House Rules: Week 11, 1 Timothy 4:1-5

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Now let's get started.

Again, good morning.

My name again is Nate Maddox.

I do have one of the joys of being a pastor here.

Thank you so much for your generosity.

It is because of your generosity, we are able to do things all over the world.

I am out of this state, I think 18 days this month, just doing mission trips and aligning things for our church.

I have the wonderful joy just to travel on behalf of y'all and preach the gospel all around the world.

And so God is doing some great stuff.

Let's go ahead and dive in to God's word today.

But before we do it, would you pray with me as we dive in?

Jesus, thank you so much for who you are.

God, thank you for your word.

God, thank you for your God, for your truth.

That it is because of your truth we can push back darkness.

It is because of your truth we can uh see lives completely changed.

God, it is because of your truth.

Uh, Lord Jesus, we can live holy, gospel-filled lives.

And so, God, as we gather here today, we would just pray for the distractions in this room to flee.

God, we know people are gonna get up and move around.

We understand that.

God, we're praying for the distractions on our heart.

Bitterness, fear, frustration, anger, worry, doubt, whatever it may be, God, that may try to prevent us from hearing from you.

God, we would ask in the name of Jesus for you to drive it out.

God, we would ask that you would hide me behind your cross.

Allow your words to be spoken, not mine.

Though I have studied and I have put some things down on paper, Lord Jesus, will your words be spoken today?

God, we would ask for you to anoint these seats.

God, for the men and women who are sitting in these seats, God, may they hear the word and be changed.

But God, we know that other services are happening today.

Would you draw people in?

And God, for the empty seats that may be around us, may it be a reminder to us that you have called us to proclaim the gospel, to invite, and to see those who are far from you come draw close.

And so, God, just move in a mighty way today.

We ask for an anointing upon this service.

We thank you for all that you are in.

Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

And so I got a bunch to cover this morning.

Uh so we're gonna read the passage, just dive straight in, um, and then I'm just gonna basically yell at you for the next 35 minutes.

So um, so with that, if you have your Bibles, Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Uh turn to Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

We're gonna kick off in verse 14, and we're gonna go all the way to chapter 4, verse 5.

So we're gonna end a chapter and then move on into the next.

Uh we're gl- I'm glad you're here today.

I believe this message is vital.

Um, the Christian church has been dealing with this issue from its very beginning.

And so, with that, let me read it, and then we will dive in.

Ephesians, or I'm sorry, I keep saying Ephesians.

First Timothy.

First Timothy.

It'll make sense in a moment, I promise.

It'll make sense in a moment.

1 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 14.

1 Timothy 3:14

1 Timothy, chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

You there?

Good.

1 Timothy.

It's up there.

Oh, perfect.

Good.

I didn't mess this up.

All right, 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 14 says this.

1 Timothy 3:14

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you in case I am delayed, to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God.

Because it is the church of the living God, the support and bulwark.

Now, that word is a weird word.

We don't really use that a lot, but like the Greek, the way that means is kind of like the foundation, the groundwork, the pillar.

So he's basically saying, hey, listen, you are the pillar and the foundation of the truth.

And we all agree our religion contains amazing revelation.

He was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Now, the Spirit explicitly says that in later times, some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisies of liars whose conscience are seared.

They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from food that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

For every creation of God is good, and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer.

Okay, that's a lot.

That was a lot, and I'm excited to pe uh to preach this passage.

We have been going verse by verse through 1 Timothy.

We just concluded, this passage concludes chapter 3.

And in chapter 3, Paul is teaching Timothy or laying out to Timothy the qualifications of leadership.

Because when a church gets leadership right, the leadership creates or a God-sized vision is birthed out, and it helps empower the people to shine brightly in a dark world.

And I don't have to tell you that we are living in dark times, that this world is dark.

The crazy thing is, the devil doesn't have to change his tactics.

We have been falling for it over and over and over again.

So when we read 1 Timothy, we have to understand that this passage is connected to multiple other passages of Scripture.

It goes all the way back to Acts chapter 19, all the way back to Acts 20.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Then it ties into the book of Ephesians.

I don't have enough time to dive into all of these, but this morning I want you to think of it like the Marvel movies.

Anyone seen the Marvel movies?

It comes into the Avengers time, right?

When they all meet up.

But before we have the Avengers, we had Iron Man, the original, right?

Then it went on to Thor, Captain America, and all these movies started to stack upon one another, and then eventually they all came together in one movie.

That's kind of what's happening here in this Ephesian church.

See, Acts 19 is our Iron Man.

I would encourage you to go back this week and read chapters 19 and chapters 20.

It gives the origin story.

See, the the Paul arrives in Ephesus and finds this city consumed with idolatry, with spiritual darkness, with magic in the worship of Greek gods.

But then the gospel breaks into that darkness.

People meet Jesus, their lives are transformed.

In Acts 19, magical books, spell books, are burned on the spot and the church is established.

Then we get over to Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Paul gathers the elders of the church and he warns them.

He tells them that after he leaves, false teachers are coming.

Not maybe, no, they are coming.

And he even warns them, saying, Hey, even from among you, some men may rise up, wolves may rise up to try to devour and deceive.

And so Paul tells the elders to watch out for yourselves and for the flock.

Acts 20, verse 28.

Acts 20:28

Then we get the book of Ephesians.

Same church, same city, same issues.

Paul writes to the believers, he teaches them who they are in Christ, how the gospel has transformed them, how they should be unified together, and how they should stand against these evil forces and these dark forces.

And then we arrive at 1 Timothy.

Again, same city, same church, same spiritual battle.

But years have passed.

Timothy is helping to lead in Ephesus, and then Paul is warning them.

The warning he gave them in Acts 20 has now become a reality.

So 1 Timothy is our Avengers moment.

Acts 19, Acts 20, the book of Ephesians, all merging together into 1 Timothy.

All these storylines start to cross and intersect.

We see in Acts 19 the spiritual darkness.

We see the warning in chapter 20.

We see the theology and spiritual warfare in the book of Ephesians all lining up to Timothy pastoring this church.

It actually goes on, a little more information into 2 Timothy, to where Paul then challenges Timothy to remain faithful, to preach the word, to guard what has been entrusted to him.

So when we read our passage today, when we read the passage that Paul is giving Timothy, hey, guess what?

You are the support, you are the pillar, you are the foundation of the truth.

And then just a few words later, he goes, hey, hey, hey, watch out.

Some are going to desert the faith.

Paul wasn't just making these random statements.

Paul has been watching this battle unfold for years.

Then fast forward 2,000 years later, to you and I.

And so today I want to encourage us.

I want to challenge us.

I want to remind us, just as how Paul was reminding Timothy.

The first thing I want to remind us, I want to remind us who we are.

First point, who we are.

You see this again in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

We're looking at verses 14 and 15.

He says this, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you in case I'm delayed to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God.

And then he says this, because the church, because this is the church of the living God.

See, Paul's doing a little housekeeping here right now, at this moment in time.

And then he begins to explain the church, the vision, what they're supposed to hold on to.

In a world that is crazy, in a world that is nuts, in a world that is constantly chasing after darkness and trying to pull us into darkness.

Paul reminds us why we're here.

See, he is teaching us our identity before he's teaching us our responsibility.

See, I think for many of us, we as Christians, we just want to know, all right, God, what do you want us to do?

What are you just expecting of us?

But Paul doesn't lay that out.

He doesn't just say, hey, I'm gonna tell you what to do.

No, he's sitting here going, I'm gonna tell you who you are first.

Once you know who you are first, then we'll understand our responsibility.

I love that phrase.

It is the church of the living God.

In the Greek, there are no definite articles.

They're not used.

We put them in so that it's better for us to understand in English, but in the Greek, there are no definite articles.

The phrase literally means Church of Living God.

The sentence structure that Paul chooses to use here actually shows the church character and the church's identity.

Paul isn't simply giving the church a title.

See, when you read that, you read it as, oh, that's a title that we're supposed to have.

No, no, that's not exactly how Paul's walking through this.

He's reminding who we belong to.

And that's good for us.

The very nature of the church is that it is God's church.

Meaning it's not mine, which is a really good thing.

Ask my wife.

It's not the pastor's or the deacon's church.

It doesn't belong to the person who has been here the longest.

The church doesn't even belong to you.

The church is God's church.

Amen.

And this is important for us, and it's important for both pastors and for the people because Paul is instructing this young pastor.

Hey, hey, hey, remember who you're shepherding.

These people who get on your nerves, who frustrate you, who do all sorts of crazy things.

No, no, no, no.

These are the people of the living God.

Love them and shepherd them well.

But also it's a challenge to the congregation.

Hey, hey, hey.

Church?

You're the people of the living God.

Start acting like it.

Start living like it.

Start being that.

And understand this that if you are the people of the living God, then you were made for God.

He wasn't made for you.

And that's hard for some of us.

That's a hard thing for me sometimes.

Because sometimes I approach God with a mindset.

Fix this for me.

I need this change, God.

I don't kind of like how they're talking to me right now.

Can you just kind of run them off the road?

I don't pray that.

I'm just kidding.

That would be awful.

But sometimes don't you come to God and think like, hey, God, you were made for me.

Fix this for me.

The reality is, he wasn't made for us.

We were made for him.

And if this is his church, then he gets to turn determine what his church believes.

He gets to determine how his church should behave.

He gets to determine what his church should accomplish.

Our identity then determines our responsibility.

That is why Paul immediately then tells the church, hey, guess what?

You're the church of the living God.

That's your identity.

Now your responsibility to be the foundation, the pillar of the truth.

We don't get to create the truth.

The world tells you that you do, but we don't get to create the truth.

We don't get to change the truth.

We don't get to redefine the truth to fit the world around us.

The living God has entrusted his truth to his church, and our responsibility is simply to hold it up to a lost and dark world.

That's who we are, church.

But if that's the case, it leads us to point number two.

Know the truth we are to guard.

What is this truth?

What is the truth we're supposed to guard?

Well, you see it in verse 16.

He says this He was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by the angels, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory.

This is kind of pretty neat because most scholars actually think like this was like a hymn.

Like the sentence structure just doesn't sound like Paul.

Like when you look at the Greek, he has a way of writing just like how you have a way of writing.

And then all of a sudden, this little section just doesn't sound like Paul.

And so what most scholars believe is he actually took like a hymn, or he took like a um some sort of like doctrinal statement that was early being passed around.

Think of like a liturgical church, you know, where you say like the the apostles' creed.

He put that was being passed around.

He put that into the middle of this passage.

And I love that because Paul just called the church the support, the pillar, the foundation of truth, and then he immediately reminds them what's at the center of this truth.

Jesus Christ.

He was revealed in the flesh.

God came near.

The eternal son took on flesh and stepped into our brokenness.

John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

He was vindicated by the Spirit.

Jesus was shown to be exactly who he claimed to be.

Death could not hold him.

He was raised in victory.

Romans chapter 1, verses 3 and 4.

Romans 1:3

He was seen by the angels.

All of heaven witnessed the redemptive work of Christ.

Luke chapter 2, Matthew chapter 4, to name a few.

Luke 2 · chapter mention Matthew 4 · chapter mention

He was proclaimed among the Gentiles.

The good news did not stay in Jerusalem, but it expanded and went to all nations.

Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

He was believed on in the world.

The people heard the gospel, lives were transformed and changed by Jesus.

Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 4.

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 4 · chapter mention

You and me right here, right now, is a testimony to this verse.

He was taken up in glory.

The Jesus who came down in humility was raised up in victory and now reigns in glory, church.

Ephesians chapter 1, verses 20 through 23.

Ephesians 1:20–23

This is our message.

This is what we hold to.

This is what we lift up to a dark and broken world.

And so I challenge you today, church.

Do you share that gospel?

Are you a champion of this truth in your everyday life?

When was the last time you actually shared your faith?

Talked about Jesus to someone.

This dark world is looking to discourage you.

This dark world is looking to shut you up.

But we are the church of the living God, and we should stand boldly and proclaim this truth.

And so, church, when was the last time you proclaimed the truth?

And if Paul is about to make a dramatic turn here, because in chapter three, he shows us the truth, and then quickly in chapter four, he begins to warn us that people will walk away from this truth.

Point number three is this know how the truth is attacked.

He says it here in verses one through three.

He says this.

Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times, some will desert the faith, walk away from it, and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose conscience are seared.

They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from food that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

So realize this.

Years earlier, Paul gathers the elders, the pastors of the church, and says, hey, hey, hey, false teachers are gonna show up.

False teachers are gonna be here.

And then fast forward, these savage wolves are here.

And he's basically saying, Hey Timothy, the thing I warned them so many years ago, it's here right now.

Now.

And he says, some are going to desert the faith.

That word dessert comes from the Greek word aphistime, aphitisme.

I can never say any of those Greek words right.

David tells me never to say it, and I'm like, no, I got this, and then I just butchered it.

He was right.

That Greek word that I'm not going to try to say again, and definitely not going to say in the second service.

It means to depart from.

It means to withdraw away from.

It means to abandon something.

It's actually where we get the Greek word or the theological term for apostate, for someone who actually denied the faith and walked away from the faith.

So Paul's not talking about in this passage about someone who simply has a theological disagreement with you over like a secondary issue.

He's not calling these people demonic who differ on your preferences, like, should we have hymns or should we have contemporary music?

What he's sitting here saying is this is about people who abandon the faith.

This is about people who turn, who try to add to the very thing he laid out just a few moments before in chapter three.

Who Jesus is.

These are the people who deny that, try to add to that, and manipulate who Jesus is.

And notice what he says is behind this.

Deceiving spirits and demonic teachings.

Church, we need to understand something.

There is a spiritual battle surrounding us.

You may not want to talk about it, you may not want to think about it, you may not want it to come across your newsfeed or whatever.

The reality is we are in a spiritual battle.

There are demonic forces looking to chew your family up and spit them out.

This is why Paul in Ephesus, in the book of Ephesians, tells them in chapter 6, like, hey, listen, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the evil forces.

This is why in Ephesians chapter 6 he says, hey, church, same one he's talking to in 1 Timothy, hey church, put on your spiritual armor daily.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Why?

Because you're in a battle.

The enemy has always attacked the truth, always attacked the word of God.

But notice how subtle this attack is.

Because in ver it shows up in verses 2 and 3.

And Paul says these demonic teachings come from the hypocrisy of liars whose conscience is seared.

That's the think of the concept.

Have you ever seen like a war movie where someone gets shot and they burn an iron and they stick it to it and kind of flesh them with?

That's kind of the same imagery, but used on their conscience, meaning that at this point in time their conscience is so corrupted by falsehoods, they'll teach lies while pretending or portraying them as spiritual truths.

And Paul gives us two examples, right?

In this passage, he says they'll prov they'll uh prohibit marriage and eating of certain foods.

Now don't miss this.

These people aren't standing up in the middle of the church going, hey guys, let's go sin.

Like they're not standing up going, hey church, let's go do evil things.

Like let's go like murder and pillage people.

They're not doing that.

These people who have snuck in, these demonic teachings have snuck in, basically goes, hey, you want to be really holy?

You want to be really spiritual?

You want to be like in the in crowd?

Never get married.

Hey, you want to be super, you want God to love you?

You want to be able to go to heaven?

Hey, don't eat green beans.

Paul calls that demonic.

Spiritually demonic.

And that's how dangerous counterfeit godliness can be.

False teaching doesn't always walk into the church looking evil.

Sometimes it walks into the church looking more spiritual than everybody else.

Let me say that again for the balcony.

Sorry.

False teaching doesn't always walk into the church looking evil.

Sometimes it walks into the church just looking or trying to look more spiritual than everybody else.

And this is where we have to understand the difference between obedience and legalism.

See, because obedience says God commanded it, so I'll obey it.

Legalism takes something God never commanded and treats it like he did.

Obedience says God commanded it, so we're going to obey it.

Legalism says take something God never commanded and treats it like he did.

They were attempting to become more holy by rejecting things God Himself already declared was good.

And church, you and I still do that today.

We have to be incredibly careful never to elevate our preferences to convictions.

Our convictions to commandments and our commandments to scripture.

We have to be extremely careful, church, not to take our preferences, what we like, and elevate them to convictions.

Those convictions to commandments, commandments to the level of scripture.

Listen, there is nothing wrong with singleness.

There's nothing wrong with fasting and probably cutting out some certain foods.

Lord knows sugar, probably for all of us, right?

It becomes wrong when we start to tell people they have to be holy if they do these things.

It becomes wrong when you start to tell people, hey, listen, you want to go to heaven?

You have to do these things.

Paul calls those things demonic.

And the only way to heaven is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

And our holiness isn't determined by our preferences, but by God's word.

So let me challenge you with a question.

Where have you let it slip?

Where have you allowed the lies of the devil to alter God's truth and your own life?

Maybe you're adding a spiritual weight upon yourself.

God never added.

Where today do you not need to remind your wayward heart that you're not in control?

Where today do you need to remind your wayward heart that you're not in control?

Last point, and I'm done.

Let God's word define what is good.

See, Paul then leads into verses four and five, and he says, For every creation of God is good, and no food uh is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer.

I love how Paul combats these demonic teachers.

He doesn't instantly get in an argument with them, he doesn't tell the church, hey, listen, commit violence against them.

No, the way, yes, tackle them.

That's awesome.

My own hype man.

I love that.

Instead, he breaks down their demonic attacks by reminding the people what God has already said.

You know one of the hardest things about being a pastor?

You want probably the most annoying thing about being a pastor, or the most difficult thing about to be a pastor?

Let me kind of peel it back for you.

Every pastor will say this.

One of the hardest things about being a pastor is dealing with you.

And dealing with you when God's word already told you not to do something, but you want to do it anyways.

What's really hard as a pastor is when you come here and go, God, uh, Pastor, I'm praying about this, and I think God wants me to do this, and I'm gonna do this, and God's words told you you can't do that.

Eight years ago, I had a guy come to my church and say, Pastor, I prayed about this, and God told me I can divorce my wife and marry my secretary.

And I'm like, No, he didn't.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, she's younger, she's prettier, she loves the Lord way more than my wife.

And I prayed about it, and God told me I had this argument with someone in my church.

Y'all annoy us.

I'm just gonna be true.

Just be real.

And I'm like, No, God's word does not allow you to do those things.

We need to stop or quit redefining God's word, and we just need to start living it out.

Amen.

We live in a crazy world, and the only way we can better understand how to navigate this crazy world is by knowing God's word.

Christ has given us the power.

We have been sealed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We just need to rest in that good news and allow for God to move mighty in our lives.

People are still walking away from the truth.

You know that.

You see it every day.

But the question for us is still the same.

What are we going to do with the truth God has entrusted to us?

Because remember, we are the church of the living God.

We are the support, the foundation, the pillar of the truth.

And what is that truth?

Jesus Christ, who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by the angels, was proclaimed among the nations, he was believed on in the world and taken up in glory.

Church, that's our message.

We don't need to change it to make it more acceptable to the world.

We don't need to add to it to make ourselves more spiritual.

And we certainly do not need to apologize for it because the world has decided, decided to walk away from it.

But maybe for you, maybe someone here this morning has never responded to that truth.

The gospel isn't simply something the church should guard.

It's good news for the sinners to believe.

The gospel isn't just something that you and I should guard.

It's good news, O sinner, for you to believe today.

And maybe just maybe here's your moment.

Jesus Christ came to this broken world.

He lived the life you could never live.

He died on the cross for your sins, and he rose from the grave in victory.

And today, he offers forgiveness and eternal life to everyone who have turned from their sins and place their faith in him.

So if you've never trusted Christ today, I would challenge you.

Respond to that truth.

Repent and believe the gospel.

If you've been in church before, you'll see at this moment one of two things happens.

Typically, what we do here is we would encourage you to go speak to someone in the connection table.

Just go outside, we'd love to talk to you more.

We still want you to do that.

Other churches, what they would do is they would have you bow your head and close your eyes.

Today, I just want to look at you.

I want you to look at me.

If you've never responded to that gospel today, you may have been in church your entire life and you have may have been heaping on religious things after religious things, adding to it and adding to it.

Oh, I'm gonna get to heaven because I'm gonna go to church enough.

I'm gonna get to heaven by giving my tithe.

I'm gonna get to heaven by going on a mission trip, and maybe for your entire life, you have just been adding to the gospel, adding to the gospel, adding to the gospel, trying just to be a good person.

That is demonic.

All you need to do is repent and believe.

I don't care if you've been sitting in the church your entire life, today you need to repent and believe.

And maybe there's someone else here who you didn't grow up in church.

Maybe that's not your story.

Maybe you got dragged here by a family member, maybe a friend, maybe your parents.

But the real the real question is, is the Holy Spirit leading in your heart?

And so instead of having you close your eyes, I'm just gonna have you look at me.

I'm not gonna ask you to yell it out.

I'm not gonna, I'm just gonna say a simple prayer out loud.

My eyes are gonna be open, your eyes are gonna be open.

That's okay.

Do you mean it?

Repent in belief.

God, I realize I am a sinner.

This preacher has been preaching, and I realize that I am far from you.

And I need this gospel.

I realize at this point in time, God, that you came to this earth, you died, you were buried, you rose again, conquering sin and death.

And God, I realize I am a sinner and I need Jesus.

Today, I repent and believe.

If that is you, today, welcome to the family of God.

Welcome to the family of God.

We would love to talk more with you in the connection table.

But as I conclude, if you know Christ, you know this truth, it's our job to proclaim it.

2,000 years ago, this very gospel changed the city of Ephesus.

Darkness, magic, witchcraft broke it.

And the gospel changed that city forever.

That's the gospel we're called to proclaim.

Let me pray for us.

Jesus, thank you for who you are.

God, thank you for your good news.

God, for today, for the men or the woman who at this moment repented and believed.

For the man who said, God, I'm no longer trying to do it on my own, but I am giving my life to you.

God, we celebrate that.

May they talk to someone afterwards.

For the woman who says, I'm done trying to do it my way, I repent and believe this gospel.

God, we celebrate that.

May they talk to someone after service.

But for us who are believers, for us who are Christ followers, may you challenge us with that truth.

And may we ask the question, what are we going to do this week with the information that you have given us, with the truth that you have given us?

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for joining us on the Celebration Baptist Church podcast.

We hope today's conversation helped you take another step in your faith journey.

For more resources, upcoming events, and to join us live, visit iCelebration.org.

Until next time, keep connecting with God, connecting with others, and living on mission.