Naylor Community
Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:14-16
14
Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so
that, 15 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. 16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true
godliness springs is great:
He
appeared in the flesh,
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.
-- every year, it seems that I hear
more and more people lamenting the demise of Christmas -- I saw several posts
online this week asking if anyone noticed that there was less Christmas spirit
this year -- that fewer people seemed happy and joyful during this Christmas
season -- that fewer people seemed to really celebrate and enjoy Christmas this
year
-- the responses were similar -- it’s not
like it used to be, people say -- it doesn’t mean what it used to mean -- Christmas
is just not the same -- it’s like it’s slowly going away
-- I noticed the same thing -- to me, it
felt like Christmas was rushed -- almost forced on us because it was that time of
the year -- not because anyone was excited to celebrate it -- it even felt like
that in the stores -- they wanted us in there to spend our money, but even they
weren’t really participating and trying to get people into the Christmas spirit
-- in the past, you’d walk into most
stores and see Christmas trees on display -- Christmas music playing -- employees
wearing Christmas decorations -- people calling out “Merry Christmas” or “Happy
Holidays” in a joyful manner -- but like most of these people on that Reddit
post, I didn’t see that this year -- it’s like Christmas was an afterthought --
it’s like Christmas wasn’t really important anymore
-- like most of you, we were in the stores
this year, but they weren’t decked out like in the past -- a lot of them didn’t
have any Christmas decorations up -- no recognition at all of the holiday
-- for
instance, we all went out to a restaurant on Christmas Eve for an early supper
-- and there were no decorations -- no Christmas music -- the staff and waitress
didn’t mention Christmas at all -- it could have been any other day of the year
-- you wouldn’t know that this was the day before Christmas based on how that
restaurant looked and how the people there approached us
-- now while most of the responses to
these posts about less Christmas spirit this year were about our traditional
secular American Christmas celebrations, or the lack thereof, the same could be
said about the slow demise of Christmas in our churches, too
-- it seems like even Christians have
watched as Christmas slowly fades away from importance in our lives
-- it reminds me of something that
happened in Russia in 2008 -- there was a 200-year-old Russian Orthodox Church building
that had closed and gone unused for a decade -- well, the Russian Orthodox
Church began to grow and their leaders thought it might be time to reopen that
church building again to accommodate the increase in church-goers
-- so, they went to the church building
location to see what it would take to reopen it, and the building was gone -- it
just wasn’t there -- it’s like it had vanished -- the landscaping around the
building hadn’t been disturbed -- the drive and the parking lots were still there
-- it was just like someone had just evaporated the facility, leaving no trace
-- so, they started investigating what had
happened to their church -- turns out, the building hadn’t been demolished by
the Government or anyone else -- it hadn’t been destroyed in a single moment
-- instead, villagers from a nearby
town had started removing the individual bricks to sell on the black market to
a local businessman -- they’d take a brick here and a brick there -- a couple
more the next day -- getting paid only about 4 cents for each one
-- and, slowly, over time, the
entire building disappeared -- not from being demolished in a single stroke --
but from neglect and from disuse -- because people forgot the reason why the
building was there in the first place [Source: "Russian Orthodox church
stolen: brick by brick," Associated Press, (11-13-08)]
-- that’s what’s been going on with Christmas
-- over the last few decades, the celebration of Christmas and the sharing of
the true meaning of Christmas have begun slowing slipping away -- we’ve seen it
in our churches -- we’ve seen it in our culture and our society
-- over time, we’ve let Christmas slip
away in our lives -- just a little less celebrating -- a little more
commercialization -- and the true celebration and meaning of Christmas has
slowly faded away
-- so, as we’re still in the middle of the
true Christmas season -- this is the eighth day of Christmas, by the way, if
you’re keeping count at home -- if you haven’t gotten your true love’s gift
yet, it’s supposed to be eight maids a milking -- so, get on that
-- but this morning, as we’re still in the
middle of the Christmas season, we’re going to look at a passage here from Paul’s
first epistle to Timothy that seldom gets read at Christmas, but that reminds
us of what Christmas is all about
-- because Christmas isn’t about Santa or
presents -- about lights or decorations or trees in our homes -- Christmas is a
celebration of the incarnation of God as a baby born in a manger who came to
save us from our sins
II. Scripture Lesson (1 Timothy 3:14-16)
-- with that said, let’s look again at
this passage from 1 Timothy 3:14-16 -- while you are finding your place there,
let me share with you the context of this passage -- Timothy was one of Paul’s
proteges -- he was a gifted young pastor, and Paul had charged him with
overseeing the church at Ephesus, the community of faith that you could argue
was Paul’s dearest community
-- Paul spent more time in Ephesus than
any other location -- and the people there were close to his heart -- and now
he has put Timothy in charge of stewarding God’s church in that place -- at
keeping them growing and maturing in their faith
-- Paul wrote two letters to Timothy -- 1
Timothy and 2 Timothy -- to give him advice and counsel as he sought to lead
this congregation
-- in this letter, Paul gave instructions
to Timothy on how worship and fellowship were to be conducted in the church --
and how to identify people called by God to assist in the leadership of the
growing congregation
-- and he sums up the reason for his
counsel here in these verses as he reminds Timothy of the reason the church
exists in the first place
-- so, join me now in 1 Timothy 3:14, and
let’s see what we can learn about finding the meaning of Christmas again in our
lives and in our church -- verse 14-15
14
Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so
that, 15 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.
-- there’s a lot to unpack in these two
verses, so let’s get started
-- the first thing we note is that Paul
tells Timothy that he hopes to come see him soon -- but in case he gets
delayed, he wants to go ahead and send instructions on how the people ought to
conduct themselves in God’s household -- that tells you how important the
instructions and the truths in these verses are -- Paul couldn’t wait for a
visit to share them, because he knew the people needed them now -- just like we
need them now
-- Paul’s urgency in this is a reminder to
us that the church is not like the world and cannot be managed the way the
world manages its affairs -- we are called to be different -- to do things
differently -- because we are God’s people in God’s kingdom -- not the people
of this world any longer
-- for that reason, our conduct and the
management of our church should reflect Christ -- we should be Spirit-led and
unified as one under Christ -- following His example and ministering to others
in His name and His power
-- too many churches and too many
Christians have forgotten this lately -- we see a lot of churches and a lot of
denominations being run as secular businesses -- not as the household of God --
and this can account for a lot of the falling away and loss of spirituality
that we see in America today
-- we have to remember that we are God’s
people -- that this is God’s household -- that we are His church and the dwelling
place of His Spirit -- we are not like this world and we should not act like
this world
-- Paul makes that clear when he
talks about the conduct of the people in God’s household -- the Greek term for
conduct refers to more than just our actions -- more than what we do on the
outside
-- it refers to our character and our
relationships with God and with others -- you can have right outward actions
but be far from God on the inside -- similarly, you can be saved but not living
out your faith -- Paul’s intent here is to outline instructions on who we should
be as Christians living out our faith in a community of believers
-- our conduct in God’s household
extends beyond the walls of any building we meet in -- it extends beyond the
time we gather together for corporate worship and edification -- our conduct
should be the same wherever and whenever we are because we are in God’s
household and His kingdom at all times -- we should not act one way at work or one
way at the store or one way on social media and act an entirely different way
when we gather as God’s household and church -- our character and our conduct should
be above reproach at all times
-- when Paul speaks of God’s household, he
is referring to the church of the living God -- in the early church, there were
no buildings or established meeting places -- God’s household -- the house of
God -- were the people who belonged to the community of faith in that place
-- so, when the Bible talks about
the church or the house of God, it is not referring to a place -- it is
referring to the people who are in relationship with one another and with
Christ -- the church exists whether there is a building for them to meet in or
not
-- we emphasize this point in the Kairos
prison ministry -- those men and women who are incarcerated don’t have a church
building, but we remind them that they are still the church of God, none-the-less
-- we remind them that God’s church isn’t bound by walls, but lives in the
heart of the people -- and by the end of the Kairos weekend, when we ask the
question, “Who is the church?” and all the residents in that prison cry out, “We
are -- we are the church” -- oh, how I wish that all of us could remember and
live that out -- that’s what Paul is teaching Timothy here -- it’s not about
buildings -- the church is about Christ and our relationship with Him and each
other -- we are the church, no matter where we are or where we gather
-- I’ve got to move on, because I
haven’t even got to the main verse yet -- Paul tells Timothy that God’s
household is the church of the living God -- emphasizing “living” because God’s
church stood in stark contrast to the enormous temples the Ephesians had built
to their dead idols, including their famed temple to Artemis or Diana
-- Paul is pointing out to Timothy that we
do not worship manmade idols of stone, but the living God -- the Creator of
Heaven and Earth -- our Savior and our Redeemer -- who was and who is and who
will be forever and ever -- amen and amen
-- our church, Paul says, is built with
the pillars of God on His foundation, but it is not built like those of the
pagans -- we don’t need marble pillars and rock foundations to build monuments
to dead gods -- our pillars are the people of God and our foundation is the
truth of the gospel -- the message of Christmas
-- Jesus has come as God in the flesh to
die for our sins on the cross and to rise from the dead on the third day to
prove victory over sin and death -- Jesus has come to restore justice to this
world -- to make things right again -- to remove the curse that was placed on
the earth when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden -- that is our foundation
-- and you are the pillars that hold up the house of God and share that message
with the world
-- vs. 16
16
Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He
appeared in the flesh,
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.
- this is our key verse for today -- in
this verse, Paul expands on the incarnation of Christ that we are supposed to
be remembering and celebrating at Christmas -- this is the mystery of our faith
-- that God became man and dwelt with us as our Immanuel
-- beyond all question, Paul writes
-- most certainly -- without a doubt -- this is the foundation of
our faith -- this is the foundational fact that defines us as believers and as the
house of God
-- Paul is asserting here that these
truths cannot be disputed or disagreed with -- to be a believer is to build on
this foundation and no other -- in God’s church, there are things that we
disagree about -- differences in understanding or interpretation about worship
or liturgy or the structure of the church -- these are inconsequential --
matters of theology or practice that don’t affect our salvation
-- but what Paul is talking about here in
verse 16 matters -- it is beyond all question -- you must believe in this --
you must know this and put your faith in these -- because this is the
foundation on which all Christianity stands -- this is the truth of God’s word
and of who Christ is -- this is the reason Christmas is important
-- Paul describes these truths as a
mystery -- in the Bible, the term mystery refers to something that has been
hidden by God but is now being revealed -- it is God’s truth, revealed at the
right time and for His right purposes -- He reveals to us the truth that we
might believe in it and act on it and live based on it
-- there are six mysteries mentioned in
the New Testament, and here in this passage, Paul speaks about one of them -- the
mystery of true godliness -- in other words, how does a person become godly?
-- the mystery of godliness that has
been revealed by God is that godliness and righteousness is not found through
the Law -- it’s not found by doing good works -- it’s not found in what we do
-- true godliness is only found in Who you know -- true godliness is only found
in the person of Jesus Christ
-- in our series on Pursuing Holiness
through the fruits of the Spirit, we emphasized that expressing these
characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness,
faithfulness, and self-control weren’t things we could do on our own -- they
came through surrender to the Holy Spirit within us and by letting His character
and nature transform our own
-- Paul’s point here is that we are made godly
and holy and righteous through the incarnation of God in the flesh -- God first
came to us as a baby born in a manger -- God with us -- Immanuel -- but the
incarnation did not end when Christ ascended
-- it continues through the presence of
God in us through the person of the Holy Spirit -- and we experience the
incarnation of Christ in His church -- the household of God -- as Christ moves
within His people to call the world to redemption and salvation and as we
minister to others in His name -- serving as His hands and feet so that they
might see God with them as He is with us -- that is the mystery of godliness
-- so, the mystery of godliness is a
person, not performance or good works -- the mystery of godliness is a
relationship, not religion -- the mystery of Christmas is not about trees and
presents -- it’s about standing on the foundation of Christ and letting Him
transform us into the people He has called us to be and doing what He has
called us to do
-- in the closing to verse 16, Paul
goes on to give us six statements of faith that build on the foundation of God’s
truth and that lead us into living out the mystery of godliness in our lives
-- these verses are recognized as an early
hymn or creed of the church that was recited or sung to emphasize our
foundational beliefs about who Christ is and why He came -- this was one of the
first Christmas hymns
-- notice that it begins and ends
with Jesus -- with God Himself coming to earth at Christmas and with Jesus’ ascension
into Heaven following the resurrection
-- I know I’m going long, but let’s
look at each of these six statements separately:
-- the first: He appeared in a body
-- He appeared in the flesh -- this is referring to the incarnation
-- as we talked about last week, Christmas
is more than just giving presents or celebrating a baby in a manger -- it is
recognizing that the child in the manger is God Himself -- Christ incarnate --
God in the flesh -- fully man and fully God -- who was born of Mary and of the
Spirit to be our Savior and Redeemer since we could not save ourselves from our
sins
--
the next: He was vindicated by the Spirit or He was vindicated in His
spirit
-- to be vindicated means that He was shown
or proven to be right, reasonable, or justified
-- several times in the gospel, the Spirit
confirms that Jesus was more than a man -- that He was the God-man -- at His
baptism by John in the Jordan River, the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove
and the voice of God spoke, affirming that this was His Son -- at the
Transfiguration, when Jesus appeared in His glorified form to Peter and James
and John, God spoke in the cloud that enveloped them and, once again, affirmed
that this was His Son
-- Jesus was proven to be the
Messiah through the miracles -- through His teaching -- and through His life --
He is the only one to live a sinless life, and when He was brought before the
Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, no one could point to Him doing anything wrong
except claiming to be God, which was true
-- His prayers in the Garden and the
surrendering of His will for the Father’s is evidence of His holiness and deity
-- His words from the cross of forgiveness and mercy, even as He was being
crucified for no crime of His own -- all are vindication of who He was -- that
He was Immanuel -- God with us -- God in the flesh
-- third, He was seen by angels
-- we could say He was attended to by angels -- watched over by angels --
served by angels
-- before He was born, angels appeared to
both Mary and Joseph to share with them the news of Mary’s pregnancy through
the Spirit -- at His birth, the angels appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming
the birth of the Messiah and sharing with them the good news of great joy that
was for all the people
-- after His baptism and temptation in the
desert wilderness, He was attended to by angels -- in the Garden of Gethsemane,
angels came and ministered to Him as He prayed before His arrest and
crucifixion -- after the resurrection, angels were at the tomb to announce He
had risen and to share the good news to His disciples
--
fourth: He was preached among the nations -- this began as Christ
sent His disciples out to share the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of
God during His earthly ministry and continued as Christ commanded His followers
in Matthew 28:18-20 to “go and make disciples of all nations”
-- it continued as the church grew beyond
Jerusalem and missionaries went out into all of Israel and Samaria and beyond
-- with the name of Christ being preached by men and women, such as Paul and
Barnabas -- Lydia -- Apollos -- Priscilla and Aquilla -- Peter and John -- and
others down through the ages
-- fifth: He was believed on in the
world
-- we are the living proof of this sign --
we are here as those who believed in the message of Christ and who received Him
as our Lord and Savior, fulfilling the promise of John 3:16
-- we see this truth lived out today in
the hearts of those who hear His word and put their faith and trust in Him --
we see it in countries locked in the grip of false religions hostile to the
gospel, as men and women are turning to Christ in vast numbers -- we see it at
Christmas, as the truth of His coming is proclaimed by all and the name of
Jesus is on everyone’s lips
-- as we consider this statement of faith,
we have to remember what the angels told the shepherds in the field on the
night Christ was born -- the angel said, “I bring you good news of great joy
for all the people” -- “for all the people” -- not just for the Israelites, who
were known as God’s chosen people -- but “all” the people -- not just Jews, but
people like us -- Gentiles who were far from the faith and knowledge of God -- people
who were called to hear the good news and believe in the name of God’s one and
only Son -- so that we might become the very sons and daughters of God, as we
read in John 1:12, “but to all who received and accepted Him, He gave the right
to become children of God”
-- because of Jesus and the coming of God
in the flesh to our world at Christmas, all of us -- Jews and Gentiles alike --
are called to believe in His name and to repent of our sins and receive forgiveness
and healing and eternal life in Him -- to believe and become the children of
God through faith in Christ
--
and, finally, He was taken up in glory -- this is a reference to
the ascension of Jesus as witnessed by the disciples in Acts 1 when Jesus
bodily rose up through the clouds to enter into Heaven, where the Bible tells
us He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty
-- because of the ascension of
Christ, the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost to indwell the believers and
empower the church -- because Jesus has gone to the Father, the Spirit has come
to live with us and in us -- fulfilling the promise of Jesus to never leave us
or forsake us
-- and as our ascended and risen
Savior, Jesus continues to minister to us from Heaven -- interceding for us
with the Father -- praying for us and strengthening us through His very own
Spirit -- praying for our strength and defending us from the accusations of the
enemy
-- and, finally, as we consider the
first coming of Christ and His first ascension into Heaven, we must remember
the promise we have in Acts 1:10-11 from the lips of the angels, that Jesus
would return in the same way He left -- that in the fullness of time, He would
return, establishing His kingdom on earth and living with us as our Immanuel --
as our God and King -- forever and ever, Amen
III. Closing
-- this is the message of Christmas
-- this is what our world has been slowly losing over the past several decades
-- and this is what we must remember as the household of God -- as God’s holy
church -- this is the truth that is our foundation, and as the pillars of God
in His household, we are called to stand on these truths and go forth and proclaim
the good news of great joy that is for all the people of this world
-- this passage reminds us that Christmas
is not about Santa Claus or presents under a tree -- it’s not about shopping or
drinking eggnog or any of our secular traditions or even about the nebulous Christmas
spirit we all agree is becoming less and less each year
-- no, Christmas is about the greatest
gift of all -- God coming to earth as a baby -- to live with us as our Immanuel
-- to show us the way to God and how to live in relationship with God the
Father and those around us -- it’s about Jesus going to the cross to die in our
place as our atoning sacrifice for our sins -- it’s about the empty tomb and our
Savior who is seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven
-- this is the true message of
Christmas -- this is the mystery that was revealed to us through the manger and
the cross and the empty tomb -- this is the mystery and meaning of Christmas --
and we must make sure we share this good news with all the people, so that they
will find the true Spirit and saving grace of Jesus at Christmas once again
-- let us pray
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