GOD’S NEW COMMUNITY
– GOD’S HOUSEHOLD
(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
3:15 God’s New Community – God’s Household
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.
3:15 God’s new community is called the “Church of the Living God” for in a special sense and in a special way God dwells and lives with this new community as He lived with the Jewish nation during their wilderness journey in the OT.
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 two metaphors of does Paul use to describe God’s “New Community?”
I. 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).
B. Jesus emphasized the concept of “family”
46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers [arrived] and stood outside, wanting to see him and speak to him. [They sent someone in to call him – Mk. 3:31] The crowd was sitting around him and 47someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” [Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and – Mk. 3:34] 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven [who hear God’s word and put it into practice – Lk. 8:21] is my brother and sister and mother” (Mt. 12:46-50).
“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 …”
C. Paul taught Timothy to treat believers as family.
1Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity (I Tim. 5:1-2).
An early Christian martyr is quoted as saying, “A Christians only relatives are the saints.”
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” – at least 19 times in the NT (John 13:34); be “devoted to one another,” honor one another” (Rom. 12:10); “prefer one another” (Rom. 12:10); “receive one another” (Rom. 15:7); “instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14); “serve one another” (Gal. 5:13); “Bear with 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); “spur one another on to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24).
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph. 4:32).
…being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interests of others (Phil. 2:2-4).
We pray for our blood relatives; do we pray the same for our blood bought relatives? Are we as concerned for God’s family as we are for our own family?
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 biological 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.
John Stott believes the “Pillars” refer to “proclaiming the truth” (they hold the roof high so that the temple can be clearly seen even from a distance) whereas the “Foundation” refers to “defending” the truth
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)
C. The truth and the church a co-dependent in a good sense.
“The truth is the foundation of the church and the church is the foundation of the truth. When Paul taught that the truth is the foundation of the church, he was referring to the church’s life and health: the church rests on the truth, depends on it, can not exist without it. But when he taught that the church is the foundation of the truth, he was referring to the church’s mission: the church is called to serve the truth, to hold it fast and make it known. So then, the church and the truth need each other. The church depends on the truth for its existence; the truth depends on the church for its defense and proclamation.” (Stott, 105-106)
The life and health of the church depends on the truth; the truth depends on the church for its defense and proclamation.
D. Ways Believers / the Church support / defend the truth.
QUESTION: What are some ways we can support and defend the truth?
BELIEVING IT: Paul to Felix, “I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in the Prophets” (Acts 24:14).
MEMORIZING IT: Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee (Ps. 119:11).
MEDITATING ON IT: This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your was prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)
STUDYING IT: Paul to Timothy, “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of Truth” (II Tim. 2:15).
OBEYING IT: Blessed are those who hear the Word of God, and observe it” (Lk. 11:28).
DEFENDING IT: Paul told the Philippians that he was “appointed to the defense of the Gospel” (Phil. 1:16).
LIVING IT: Paul reminded Titus to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect” (Titus 2:10).
PROCLAIMING IT: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of he Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you …” (Mt. 28:19-20).
D. Failure to Defend the Truth opens the door to all error.
“But for all of the fuss over the Episcopalians choosing a gay bishop, what should have been an even bigger scandal has received scant attention. For decades, the Episcopal Church and other Anglican bodies have been electing bishops who are not even Christians.
John Shelby Spong recently retired as bishop of New Jersey. For his whole ecclesiastical career, he wrote and preached against every tenet of the Christian faith. Bishop Spong, author of Why Christianity Must Change or Die, did not believe in the virgin birth, the doctrine of the incarnation, the deity of Christ, the resurrection, or the existence of God.
In England back in 1984, David Jenkins scorned the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as “a conjuring trick with bones.” This did not prevent him from being consecrated as bishop of Durham, the fourth-highest post in the Church of England. Richard Holloway, the former head of the Anglican Church in Scotland, also dismissed the notion that Jesus rose from the dead. And these were not the only bishops, entrusted to oversee their church, who rejected even the most basic tenets of the Christian faith.
But this is old news. These particular bishops have all retired by now, though others with similar views continue to wield authority. The point is, the Episcopalian embrace of homosexuality happened only after decades in which the authority of Scripture was jettisoned and Christian doctrine became optional.
Heresy is even more harmful to a church than homosexuality. Choosing a bishop who is gay is bad enough, but choosing a bishop who rejects Christianity is surely even worse. And it should not be surprising that a church that has rejected the authority and the truth of the Bible would take the far lesser step of saying that sexual immorality is OK.” (FreeRepublic.com “A Conservative News Forum” )
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 busty defending and proclaiming the truth.
4. The three metaphors introducing the “New Community” refer to our duty to God (church of the living God), duty to others (God’s household) and duty to the truth (pillar and foundation of the truth).