E9 - The Pastoral Epistles: Biblical Ministers & Biblical Ministry - The Reason For Paul’s Instruction

You're listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry

podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we

learn from God's Word together. If you would like more

information regarding Key Life or to speak with one of our

pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com.

Amen. We sing a song.

It speaks of being satisfied in Christ and in Christ alone.

I think it appropriate to ask that question.

Are you satisfied in Christ alone?

I'm not asking you to give me an applause, though I appreciate

it. I'm asking you to really ask

yourself that question. If you were to look into your

life, does your life show that you're satisfied in Christ

alone? We can all come into a church

service. We can all sing a catchy tune.

May we be challenged by the words of these songs.

Maybe ask ourselves the difficult questions that many

nominal only professing Christians are afraid to ask

themselves. Are you really satisfied in

Christ alone? If everything else was stripped

from you this very day, would you still clap?

Would you still say woo Hoo? Would you still say Amen?

You truly find satisfaction in Christ?

I pray that you do. If you have your Bibles, if you

would turn to First Timothy chapter 3, we will continue our

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

study and looking at the pastoral epistles.

Paul has been giving instructions to the church thus

far. He will continue to give

instructions after our message today and give us great wisdom

and how to handle not only the affairs of our lives, but the

the affairs and the dealings of the church.

And today we're going to specifically see Paul, Paul take

a pause here from the instructions that he has been

pouring out to. But Timothy and those who will

be reading this letter know that there is a point to what he is

saying, to know that there is a reason for these specific

instructions and he's. Eager to teach them that.

And we should be eager to teach that, shouldn't we?

Those of us who are teachers, right.

We shouldn't just teach and and throw out a bunch of words,

salad and Christianese just for the sake of doing it.

There ought to be reason for our instruction.

Paul's going to give specific reason for his instructions.

He's going to tell them things that I've been telling you and

the things that I'm going to tell you.

These, these are not just me talking.

He's not Charlie Brown's teacher, right?

Just wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. No, he is saying specific things

for a specific reason. We're going to see what that

reason is, and it's very important that we see that so

that we don't think that, well, maybe this just doesn't apply to

us. You know, we're not Timothy, and

we're not believers in Ephesus, and things are different now.

But may we see this so that we'll know exactly what this

means to us and for us. What are the reasons for Paul's

instructions? First Timothy, chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

We jump in very quickly because we have a lot of ground to cover

Verse 14, as we look at the last few verses of this chapter that

I hope you have learned something in as we've looked in

this chapter at the roles of the overseers and the deacons as

they lead in the church and as they serve in the church.

But he says this in verse 14. He says, Although I hope to come

to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that if I

am delayed you will know how people ought to conduct

themselves in God's household, which is the Church of the

living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

Beyond all question. The mystery of godliness is

great. He appeared in a body, was

vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached

among the nations, was believed on in the world.

Was taken up to glory. Let's pray together.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for what you're going to teach us in your word

today As we see these truths poured out the reasons for

Paul's instructions that he's giving to Timothy that would be

given to the church not only there in Ephesus, but throughout

the ages. God, may we pay close attention

to these instructions. May these instructions impact

our lives and affect our service to you.

May we rejoice truly and knowing Christ and being a part of His

plan on this earth as His Church.

God, I pray for the unbeliever who's here today who is outside

of the church, although they be inside of the walls here today.

They are outside of fellowship and communion with you because

they are outside of Christ. They are in their sin.

They are alienated from God. They are cut off from all things

that are lovely and holy and righteous.

God, I pray today that by your mercy you would rescue them from

their sin, the penalty therein, and you would draw them unto

Christ for salvation this morning, bringing them in to

fellowship with you, fellowship with your Son, fellowship for

all eternity, forgiving them, cleansing them of all their sin

and granting them the eternal life that you died for them to

have. God, may we, we be careful as we

study your word to apply it to our lives and live it for your

glory. We pray these things in Christ's

name, Amen. So Paul here in these few short

verses, he gets quickly to the point.

He's very clear, he's very simple.

I am writing you these things for a reason.

I want to come to you and I hope that I get to come to you.

However, if I am delayed, you know what Paul's doing there.

He's not assuming that he has it tomorrow.

Very wise, isn't it? He's actually practicing what

James taught the church to practice.

And that's not to say tomorrow I'll go here and tomorrow I'll

go there. He's not saying.

Hey, tomorrow I'm coming to Ephesus.

He's saying if I get to, that's great, I would love to.

That would be fine. I have some things I could teach

you, but I might be delayed or this may never happen.

He was content with God's Providence.

God's will and he says, so if I don't make it or if I don't make

it in a timely fashion, I want you to understand why you're

receiving this letter. I want you to understand why you

are receiving these instructions, why I have written

these things to you and he starts with this, the reasons

for his instructions. The first thing is the conduct

of the church. He says in verse 14, he says,

although I hope to come to you soon, I'm writing you these

instructions so that. If I am delayed.

In case I don't make it, you will know how people ought to

conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church.

Now anytime we talk about the. Church we, we come across a

dilemma, right? Because we have this idea, some

people have the idea that I'm the church because I'm in Christ

and, and, and I'm the church in and of myself because I am the

temple of the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit living in me.

I am blood bought, purchased by Christ.

I am the church. So even on the outside world,

I'm still the church. And then you have the other

person who says, no, the church is is the collective group of

people that Jesus has has died for to save.

And when we come together now in this assembly, we see all these

these people in this congregation.

This is the church. And the problem is, Paul doesn't

make either one of those. Mistakes.

He doesn't make us choose an either or, but he includes the

both. And did you know this?

You are individually the church. You are part of the invisible

church because you are in Christ, but you were also a part

of the church that assembles the congregation and that that's

come here this morning on the Lord's day.

They come together and to worship the Lord and Paul's

going to give instructions to the individual believer who yes

is the church, but he's also giving instructions and going to

continue to give instructions to the whole the assembly which is

the church and so this. Entire letter This entire letter

is so that the church, her leaders, her members, the lay

people, and the church as a whole will conduct themselves

the way that God intends for them to conduct themselves as

the household. Of God, the family of God.

So he's giving instructions, yes.

First, for our behavior as the church.

That means this, our individual behavior.

When you leave here today, you're going to be the church

out in the world. Did you know that?

You're representing Christ? You are an ambassador of Christ.

Wherever you go, the church goes with you.

Why? Because you belong to Christ.

He purchased you by his blood. You are a part of his church.

And so we need to. Give some thought to our

individual obedience and our Christian behavior because he's

going to teach much in this letter.

He's already taught some about men and women in the church and

how they're to act and how they're to pray.

But he's going to continue to give more instructions that will

affect you individually. But we know this, the the

individual always affects the whole, doesn't it?

Ultimately, all of you and your Christian lives, if you will

focus on your individual behavior as an individual in the

church, a Christian, one who has been born again, one who is in

the body of Christ, if you will focus on that, then the church

as an assembly as a whole will be greater for it.

Is that not true? Of course that's true.

And so as members of God's family, he talks about

conducting themselves in God's household.

Don't. Don't you love that term, that

familial term, family, that we are all individuals who have

been saved from our own sin by the person and the work of Jesus

Christ and were brought into this family, therefore our

individual Christian behavior? Is important as we read in our

scripture reading a moment ago. We're to live a life.

Worthy of the calling that we have received.

Meaning that we were individually called right to

leave our life of sin and to cling to Christ.

We're to live a life that's worthy as a member of his

church. Ephesians 51.

He says follow God's example. Therefore, as dearly loved

children. Where do we see God's example?

We see that example in Christ and those followers of Christ

that we see in Scripture. It's important that as we learn

to conduct ourselves as the church right.

This individual part first, that we mimic Christ, that we see Him

as our example. People ask me from time to time,

how should I live the Christian life?

Look to Christ, look to Christ. He is the example of how we are

to live. He has set that in stone for us.

That is part of the reason for His humanity and coming to this

Earth, to leave us with that example to continually follow,

and He has preserved it perfectly in His word.

So our individual obedience in the church is very important.

Colossians 312 says this therefore is God's chosen

people, right? That could be the individual.

How many? Of you are individually chosen,

how many of us are collectively chosen?

You see, it's always both. You were individually called out

from your sin, you were individually saved, and you were

saved as a part of the whole. So he says, as God's chosen

people, wholly and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion,

kindness, humility, gentleness, patience.

Bear with each other and forgive one another.

If any of you has a grievance against anyone, forgive as the

Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put

on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

How should a Christian live? Look at that example there.

Clothe yourself with those things.

Why, Those are the garments that Christ wore.

That is the garment of righteousness.

That is our lives being pleasing unto the Lord according to the

Word of God. So as members of God's family,

we must individually think about our own conduct before you look

at the whole. How you fit in the hole.

Look at the individual, look at your own life.

I don't look at the individual next to you, look at your own

life. Paul is writing this letter so

they'll know how to conduct themselves as the church we're

going to see in a moment and in the church, but first as the

church, as those individuals who make up the whole asking

ourselves difficult questions like.

Are our personal. Lives and our personal

testimonies portraying a good and clear reflection of Christ

are we truly living a life worthy of the Lord as Paul says

in Colossians chapter one verse 10 where he says so that you

may. Live a life worthy of the Lord

and please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good

word, growing in knowledge of God.

Is this happening in your life? Are you conducting yourselves as

individuals the way that you should?

Paul is saying I'm going to write this letter and continue

writing this letter so that you can and so that you will behave

as the church and you will be obedient in your duties as the

parts of the body that you are, That you will be those stones,

those living stones that that Peter talks about in First Peter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. He says this you also like

living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a

holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable

to God through Jesus Christ. What is he saying there?

He's saying that you're being built into the household of God,

but you were being built as individual stones, and the

individual stone has to be in its proper place.

If it's not, did you know this one stone removed from a

Stonewall could cause the whole wall to fall down?

How many of you played that game, Jinga, right?

If you move that one piece, the whole thing could come tumbling

down. And so before we ever get to and

before Paul ever addresses the church as a whole, we must look

at the church as each individual, our behavior in our

lives. Are we representing Christ as

those living stones? Are we living our lives as true

temples of the Holy Spirit? Watch what he says in First

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 3. He says this in verse 16.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and

that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person,

for God's temple is sacred, and you together are the temple.

You see what he's doing? He's talking about the

individuals that make up the temple, and then he talks about

the whole making up the temple. And he's saying this, that the

individual needs to be concerned with the fact that he is the

temple of God, that he is representing God, that his life

and his conduct ought to look like Christ, and that if he's

not, you're actually affecting the entire body of Christ.

Very strong statement. So when we understand that we're

the temple of the Holy Spirit as individuals, and if each of you

are the temple of the Holy Spirit as individuals, of

course, what it does, it reveals to us God's characteristic of

omnipresence because he is in all of us all at the same time.

Are you thankful for that? And it is important that we as

individuals yield to that Holy Spirit in our lives so that we

as a whole would also be the temple of the Holy Spirit as a

church. So he's speaking about behavior

as the church, but then he's also talking about behavior in

the church. He said, I'm giving you these

instructions. I'm writing these things to you

so that if I'm delayed you will know how people, that individual

ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the

church. Now he was talking about

individuals who make up a family.

Now he's talking about specifically the assembly.

How are we to function in the assembly?

Paul is saying, I've written these things and I am writing

these things so that you can conduct yourselves as you

should. He has just taught us about how

are overseers supposed to be? What are they supposed to do?

What are their lives supposed to look at?

What are deacons supposed to do and to be?

What do their lives look like and what should they look like?

How are they to operate and function in the church?

He's already gone over these things and he's gone over these

things. So as the whole, as the

assembly, the ecclesia, that's what that word literally means,

the church. And it means this, the assembly

of called out ones. How many of you know we are all

individually called out by God? And now as a church, the local

body, we are brought together as an assembly.

That's what all the people say. It's not important that you

assemble as a church. The word means assembly.

What do you mean it's not important?

He's saying you're the individual who's been bought by

the blood of the Lamb. You are a part of God's

household. You were brought into the family

and you are brought into the assembly of the believers, that

local church. And this is where you need to

know how to function, how to conduct yourselves, how to live

your lives, how to minister to one another.

How to serve one another? Isn't that what we do

collectively in the church? RC Sproule said this.

He said the Christian life is not a solitary life.

We are called into fellowship, into the body of Christ.

It is the body of Christ to which we have been called into,

to assemble and to serve him, bringing him glory.

Paul is teaching us. How that ought to?

Happen, he said. That's the reason for these

instructions, how you ought to conduct yourself as a whole.

And we know this, he's talking to Timothy who will be leading

those people in Ephesus and how they are to conduct themselves

as individuals and as the church.

But he's not limited to that. Did you know this?

He's also talking to those in Crete.

He's also talking to those in Macedonia.

He's also talking to those in Thyatira.

Whoever may hear about this, Paul is talking to all the

churches. He's talking to Key Life

Fellowship in New Caney, TX today.

Well, just because we're 2000 years removed from this doesn't

mean that we're removed from this.

This applies to us. This is the reason that he's

writing so that we as members of his church, blood bought Saints.

We'll live our individual lives the way that we're supposed to,

but we as a church will also conduct ourselves the way that

we're supposed to so that there will be unity in the assembly,

unity in the body of Christ. It's very important.

He wants us and God wants us to conduct ourselves properly.

Now I know this. I know that that's not very

important to so many in today's so-called churches.

In fact, I am amazed, I am astonished that that churches

don't give any thought to this right to ask this question.

What does God want us to be as a church?

What does God want us to be as a church?

Now there are many people who want to be a church.

But they don't consult the Scriptures on what it means to

be a church. And So what they are, yeah,

they're a group of people. They might be doing some good

things, but they're not conducting themselves as a

church. Paul is showing us exactly.

How we must conduct ourselves biblically as ministers and

ministry. What we are to do according to

the Word of God. I've been asked this question

lots of times. In fact, when I'm asked a

question, I feel rather stupid. People will ask me.

Most of the time it's pastors and I know they mean well.

They will ask me. They will say something to the

degree, you know, it looks like Key Life Fellowship's seeing a

lot of success or people there. You're growing, people are being

saved and baptized. And then they'll ask me this

question. What church model are you using?

What church growth model have you read about?

What are you applying? And, and, and this is where I

really feel not so smart. And I look at them and I say,

you know, we go, we go, we take the book of Acts and we see what

the Lord did there and how impactful it was when they just

actually obeyed Jesus and what he taught them to do.

And then we model that. And try to do our best, though

we're not perfect in it. We, we, we, we look back to that

constantly. And then, and then you know what

we do? We, we read through like the

pastoral epistles and that's how our leadership is set up.

We, we look at the pastoral epistles and we say, this is

what God says. These are things that he says

have to be this way. This is how we are to conduct

ourselves as the church. And then we apply those things.

Now I'll tell them this. We don't apply those things

perfectly. You know how I know that?

Because I'm in the equation and I don't apply anything

perfectly. Because I'm flawed.

But we do our best to be biblical in the church,

conducting ourselves the way that we ought to do.

I've had people literally look me in the face and say, oh, come

on, pastor, there's got to be more to it than that.

I guess they think we're offering people flat screen

TV's, offering large sums of money.

I don't know. No, what we're doing is we're

preaching the Word of God and we're teaching the church to be

the church as individuals and as a whole.

And God does everything else as he aligns our life with what it

is. That he will.

It's. Not that complicated.

And Paul's intention of this letter is to equip the church,

the leadership as well as the lay people, as well as the

entire assembly on how to conduct themselves properly.

Properly meaning biblically. How we live our lives is

crucial, how we live our lives as individuals who make up the

church, when we walk out these doors, every time we walk out

the doors, and how we live our lives and conduct ourselves

inside the assembly. Those things are crucial.

Those things are important. And that's something just to,

you know, haphazardly give no thought.

To no, you know what I want to be?

I want to be a biblical member of God's church.

I want to. Operate and I want to function

the way that he wants me to operate and function.

That's why Paul is taking the time to write these things to

the church, because that's the proper desire, isn't it?

At the end of the day, people don't care about what you say

near as much as what you do. So it's important that we

conduct ourselves as the church with inside the assembly and

outside of the assembly. He begins with the conduct of

the church. First reason for his

instructions is simply that the conduct of the church.

Examine your life. Examine your life as one who

claims to be one of the called out ones.

Are you living a life that looks like you have been called out?

Are you living that life and purity and obedience to the Lord

and are you living that life properly within the church,

doing the things that he has called us to do?

Paul says, I'm writing these things so that you will, so that

you can. Secondly, Paul then moves to the

concern of the church. Paul wants the church to

understand what they need to be concerned with.

Isn't it true? So many times throughout history

and even now, churches have become concerned about things

that don't matter. Trivial things, worldly things,

meaningless earthly. Things instead of being

concerned with what God desires for His church to be concerned

with. Truth be told, there are many

churches right now who are concerned with all of their

agendas, right with the with the reintroduction of the social

justice gospel that we see so prevalent in our time, concerned

with so many things. Those things may be good thing,

but should they be the chief concern of the church?

Paul is going to give us the concern of the church here in

the second part of verse 15. He says again, which is the

church, the assembly of the living God, the pillar and

foundation of the truth. Now don't just read through this

and miss what's going on here. Paul wants the church.

To understand what they need to be concerned with.

And he makes it clear. But their first concern?

Ought to be doxology, worship of the one true and living God when

he uses the term the living God. You write this in the margin of

your notes. Not just a catchy term, not just

a nickname for God, but a term that sets him apart from all

other false gods who claim to be God, who are not God at all.

It sets him apart from every single idol that ever has

existed or ever will exist. It is a term of worship in

doxology. Deuteronomy 5-6.

He's called the living God because he spoke from the fire.

Joshua 310 he's called the living God speaking with power.

Psalm 42 Two, the psalmist says this, my soul thirsts for God,

for the living God. Why?

Why are they putting such an emphasis on the fact that God is

living? Because he is the only one true

and living God, Jesus Christ. Prove that even by his

resurrection. He is the one true and living

God. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31.

Hebrews 10:31

It says it's a dreadful. Thing to fall into the hands of

not just any old God, not the hands of some man made God, not

the hands of some idol or false God or some goddess.

No, it's a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the

living God, the one who is worthy of all of our.

Praise and all of our honor and all of the glory.

He is the only one who is worthy of doxology, and it is the

Church's role to give him the doxa that he deserves.

All of the. Glory.

Why? Because He is the living God.

Paul is teaching here that the church should worship him,

having a high view of who Yahweh really is.

He's not some dead, some powerless, some lifeless idol,

some mockery, some fallacy that claims to be God, or all the

other many options that people seem to choose from these days.

He is the only living God. Again, the one who deserves all

glory and all honor and all praise.

He has proven this time and time and time again.

You just go back through the scriptures, you go back through

history and you will see he has proven that when other gods who

claim to be alive faltered, he never has faltered.

He's. The living God.

In fact, when I think about that, I go back in my mind to

1st Kings 18. I think about Elijah.

The prophets of Baal and the showdown there at Mount Carmel,

one of, of course, my favorite stories, but probably your

favorite stories in all of Scripture because we like to be

on the winning team and our God who is the living God always

wins. Oh, you remember that account

there? Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

The prophets of Baal claiming that their God is the one true

God, Baal. And Elijah claiming that Yahweh

is the one true God. So Elijah does something

spectacular. He says let's make this easy.

He you call fire down from heaven from your God.

See what he does. I'll call fire down from heaven

to my God. See what he does?

You know how the story goes. And they chant, They cut

themselves. The prophets of Bell danced

around screaming and hollering, hoping that their God can ignite

this altar of wood. And he never does.

Why? He's not alive.

And then when it's Yahweh's turn, Elijah says, now we're

going to do this. You cover all that with water.

You put water on it because everybody knows water doesn't

burn. I'm going to show you how alive

my God really is. And we know this, as the story

goes, the truth that we see there in Scripture.

Yahweh consumes the altar and consumes the sacrifice and

consumes all the wood and laps up all the water with his power

and his might and His glory, proving that He is the living

God. So when Paul speaks of the

living God to the church, the church needs to pay attention to

this because a true church is going to have an exalted and a

high view of God. They are going to hold him in

the highest of esteem. He is not just a way to eternal

life. He is not just a way to

forgiveness. He is not just a God.

Just stand alongside of other gods.

He is the one true and living God.

Period. He deserves all of our worship

and so we see that doxology should be a concern of the

church worshipping the living God, as Jeremiah says.

Jeremiah 1010. But the Lord is the.

True God. He is the living God, the

eternal King, recognizing him for who he is.

When he's angry, the earth trembles.

The nations cannot endure his wrath.

Jeremiah knew the living God and he worshipped him accordingly.

First Timothy chapter one, verse 17, Paul says this about our

God. Now to the king, eternal,

immortal, He never ceases. He's always living.

And aren't you thankful that He's always living to make

intercession for me and for you in Christ?

Says he's immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory

forever and ever. Amen.

Because he is the living God, He is worthy of our doxology, our

worship. And in a world full of false

idols and false religion and all kind of belief system, may we be

dead set as a church, the individual who's in the church

and the church as a whole to give God the proper doxology

that He deserves as the living God.

Thessalonica. Paul wrote to them in chapter 1

and verse 9 commending them because he had received a report

on them of how they had turned to God from idols.

These people had been following these false idols their entire

Roman lives. Now they were turning from these

false idols. And Paul says this to serve the

living and true God. The church needs to remember

that, that in Christ we have been enabled to serve and to

worship the one true and living God.

May we rejoice in that. May we praise Him as He

deserves, giving Him proper doxology focused on worshiping

Him, fixed on glorifying Him, the living God in every area of

our lives, our service in our ministry, any way that we may

bring glory to Him. Why?

Because He's due that glory, isn't He?

Hebrews 9/14 it says how much more than then will the blood of

Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself

unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead

to death so that we may serve the living God.

Know this? Jesus Christ went to the extent

of giving Himself as a sacrifice on the cross so that we can

worship and serve the living God.

Don't take that for granted. And don't think that when Paul

uses this term, the living God. That's just something we need to

look over, you know, that's something that ever calls us to

fall on her face and to fall on her knees and say, God, thank

you. Thank you that in Christ you

didn't save me to follow after some dead, lifeless idol who

means nothing and has no power. But in Christ you have allowed

me the privilege to bow my knee to the sovereign King of kings

and Lord of Lords, the living God who always has existed, who

exists now and will exist for all eternity.

He is the one who was and is and is to come, just as Scripture

declares He is the eternal, living God.

The Church should be concerned with this.

When we come in on Sunday mornings and we assemble

together, we ought to be fired up.

Decided to know that we get to join with our brothers and

sisters to worship the Living God.

When you wake up every morning as an individual, the same ought

to happen. You ought to be fired up that

today you get to serve the Living God because you once were

dead and lifeless in your sin. But the living God breathed life

into you. He regenerated you so that you

can have faith to believe in the one and only Son of God who

offered himself for you and be saved is the Living God.

Secondly, second concern of the church, one being doxology, 2

being doctrine, he says, which is the Church of the living God.

And he says the pillar and foundation of the truth, the

pillar and foundation of the truth.

He's telling us this, that the church should be built upon

sound doctrine, upon truth, and this is the truth that is

revealed in scriptures and it cannot be compromised or ignored

in the church. Now there are so-called churches

building themselves on everything under the sun, but

few will actually be concerned with building his church on

sound doctrine. People say, well pastor, if all

you do is preach sound doctrine, people are even tired of hearing

that lost people will. They want self help, don't they?

They want psychology. But you know what sound doctrine

does? It changes the believer

sanctifies us. Why?

Because that's what Jesus said John 1717.

He says sanctify them by truth. Your word is truth.

Sound doctrine sets us apart as believers.

It sanctifies us, and Paul says here that the church should be

the pillar and foundation of the truth, reminding us that we

cannot compromise on scriptural, true and sound doctrine in any

way, shape or form. We must be contending for the

faith always. Just as Jude said there in the

third verse of that short letter, he said, dear friends,

although I I was very eager to write to you about the salvation

we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend

for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy

people. We have been entrusted with the

truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Christ and we must protect that truth, and in order to protect

that truth, we must be sound in our.

Doctrine, today's time, we see so much compromise in regard to

the gospel, don't we? We want to make the gospel a

little more palatable because, pastor, if you say it like that,

it might turn people away. You mean if I say it like it, it

says it in Scripture. You know, you're very right.

It might turn people away. But you know what else Scripture

allows us to know? That it will do.

It will also draw people unto God through the preaching of

uncompromised Scripture. And you know who it draws?

It draws those God desires to draw unto Himself.

That's why we preach the truth of the gospel and we don't alter

it so that people will buy into some type of easy believism and

think that they've come into the church when they haven't come

into the church at all. You know what I mean?

Just ask Jesus into your heart. He'll take away all your

anxiety. How many times do we hear this

these days? Jesus didn't die to free you

from your anxiety, He died to save you from your sin.

When you know Him, you got nothing to be anxious about

anymore. So many times we get this

twisted because we won't be sound in doctrine.

We don't want to push anyone away.

I'm not in a position to push anybody away, and I'm not in a

position to draw anybody in, but I am in a position to preach and

to teach sound doctrine. And you the same to know the

gospel and to know the gospel properly according to the word

of God, and to preach the gospel properly according to the word

of God, and to preach all the other truths of Scripture that

point to Christ accurately and truthfully.

Why? This is the pillar and the

foundation of the truth. It all starts with pillar and

then he ends with foundation. But we know it all starts with

foundation, doesn't it? I'm a son of a cement finisher.

I know this. And that big elaborate building

was done, and everybody was doing and awning about it.

Nobody was thinking about the Gray concrete that was covered

up with some kind of fancy flooring.

But that Gray concrete wasn't right.

The building wouldn't last. So when we talk about the

foundation of truth, what are we talking about?

The truth of the one true, living God who came to this

earth, The Lord Jesus Christ. We put on flesh and died in our.

Place to rescue us from our sin. Ephesians 2 verse 19 says this.

Ephesians 2:19

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers with

fellow citizens, with God's people and also members of his

household. And this household is built on

the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, a very firm

foundation. What did they build their

foundation on? Truth.

Now watch this with Christ Jesus himself as the chief

cornerstone. If the cornerstone is off, if

the cornerstone is not what it needs to be, the whole

foundation collapses and the building that's built on the

foundation collapses underneath it.

And so when Paul is saying the reason that I am writing you and

giving you these instructions so you'll know what you need to be

concerned with, and that concern ought to be doctrinal truth in

regard to the gospel, in regard to who Jesus Christ is and what

he actually really came to do, what Scripture teaches about.

Him what Scripture teaches and reveals about God.

Let that be our concern. Let us not be concerned with

entertaining goats while they're on their way to hell.

Let us not be concerned with making the Assembly of God some

worldly affair that entertains people, stirs their emotions.

Let us be built on a doxology of praise for the one living God

and on sound doctrine points to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the

true gospel. It's when Christ and his gospel

are compromised in the church. Entire foundation is weak and

all that's built upon it. We'll falter.

Just be committed sound doctrine to sound teaching, not tolerate

the false things that we see in our time, false teachings and

the false ideologies. He says that the Church of the

living God is a pillar and foundation of truth.

I want to give you a little insight on this.

When he said pillar to the Ephesians, they would have

perked up because every day they're in Ephesus, they would

have looked around them and there were in their view pillars

at the temple of Artemis or Diana, false goddess that they

worshipped ferociously back. Their whole community was

consumed by the worship of Diana.

And there were 127 of these pillars.

In fact, if you go to ancient Ephesus today, you will see the

ruins. You will see parts of these

pillars that are still there existing now.

Those 127 pillars, they were given to the Temple of Artemis.

They were given by 127 kings or leaders in the world in those

days. And so they stood out in the

midst of all the people there at Ephesus.

Now, when Paul began to say things like the pillar and the

foundation of truth, their minds, if not literally their

eyes, would have went to those 127 pillars there at the temple

of Diana Ornaments. And what is Paul?

Saying by this statement he's saying, though you see those

beautiful pillars standing tall, carved and etched in such a

beautiful and magnificent way, the foundation underneath them

is not truth and they will fall. You can go there today and they

have fallen. But did you know this?

The pillar and the foundation of the church, the truth of the

Word of God, shall stand forever.

Though the grass Withers and the flowers fade, the Word of God

endures forever. That's what Paul is.

Telling the churcher that's what you need to be concerned with.

That's why the scriptures are so important.

That's why you don't need to come on Sunday mornings just to

entertain people. That's why you don't need to

stand in the pulpit and just be a comedian.

Just tell stories and give fancy or catchy illustrations.

No preach the word of God in season and out of season.

Why? Because there will be a time

where men will not endure sound doctrine heap to themselves.

Teachers having itching ears. Concern of the church ought to

be doxology and doctrine concerned with exalting the one

true and living God. Concerned with the truth of the

scriptures, giving all of their energy and effort to those two

concerns. Thirdly, Paul moves now to the

confidence of the church. He says in verse 16, beyond all

question, the mystery of godliness is great.

He appeared in body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was

seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed

on in the world, was taken up in glory.

Paul is here speaking about the confidence of the church and the

confidence of Church of the church is Christ himself, right?

We can have confidence that we know the truth because of

Christ. We can have confidence that we

are resting in the truth because of Christ.

We can have confidence that we are truly saved and forgiven and

have eternal life because of Christ.

So Paul takes the time to point his listeners to Christ and he

does it in an interesting way. He says beyond all question, the

mystery of godliness is great. How can a person?

Be godly, How can they be righteous?

And then what he does, he transitions for us into an

ancient hymn. He begins to describe for us

what Christ did so that our confidence can rest in Christ

and Christ alone. Beyond our question, the mystery

of godliness is great. But then we read Romans 321.

But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been

made known, to which the law and the prophets testify.

The righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to

all who believe. There is no difference between

Jew and Gentile. What is Paul saying there?

The mystery has been unveiled. The mystery to godliness, and

that mystery to godliness that has been unveiled.

How can a person be righteous? How can a person be godly?

Right for all of sin and come short of the glory of God.

There's none righteous. No, not one.

And how can a person be godly? What at one time was a great

mystery, wasn't it? As a prophet spoke of the one

who was to come, they spoke of a greater righteousness.

Paul is saying this, that now there's a righteousness that

comes from God apart from the law.

That righteousness has been provided for us in Christ.

So we see this, that our confidence as a church is in

Christ, who is a revealed mystery.

The key to our righteousness and godliness as the body, as

individuals in the body once was hidden, but now is revealed.

And this section describes for us Christ's work and this

manifestation of Christ that actually unveiled the mystery

that was kept hidden for a time, a foretold mystery.

This mystery was proclaimed way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse

Genesis 3:15

15. Are you remembered there in

Genesis 315? But the Lord says this to the

serpent. I will put enmity between you

and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, and he will

crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

That is the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ, the head crusher.

Who we know for thousands of years would would be a mystery.

Who is this head crusher? Where will this head crusher

come from? And we would get little glimmers

and little hints along the way, right?

Bethlehem. He, he's going to come from

Bethlehem. In fact, when they inquired

about where Christ was going to be born, they went back to the

prophets and said, oh, Bethlehem.

And these little hints along the way, slowly but surely unveiling

this this mystery of the head crusher.

Yet now we know that in Christ this proclaimed mystery has been

revealed. It was proclaimed in Genesis,

prophesied in Isaiah 53. If you have time, go back and

read all of Isaiah 53. You'll see the suffering servant

there that points to none other than Christ.

Now at the time when they would read Isaiah 53, prior to Christ,

they didn't know who that they were talking about, what they

were pointing to, in fact, the manner of death that is

described. Was not even a manner of death

that they would even be familiar with.

Yet in Christ this mystery has been revealed, the foretold

mystery. It's also a fulfilled mystery

Romans 117 Paul make sure we know that this mystery has been

fulfilled. He says this from the gospel.

The righteousness of God is revealed, right?

Doesn't he pose that force beyond our question?

The mystery of godliness is great.

There's not a greater question in the world.

How can 1 be godly? How can he be considered

righteous when we know we're. All sinners.

Paul says, Friend, the gospel, the righteousness of God is

revealed, the righteousness that is by faith from first to last,

just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

What is he saying? The Old Testament said the

righteousness, the righteous will live by faith.

And now in Christ the righteous live by faith, and they live by

faith in the Son of God. And because they live by faith

in the Son of God, His righteousness, His.

Perfect righteousness has been imputed to them.

We'll see what he's saying here. It's the confidence of the

church, the fulfilled mystery of Christ.

Not only did Paul proclaim that this mystery has been fulfilled,

Jesus himself did. Luke chapter 24 verse 27 as he

Luke 24:27

encounters 2 men on the road to to Emmaus.

It says this in verse 27 and beginning with Moses and all the

prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the

scriptures concerning him Cell. What did Jesus say?

The mystery has been revealed. When I walked out of that tomb,

you don't have to wonder who the living God who would come to

this earth to rescue sinners from their sin is.

I am He. And He told them everything in

Scripture that pointed to Him. Just a few verses down from

that, in verse 44, we see Him talking to His disciples.

Remember this is all after His resurrection.

And he said to them in verse 44, This is what I told you while I

was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled

that is written about me and the Law of Moses, the prophets and

the Psalms that was written about him.

What was written about him, His death, His burial, and His

resurrection all included throughout the Law of Moses, the

prophets and the Psalms. And then He opened their minds

so they can understand the Scriptures and He told them,

this is what is written. The Messiah will suffer and rise

from the dead on the third day. What was Jesus doing here?

He was saying mystery revealed. You want to know the key to

godliness? Do you want to unlock this

mystery? I am the key.

I am the door. I am the gate.

All of the things that Jesus said in His earthly ministry now

begin to matter, don't they? Field ministry acknowledged by

Christ himself. What about Peter?

Peter acknowledged it first Peter chapter one verse 10.

It says concerning the salvation.

The prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you

searched intently and with great care.

You know what they didn't find anything did they was a mystery.

Well, Peter goes on to say is that this mystery has been

unveiled in Christ. First Peter chapter 2, verse 24,

1 Peter 2:24

he says this. He himself bore our sins in His

body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for

righteousness. By His wounds you have been

healed. What is he doing there?

He's quoting the prophet Isaiah, and you know what he's saying,

the mystery that Isaiah wrote about.

The one who would heal us by his wounds.

It is Christ, and Christ is the confidence of the church.

Without Christ, we don't have confidence that we can worship

the living God. Without Christ, we don't have

confidence that we'll really be forgiven of our sin.

Without Christ we don't have confidence in.

Anything but in Christ we have confidence as his church.

His revealed mystery. John also gives testimony to

this. And 1st John he says chapter 1,

verse one, that which was from the beginning, which we have

heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked

at, and our hands of touch, This we've proclaimed concerning the

word of life. The life appeared.

We have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the

eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

What is John saying? The mystery that we all have

been waiting on. We've seen it with our own eyes.

We beheld His glory. We sat down and we ate a meal

with Him. We walked along the shore of

Galilee with Him. We traveled to and fro with Him.

We listened to the Word and the lessons that He taught us.

We've seen him, Paul then, over and over in his ministry,

probably more than anyone, referencing our confidence in

Christ as the fulfillment of this mystery.

He says in Romans 1625. Now to him who is able to

establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I

proclaim about Jesus Christ in keeping with the revelation of

the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made

known through the prophetic writings by the command of the

eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the

obedience that comes from faith. What is Paul saying here?

Jesus Christ is the revelation of that mystery and salvation

through Jesus Christ. Godliness and righteousness

through Jesus Christ is not only for the Jew, as many people

thought mistakenly. But it's also for the Gentile.

Just as the prophetic writings said.

He's saying this mystery has been revealed.

Why? Because they didn't understand

why, Hosea said. I will call them who are not my

people, my people. Now it's beginning to all come

together. He is calling the Gentile his

people. And why are they his people?

Because their confidence is in Christ, the mystery revealed and

fulfilled in Jesus. So the confidence of the Church

is in a revealed mystery, and that revealed mystery is Christ

and Christ. Is a risen Messiah.

So our confidence is in a revealed mystery, and our

confidence is in a risen Messiah.

This is where Paul takes this ancient hymn.

And he just writes. Down the lyrics and he writes

down these lyrics so that the church there an Ephesus who was

probably familiar with singing these lyrics will get the point.

About Christ, the risen Messiah. He begins by the first line

describing Christ. He appeared in body.

He's of course referring to the incarnation of God in Christ

Jesus. We know what John chapter one

verse 14 says right in the Word. It became flesh and dwelt among

us. If you need to know who the Word

is, the Word is God. Go back and read 11 And he

became flesh, and he dwelt among us.

He is talking about the fact that God came Incarnate to this

earth, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Triune

Godhead, being fully and truly God and at the same time being

fully and truly man, Offering himself as a sacrifice on a

cross after living a perfect life and giving us a perfect

example, doing exactly what the Law had commanded, fulfilling

our righteousness for us. So don't forget that.

Don't forget we, we often times get so caught up in the fact

that we have imputed righteousness.

But didn't you know, there's an acceptable standard And Jesus

met that acceptable standard for us.

He was our substitution not only in death, but also in life.

When I mess up the godly life, know this, it's not held to my

charge. Why?

Because Jesus has already lived a life for me that I can't live.

That's the biblical truth. He who knew no sin became sin so

that I might become the righteousness of God.

What a picture we see of the risen Messiah here appearing in

body, condescending to this earth God of gods, coming to

this earth to die in the place of wretched sinners, who on

their own wills would rather have the disgust of their sin

than to be in a right relationship with God.

Yet even in spite of that, He died in our place to bring us

into a right relationship with God.

The mystery of God we appeared in body goes on and says, then

vindicated or proven by the Spirit.

Scholars differ in what this might mean, and I think they're

all right to a degree, and I'm going to jump in and just kind

of collaborate it all together with the things that I have

studied about this. When we look at the vindication

of the Spirit, we know that the Spirit vindicated or proved who

Christ really is all throughout his life and earthly ministry.

We see it as baptism when the Spirit descended upon him and

the Father said, this is my Son in whom I am well pleased.

The Spirit descending on Christ was a sign that he truly is the

Son of God. We know also that the Spirit was

active in his earthly ministry. Know this, every time that Jesus

performed a miracle, it was the second person of the Triune

Godhead working in complete oneness and unity with the third

person of the Triune Godhead to perform that miracle.

The power that He received and the power that He applied came

from the Holy Spirit just as the mission that He was on came from

the Father all in one accord and in the essence agreeing that

this is what is going to take place and the prophets long ago

since that it would he's going to come and he's going to heal

people. What did Jesus do under the

power of the Holy Spirit He healed people, proving by the

Holy Spirit and his power in his life, vindicating him and the

fact that he. Is truly the Messiah who was to

come, the risen Messiah, the Savior.

It is the Spirit's power that allowed him to suffer, to

experience intense agony and pain.

Oh, please know this. Don't erase the humanity of

Christ and think that those crowns didn't hurt when they

were shoved into his skull, those thorns on that crown.

Don't think that the nails when they went in his hand, that that

he was some kind of Superman with some power to not feel the

pain. He was fully God and at the same

time fully man, and it was only by the Spirit's power that He

was able to endure the punishment that belonged on my

back, to endure the death. He was vindicated by the Spirit

as all of this was going on suffer in a way that no normal

human being should ever have to suffer.

And then we know that ultimately He was.

The Holy Spirit's power had raised him from the dead on that

resurrection Sunday morning. Romans 14.

Paul speaks of this in Romans in that first chapter, and he says,

in who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son

of God in power by his resurrection from the dead,

Jesus Christ our Lord. What is he saying there?

The Spirit proved at the resurrection of Jesus Christ

that Jesus is truly the Son of the living God, that is truly

the risen Messiah, vindicated by the Spirit.

He goes on and he says, seen by the angels, that word there is

better understood. Beheld.

What do you mean beheld by the angels eternally beheld?

Right, because there is no beginning for the Son.

He always has existed. He always will exist.

The angels have always entertained and worship Him

since He created them. And so now we see this.

There's a deeper and a fuller meaning to this.

The angels beholding Him also has reference to this.

They were there when His birth was announced, weren't they?

In fact, that's how Mary received the information.

That's how Joseph knew that that he was going to name him Jesus,

the angels. Were all active in working in

this. That's how others knew to go to

those fields on the night that Jesus was born.

So the angels beheld him. He beheld His glory as the

Incarnate Son of God at His birth.

Not only that, they ministered to Him during His earthly

ministry. Remember that following His

temptation, He was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights.

And then what happened? He resists to Satan ultimately.

And then the angels came and they attended him.

They ministered to Christ, they beheld Him, they saw what he

went through, and they were able to aid and to assist him, to

raise him back up. You say, what do you mean, raise

him back up? Oh, just as all humans become

weak in their temptation and in their struggle, so did Christ.

Again, He's fully God and fully man all at the same time.

The angels beheld Him. They beheld him not only in

those places. What about there in the Garden

of Gethsemane as He was approaching the nearing cross

and His death and His suffering? It says that the angels came and

strengthened Him, propping Him up, aiding Him and leading Him

to continue to do the will of the Father, confirming again

that this is the one who the Father has sent to redeem the

Sinner, also being present and witnessing both His resurrection

and His ascension. There were angels at both

events. In fact, we know that testimony

says it was an Angel that rolled the stone away.

It was an Angel who sat there who communicated with those who

first came to the tomb. So the angels beheld the fact

that the tomb was empty and Christ was gone.

Prison by the power of God seen by the angels, goes on then to

say, preached among the nations. Why should our confidence as a

church be in Christ because of these things?

Preached among the nations just as He proclaimed He would be?

Did you know this? 2000 years later, here I am

standing in a pulpit all the way across the ocean from where all

of this had taken place. What am I doing?

Preaching to another nation. Preaching to another nation?

Just as Jesus said. What happened?

He'll be preached among the nations, just as he proclaimed

Matthew 2819. In fact, it's he who sends his

disciples out to do just that. He says, therefore go and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Don't just stop at one. Keep going and keep going and

keep going and keep going. And aren't you glad that He did?

Here we are on the other side of the world, and our hope is

rested upon our confidence in Christ as individuals in the

Church and as the church assembled, preached among the

nations in Acts chapter 1. Lord says, but you will receive

Acts 1 · chapter mention

power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my

witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the

ends of the earth. Did Jesus not say that He would

be preached in all the nations? And just as he said, He has been

preached in all the nations. What?

What confidence we have from that, What confidence that we

have that He truly is the risen Messiah.

He's not some fake, He's not some phony.

He's the one that is. Still being preached to the

nation. Goes on and it says this

believed on in the world. Might it be one thing if we just

went out and preached this Jesus and nobody ever believed him?

Did you know this? There are believers all over

this world. There are believers all over

this world. Why?

Because he said that he would be believed by all the nations,

believed on in the world. And we see the first sign of

that in Acts chapter 2, verse 41, where it says this.

Acts 2:41

Those who accepted his message, Peter wants a coward now boldly

standing at the southern gates of Jerusalem, there at the

temple, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, empowered by the

Holy Spirit, being that bold witness that Jesus said that he

would be when the Spirit came upon him.

And he preaches the first gospel message since Christ has

ascended into heaven. And when he preaches this

message, 3000 people were saved that day.

Now I want you to go back and I want you to look at that

account. It wasn't 3000 residents of

Jerusalem, it was 3000 people from all over the world.

And you know what they did? They left there and they went

back to wherever it was that they came from, and their lives

were changed forever. And they told their relatives

and their friends about this Jesus of Nazareth who came and

who died on a cross in their place to rescue them from their

sin, and how evil men tortured him according to the plan of

God. But that torture should have

been on our backs, but it was on the back of the perfect one, and

He died in our place to rescue us and to forgive us.

He atoned for our sin as a perfect propitiation satisfying

to the Father. Would you like me to tell you

about this Jesus and how he can save you preached among the

nations believed on in the world.

People are still believing today.

My prayers that one of you this morning would even believe you

surrender your life to Jesus Christ and repent of your sin.

He goes on and then he says next, taken up to glory here,

what he's doing, he's declaring not only his ascension and we

see in Acts chapter 1 where he ascended back into heaven, but

Acts 1 · chapter mention

also his exaltation, his return to the glory with the Father

that he left to come to this earth.

It's interesting that Paul's using an old helm here that

would have been familiar to the church because Paul also does

the same thing in Philippians with a helm known as the Carmen

Christie or the helm of Christ. And what he does in that he

covers. Christ, and he covers Christ

from his incarnation all the way to his exaltation here in this

film, doing the same exact thing, Christ ascending into

heaven, being exalted, taken up to glory.

Had Christ not been taken up to glory, had others not testified

like Stephen when he saw heaven open up and they're standing at

the right hand of the Father was the Son?

Had the disciples not seen his ascension into heaven, we'd have

no proof of this. We'd have no confidence in this.

We have great confidence in this because eyewitnesses declare

that he was truly taken up to glory.

John and his account in Revelation confirms.

The latest evidence we have is God gave him a magnificent

vision into the throne room of heaven.

And what did he see there? The lion of the tribe of Judah

look as if he had been slain, standing by the throne alive and

well. The risen Savior who was taken

up to glory, who condescended to this earth, and who took on

flesh, and who humbled himself, became a servant, and then

humbled himself even to the lowest point of dying on the

cross. Paul wants the church to see

this. Why?

Because. This is our confidence without

Christ. Why are we even here without

Christ? Why do we do what we do without

Christ? Why do we even get out of bed

every day? Let Christ be our confidence,

the true risen Messiah, our reason for life, our reason for

existence, the one who has. Peter says first Peter chapter

322 gone into heaven. It was at God's right hand, with

angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.

Hebrews 1/3 says the sun is the radiance of God's glory in the

exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by

His powerful word. And after he had provided

purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the

majesty in heaven. Paul here in first Timothy

giving us the confidence of Christ, reminding us that He has

been taken up to glory. This glory was nothing new to

him. He returned to the glory that

was rightfully his all eternity. Philippians chapter 2 verse 6.

Philippians 2:6

And that ancient him, he says, who being in very nature, God

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.

He didn't hold on to it, but made himself nothing, taking on

the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness.

Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and

became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, because of this, He was taken up.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the

name that is above every name. Then at the name of Jesus every

knee should bow in heaven, and on earth and under the earth.

And every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the

glory of God the Father. 2 ancient hymns in our lessons

today, both of them tracing Christ from His incarnation all

the way to His exaltation. What a beautiful picture that

is, but let it bring you great confidence.

Why? Because He has been exalted.

He is interceding. He is mediating for you and for

me. Those of us who are in Christ,

He lives forever to intercede on our behalf.

Are you thankful for that this morning?

Oh, He is our confidence. He's our confidence in life.

He's our confidence in death. Why?

Because of the fact that He is the revealed mystery, the one

that the prophet spoke of for hundreds of years, hundreds of

years prior to Christ coming to this earth.

He is that revealed mystery played out.

He is the risen Messiah, the one true and living God who came to

this earth to rescue sinners and paupers like myself.

May He rescue you today as He turns your heart to Him.

So let's wrap this up trade that we'll have a clearer grasp on

the exact reasons why we are studying and why it's important

that we read First Timothy. That we will have a clearer

grasp as to the reason for Paul's instruction, the conduct

of the church, how we conduct ourselves as individuals and how

we conduct ourselves as a whole. The concern of the church.

That our concern will be what it needs to be.

Proper doxology and proper doctrine don't complicate that.

That our confidence will be where our confidence needs to

be. That it will rest the all

sufficient merit of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believers, I pray that you're challenged by this.

To walk and to conduct yourself as you should.

Ask yourself that difficult question.

Am I conducting myself the way I need to conduct myself, whether

in my individual life as a member of His church or in the

church as a whole? Am I serving and ministering to

others as He would have me to do?

This is the reason for this. This is why we studied this, not

to fill our head with a bunch of knowledge to bring glory to God

on this earth as we serve in His body.

To the unbeliever who has not surrendered to Jesus Christ as

Lord and Savior, I pray today that God would have mercy on

your soul. I pray that He would open your

eyes by the power of the Holy Spirit to see the truth that you

are a Sinner and you are in need of a Savior.

I pray that He will show you how detestable you are to a holy God

and that there is one way to be confident that you have been

made clean before God and that is only through Jesus Christ,

through His death, His burial, and His resurrection.

He is our only hope. And I pray today that in that

you would cry out to Jesus in desperation before you eternally

face the wrath of God, you will trust in the mercy of God that

was given to us in Christ 2000 years ago.

Would you trust in Jesus today? Let's pray together.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for your word.

We know that it will accomplish exactly what you desire for it

to accomplish. It has gone forth.

Lord Jesus, I've done all that I can do.

I trust in your spirit now to do the work of God that only you

can do. May you receive all glory and

honor and praise for it. And we pray these things in

Christ's name. Amen.

Once again, we'd like to thank you for joining us online this

morning. We pray that if you have any

questions about the sermon today or perhaps you would like more

information on how to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please

click on the QR code there on the screen and it will give you

all the information that you need.

Also, if you have any prayer requests or would like to talk

to a pastor, we would love to hear from you.

And again, May God bless you as you seek Him and His will for

your life. You've been listening to Key

Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry podcast.

Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.