2017_01_15 MBC

“Cheer Up, It’s Gonna Get Worse”

I Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 (Cornerstone Class at MBC)

January 15, 2017

INTRODUCTION:

            What is your “world view”?  How do you see the world around us, and interpret the direction it seems to be going?  There are people today who believe that our world, through technology and science, is gradually improving and will eventually perfect itself.  They say that while we still have wars and conflicts, and while there are still diseases that ravage our bodies, they point to the fact that many of the things that used to kill people have now been wiped out.  They point out that the average life span is increasing around the globe.  They show that we are moving away from fossil fuels to more eco-friendly means of powering our world.

There is even a strain of theology that calls itself “Christian” that postulates that right now we are living in the Kingdom Age spoken of in Scripture.  They believe that Christ is building His kingdom on earth and that things will keep getting progressively better and better, right up until the day when Christ will usher in His Eternal Kingdom.

Now for me, both of these views are nuts, and fly in the face of both the observable facts and the clear teaching of Scripture.  The Bible says that God created a perfect pristine world but that through the Fall this world was thrown into chaos from which is has never recovered, and indeed, cannot recover until Christ completes a total makeover of the heavens and the earth.

TRANSITION:

            In our text for this morning the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, weighs in on this subject.  He says that as we get closer to the end, closer to the Lord’s Second Coming, this world and the people in it are going to wax worse and worse.  Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

MAIN BODY:

Verses 14-15: I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; ¹⁵ but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. 

• “…hoping to come to you before long.”  At this writing Timothy was in Ephesus, Paul was in Macedonia.  After his first Roman imprisonment Paul went on a brief 4^th Missionary Journey.  On his way to Philippi Paul had left Titus as his representative in Crete, and he left Timothy in charge of the church in Ephesus.  Obviously he had plans to be reunited with Timothy but was unsure about the timing and he felt that this subject was too important to wait.
• What subject exactly?  “…How one ought to conduct himself in the household of God.”  Paul is referring, of course, to the local church, and he gives instructions concerning Christian behavior.  This fits in with Paul’s general reason for writing this letter to Timothy—to give him instructions on how a local assembly and its leadership should function.  The word “conduct” here is a Greek word that means, “to walk” referring to a person’s entire manner of life—his walk, his lifestyle, his conversation, his behavior, his attitudes.  It takes in everything!
• “…in the household of God”  This is the Greek word, “oikos,” meaning home or household.  This points to the fact that the church is to be, first and foremost, a family where brotherly love exists.  By the way, it does not refer to a church building the way we sometimes speak of “God’s house.”  Church buildings didn’t enter into the story until 300 years later.
• “…which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”  Here Paul uses the word, ekklesia, meaning a company of people who have been called out.  The Church Universal (Capital C) is manifested and made up of local churches (small c) all around the world.  The Church of Jesus Christ (Capital C) is made up exclusively of blood-bought, born-again Christians.  Christ’s Church (Capital C) is perfect and spotless.  However, the local assemblies, sadly, are often a mixed bag, made up of believers and unbelievers alike.  Try as we will, doing our best to keep the local assembly free from sin and hypocrisy and unbelief, local churches (small c) are imperfect representations of the Church Universal (Capital C).
• “…the pillar of the truth.”  Paul uses the word for a “stone column.”  On the surface this seems odd, until you remember that the glory of Ephesus was the Temple of Diana, also known as Artemis.  It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Its gigantic wooden roof was supported by 127 huge marble pillars, each one the gift of a king.  All of them were made from beautiful white marble.  Some were overlaid with gold and others were studded with jewels.  Those beautiful pillars were the pride and joy of the people of Ephesus because they held up one of the greatest edifices ever built by man.  The pillars displayed the beauty of the building, in the same way that museums display the statues of famous persons on marble pedestals so that people can see them clearly.  Paul is saying that the church serves the same function for the eternal truths of God—the church makes the truth visible, puts it on display, adds to its natural beauty by drawing attention to it.
• “…the support of the truth.”  The word he uses here means a “buttress.”  In architecture a buttress is used to fortify a building and to keep it standing foursquare and intact.  Many of the huge stone castles and ancient cathedrals of Europe use buttresses and for this reason they have withstood weather and wars and the ravages of earthquakes.  Paul says that the Church is the buttress of God’s truth. 

Verse 16: By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:

He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,

Taken up in glory. 

• Scholars believe that what we have here may be part of one of the hymns of the Early Church.  From the very beginning of Christianity believers put their prayers and their creeds to music.  In those days many people could not read so this was a way that they could hide the biblical truths in their hearts.  Let’s unpack this piece by piece.
• “He who was revealed in the flesh,”  Paul here is obviously speaking of the Incarnation of Jesus, “the Word who became flesh” (John 1:14).  The eternal God, the Second Person of the Trinity, became a human.  That is the Christmas story.
• “…was vindicated in the Spirit,” This means that Christ was declared to be righteous by the Spirit as well as by the Father.  By the presence of the Spirit of God throughout His entire ministry, but especially at His resurrection, Jesus was vindicated and proven true in all His claims.
• “…seen by angels,” The word Paul chooses to use here means “appeared” and seems to be referring to the occasion of the resurrection, ascension, and entrance into Heaven (cf. I Peter 3:22, “…[Jesus Christ] who is at the right hand of God, having gone into Heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”)
• “…proclaimed among the nations,” refers to the fulfillment of the Great Commission to preach the Gospel in every place, among every people group.  The word “nations” here [“Gentiles” in the KJV] is the Greek word, ethne, which gives us the word “ethnic,” meaning cultures, tribes, races, languages or people groups.  It’s not about geographical divisions on a map but about every tribe, every tongue, and every people group.  The Bible says that in Heaven, around the Throne, there will be people from every “ethnos” singing and praising the Lamb.
• “…believed on in the world,” The one requirement for salvation—“…believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”  This refers to the fact that starting on the Day of Pentecost the Gospel of Jesus Christ began spreading out to every corner of the known world.  And the process is still going on!  We are looking forward to carry the Gospel to Ireland so that many people there will come to believe in Him too.
• “…taken up in glory,” refers to the Ascension of Jesus, 40 days after the Resurrection.  This is described in Acts 1:9-11.  As His disciples watched, Jesus rose into the clouds and disappeared out of their sight.

Verse 1: But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 

• People have long argued about exactly when the Spirit had revealed these truths.  Some think that Paul is referring to prophecies made in the OT (e.g. Daniel 7:25; 8:23), or possibly by Jesus himself (e.g. Matthew 24:4-12).  However, I along with many other people believe that Paul is speaking of a revelation given directly to him by the Spirit of God.  This makes more sense to me in the context.
• Notice that Paul says, “…the Spirit explicitly says…” meaning that this was no foggy, could-mean-this, could-mean-that kind of prophecy.  This was a very clear, very direct word from God leaving no room for questioning or interpretation.
• “…in the later times some will fall away from the faith”  He doesn’t specify exactly when this will happen.  And if neither Paul nor the Holy Spirit put a date on this, we should not try to do it either.  He is speaking in broad terms about the general direction things will take as the time for Christ’s Second Coming draws nearer.  This world is getting progressively worse, not better.
• “…some will fall away from the truth”  The word here translated as “fall away” literally means “to stand away from.”  Fall away sounds like an unfortunate accident, like falling down the stairs and getting injured.  “Poor thing,” we say, “he fell down and hurt himself.”  But that’s not what this word means.  It implies a deliberate stepping back, stepping away from the truth.  KJV uses the word, “depart,” which I think does a better job of giving the sense of the word that Paul uses here.
• “…paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”  Paul seems to be indicating that in the end times professing believers will abandon the true faith to go after occult practices.  Demonic spirits working through demonic doctrines—that’s a powerful force for evil!  Did you know that whenever the Word of God is being taught incorrectly that the demons of hell stand back and clap and cheer?  That’s because the Word of God preached faithfully and accurately in the power of the Holy Spirit is the devil’s worst nightmare!  He hates that!  Because he knows that “the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”  So he goes out of his way to support pseudo-preachers who twist and adulterate the pure Word of God and use is for their own ends.

Verse 2: …by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 

• This “falling away from the faith” that Paul spoke of in verse 1 will be prompted by lying religious teachers who lead many astray.  Notice the words, “…by means of the hypocrisy of liars…”  Woe be unto these pseudo-Christian preachers and teachers who serve as blind guides of the blind, leading people over the cliff to their ultimate destruction.
• Here Paul gives us two of the characteristics of the false teachers in Ephesus: hypocrisy and seared consciences.  He makes it clear that they have believed their own lies for so long that it has actually created scar tissue over their consciences.  Did you know that a person can brainwash himself?  It’s true!  If you listen to a lie long enough you will come to believe it.  Our current President sat under Jeremiah Wright’s teaching for over 20 years and later testified, “I never heard him say anything that was wrong.”  EXACTLY!  Beware of what kind of garbage you tolerate, lest you develop a taste for garbage!

Verse 3: …men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 

• The false teachers who were plaguing the church in Ephesus were apparently teaching a form of asceticism, which was a trademark of those teachers commonly known as “Gnostics.”  One of the central teachings of Gnosticism was that this material world is completely evil and the spiritual world is completely good.  They taught a form of “dualism” that is still common in New Age teaching and the belief systems of all the Eastern religions.
• These guys were teaching against marriage, saying that it is just a human institution to satisfy the cravings of the flesh and should therefore be avoided as all costs, despite the fact that God performed the first marriage in the Garden and gave it His complete blessing.  On top of that, these Gnostic yahoos were saying that certain foods were unclean, and were forbidding the Ephesian Christians from eating them, despite the fact that God had created these things and pronounced them “good.”  In fact…

Verse 4: For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; ⁵ for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. 

• Paul’s antidote to this kind of demonic teaching is to point out that God is GOOD so everything He does and everything He makes has to be good too.  In Genesis 1 we read that “God made the heavens and the earth” and He pronounced it all, including man and the animals, to be “very good.”  Therefore, to reject and declare “unclean” the things that God has declared to be “clean” and “good” is to call God a liar and to slap Him in the face.
• “…for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”  The word “sanctified” means “made holy and set apart for God’s use and for His glory.”  We should always keep in mind that marriage, eating, and possessions are really spiritual issues and are gifts from God that He wants us to enjoy, but always as we recognize their proper purposes before God.  Paul’s point is that the things God has provided by His creative word are set apart by His directions for their use and are further sanctified as a testimony of our Heavenly Father’s faithfulness and care when received with prayer, thankfulness, and understanding.

CONCLUSION:

            Paul’s main emphasis here and in all the Pastoral Letters is sound doctrine and faithful Christian living.  We need to believe the right things, and live out our faith in right ways.

            Up in verse 16 Paul used a phrase, “…the mystery of godliness.”  What did he mean by that?  And up in verse 9 he used a similar phrase, “…the mystery of the faith.” This word mystery just means something that God has chosen to reveal and to uncover so that we can see it and examine it fully.  That’s what we have here in 3:16 too.  “The mystery of godliness” just means, the revealed secret of true Christian piety.  That secret is, in fact, not a secret at all.  It is none other than Jesus Christ!  His incarnation, His sinless life, His substitutionary death on the cross for us, His sacrifice for our sins, His death, burial and resurrection according to the Scriptures, and His ascension back to the right hand of the Father—in other words, THE GOSPEL—these are what make up the secret of true godliness!