Sunday Morning Message: The Church - Its Meaning: The Pillar of the Truth of God, Part 4

We are taking a long look at at the church, helping us

understand how we, the called out ones, are to understand God

designed for His church. It's so important for us to come

to grips with the reality of what it means to be a child of

the king, what it means to be chosen by God, converted by God,

cleansed by God, commissioned by God.

To serve his purposes. I think if you look at the

church, it's meaning, it's mission and ministry.

It really is about what it means to to love the church.

I would hope that you love the church, not the organization,

not the denomination, not the intricate details of the facade

of the facility. But do you really, truly love

the church? I've had the the most incredible

privilege over the last 29 years to to pastor here at Christ

Community Church and I can honestly tell you that I truly

love the church. I love the church not just

because of of the fact that I'm employed here.

I love the church because of all that it is and all that God

designed it to be. And I've had the most

incredible. Experience and wonderful

ministry to serve alongside many of you in this ministry over all

these years. And I really, truly love the

Church. I mean, you can't not love the

Church if you love the Lord, right?

Because you you love the people he died for and and so you you

love the the Church. And I find it interesting that

that, you know, I I've raised a lot of children and now I have a

lot of grandchildren. And you know, it wasn't the fact

that after after 10 years of having children and raising

children that I decided to to Chuck them aside and start a new

family. No, I stayed with my children to

raise them, to nurture them, to care for them, to love them.

Over all these years, and that's never going to change.

Well, when I came to Christ Community Church, I didn't come

for 10 years so that I can Chuck you aside and and go to another

church and adopt A new family and be a pastor of a of a new

congregation. No, that's not, that's not the

way the ministry's supposed to be.

You need to show commitment as you would in a marriage to a

family. Devotion as you would to

marriage and a family and and the Lord made it very clear that

your spiritual family always takes priority over your

physical family. When they came to him and said,

Lord, your mother and your brother are outside waiting for

you and he said, who are my mother and who are my brothers

but those who who believe in me? You mean very clear that the

spiritual priority. Took place over the physical

aspect of family. Why?

Listen, we are going to spend the rest of our lives on this

planet and into the future and eternity together.

Like it or not, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus

Christ, we're going to be forever together in glory.

That's just the way it's going to be, so get used to it.

If you don't like someone in front of you or behind you, just

think you're going to be sharing a mansion with them and glory.

And so there's a certain aspect you can look at the principles

that we're looking at as the fact that This is why we love

the church, we love the church because it's the plan of the Son

of God, he said in Matthew 16. I will build my church in the

and the gates of hell should not prevail against it.

Do you know that Jesus never built anything else?

He only built one thing, the church.

He's continually building the church.

And to that last soul is saved in the church age.

And there's going to come and receive us unto himself that

where he is. There we may be also, but it's

the plan, the Son of God. It was a perfect plan.

It's a precious plan. It's a providential plan.

It was a plan made in the eternity past before time began.

We love the Church because it's a plan of the Son of God.

We love the church because the church is the possession of the

living God. First Peter, chapter 2, verse

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

#9. We are His chosen possession.

We are His children. We are His bride.

We are His body. He purchased us with His blood.

He bought us back from the slave market of sin that we might be

His and His alone. In fact, we're such a possession

of His that He takes up the residence in our lives.

What was the mystery concealed in the Old Testament but now

revealed in the New Testament? Christ and you.

The hope of glory. We are such a possession of His

that he takes up residence in our lives and works in and

through us. The Father resides in us.

The Spirit resides in us. The Son resides in us.

Read the Gospel of John. They're all there.

In terms of the understanding of what God is doing with his own

possession. Can't help but love the church.

It's the plan of the Son of God, and you're part of that plan.

If you love the Lord and you're you're a believer in the Lord

Jesus Christ, you're part of that perfect, providential,

precious plan of the living God. And we are the possession of the

living God. He owns us.

He bought us. He took us out of Satan's domain

and put us into His Kingdom. How can you not love the church?

Because you love the Lord in our Third Point, and this is kind of

where we've camped out on the last couple of weeks, that the

church is the pillar of the. Truth of God First 70.

Three verse #15 tells us that the church is the pillar and

support of the living God, and we've been looking at what that

church looks like. And how do you know that as a

church, we are demonstrating on a regular basis that we are the

pillar and support of the truth of the living God?

Because that's who we are. And so we told you over the last

couple of weeks that the church that is the pillar and support

of the truth is a church that studies the truth carefully.

They want to know what the truth says.

That's why the early church was committed to the apostles

teaching. That's why Paul tells Timothy

Study to show yourself approved in the God a Workman that needed

not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The church that's the the pillar of the truth of God studies the

truth very carefully, like the Bereans who who search the

scriptures to see whether or not these things are so because you

want to know exactly who God is. And so you study the truth

carefully. And the number two, you show the

truth clearly. And that's how you know You

studied it carefully. You show it very clearly.

You demonstrate the truth. You live out the truth.

So all will know that what you believe is really true, because

it's manifested on a daily basis in your life.

And so you show the truth clearly.

And those who study the truth carefully and show the truth

clearly are those who speak the truth convincingly.

And that's what we talked about last week.

You speak the truth convincingly.

You speak and exhort with all authority, Paul tells Titus and

Titus, Chapter 2, verse #15. You speak the truth convincingly

Titus 2 · chapter mention

because you speak it authoritatively.

You speak it, you speak it apocalyptically.

You speak it accurately. You speak it authentically.

We talked about all those last week, But you speak the truth

convincingly, #4 and this is where we left off last week.

The church that's the pillar of the truth of God is the Church

that submits to truth. Continually, it submits to

truth. Continually, In other words, you

line yourself up under the authority of the word of God.

Now, this is not easy for most of us because there are certain

things in the scriptures that we find hard to digest, hard to

accept. Difficult to to realize.

And yet we are to submit to the truth continually.

That is, every day I am finding myself under the authority of

God's Word. What does God's word say that I

should be doing? What does God's Word say that I

be I should be saying? What do I do in order to honor

my God? And so I line myself up under

the the commands of Scripture. And so I submit to the truth.

Continually when when the Bible speaks about forgiveness, right?

I I I want to forgive my brother.

I want to forgive those who have sinned against me.

I don't want to hold the grudge. I don't want to become bitter

and angry. I want to forgive one another

even as God, for Christ's sake Features 4 tells me has forgiven

me. And yet we find ourselves

bristling against. Forgiving those who have wronged

us so that's just not willing to submit to the truth of God

continually when it when it comes to to serving one another.

We we should be in service mode at all times when to serve our

fellow brother and sister in Christ.

But this way serving by by exercising your spiritual get to

this right. God has gifted each and one of

us first. Peter Chapter 4, verse #10 tells

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

us as each has received a gift, employ it in serving one

another. Why?

Because we are a body. If one rejoices, we all rejoice.

If if one is sad, we're we're all sad.

But we're all in this together as the body of Christ.

And so, because the Bible tells us about the gifts that God has

given to us, that we might exercise them in the body and

minister to one another in a most profound kind of way doing.

Something that no. One else can do because God has

specifically gifted you to be used in the church for His

glory. If I don't submit to that and

follow through on that, then I live in rebellion to the truth

of God's Word, and as the individual, I cease to be.

The pillar and support of the truth.

You see, we are to submit to everything that God says.

We don't have the luxury of picking and choosing what we're

going to submit to. I mean, I don't allow my

children to pick and choose what they submit to my commands or to

my demands. Or to what I say as their

father, they should be doing. I don't give them the option to

say, well, I I think Dad, I'll do that.

Or or maybe I won't do that, Dad.

Oh no, no, You're going to do what I tell you to do because

you're in my family and I'm your father and you follow the

direction of your father and your mother.

But somehow we think that it was in the church.

We can say God is so, so graceful and loving and kind

that if I choose not to. To exercise my spiritual get,

it's okay. Everybody else can do it.

I don't have to do it or or I I don't have to be involved in in

giving to the church. I mean, after all everybody else

gives to the church. Why should I give?

All the needs are met. That they've met the budget for

the new year. Everything seems to be hunky

Dory. Why should I give if everybody

else is giving? You see, there are there are

certain things in the scriptures that we just want to pick and

choose that we submit to. The the Church of Thessalonica

was not that way. They they were a very submissive

church. In fact, turn with me to 1st

Thessalonia. In chapter one Paul says this

about those in Thessalonica. This is really good because this

is a submissive church. And remember I told you last

week that the church at Thessalonica was the only church

that that Paul said was a a pattern for every other church.

And remember he wrote to a lot of churches.

But there was one church that was a specific, unique pattern,

and that was the Church of Thessalonica.

And that was because they were such a submissive church.

Look what it says in verse number six.

You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received

the Word in much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, you received the word, but when you did, you

received it amidst much tribulation, much persecution,

but you did it with joy in the Holy Spirit, so that you became

an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in a Ki for the

word of the Lord who has sounded forth from you not only in

Macedonia and the Ki, but also in every place.

Your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need

to say anything. What a testimony.

Chapter 2, Verse #13. For this reason, we also

constantly thank God that when you received the Word of God,

which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of

men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also

performs its work in you who believe.

In other words, you were receptive of the truth.

When you heard the word from us, you received it.

You put out the welcome mat. That's what that's what the word

received means. You put out the welcome mat and

you welcomed the word of God into your life, and it took root

in your life and effectively worked in you because you

believed Chapter 4, verse #1. Finally, then, brethren, we

request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that as you received

from us instruction as how you ought to walk and please God,

just as you actually do. That you excel even more so,

you've received the Word from us.

You've excelled, you followed what God's Word says.

But we want you to go beyond that.

We want you to excel even more so, he says, For you know what

commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is,

that you abstain from sexual immorality.

And each of you know how to possess his own vessel in

sanctification. And in honor not unless a

passion like the Gentiles, who do I know God, and that no man

transgress and defraud his brother in the matter, because

the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also

told you before and solemnly warned you.

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in

sanctification, so He rejects this, So he rejects this.

He's not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to

you. So Paul gives them this

exhortation. You're walking with the Lord,

and that's obvious to everybody, but we want you to excel even

beyond that, because this is the will of God.

Even your sanctification that you abstained from from sexual

immorality, We usually know how to possess your own vessel and

sanctification and an honor, because this is what God wants

for you. The purity of your life and goes

on at the end of chapter 5 and he gives command after command

after command without any explanation.

At all. Because he doesn't have to.

Because he knows they're going to submit to the authority of

Scripture, it says We urge your brother in verse #14,

admonishing unruly encourage the fainthearted, help the weak.

Be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another

with evil for evil, But always seek after that which is good

for one another and for all people.

Rejoice. Always pray without ceasing and

everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ

Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit.

Do not despise prophetic utterances.

Examine everything carefully. Hold fast that which is good.

Abstain from every form of evil. Didn't say I want you to rejoice

always. And This is why.

And this is how. And this is when doesn't do

that, he says rejoice always. He says I want you to give

thanks in everything. Doesn't give an explanation as

to why. This is just the will of God in

Christ Jesus concerning you, and that's good enough for them.

If that's God's will for me, that's what I'm going to do.

You see, we love to debate the truth.

We love to deliberate about the truth.

We love to discuss the truth. We just need to submit to the

truth. If God says it, that's it.

And I say, okay, Lord, whatever you say, that's what I'm going

to do. I'm going to follow your

direction. I might not understand it.

I might not come to grips with the reality of all that's

happening in the word of God. But Lord, because you said it,

I'm going to do it. He just says, be fervent in your

love toward one another, be boiling over in your love toward

one another. Extend all you can to to love

one another. And as believers we say yes,

yes, Lord, because whatever the question is, the answer is

always yes on the part of the believer.

So there's a church that's the the pillar and support of the

truth. Is the church that submits to

the truth continually. Think about it this way.

Show me a church that doesn't take the Bible seriously, and

I'll show you a church that doesn't take God seriously that

it yet. Show me a family.

That doesn't take the Bible seriously.

And I'll show you a family. He doesn't take God seriously.

Show me an individual who doesn't take the Bible seriously

and I'll show you an individual who doesn't take God seriously

so you can't separate the two because the Incarnate Word gave

us the inspired word. And when that Word became flesh

and dwelt among us, we beheld this glory, the glories of the

only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

We need to take God's Word seriously.

Psalm 138, verse #2. Thy Word, O Lord, is magnified

even as thy very name, the Word of God, is on the same plane as

the name of God. And one day every knee will bow

and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the

glory of God the Father. Why?

Because he is the name that is above all names.

And yet God holds His word on the same level as His name,

because it's the spoken word of the living God.

And therefore we need to take God's word seriously.

So. If God's Word is disregarded, if

God's word is devalued, then God is diminished in the eyes of

that church or in the family of those believers.

If God's Word is disregarded or devalued in any way, God.

Is diminished. If God is diminished, the gospel

will always be diluted because the Gospels based on the

identity of who God is, and the identity of God comes from the

word of God. So then the gospel then becomes

diluted. If the gospel is diluted,

godiness will disappear. If godiness disappears, God is

dishonored and the people will always be destroyed.

That's just the natural downgrade of devaluing and

disregarding or despising the truth of the living God.

There are churches that refer to the Bible but don't Revere the

Bible. There are churches that read the

Bible but don't Revere the Bible.

God's Word. Is magnified even as his very

name, the Church, is the pillar of the truth of God.

That church studies the truth carefully, shows the work, shows

the truth clearly, speaks the truth convincingly, submits the

truth continually, and #5 stands.

On truth, confidently and courageously stands.

On truth confidently and courageously.

That's the Church. That's the pillar of the truth

of God. And you can go through Scripture

and read about all kinds of individuals who stood strong on

the truth. You can go all the way back to

the Old Testament and look at look at Esther, who stood strong

on the truth of God's covenant with Israel.

You can go back and look at Moses and Abraham, Joseph,

Daniel, Shadrack, Mishak at a Bendigo.

You can pull vault yourself and do the New Testament and look at

Steven and the apostles and the the apostle Paul, but of all the

people. In the New Testament, that

stands out as the supreme example of standing

courageously, standing confidently, I think we'd all

say the Apostle Paul. We didn't even say Timothy, his

his protege. But there's one individual that

hardly anybody knows. Hardly anybody ever mentions.

Who? Whose name would have been the

name of my ninth child. But I don't have a ninth child.

I only got 8, but if I had a ninth one it would have been his

name. So turn me into a Book of

Revelation, Revelation chapter two.

In Revelation 2 and three, you have 7 letters to seven

churches, 7 literal churches, 7 churches that truly existed.

And these letters sent to them are letters by God to them that

they might understand God's call upon their lives.

And these seven churches are representative of every church

that's ever existed in the history of the world.

So you need to understand that. And so these churches.

Are not just literal, but they're symbolic in nature

because they truly help you understand the condition of the

church. First letter was written, the

emphasis right, they're the cold church, and the 2nd letter was

written to Smyrna. They're the crushed church.

The 3rd letter was written to the church at Pergamon.

They are the compromised church. And so the Bible says and

Revelation 2 verse #12 and to the Angel of the church and

pergament rite, the one who has the sharp 2 edged sword says

this. Now who's that?

Well that's the Lord, right? He's the one with the sharp 2

edged sword. We know that in Revelation 19

when he returns again there there's a sword that that

precedes or protrudes out of his mouth.

It's a 2 edged sword. Why?

Because it's an instrument of conversion on one side and

instrument of condemnation on the other side.

It's a 2 edged sword and so therefore the one who holds the

two edged sword says this and we know it's an instrument of

conversion. And remember a sword is that

which which slices and dices and dissects and and cuts off.

So when Christ says and Matthew chapter 10, I did not come to

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

bring peace, but a what a sword. Why?

Because he was he was going to divide a son from his parents.

He was going to divorce or not divorced, but divide a husband

from his wife. Because when there was a

conversion in a Jewish Home. You were cut off.

Right, in crisis that came to bring the sword and the sort of

conversion, the side that converts you is going to divide

you from friends and family. It's going to do that because

that's what conversion does. And then it's an instrument of

condemnation that's based on Revelation 19 when he comes and

he destroys his enemies with just a.

Word of his mouth We know that he was 412 says that God's word

is living and active and powerful and sharper than any

two edged sword, right? We also know that we had a sword

of the Spirit, which is the word of God feeds the chapter.

Chapter 6. But know what the Lord says, He

says, I know where you dwell. That's just a great statement.

You ever wonder if God knows where you dwell?

Oh, he does. In fact, he says to emphasis.

I know your deeds and your toil and your perseverance.

God knows your deeds. God knows your work.

God knows your perseverance, your steadfastness.

God knows all that. God's never taken by surprise to

the Church of of Smyrna, he says.

I know your tribulation and your poverty.

You ever wonder if God knows your poverty?

He does. Does he know your tribulation?

Oh, absolutely. So he says to the Church of

Pergamum, I know where you dwell.

Where did they dwell? Where Satan's throne is?

Whoa, how can they dwell where Satan's throne is?

Didn't know Satan had a throne. Well, if you know anything about

the historical Pergamum, you know that it was a, a, a.

A city filled with idolatry. In fact there was There was

emperor worship in pergament. Also there was a a great statue

to Zeus built on the side of a hill.

There was a temple of Asclepius. The temple of Asclepius was a

temple of healing medicine symbolized by a.

A snake and those who needed helium would go to that temple

and they would lay down in that temple and these snakes would

crawl all over them for the purpose of healing.

Remember, Satan is referred to as a snake in Genesis chapter 3A

serpent in Revelation chapter 12 verse number #9 and so there was

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

a place where Satan. Do I know who you are?

You're in a place where Satan dwells.

It's true of of us today because the Bible says in Saint Criticus

4/4 that Satan is the God of this world.

The Bible says in First John 519 that the whole world lies in the

lap of the evil 1. In fact, in John's Gospel, three

different times, Satan is referred to as the Prince of

this world. And God says I know you do well

because you see, Satan wants the church to compromise.

He wants it to compromise on the truth and if he can get the

church to compromise and look like the world.

Then it's very ineffective of being salt and light in the

world. So whatever you can do within

the church, the local church to make it look and sound like

everything that happens in the world already, then he's got the

church to compromise. And in the church, those who go

to that church then believe that that's the way Christianity

really is. And so he says these words.

I know where you dwell, where Satan strewn is, and you hold

fast my name and did not deny my faith.

What a testimony. You held fast to my name, to my

character, to my nature. You were steadfast.

You were resilient. You stood strong.

You didn't compromise my name. You did not deny the faith.

No, you weren't ashamed of the gospel.

You sit strong on the gospel. You were not afraid of those.

Now listen carefully, even in the days of Antipus, that's the

God Antipus simply because his name begins with an A and all my

kids names begin with A's and I was running out of A names.

So I was bound to determine the name of my Nick's son, Antipas.

Those of you who are pregnant going to have children, you have

a boy. Name him an Antipas.

Those name means against all. What a name the man was against

everything except God. So it says.

Even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one who was

killed among you were Satan Dwells.

He was killed because he stood strong.

He was my faithful one. He was my martyr race.

He was my martyr. He was my witness.

Ought to be known as God's witness to be known as God's

faithful one. That's how you want to be known.

And that's the way Antibus was known.

He set the example. He raised the bar for everybody

in Pergamum. To understand that no matter

what happens, no matter what happens to you, it's all

irrelevant. As long as you're a faithful

witness of the King of Kings, As long as you don't deny his name,

as long as you stand fast for the sake of the gospel, that's

all that matters. An Antibus.

His name is recorded in the scriptures for everyone to read

about this man who was against everything except as God.

He was for it's God. That's why he was against

everything else. Because you see, when you stand

for God and you're for God, you're against everything else

that opposes God. And that's we need in the

church. We need men who are strong, who

stand for the gospel. It will not compromise the

gospel. Listen to what it says, it says.

But I have a few things against you.

Wait a minute. Hold on, hold on.

How can you have a few things against us?

We did not deny your name. We were faithful to you.

What could you possibly have against us?

Listen carefully, because you have there some, not all.

There are some in the congregation who hold the

teaching of Balem, who kept teaching Balek to put a

stumbling block before the sons of Israel to eat things,

sacrifice the idols, and to commit acts of immorality.

So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of

the Nikolation Nicolaeotins, which was a antimonian

antinomian religion, which was all about no law, just all

grace. You can live any way you want,

just do whatever you want to do because it's it's it doesn't

make a difference concerning your spiritual well-being

because it's all done in the flesh.

So it's OK. There are some of you.

Who have committed to acts of immorality and idolatry.

There are some of you who want to live any way you want without

any consequences. In other words, there are some

of you who are very willing to compromise.

Not all of you, some of you. So he says, therefore repent, or

else I am coming quickly. Listen carefully to the

language, to you. And I will make war against them

with the sword of my mouth. That two edged sword Repent

immediately from your corruption, or you will reap

immensely the consequences of your corruption, he said.

I'm going to come to you, the church.

Quickly, and I would deal with those in the church who have

compromised the truth. In other words, he's saying to

the church, look, you need to deal with the people in your

church who have compromised the truth, because if you don't deal

with them quickly, I'm coming to you quickly and I'm going to

deal with them and you don't. Want me dealing with the.

People in your church. So you deal with them and you

call them to repentance. You hold them into account.

You show them the error of their way.

That they might turn from their sin and follow me, you who hold

fast my name. You the Church.

Who is the pillar in support of the truth?

I want you to hold up, hold that truth, stand firm in that truth

and go to those people and say you're living in sin and if you

don't repent, the Lord is coming to you quickly and he's going to

deal with you. And you don't want the Lord

dealing with you. You'd rather have us dealing

with you. The Church is the pillar.

And support of the truth. And as a church, we don't want

people in the assembly of our local congregation to compromise

the truth. We want them to stand firm on

the truth. We want to be confident in the

truth, courageous in the truth, not compromising the truth.

So as a church, who is the pillar and support of the truth?

We go to those people and we say, listen, you need to turn

from the error of your way and you need to follow the Lord and

serve the Lord and honor. Let us help you do that.

Let us come alongside of you and minister to you that we might be

a support and accountability to you, that you might live for the

glory and honor of our King. So important the church that's

the pillar and support of the truth stands.

On the truth, courageously and confidently.

So much I want to say about that, but time escapes me.

The Church that has the pillar and support of the truth

safeguards the truth compellingly.

They safeguard the truth compellingly, in other words.

They protect it. They preserve it.

They guard it, Paul would say over in First Timothy chapter,

Chapter 6. These words, oh Timothy, guard

what has been entrusted to you. Verse #20 guard it, avoiding

worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of that

of what is falsely called knowledge.

He says in verse #13 of chapter one of Second Timothy.

Chapter one, verse #13 retain the standard of sound words

which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in

Christ Jesus, guard through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us

the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

We are the protectors of the truth, not just the pillar of

the truth. But a protector of the truth?

We guard the truth. We guard it against error.

We guard it against those who who want to treat it as if it is

irrelevant. We want to protect it from those

who want to despise it. We are the protectors of the

truth of the living God. Paul said that when it's all

said and done, I was faithful to the fight and I was faithful.

To the faith, definite article, meaning the body of doctrine,

that that which I believe I was faithful all the way to the end

to guard and fight for the truth.

Listen, this is the war that we are engaged in.

It's a battle for the truth. And we as a church are the

pillar and support of that truth.

And so we are bound and determined to safeguard that

church. In one year, we'll have our 30th

anniversary. And we'll be able to proclaim

that for 30 years we protected the truth, We preserved the

truth, We preached the truth. That's all we did because that's

what God's called us to do. And we've done it for 30

straight years. And Lord willing, that will

never change. I know it won't change as long

as I'm here and Tom's here and Roger's here and Bruce is here.

But we want to make sure that the word of God always stands

front and center in everything we say and everything we do.

We are going to protect the truth.

We're going to safeguard the truth.

We're going to watch over the truth.

We're going to guard the truth. Why?

Because we are the protectors of it.

So when you hear someone say something that's an error, you

need to correct that and say no, that that's not the right thing.

This that's the wrong thing. This is what the Bible actually

does say. Listen.

We can say as we sit here today, yes, we are the church and we

are the pillar and support of the truth.

And we are going to stand courageously on the truth and

then go to work tomorrow. And all of a sudden someone

begins to speak against the truth and we don't know what to

say or we're silent on the matter or we we go to to to to

our teammates. And and and they want to engage

in some kind of immoral activity and and now we have to stand on

the truth. We'll be staying.

I mean it's easy to stand sitting here in the Pew but it's

hard to stand when you go to work.

It's easy to say I'm going to stand on the truth.

I'm going to be the. I'm going to be the man of my

house and then go home and couch how to your wife and every

demand that she has. Say, honey the truth is this.

We must follow the truth of the living God.

It's easy to sit here and say we're going to stand on the

truth and speak the truth, right?

And then go home and have our children run the home.

And that's kowtow to our children's whims because they

have all these ideas. But we don't say no, you cannot

do that. No, we will not do that because

God's word says this. We stand on truth.

We're going to live truth. Those are the kind of parents we

say, you say, we say we believe the Bible, but do we believe the

Bible enough to stand firm on it and never compromise it, no

matter what the cost? So important people say to me

all the time, I've heard this probably from parents more so

than anything else ever said to me in the last 40 years of

ministering. I'm afraid if I'm too hard or

too harsh or take too strong a stand.

I'm going to drive my child away.

And I tell them every time, if that's what you're afraid of.

I got news for you. They are already away.

They're already gone. Don't think you're going to

drive them away. They're already away.

Stand on the truth. Let the Lord deal with your

children. Let the Lord handle them, but

make sure you stand on the truth.

But you know what happens. We value a relationship that I

have with my son or my daughter more so than I value the truth

of the living God. If we had time, I'd take you to

First Samuel, chapter 2 to read you the story about Eli and his

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

sons. And the man of God came to him

and said, you did not rebuke your sons when they slept with

the women in the tent of the temple and committed immoral

acts. And all Eli said to them was, I

hear that there's things being said about you guys that's not

good, so you probably better not be doing that stuff.

And the man of God came to him and said you did not rebuke your

boys. You did not deal with your boys.

You know why he tells them? Because you honored your boys

over me. And that's where you had that

phrase first time at 2:30. He who honors me, I will honor.

But you chose. He lied not to honor me.

And you are a priest, and you chose to honor your sons over

me. Therefore, you've lost the

priesthood. Therefore, you're going to die

and so are your boys. That should be a wake up call to

every dad in the room, every father that says wait a minute,

if I'm going to honor anyone, it's going to be my God and I am

never going to honor my children over my God.

I'm going to hold them into account to the truth of the

living God. Eli didn't do that.

He lost his ministry when they lost his life.

His boys lost their lives simply because he chose to value the

relationship over the truth of the living God and the Church.

That's the pillar and support of the truth.

Never does that. Never.

And we need to understand that from the get go.

And if you're a young parent today and you got young

children, you need to know that you need to raise them in the

nurtured admonition of the Lord and raise them up, fearing God

and and living a life that honors God more than anything

else. Because that's what matters.

You teach them the truth. And lastly, #7.

My time is gone, but I got to say it anyway.

The church that's the pillar and support of the truth is

satisfied. With the truth completely is

satisfied with the truth completely.

In other words, they understand the sufficiency and the

supremacy of the word of God. It's everything to them.

This is what satisfies them. That's why Jeremiah could say

when God told them you're my prophet, you're going to preach,

and not one soul is going to respond or listen.

And Jeremiah said, Thy words were found, and I did eat them,

and they were the joy and they rejoicing of my heart.

God, your word's enough. If nobody responds, if nobody

repents, if nobody comes alongside and supports me in the

ministry, It's OK. I don't need that.

What I need is the truth of the living God, the word of God.

That's sufficient. That's everything.

That's all I need. And Jeremiah ministered.

For years with no response, think of the life of of Job.

When he said in Job 23 verse #10, he knows the way I take.

When he has tried me. I should come forth his gold.

My foot has held fast to his path.

I have kept his ways and not turned aside.

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips.

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary

food. Here was a man who was wrapped

and suffering. Here was a man who had lost

everything, including his friends.

He had nothing, but he had the words of God, and that was more

treasure to him than anything else.

Anything. Why?

Because the truth is what satisfied him completely.

See, we want to be satisfied with the truth partially, but

have someone else come alongside and fulfill the other half.

We want to be satisfied by getting married.

We only satisfied by having children.

We want to be satisfied by having a greater income.

We want to be satisfied by having good health.

Joe didn't have any of that. They had the word of God, and

that was enough. So Sama says and and Psalm 119.

These words. I love them.

So. The law of your mouth is better

to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

I'm satisfied enough. I don't need any gold and silver

pieces. I'm satisfied with your law, he

said. Oh, I love your law.

It's my meditation all the day. 1st 103 How sweet are your words

to my taste? You're sweeter than honey to my

mouth. They're the sweetest things I've

ever tasted. The words of the living God

because they satisfied him completely.

The church, that's the pillar and support of the truth,

recognizes that the truth of God satisfies them.

Totally. Fully, Completely.

May God give us the grace to be that kind of church.

That's right, Father. We thank you for today and the

opportunity you give us to study your Word, and we're grateful

for all that you've done. We thank you, Lord, that your

Word speaks to all of us. None of us is exempt.

None of us is excused. Your word speaks.

It speaks to me first as a pastor, to realize I'm a

cannibal, not just to what I preach, but to what you have

said to me before I ever got up to preach.

And I pray that my life would be held accountable to the truth of

your word and lived out not just in my life, but in the life of

my family. And they pray for us as a

church, that we would stand strong, never compromising the

truth of the living God. And that Lord, you would do a

mighty work in and among us as you have for all these years,

continue to show yourself faithful, merciful, and

graceful. For you, Lord, are the God we

love, and we love you. We love your church.

Until you come again and for all eternity Jesus name.

Amen.