GOD’S NEW COMMUNITY – THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD
(I Tim. 3:15)
OVERVIEW OF I TIMOTHY 1:1 to 3:15
1:1-2 – Overview of Christian Faith based on names for God and the blessings He bestows on His people.
1:3-4a False teaching in Ephesus and how humanistic philosophy effects us today.
1:4b-6 – The goal of the command is love. (Loving God, fellow Christians, the non-Christian world)
1:7-8 – The law is good if used properly. (The law’s deterrent, punitive and educative purposes)
1:8-11 – “Whatever else …” The Gospel Ethic. (Law-Philia University)
1:11 – Our Relationship with “The Blessed God.” (Causing God pain or joy)
1:12-16 Why Paul considered himself the worst of sinners.
1:12-16 Conversion of the apostle Paul.
1:12-16 Paul’s call to ministry.
1:17 Paul’s doxology of praise for his conversion.
1:18-20 How to avoid shipwrecking our faith.
2:1-3 The Christian is to pray for all men.
2:4,6 Comparison of Calvinism & Armenianism.
2:5-6 The man, Christ Jesus, the only mediator.
2:1-7 The vision, the message, the means.
2:8-15 Treatment of women in the ancient world, the early church and the Bible.
2:8-15 Three key hermeneutic principles to follow when studying the Bible.
2:8 Praying Men with Peaceful Hearts
2:9-10 A First-Century Christian Woman’s Dress and Deeds
2:11-12 Does Submission Demand Silence?
2:13-15 Paul’s Logic for Requiring Women to Be Silent in The Ephesian House Churches.
3:1 Why Aspiring to Church Leadership Can Be a Good Thing.
3:2 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder – Teaching
3:2 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder – Hospitality
3:4-5 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder –Leadership
3:2-7 Ethical Demands of the NT and the Ethics Tests for Elders
3:2-7 Ethical Qualities Required of an Ephesian Elder
3:8-13 The Ever Present Danger of Ethical Disconnect in a Christian’s Life
3:8-13 The Ministry of Deacons in the Early Church
3:9 Keeping Hold of the Deep Truths of the Faith
3:11 An Official Deaconesses in the NT Church?
3:14 Results That are Better Than Answered Prayer
3:15 God’s New Community – The Church of the Living God
3:14 Paul was not able to come to Ephesus as planned. Because of God’s providence in restricting Paul’s travels (through Satan’s intervention) the New Testament letters, a gift to the ages, were written and also Paul developed the strategy of delegating more and more ministry to his trainees.
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 in glory.
INTRODUCTION:
QUESTION: What three metaphors of does Paul use to describe God’s “New Community?”
ANSWER: Church (of the living God); Household; Pillar/Foundation of the truth.
I. THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD.
God’s household, which is THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
QUESTION: What are some truths we can draw from the phrase “church of the living God?”
A. The English word “Church” comes from the Greek Kuriakon
“Kuriakon” (pertaining to, belonging to a lord) from the Gk root “kurios” which means “lord.” In old English and German became “kirche” then ‘cirice,’ then ‘churche’ or ‘kerke’ and in the Scottish “kirk.” ‘Kuriakos’ used for the Lord’s Supper in I Cor. 11:20 and the Lord’s Day in Rev. 1:10. “Kuriakon” (church) is not used in the NT to describe a group of believers.
B. “Ekklesia” – Greek term for the NT Believing Community
32The assembly [ekklesia] was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. … 39If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly [ekklesia]. … 41After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly [ekklesia]. (Acts 19)
Thayer’s Lexicon: Called out or called forth; a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly – so used among the Greeks, an assembly of people convened at a public place for the purpose of deliberating.
We need to always think of a church as a community of believers called out from the world, assembling to worship the Lord and never as a building.
C. The “Community of Believers” (Church) belongs to Christ.
“Christ loved the church (ekklesia / community) and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25).
“… the church (ekklesia / community) of God, which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
D. The “Community of Believers” is God’s new sanctuary /temple.
“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them (Ex. 25:8) … Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God (Ex. 29:45-46).
And in him you too are being built together to become adwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).
E. God “lives” in the “Community of Believers.”
… For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (II Cor. 6:16).
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Mt. 18:20).
QUESTION: Based on the above how can we put this into a sentence which explains the meaning “church of the living God”? How can we paraphrase “church of the living God?”
“Church of the living God” The community of believers wherein the living God makes his dwelling.
“… every aspect of our common life is enriched by the knowledge of his presence in our midst. In our worship we bow down before the living God. Through the reading and exposition of his Word we hear his voice addressing us. We meet him at his table, when he makes himself known to us through the breaking of bread. In our fellowship we love each other as he loves us. And our witness becomes bolder and more urgent. Indeed, unbelievers coming in may confess that ‘God is really among you’ (I Cor. 14:25). (John Stott, pg. 104-105.
II. GOD’S HOUSEHOLD
GOD’S HOUSEHOLD, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
A. “OIKOS” – God’s House or God’s Household?
The Scripture teach us that the ekklesia is both God’s house (oikos) (I Pet. 2:5) and God’s household (oikos) (I Pet. 4:17) and Eph. 2:19. Oikos has been used three times in I Timothy 3 of a household e.g. in verses 4,5, and 12.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (Eph. 2:19-21).
“Our Father …” in the Lord’s prayer indicates a household, a family, “our” being plural. It is interesting that Christ didn’t tell them to pray “My Father …”
QUESTION: How does one become a member of a family?
By birth: “…no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (born from above)” (Jn 3:3).
By adoption: “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Eph. 1:5).
B. Implications of the “ekklesia” being a “household / family”
QUESTION: What are some of the implications we can draw from the fact of the ekklesia being a family?
There are new relationships (and adjustments), responsibilities, loyalties, tensions, joys. Ideally also a sense of belonging, togetherness, unity and security.
Christians are told to “love one another” (John 13:34); be “kindly affectionate one to another” (Rom. 12:10); “prefer one another” (Rom. 12:10); “receive one another” (Rom. 15:7); “Admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14); “serve one another” (Gal. 5:13); “Forbear one another” (Eph. 4:2); “teach and admonish one another” (Col. 3:16); “comfort one another” (I Thes. 4:18); “edify one another” (I Thes. 5:11); “exhort one another” (Heb. 3:13); “provoke one another” (Heb. 10:24).
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph. 4:32).
We pray for our blood relatives; do we pray the same for our blood bought relatives?
ILLUSTRATION: I pray consistently that I will have a more intimate relationship with my three sons and my sisters. Should not I pray as diligently for good relationships with my spiritual family?
ILLUSTRATION: I pray for my physical family very consistently. Should not I pray as seriously for the members of my spiritual family?
III. THE PILLAR AND FOUNDATION OF THE TRUTH.
God’s household, which is the church of the living God, THE PILLAR AND FOUNDATION OF THE TRUTH.
A. Is this metaphor used in the light of the Temple of Diana that was located in Ephesus?
The Roman idol Diana (see Ancient Empires – Rome) was known to the pagan Greeks (see Ancient Empires – Greece) as Artemis. Her cult is mentioned in the Bible, where some translations call it “Diana of the Ephesians” while others use “Artemis of the Ephesians.”
The idol’s most extravagant temple was at Ephesus. It became one of the “seven wonders” of the ancient world. Constructed over the span of 220 years, of pure marble, it measured 345 feet long, by 165 feet wide, and was supported by massive columns each 55 feet high. Inside was a bizarre statue of the “fertility” idol, the original of which was apparently carved from a meteorite that had “fallen from heaven.” (Acts 19:35) (Note: It is not uncommon for meteorites to strike the earth. For example, in 1922, a 20-ton piece of space rock entered earth’s atmosphere and struck the ground near Blackston, Virginia – but no one made an idol out of it). Antipater, Greek Anthology (LX.58) wrote: “I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labor of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, ‘Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.'”
It was first constructed around 700 BC and finally totally destroyed in 262 AD. During the time of Paul a large trade of producing small silver shrines of Artemis or Diana (Acts 19:23-27) had developed in Ephesus (a tourist industry?) and the preaching of the Gospel affected to selling of these shrines and thus the riot in Ephesus initiated by the silversmith Demetrius.
The Temple was evident from a distance and was what made Ephesus famous in the ancient world. It had stood for a thousand years and was well known and evident to all who traveled there.
“Pillar” in our text is everywhere translated pillar or column; “foundation” is translated as: ground, support, bulwark, base, buttress, mainstay.
B. Is the “truth” the foundation of the church or is the “church” the foundation of the truth?
THE CHURCH IS BUILT ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE PROPHETS AND APOSTLES, THAT IS ON THEIR TEACHING.
“ … members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19-20).
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read the Scriptures” (Mt. 21:42). “But about the resurrection of the dead – have you not read what God said to you?” (Mt. 22:31) … Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures …” (Mk. 12:24). “Sanctify them through the truth, your Word is truth” (Jn. 17:17).
“Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance …” (Acts 20:32).
THE EKKLESIA IS TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND TRUTH.
This whole letter of Timothy is about protecting the truth: expel the false teachers, silence the women, forbid the teaching of false doctrines.
Timothy is to “preach the Word” (II Tim. 3:16); “devote himself to the public reading of the Scriptures, to preaching and teaching” (I Tim. 4:13); watch his doctrine closely (I Tim. 4:16), pattern sound teaching (II Tim 1:13), “correctly handle the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15). Elders are to “keep hold of the deep truths of the faith” (I Tim. 3:9).
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. (I Tim. 6:20) … “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (II Tim. 1:14).
“The truth is the divine revelation, including the truth of the gospel, the content of the Christian faith. It is the solemn responsibility of every church to solidly, immovably, unshakably uphold the truth of God’s Word. The church does not invent the truth, and alters it only at the cost of judgment. It is to support and safeguard it. It is the sacred saving treasure given to sinners for their forgiveness, and to believers for their sanctification and edification, that they might live for the glory of God. The church has the stewardship of Scripture, the duty to guard it as the most precious possession on earth. Churches that tamper with, misrepresent, depreciate, relegate to secondary place. Or abandon biblical truth destroy their only reason for existing and experience impotence and judgment.” (John MacArthur, pg 136-137)
SO WHAT???
1. Since the church is the “community of believers in which the living God chooses to dwell” we must hold high our association with a body of believers.
2. Since the church is “God’s family” we must make sure we love and sincerely care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we are experiencing some tension with members of the family we must
work on solving them.
3. Since we are the “pillar and foundation” of the truth we must make sure we are preserving the truth!