“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 4th 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,
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!
