It was a day in October of 2020, and I learned 3 big lessons on LIFE by 11:00 in the morning. I'd like to share these lessons with you over the course of 3 weeks.
Lesson #1 -
It was at our 5:00 a.m. Tuesday Men's Bible Study that I learned this first lesson about life. Gathering with other men that early in the morning always has a special feel to it (I guess you can call it special). Mainly because at that time of day, no one is particularly alert or perky. Typically, as 5:00 nears and the crowd around the coffee pot grows, there are a lot of grunts, a few mumbled "heys", and an occasional jab or sarcastic remark from some smart aleck who thinks he is funnier than he actually is ;)
Anyway, on this particular morning, our study came from the end of I Timothy 3 and on into the beginning of chapter 4. I Timothy 3:14-15 reads, "I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth."
Here, Paul is stressing to Timothy the weight of the responsibility he holds as an undershepherd of the Great Shepherd. Timothy is tasked with leading God's family, which Paul tabs as "a pillar and buttress of the truth". What Paul means by this is that the Church is the only entity within this worldly realm who is responsible for and capable of upholding truth in this world. That reason is because the Church are those who understand the mystery of godliness.
That term "mystery of godliness", is found in the verse that follows, I Timothy 3:16. It reads, "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory."
The truth that is referred to in verses 14 and 15, the one that the Church possesses and upholds, is the good news about Jesus. This mystery has been revealed to those who know and love Jesus and, though some others may be familiar with His story, they yet lack the true understanding of who Jesus is and what He has truly accomplished. Only the true Church comprehends this.
Which brings us to our last section. Paul alerts Timothy to a "real and present danger" which exists about the Church. It exists in the form of other men. Men who have likely, at least at one point claimed the faith, but have now abandoned it in favor of a religion that serves themselves. We observe I Timothy 4:1-2, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared."
In short, Paul teaches that men with seared consciences (those who cannot submit to God due to pride and hardness of heart), will lie and entice people who have once claimed the faith to abandon the true faith in favor of idolatry. This idolatry, we know, can take on many forms.
What does this have to do with LIFE, you may be asking? Well, it is this...I, too, am an undershepherd of the Great Shepherd. My Church, too, is "a pillar and buttress of truth". We, too, do understand and submit our lives to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, we, too, are being enticed to trade in the faith we profess for a false faith that cannot save.
LIFE is at stake! Eternal LIFE! The true Church of Jesus is the only hope this world has to discover that LIFE! I am reminded, for the sake of those who are yet dead in their sin, of the importance that we "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).
And by God's grace, we will do it!
Pastor Jeremy
