1 Timothy 1:1-11
This is God’s house
Today, we are going to do something slightly different.
We are going to leave a little time at the end of the sermon for people to ask questions. And so if you have a question that pops into your head during the sermon, let me encourage you to write it down and ask later.
Or if you are a little shy- text it through to this number 0403789361.
This is an NRL player called Katoni Staggs.
He has just scored a try for his beloved Brisbane Broncos, at the home of the Brisbane Broncos- Suncorp stadium in Brisbane.
Katoni was particularly passionate about his try that day at his home stadium – Suncorp stadium because he had just scored against his local rival team- the Redcliffe dolphins. The Red Cliff dolphins were only new to the National Rugby League and yet because they were another team from the Brisbane area, they used Suncorp stadium to also play some of their home matches.
This New team- the dolphins had started the competition well and they had attracted many fans from the Brisbane area: they were a threat to the Brisbane Broncos. It was like little brother was rising up against big brother, and so when Kartoni Staggs scored that try and pointed his fingers down to the home ground, he was getting the message across loud and clear- that this place, this stadium, the team who belongs there, where the Brisbane Broncos, and not the dolphins.
It is the Brisbane Bronco’s home, and the other team: the dolphins are just visitors and as such they need to respect and abide by the Bronco way.
Katoni Staggs was laying down the law of the Broncos that day, as he celebrated his try.
Friends, in this letter that the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, he was making it clear, that the church, that is a place where people assemble together around God’s word, is in fact: God’s household and since it is God’s household, we are to respect and play by God’s rules.
Friends as we gather today around the word of God, we gather in God’s house.
Look at 1 Timothy 3:15 with me:
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.
Paul makes it clear here, that he was writing to Timothy, but also to us, to let us know
1. Who the church is
2. How we are to behave in the church.
Paul tells us that the church is the household of God, which is the church of the living God.
And so this means, that this church, here at Wingham is not Katoni Stagg’s church, it is not your church, it is not my church, but it is God’s Church. It is not the church of a dead god, it is not the church of a dead so called saint- Andrew, but this is the church of the living God.
And since this gathering, is the church of the living God, it is built upon what Paul calls here the pillar of truth- and what is that pillar of truth that the church is built upon?
Well, Paul gives us the answer in verse 16.
Look at verse 16 with me:
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.
Paul tells us that this pillar of the truth was once a secret, it was once hidden, but now it has been revealed. Paul calls this pillar of truth a mystery of godliness, in other words, he calls it the secret of living a goldy life- and what is that?
Or more importantly, who is that pillar of truth?
He was manifested in the flesh- he was a human- a man like us
He was vindicated by the spirit- the spirit testified that this man was the pillar of truth.
He was seen by angels- He was sent from heaven and angels declared his glory.
He was proclaimed among the nations- not just the nation of Israel, but the world.
He was believed upon by all those he called to believe on him and he was taken up to glory.
Friends, we know who this pillar of the truth is, we know who this mystery of godliness is- it is Jesus- the true one foundation of the church.
Friends the church is the house of Jesus and so as we gather in the name of Jesus, we abide by his house rules, he shows us how we live out the salvation he has brought us, not just in our individual lives, but especially as we meet together around the word of Jesus.
And so the first obvious point that I will make about God’s household- the church, is a point we have heard before, but it is worth making again. God’s household is not tied to a particular building, or a particular place- but it can be any place or any building where people gather around God’s word and meet in the name of Jesus.
No longer do we have to worship God on a particular mountain or in a particular temple, but now, since Jesus came to this earth, lived as one of us, died as one of us, rose again and ascended to heaven- we now worship God in spirit and in truth- as we gather in the name of Jesus, as his Holy Spirit dwells with us.
The second less obvious point, I want to make about God’s household is this: God’s household which Paul is writing to us about is a local gathering of God’s people. He is focusing here, not so much on God’s global church which is made up of all of God’s people all over the world, but is focusing on the local gathering of God’s people- his household here in Wingham, Krambach and Old Bar.
Paul is talking about people meeting together, in the flesh, face to face.
Hence, this is why Paul focuses on how we ought behave as we meet together in God’s household. As we live out the gospel together. This letter that Paul wrote to Timothy was written with the assumption that God’s people, the church would actually gather together. This letter never assumes that followers of Jesus would live their own individual lives, live out their individual faith apart from the body. This letter assumes that God’s household would be and always will be a gathering of people together.
This is the reason we have our motto in this church as “Enjoying Jesus Together”- God intended his people to be together, so they could encourage one another and grow together.
In fact it would almost be impossible for a follower of Jesus not to be part of a church family. It would be like a foot trying to survive without being attached to the rest of the body. It may still be a foot, but it would be a dead, useless foot.
Now before we get to some rules which God has set in his household, I believe that it is worth spending a little time showing you from the scriptures, from this letter that Paul wrote to Timothy, wasn’t just for Timothy or just for a particular church in Ephesus, or just for a particular time. But this letter was written for all churches across all time.
And how do we know this?
Well, the first clue comes in verse 1.
Look at verse 1-2 with me:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith, Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
As usual, Paul started his letter with stating who he was, closely followed by the person he was writing to.
He was writing to his true child in the faith- Timothy.
Timothy was a loyal friend to Paul. He accompanied Paul on many missionary journeys. Timothy was a leader in God’s household. Timothy had a Greek father and Jewish mother and grandmother, but first and foremost, he was a follower of Christ. So much so, that Timothy was circumcised, even though he didn’t need to be, in order to take away any possible stumbling blocks as he brought the good news of Jesus to the Jews.
Paul and Timothy were tight!
Listen to how close Paul and Timothy where:
This is from Philippians 2:20-22
For I (Paul) have no one like him (Timothy), who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served me in the gospel
Timothy knew Paul well, he knew he was faithful to Jesus, faithful to reaching people for Jesus, and so Paul had no need to let Timothy know that he was an apostle of Christ at the command of God, at the command of Jesus: Timothy knew this.
However the people who Timothy was shepherding at Ephesus, who may have doubted the authority of Timothy, needed to know on whose authority he was standing on, and so Paul wanted the church to know, that Timothy was standing on the apostle Paul’s authority, who was standing on God’s authority.
In 1 Timothy 2:7, Paul pleaded with Timothy that he was not a liar.
Timothy would have known this, and so it is clear Paul had a wider audience in mind.
And so friends, this church at Wingham, is the household of God, it is set on the foundation of Jesus.
Now before we start looking at the rules that God laid down in his household it is important for us to know that God created these rules for his household because he loves us.
Look at verse 5 with me:
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith
If we know that God gave us these rules of how we ought to behave in his household out of his love for us, then we will find these rules, life giving, not joy killers, we will find comfort in these rules, not discomfort, we will find peace in these rules, not disorder.
Dads……I’m speaking to you in particular now.
When you set the rules in your household, you know that if your kids know, that you are setting these rules out of love for them, then there is a slightly better chance they will follow them. If your kids don’t truly believe you love them, then it would be much harder for them to follow the rules of your household.
And dads….take or leave this advice……
But in my experience, when I have shirked my responsibility and set no boundaries for my kids, my kids are worse off, there is chaos at home- it gets messy for everyone very quickly.
And so as difficult as it may be to set rules and follow through on them- it is actually a good thing in the end, because it is one way in which we show our love for our family.
Have you ever thought of that before?
Setting rules, and following through with discipline is one way in which we show our kids we love them.
No rules, no discipline- actually shows a lack of love.
And perhaps this is where God’s definition of love and the world’s definition oppose one another.
Because, perhaps the world’s definition of love is that we should just accept everything, and if you don’t accept everything, then, you really are not loving at all, perhaps you would be considered a bigot.
But God’s love, is a love that doesn’t accept everything, in fact the love of God is a love which outright rejects things, God’s love- rejects things. It is actually loving not to accept some things.
The first thing the apostle Paul charged Timothy to do in God’s church out of love, was to reject something.
His charge of love, was to reject something.
And what was that?
Look at verses 3 and 5 with me:
3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship[a] from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Out of love, Paul charged young Timothy, to stop certain people to from teaching false doctrine, to stop teaching myths and endless genealogies, which don’t encourage faith in God, but leads people away from God.
No wonder, Paul started this letter by claiming his credentials, - he was commanded by God Himself to be an apostle. If Timothy was going to go into battle with some false teachers, he needed to be reassured that not only had the apostle Paul got his back, but ultimately God had his back.
Paul charged Timothy to silence those who were not teaching the gospel of Jesus, the gospel that Jesus came to this earth as one of us, died as one of us, took our sins, gave us a right relationship with God, rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven from where one day he will return to this earth and gather his people.
In the book of James it tells us that not many of us should become teachers, because those who teach the word of God will be judged with a greater strictness. James tells us that what we teach, what comes out of our mouths, is able to either do a great deal of good or a great deal of bad. What we teach is like a spark in a forest- it could set a whole forest on fire. Or it is like the rudder of a big ship, it can steer it in any direction.
Paul charged Timothy to silence the false teachers, because he knew that those false teachers could have set the whole church on fire and destroy it, he knew those false teachers could have turned the whole ship around and led the church to hell rather than heaven.
Now, I haven’t got time today to talk about the different kinds of false teaching that are going around to today, maybe you could ask me that in question time.
What I do want to finish with is this:
This is God’s house and so as we gather, we gather around his rules for his household, and so by God’s grace, everything we do here, we do in response to the rules that God has given to us by his word. And we do it with Joy, knowing that just like a loving father, God has given us these rules, so that our lives can flourish.
Let us pray.
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