online, I could do that, maybe I'll just stay home.

I don't really feel like it.

They won't miss me.

Because the focus is on ourselves.

I gotta tell you, Sunday morning, that snooze button, oh, right?

Like Sunday mornings just hit different, and it feels like if you could relax, like I could just do it, or when the fish start biting, right?

Or when the tea time is opened up early, or these different things, it's easy to go, okay, you know what?

They won't miss me this week.

Or I'll be all right, I'll catch it, I'll do that.

I don't need, I'm feeling pretty good, my relationship with God, or I just don't feel like it.

It's not about what we're feeling, it's about the people that we're serving.

And that's what God says.

Now, a byproduct is that we get filled up, we get to meet God, we get encouraged, don't we?

Because if other people are doing their jobs, then they're spurring us on to love and good deeds.

And that's fantastic.

But the primary reason is to go and serve each other.

Um, it was really interesting.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to somebody who's in the recovery movement, they're a recovering alcoholic, and um, and they were talking to me and they were just kind of telling me their story.

And they said, you know, I was in the program and I was in and doing this, but I still I was really close to committing suicide.

But then my sponsor called me up and said, Hey, you need to sponsor this person.

And when I sponsored them, that's when my life turned around.

See, it wasn't the moment where they had a sponsor and somebody was reaching out and pulling them up.

It wasn't the moment where there was somebody else was pouring into their life.

The moment changed for them and the direction of their life when they were pouring into somebody else.

See, it's great if we come to receive God's Spirit and to do this, but when we go to serve one another, something different happens.

And that's exactly why Jesus told during his last supper, what do you do?

He took off his outer garment, he wrapped a towel around his waist, he washed the disciples' feet, and he said, I set an example for you to do this.

See, we're most like Christ when we are serving one another.

And so that's what we're supposed to do.

So he says, You are the family of the household of God, you are also the called out ones, and so we're supposed to come together to serve one another.

The assembly, the called out, are most changed when we're serving each other.

Now, Paul goes on and he says this, right?

He finishes that sentence because he used the descriptor of this.

The church, the ecclesia, of the living God, and he describes it this way, the pillar and the foundation of truth.

The foundation and the pillar of truth.

Now, if we think about it, what does a pillar and foundations do?

Right?

They hold up the roof, a pillar would lift up statues so that other people could see them, right?

The pillars were also used in that day in the marketplaces so that you could public or publish notices.

So they would put a pillar up, and that was a source of news of what was happening.

When a new decree was made, they would do that.

Another use for pillars was guidance, right?

If you had a town between here and somewhere else, and you had a road going between, but it had a change in directions, often they would use a pillar to show the change of directions.

I mean, you've seen this, right?

You see a strong pole with an arrow and it points, you know, to one area or one direction that says, you know, Tijuana this way or whatever.

I don't know.

Um, maybe not the greatest example, uh, or choice of cities.

Um and so, but it says, you know, this is what it points that direction.

These are the use of pillars.

Now, this is also what they are being called to do.

The pillar is to hold up the found or the foundation, the pillar is to hold up the gospel to other people, to let them see what is happening.

Now, I also think there's this really amazing part in the book of Jeremiah that we often overlook, and in fact, I have for years have read through this because of it's overshadowed by something else.

But in Jeremiah chapter 1, Jeremiah is called by God to be a prophet.

Jeremiah 1 · chapter mention

And Jeremiah reaches out, he's a very young guy, and so he kind of goes back and forth with God, and God calls him and says, Jeremiah, I've got something for you to do.

And then in verse 13, he starts this vision and he says to him, Jeremiah, you know, what do you see?

And the word of God came to the word of the Lord came to me again.

What do you see?

I see a pot that is boiling, I answered.

It is tilting toward us from the north.

And this is often visions that they would and they would interpret, and God would tell them what it means.

And God does this, he says, The Lord said to me, From the north, disaster we poured out, for all who live in the land.

I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms, declares the Lord.

Their kings will come and set their thrones in the entrance gates of Jerusalem.

They will come against her, all the surrounding walls, against all the towns of Judah, they will pronounce my judgment on my people, because of their wit wickedness for forsaking me, and burning incense to other gods, and worshiping what their hands have made.

Right, so he's saying, It's a common, and it's going to be bad for all the people.

And you, this is what he says, though, get yourself ready, stand up, and say to them whatever I command you.

Do not be terrified by them, or um I will t uh terrify you before them.

Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, its people of the land.

They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am I am with you and I will rescue, you declares the Lord.

See he tells Jeremiah, This is gonna come, troubles are gonna come.

And everybody's going to want to fight against the truth.

But you are going to be an iron pillar standing up against the truth.

And I'm going to make sure that you are strong enough to do this.

Now, Paul, when he references the Church of God, he says, You are a pillar of foundation of the truth.

See, we know that evil is going to come against the truth that we have, against the gospel.

Whether it be from kingdoms or nations, throughout history, there have been nations that have tried to squash out the gospel.

And this still happens today.

There's genocide, different parts of the world.

There's all kinds of things that are fighting against the church.

And yet, we know that we need to be the pillar, the foundation of truth, to hold up truth that other people can see and that people can do that.

Now, again, maybe not directly is going to happen in that way, but there's going to be other things.

Popular opinion is going to go against the truth of the gospel.

Things that are cleverly disguised, lies that are disguised as things, other things like woke or you know clever names like that or deconstructing faith are going to come against the truth of the gospel.

And we as an assembly of God need to make sure we are standing on the truth against those things.

How do we do that?

The first thing is we need to make sure that we are grounded in God's word.

Right, Matthew in chapter 4, the devil is tempting Jesus.

And he says, what is Jesus reply to him?

Man does not live by bread alone, but on the every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Above all else, we need to be in the scriptures.

We need to make sure that our teaching, that our life is grounded in his word.

The other thing, we need to make sure that we're not just reading it, but that we're living it.

Because our words affirm, I'm sorry, our actions affirm our beliefs when we live it out.

Or James says, do not be hearers of the word, but doers.

Right?

We need to live it out because our the way that we live affirms what we believe.

And so we need to affirm the gospel and make sure that we are standing on his truth.

Now Paul continues and actually says this, right?

He keeps going, he says, this is the foundation of truth.

The church is the foundation of truth.

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great.

He appeared in the flesh, he was vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, he was believed on by the world, and he was taken up in glory.

See, this is actually, if you in your scriptures, it's probably indicated or indented a little bit differently.

This was probably a hymn that they sung in the early church that would reassure the foundation of their gospel.

And that's made up of six things.

It's almost like if we received a letter, and it says, you know, he just in the within the letter it said, We believe, you know, in one doorway, or um sorry, we believe in one uh salvation, and one doorway that leads to life, one redemption, one confession.

I believe in the Son of Jesus Christ.

Right?

If somebody wrote that to you, you'd be like, oh, I think I heard that at the beginning of service, right?

He's basically, this is what Paul is doing is using a hymn to help them be reminded of the truth.

And so we've got six different foundations or six different pillars that he says we need to stand on.

First, that he appeared in flesh, right?

And oh, I'm sorry, this is the mysteries of the mysterious source.

See, this is the thing.

A lot of times that word mystery throws us off.

Because, you know, we have so many different uh we read mystery books or we watch, you know, TV shows, crime dramas that are mysteries.

But mystery here, basically it's it's been shown.

It's something, how can this happen?

And yet Jesus showed us how the mystery came about and was fulfilled.

And so before this, the prophets, before Jesus came, were wondering, how is God going to redeem the entire world?

And through it, Jesus showed how God was going to redeem the entire world.

And so he affirms this by saying, This is what happened.

First, he said, He appeared in the flesh.

In John 1 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made.

Without him, nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

See, the first thing is that Jesus came in the flesh, that he was fully God and fully man.

And so he came, and that we know that he was that.

And so we that is one of the pillars that we need to understand.

Uh the next thing that Paul says was vindicated by the Spirit.

Vindicated, such a strange word, not one that we use very often, right?

If you're from my generation, you probably think of dashboard confess confessional, and uh, you know, and so in Spider-Man, this whole movie thing, but it was a popular song.

Basically, it just means to be um to be proven right or endorsed by.

And so Jesus came in the flesh, and then he was proven by the Spirit.

He was endorsed by the Spirit.

And we see this in when he was baptized, right?

Jesus was baptized, and what happened?

The Spirit of God descended on him like a dove.

And God spoke and said, This is my son, right?

So the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father were all there in that same moment.

In John 14, Jesus said, You know, I don't do these miracles with my own power, but it's to show you the power of the Spirit.

It's through the Spirit, the miracles are affirming that Jesus, or vindicating that Jesus is the Son of God.

The other one, then Paul says, he appeared in the flesh, he was vindicated by the Spirit, then he was seen by angels.

What a weird thing.

And yet it's so important, right?

In Luke chapter 2, you guys know this, right?

Luke 2 · chapter mention

And I almost feel like, what, you're gonna read a scripture about Christmas in September?

What is this, Hobby Lobby?

All right, but he says, and there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

The angel appeared, or the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid.

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you.

He is the Messiah, the Lord.

He this will be assigned to you.

You will find a baby wrapped in clothes, lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of angels appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

And so, even from the beginning, from his birth, he was, as Paul said, was seen by angels.

Now he was also attended by angels after he was tempted in the desert, Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

You know, the devil fled from it and he was cared for by angels.

Angels also appeared in the tomb at the resurrection.

And we see throughout Scripture, throughout his life, that he was seen and attended to by angels.

Then Paul says he was preached among the nations.

In Acts chapter 2, you know, all of the people gather together for Passover festival, and there's people from all over the world.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

All nations.

And Peter gets up and the Holy Spirit comes on them, and they start speaking in all languages.

And what does Peter do?

He preaches the gospel.

So we this has been preached to all nations, and those people went back home, and the church spread in that way.

In Colossians, it says something very similar that it was basically preached to all nations over and over.

So we see this thing happens again.

The next thing that he says, it was taken up in glory.

In Acts chapter 1, you know, verse 9, Jesus gives the last command to his disciples.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

He said, Go preach to all the nations, again, all nations, right?

Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.

And then it says, after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Some people think that this refers to, actually, that it refers to his second coming, that when he's going to come again.

But in truth, those are pretty parallel events, right?

Is he coming or he going?

But he's doing it in glory.

And so this is what he says.

These are the foundations of our belief.

These are the things we need to stand on.

The person of Jesus and the good news of his gospel, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension.

This mystery of how God is going to redeem all people, Jewish, Gentiles, slaves, freed, men, women, Greeks, non-Greeks, everybody, how is he going to do that?

This is the way.

Now the question that we need to ask ourselves, so we look at this, we look at God's household as foundation and this mystery, we need to ask ourselves, do, are we helping the church fulfill its mission?

Are you helping the church fulfill its mission?

Are you coming and are you treating members of the church like family?

Holding up their purity, lifting them up, spurring them on to love and good deeds all the more as we see the day approaching.

The other thing that we need to look at is do you still have a sense of reverence for God's presence when we gather around?

When we gather together, do you actually realize it's not just a checklist, but that we are in the presence of God and worshiping Him?

And the other thing is, are you striving to hold truth up so other people can see it?

Are you being a pillar of the truth of the gospel to publish it, to make it known to all the people?

Because that, those three things are what Paul says the church is supposed to do.

So are we, are you fulfilling the church's mission that he's given us by treating others like family, knowing his reverence is here, and spurring them on to love and good deeds, and then also holding up that truth to the world around.

Let's pray.

God, thank you for your church.

Thank you for the fact that that we can come before you, that we can gather together and worship with one another, that we can spur each other on to love and good deeds, Lord.

If we are falling short, if we have lost our sense of reverence, let us spend a moment to bring it back to you, Lord.

If there's somebody that that we have need to make right a relationship with, if we need to go and apologize or make things right, let us have the courage to do that, Lord.

And as we leave this place, let us hold up your truth.

We pray these things in your son's name.

Amen.