The Pillar and Ground of the Truth
What is it? You cannot know what to do
with something unless you know what it is for. I remember a missionary
when I was a kid who said that they had received a shipment of brassieres from
the states. The natives, going mostly naked, didn't know what they were
for. Some used them for headdresses, some for girdles, and some for other
uses for which they were not designed.
People laughed all around me in church that
day, and I didn't know the joke, because I didn't know what a brassiere was
either. I had an older cousin who was wise in the ways of such things and
he explained it to me, much to my embarrassment, for I was a shy lad. I
was also embarrassed that such a subject would be mentioned in church, for that
was before television had exposed everything private. In the same, and
much more serious vein, What do you do with the church if you don't know what
it is for? The Holy Spirit tells us:
1Ti 3:15 "But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is
the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
What is this "church" of which the Apostle speaks.
Well, to begin with, it is something
required a certain behavior that Timothy needed to know. It was
something specific that you could be "in." Timothy needed to
order his behavior to fit what he was "in." If we will read the
rest of 1Timothy and Paul's instructions to Timothy we will get some very solid
ideas about the church.
First. It was a place that had
a specific doctrine that was to be taught, and nothing else. 1Ti 1:3 "As I besought thee to abide still
at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that
they teach no other doctrine...."
Second. 1Ti 1:18: It was
a place of warfare in terms of this doctrine: "This charge I commit unto thee, son
Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by
them mightest war a good warfare...." This is because some had made
shipwreck of their faith, and Timothy was supposed to hold to the faith and a
good conscience in spite of those. Timothy was expected to fight a good
warfare in terms of the doctrine of the church. He didn't decide this
doctrine; it had been delivered by the Apostle Paul.
Third. It was to be a place of
prayer for all kinds of man, for the Gospel is the only way of salvation
through the one mediator and it is God's will that all manner of men be saved. 1Ti 2:1 "I exhort therefore, that,
first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be
made for all me...."
Fourth. It was place
where women were to take a subordinate place and not usurp authority over men
in teaching. 1Ti 2:9
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or
costly array..."
Fifth. It was a place where
some men were overseers, responsible for the oversight of the people in
doctrine and in morals.
1Ti 3:2 "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to
teach..." Because he has learned to "rule' his own house,
he has learned how to "take care of" the church. He is a
"father" to the congregation.
Sixth. It was a place where
other men, with other gifts, served the needs of the congregation as deacons. This was an official position to look after the
needs of the people. 1Ti 3:13 For they that have used the office of a
deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the
faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Sixth. It is the House of God. The word house means, temple, a place for
worship of God. The word is used figuratively, not as a structure of
stone or wood, but the assembly of the congregation of the Lord as it is
described to Timothy--not a mob, but an organized and disciplined body.
As Hebrews 3: 5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a
servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."
Also: "“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1Co
3:16-17)
Seventh. It is the Pillar and
Ground of the Truth.
"Pillar" is a stone upon which the announcements and decrees of the
kings were inscribed. The church does not have its own message, but
speaks the word of God from God. This is the reason no other doctrine is
to be preached or taught but what was delivered to the apostles and
prophets. "Ground" is the solid foundation. If
there is no real church in a community that community is without any solid
foundation for hearing and following the truth. It means the support and
stay of the truth; this is the job of the church, not in an absolute sense, for
the truth of God needs no such support; but in a ministerial sense, for God has
honored the church with this precious responsibility, to teach the world the
truth about God and the Gospel of His Son.
There is more, as we read through the epistle
of Paul. It is clear that Paul's idea of the church was not a
"fellowship" or "gathering" or such, without order,
structure, or doctrine. Such might be romantic and seductive, but it will
not do to accomplish in the world what God has designed for the church.
Even Abraham did not wander around meditating on the rocks and shrubs, but
built an altar a certain places and times, and returned to these places as did
his sons after him.
Timothy, in terms of his behavior as a pastor
of the church, was to give attendance to reading, honor good elders, give
instructions to the people on how to live and behave to each other, but you can
read the rest of the epistle if you have read this far and are still
interested. The church has leaders, officers, structure, doctrine, and a
standard of behavior.
What an important thing it is for men and
women who name the name of Christ to be involved in the Church of Jesus Christ,
not as a pile of dismembered body parts, but in the fellowship and communion of
the saints, to provide a church for each community, where the word of God is
preached and believed, where the church lives under the discipline and order
that God has provded; where the sacraments are observed faithfully and
biblically so that the world is not left guessing as to what the truth
is. Ministers must be examined as to their qualifications in terms
of Scriptures; congregants must be discipled to live according to the word of
our Master, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
The church needs to cease falling down at the
altar of numbers and relevant cultures and rebuild the altar of the church that
is fallen down, for the church is not known by the number of its members or the
outward grandeur of its pomp and finery, but by the inward graces of the Holy
Spirit and the beauty of its spiritual worship of the true and living
God. Everything must be brought into the order of the Holy Scriptures
with nothing added and nothing subtracted. Do not say it cannot be
done; it must be done.
