WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.240 Tonight we're going to begin a short series about the church, and the title for our series 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:10.560 is The Church in Pictures. 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:14.160 And the reason I've called it that is because if you look at the New Testament you'll see 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.760 that there are lots of pictures that are used to describe what the church is like. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:25.240 In fact, I was looking into this and I discovered that there's one author who's written a book 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:33.320 which identifies 96 different images for the church in the New Testament. 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:37.519 Now I'm not quite sure if there's as many as 96, and you'll probably be very relieved 00:00:37.519 --> 00:00:41.039 to hear that this is not a 96-part series. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:46.679 But it's definitely the case that the New Testament does use various images to help 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:50.039 us understand the nature and purpose of the church. 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:52.079 We're going to look at five of these. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:58.759 We're going to say that the church is a pillar, the church is a farm, the church is a body, 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:04.159 the church is a mother, the church is a bride. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.680 Some of these might be quite familiar to us, some of them maybe not so, but they're all 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:12.319 important in shaping our view of the church. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:17.000 And that's a crucial thing for us to think about because throughout our history the Christian 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.799 church has been greatly harmed by two things. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:28.599 The church on the one hand has been misunderstood by people outside her, but on the other hand 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:34.640 the church has also been misrepresented by the people within her. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:40.439 And for both of those reasons, whether you're a Christian or you're not or you're not sure, 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:47.000 it's immensely important to have a clear biblical understanding of what the church is 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.280 and what God wants the church to do. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:56.159 So we're going to begin tonight and we're going to turn together back to 1 Timothy chapter 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:00.719 3, and we're going to focus especially on the words of verse 15, but I'll read verses 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:01.719 14 to 16. 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:07.400 I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay you 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.879 may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:15.840 God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:19.080 It indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness. 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:24.560 He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:31.080 among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:38.159 Now if you read the letters of Paul, one thing that you will discover is that very often 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:47.519 in writing about a particular topic, he'll just throw in a tiny comment here and there. 00:02:47.519 --> 00:02:53.159 And yet these tiny comments, which are often just tagged on to the end of what he's saying, 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:56.919 contain a huge amount of important teaching. 00:02:56.919 --> 00:03:00.719 And there's a clear example of that in this chapter. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:06.199 In the passage which we read, Paul is outlining the qualifications for leadership in the church. 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:13.399 This is the chapter that gives the outstanding counter-cultural description of what good 00:03:13.399 --> 00:03:16.079 leadership really looks like. 00:03:16.079 --> 00:03:19.679 Part of the reason why Paul is conveying that information to Timothy is because he's conscious 00:03:19.679 --> 00:03:25.399 that he might be delayed in getting to him, as you can see there in verses 14 and the 00:03:25.399 --> 00:03:27.599 beginning of verse 15. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:34.560 And then at the end of all that discussion, in the second half of verse 15, he just throws 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:39.479 in this tiny comment about the church. 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:49.759 He says that the church of the living God is a pillar and buttress of the truth. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:55.480 And these seven words are our focus tonight. 00:03:55.480 --> 00:04:00.360 Imagine you're at work tomorrow morning with a neighbor or a friend or meeting people in 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:02.280 your community and they asked you, how was your weekend? 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.199 And then you replied, well, it was great and I went to church. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.360 And then they said to you, what's your church like? 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.000 Could you describe it for me? 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:12.960 What would you say? 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.599 How would you describe St. Columbus? 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.000 Well, there's lots you could say. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.959 You could talk about worship. 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:21.480 You could talk about being a community. 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:25.600 You could talk about singing, about family, about friendship, fellowship. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.399 All of these things are true. 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:32.240 But would you say to that person, well, my church is a pillar and a buttress. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:37.000 The buttress of the truth. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:43.040 And yet Paul is saying that's exactly what our church is meant to be. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.280 There's an awful lot that we could look at here. 00:04:46.280 --> 00:04:49.920 I just want to focus on three simple things. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:55.600 In this phrase, we are being taught a lesson about Christianity. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:04.000 We're being taught a lesson about our church and we are being taught a lesson about ourselves. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.280 So first of all, then a lesson about the Christian faith. 00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:14.280 The lesson that we're being taught here is that at the very heart of Christianity, there 00:05:14.280 --> 00:05:20.720 is one absolutely crucial principle. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.800 The truth. 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:31.199 At its core, Christianity is a quest for the truth. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.160 So Christianity is a worldview. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:40.639 It's made up of words and statements, doctrines, prophecies, historical records and promises. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:45.120 In other words, the whole Christian faith is grounded on a vast amount of data and it 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:50.439 seeks to present various pieces of information to humanity. 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:56.040 But in presenting all of that information, Christianity is not saying, here's a pathway 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:59.240 for life which might be true. 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:02.439 Here's an outlook that might be helpful. 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.639 Here's a philosophy that could do you good. 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:07.040 Christianity is not saying that. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:13.079 Christianity is saying, here is the truth. 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:23.079 That is a body of information which if it's not true is worthless, but if it is true, 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:28.039 then it is the most important message you will ever hear. 00:06:28.039 --> 00:06:33.000 Biblical Christianity has no interest whatsoever in being a maybe. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.519 It has no time for the idea of being one truth among many. 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:40.959 Its goal is not to inspire or fascinate or even astound people. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:46.919 Its goal is to tell the truth. 00:06:46.919 --> 00:06:58.039 And that means that everything Christianity says is absolutely worthless if it's not 00:06:58.039 --> 00:07:01.719 true. 00:07:01.719 --> 00:07:04.519 And that's not me saying that. 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:07.639 Paul himself says that. 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:12.719 That famous statement in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching 00:07:12.719 --> 00:07:16.279 is in vain and your faith is in vain. 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:26.399 In other words, your religion is pointless if it's not true. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.319 And that concern for truth is seen throughout the whole Bible. 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:33.439 You go back to the Old Testament, you'll see that there's a firm prohibition against false 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:34.439 witnesses. 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:41.040 There's a constant concern against false prophecy and there is an absolute abhorrence for anything 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:44.240 that falsely claims to be God. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:49.160 And the same concern for truth lies behind this letter that Paul wrote to Timothy. 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:55.000 If you go back to chapter 1, you'll see that that's one of the key themes of this letter. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.920 Paul is telling Timothy, he says, I've left you in... 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:03.040 When I left, when I was going to Macedonia, I said to you, remain at Ephesus so that you 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:08.960 may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves 00:08:08.960 --> 00:08:14.680 to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:16.360 God that is by faith. 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:20.560 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:22.240 a sincere faith. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:27.879 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:32.720 to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they're saying or the things 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.399 about which they make confident assertions. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:44.440 Paul is utterly opposed to speculation or to made up stories or to teaching that is contrary 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:45.920 to what the gospel says. 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:50.920 And the reason for that is that as far as Paul is concerned, this all comes down to a 00:08:50.920 --> 00:08:54.320 question of the truth. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:00.920 If the gospel is true, then anything which contradicts it is false. 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.679 That's why if you read on into chapter 4, you'll see that when he talks about those 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:13.039 who've wandered away to the false teaching, he describes them with a very pointed word. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:18.399 He says that they're liars. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:23.199 And of course, that should make perfect sense to us because all of this is bringing us back 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:31.879 to one of the most basic presuppositions of Christian theology, which is, only certain 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:37.640 stuff is true. 00:09:37.640 --> 00:09:42.040 So Christianity is one of many different worldviews that you can hold. 00:09:42.040 --> 00:09:45.680 Derek spoke a little bit about this in the morning, and I don't want to repeat what he 00:09:45.680 --> 00:09:50.960 said, but a worldview is just simply a way of understanding the universe. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:53.560 He has one, whether we realize it or not. 00:09:53.560 --> 00:09:59.680 We all look at the world around us and we have a certain way and a certain framework 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:02.480 of understanding it. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.400 So in order to think about worldviews, the minute I get into anything complicated, I 00:10:06.400 --> 00:10:08.000 need pictures to help me. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:14.360 So here are some pictures of four very popular worldviews. 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:20.280 So number one is the naturalistic worldview, which basically says that all of reality starts 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:28.879 with nothing, is then a machine, which is a closed box, and then it ends with nothing. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:31.679 So nothing, machine, nothing. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:36.720 And we're just a bit in that machine. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:43.399 The next one is the pantheistic worldview, which is much more common in Eastern religions, 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:47.959 which basically views the whole of reality as kind of bound up with the divine. 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:54.759 And instead of being a kind of linear existence where there was a beginning point going to 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:58.800 the end, life is more like a cycle, and you have the whole idea of reincarnation and all 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:04.600 of that and kind of oneness with nature and God and gods and all that kind of stuff. 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:09.400 There's kind of this cyclical worldview on reality. 00:11:09.400 --> 00:11:13.879 The other one, the next one is the mystical worldview, which basically has the physical 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:17.840 world in front of us here, which we're part of, but then above us there's this kind of 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.960 mystical realm of reality. 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:28.759 That stems back from the, really from the Greek philosopher Plato and others who saw 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:34.000 the physical world as a reflection of a mystical reality. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:39.480 And that mystical reality was where real truth was found. 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:47.800 And so there's this kind of physical, spiritual, earth mystical kind of worldview. 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:52.680 And then you have the biblical worldview, which is grounded on the fact that God is 00:11:52.680 --> 00:11:57.600 creator and we are His creation. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.639 And from that, we find our purpose. 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:06.080 We find the one to whom we are accountable. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:10.840 We find the reason for which we have been made. 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:14.480 Now, I don't want to go into these in any more detail. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:19.440 What I simply want to highlight is that Paul's basic presupposition is that only one of them 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:24.200 is true. 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:28.160 And that's because they're incompatible with each other. 00:12:28.160 --> 00:12:33.200 They can't all be true. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:40.440 And so your force to a choice, truth, forces you into a decision as to what your worldview 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:41.440 is. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:49.480 Now, I would hope that all of us would be in the bottom corner with the biblical worldview. 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:57.040 But even within that biblical worldview, there can be differences of opinion. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:05.279 There can be differences in terms of how we understand the creator-creation relationship. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.120 Here's more pictures, I'm afraid. 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:13.000 So here are three different approaches to the biblical worldview, to the creator-creation 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:14.480 distinction. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.719 First one's a staircase. 00:13:16.719 --> 00:13:21.039 It's the idea that a relationship with our creator is based on working our way up to 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:22.039 him. 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:28.000 But we have to impress him with our works or by what we do or by adhering to certain standards. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:38.079 And variations of that approach are found in Islam, Judaism, and many Christian heresies. 00:13:38.079 --> 00:13:41.279 That idea, we have to work our way up to God. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:48.480 The middle one is a smiley emoji, which is basically trying to depict the fact that people 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:53.840 can view our relationship with our creator in terms of the fact that God basically allows 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:00.000 us to do whatever we want, because ultimately we're all saved, we're all fine. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:05.120 That's an approach to Christian theology based around the concept of universalism, the idea 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.720 that everything's fine. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.200 God will put it all right. 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.960 There's nothing that we need to worry about. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:12.800 We can do what we like. 00:14:12.800 --> 00:14:15.399 God owes us salvation. 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:16.759 He'll forgive us. 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:19.559 That's his job. 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:27.639 And there are other Christian theologies that use that approach to God. 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:34.519 The final option is a relationship based on love, a relationship of privilege and responsibility, 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:43.519 a relationship grounded on commitment, cost, and grace. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:52.039 And Paul's great concern, again, is that only one of them is true. 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:58.799 The first is a relationship based on people who are scared of God, and they feel they 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.879 need to impress Him. 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.319 That's not the gospel. 00:15:04.319 --> 00:15:11.679 The second is based on a God who is scared of people in the sense that God has to keep 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.679 us happy and let us do whatever we want. 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:19.959 That's not the gospel either. 00:15:19.959 --> 00:15:30.679 The third is based on a God who loves his people so much he will die for them, but who 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:40.199 also expects us to love him so much that we will live for him in a committed, meaningful, 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:45.440 beautiful, real relationship. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.400 That is the only one that is the gospel. 00:15:49.400 --> 00:15:58.000 Now, I'm going to say something that's possibly going to get me sacked. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:07.360 You'll find the first two of these in Judeo-Christian religions, you'll find them in various sects 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:13.600 and unusual Christian heresies, the idea of working your way up to God or the idea that 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:17.279 you can do whatever you like. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:26.960 You'll also find number one and number two in the free church. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:32.159 Loads of people think that we have to work our way up to God. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:41.240 And then at the other extreme, loads of people think, I'm forgiven, I can do what I like. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:44.159 Neither of them are the gospel. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:49.360 Only one is true. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:56.120 Paul is telling us, reminding us that the gospel is not the message of a brutal slave 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.199 master who we must impress. 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:02.520 That was part of the reason why he opposed these false teachers. 00:17:02.520 --> 00:17:06.160 They were saying to Timothy's congregation, you can't get married, you have to abstain 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:08.880 from certain foods, you've got to do all this stuff to impress God. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:12.519 Paul is saying, no, God is not a brutal task master. 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:17.319 But equally, the gospel is not the message of a pathetic God who needs to indulge us 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:19.240 for fear of our reaction. 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:22.400 God is not brutal, neither is he spineless. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:31.920 He is holy and compassionate, righteous and kind. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:39.920 And the gospel is the message of the creator rescuing his creation from death through the 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:43.400 blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:49.120 Or as the words of verse 16 describe it for us brilliantly, Jesus was manifested in the 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:54.279 flesh vindicated by the spirit seen by angels proclaimed among the nations believed on in 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.759 the world, taken up in glory. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.359 This is the truth that Christianity claims. 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:10.599 It is a message of propositional, factual, objective, empirical, unchanging truth. 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:19.000 But we need to just pause there for two minutes because we live in a culture that has big 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:22.200 problems with all of this. 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:26.960 The idea of exclusive truth claims is not popular. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:31.759 So for many people in our culture today, the truth has become trivialized. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:32.759 It's no big deal. 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:34.519 Don't think about these things. 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.119 For others, truth has become relativized. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:41.160 So what's true for you might not be true for me. 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:42.920 It's all relative. 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:52.120 But I think that most of all today in our culture, truth has become mysticized. 00:18:52.120 --> 00:18:57.000 So if we go back to our worldview diagram there, which one would you say is most popular 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:58.000 in Scotland? 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.200 If you were to look at that. 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:04.800 Now, our instinctive reaction might be to say, well, it's the naturalistic one because 00:19:04.800 --> 00:19:10.960 everybody believes in that kind of atheistic, naturalistic worldview. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.560 I don't think that's the most popular worldview. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:18.359 I actually don't think I've ever met a pure naturalist who thinks that we're just cogs 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:24.119 in a meaningless machine or I've maybe met one or two. 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:28.319 Nobody can actually live with the outworking of that. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:33.519 So I would say, and I'm not an authority on all of this, but this is just my own opinion. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:46.480 I think that the most popular worldview in Western culture just now is the mystical one. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:52.240 We are living in a generation of mystics. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.079 Although I'm not sure that people are really aware of it. 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:01.319 Now the reason that I'm saying that is because the culture around us makes truth claims by 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:03.679 means of mystical statements. 00:20:03.679 --> 00:20:06.399 Now, what do I mean when I say that? 00:20:06.399 --> 00:20:10.839 Well, if you look at the big questions that society is facing just now, if you look at 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:15.559 the difficult issues that are on our table, issues of equality, issues of rights, whole 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:22.879 question of Brexit, question of gender, in all of these situations, what we tend to see 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:32.840 is that the final claim is made in mystical terms. 00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:39.840 So people will talk about equality on the basis of their dignity. 00:20:39.840 --> 00:20:46.280 People will talk about rights on the basis of being themselves. 00:20:46.280 --> 00:20:49.680 Politicians are, I think, possibly the greatest mystics of all. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:57.880 They love to use terms like better, stronger, worth, humanity, will. 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:05.400 A great illustration of this came from good old Boris Johnson who was talking about Brexit 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:09.920 and he was being interviewed and I saw it just on the BBC News website. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:15.320 He was being asked about how he was going to sort out the backstop and all that kind 00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:16.920 of stuff and everything else. 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:22.240 The reporter was asking very specific questions and he said, the most important thing is that 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:28.519 there is now a lot of positive energy to get the job done. 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:32.640 That is mysticism at its best. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:38.400 Now, I'm not saying that to have a go at Boris Johnson. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:41.240 He's not been in long enough to judge, I suppose. 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:47.240 I honestly have no idea who I would vote for if there was a general election tomorrow. 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:48.960 I think I would vote for Derrick, actually. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:52.000 That would be my first choice for ex-prime minister. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:58.039 Or even better, Katrina. 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:03.120 The point is all of these things, positive energy, better, stronger, dignity, they're 00:22:03.120 --> 00:22:05.839 all mystical terms. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:08.359 No one ever explains what they mean. 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:10.519 No one knows what they mean. 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:12.799 What is dignity? 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:13.920 What is better? 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:15.759 What is my humanity? 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:17.359 What is positive energy? 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:18.879 What is being myself? 00:22:18.879 --> 00:22:21.440 We have no idea. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:27.879 There's nothing concrete, empirical, factual or verifiable about what these statements mean. 00:22:27.879 --> 00:22:33.680 And yet, these are the final realm of appeal. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.599 These are the conversation stoppers. 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:39.799 These are the unquestionable truths. 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:51.240 And we are already at the point where the mystical is more real than the physical. 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:56.839 Because biology is being trumped by identity. 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:02.480 Investigation is being dominated by ideology. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:09.319 Debate is being crushed by dignity. 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:14.079 That's where we are as a culture. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:18.159 But do you know that it's nothing new? 00:23:18.159 --> 00:23:24.319 Paul recognized the very same thing in the false teachers at Ephesus. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:28.519 Back in chapter one, he said, these people make confident assertions about things that 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:31.119 they do not understand. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:37.399 The mysticism of today is full of confident assertions about things that I really don't 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:42.280 think are properly understood. 00:23:42.280 --> 00:23:49.920 All of this has led us to the point where the truth is now something that we declare. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:53.680 So we declare the truth. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:59.880 And the person who shouts the loudest is the one whose truth gets listened to. 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:06.519 But in reality, truth is never something we declare. 00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:12.960 Truth is something we discover. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:19.480 Whether that's in a scientific laboratory or in a court of law, in a research degree, 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:26.759 in a medical diagnosis, the great aim is to discover the truth. 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:31.920 I know somebody who last week had to go to hospital with a kidney stone. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.599 And they were in severe pain. 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:39.839 And imagine the doctor had come in and said, well, I don't really know what to do, but 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:45.279 the most important thing is I've got a lot of positive energy. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:49.599 I think the poor person writing in agony would have said, forget your positive energy 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:54.719 and fix my kidney stone. 00:24:54.719 --> 00:24:59.119 And it's the same in any other situation in life. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:06.239 We need the truth. 00:25:06.239 --> 00:25:08.399 Christianity is no different. 00:25:08.399 --> 00:25:16.479 And its claim is that the Bible is where the truth about life and death, about God, and 00:25:16.479 --> 00:25:21.199 about humanity, the Bible is the place where that's discovered. 00:25:21.199 --> 00:25:24.839 That is not a trivial or relative or mystical matter. 00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:31.959 It is a life or death question about the truth. 00:25:31.959 --> 00:25:41.659 We have been reminded in these verses that Christianity is all about the truth. 00:25:41.659 --> 00:25:45.639 We also learn a lesson about the church. 00:25:45.639 --> 00:25:50.639 And the lesson that we're learning is based around the imagery of construction, in particular 00:25:50.639 --> 00:25:53.799 the images of a pillar and a buttress. 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:56.279 Those are things to do with supporting a building. 00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:57.559 So you can see pillars here. 00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:03.599 And this building is a great example of pillars that are holding up the roof, holding up our 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:04.879 church building. 00:26:04.879 --> 00:26:10.519 A buttress is usually an external reinforcement to a wall. 00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:13.960 There's some very clear examples of it just down the road in St. Giles Cathedral. 00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:15.399 You can see pictures there. 00:26:15.399 --> 00:26:20.039 The bits that are kind of sticking out, like pillars sort of stuck to the wall. 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:24.480 They're there to hold the building up. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:31.039 Pillars and buttresses support and keep the building stable. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:36.720 Paul is saying that the church is a pillar and buttress for the truth. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:42.839 Now, that should immediately strike us because it seems as though it's the wrong way round. 00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:47.960 We tend to think that the church is, that the church stands on the truth. 00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:50.920 So we imagine of God's truth as our foundation. 00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:52.440 The church stands upon it. 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:53.440 And that's true. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:54.440 That's a biblical image. 00:26:54.440 --> 00:27:01.920 Paul says in Ephesians that the church is built on the foundation of apostolic teaching. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:05.039 So we tend to think that the church stands on the truth. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:09.000 But Paul is saying it's the other way round. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:16.279 He's saying that the truth is held up by the church. 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:22.480 And I think using that imagery, Paul is emphasizing to us that if the Bible is presenting the 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:29.960 world with the truth, then the church is the place where that truth is being held up for 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:31.639 the world to see. 00:27:31.639 --> 00:27:34.440 The church is the place where the truth is proclaimed. 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:39.639 The church is the place where the truth is lived out. 00:27:39.639 --> 00:27:44.879 So just like a pillar and buttress holds a building up for the world to see, so too the 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:48.840 church is holding up the truth for all to behold. 00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:55.160 I want to just say three or four things about that very quickly. 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:56.160 Number one, stability. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:59.720 A pillar and a buttress brings stability to a building. 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:04.440 It keeps the building up, secure, consistent, and stable. 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:07.120 And the church's role is exactly the same. 00:28:07.120 --> 00:28:12.440 It's to be an environment where the truth of the gospel is held up. 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:16.759 If we believe that the Bible is presenting us with unchanging truths, then we want to 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:21.960 hold these truths up with unshakable stability. 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:27.799 It's a great reminder that there's a wonderful unchangingness about the Christian church 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:29.200 and its message. 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:34.840 Now, by that, I don't mean kind of unhelpful traditions where the church refuses to change 00:28:34.840 --> 00:28:36.680 and refuses to do anything different. 00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:38.120 That's a different thing altogether. 00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:46.159 What I mean is an unchanging, uncompromising commitment to the truth of God's Word. 00:28:46.159 --> 00:28:51.599 If you look at that pillar right there, okay, when do you want that pillar to stop doing 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.759 its job? 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:58.559 The answer is never. 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:04.000 It needs to always, always hold up that roof. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:05.919 The church is exactly the same. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:13.279 We are to consistently hold up God's Word as a stable pillar and buttress of the truth. 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:17.519 That's why we don't for one moment agree with the idea that the Bible is no longer relevant 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:18.800 or accurate. 00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:23.440 That's why we treasure our historical heritage, stretching back 2,000 years. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:28.440 When we read from the New City Catechism, question 31, we recited the Apostles Creed. 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:36.000 That is about 1,800, maybe even 1,900 years old. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:42.000 It's a statement of what the Christian church believes. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:49.039 We are reciting that Creed because we're saying we believe exactly the same stuff because 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.980 only one message is the truth. 00:29:54.980 --> 00:30:00.640 If you think about it, what's the worst thing that a pillar can do? 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:07.559 Worst thing it can do is move because if that pillar moves, that roof comes down. 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:17.799 When it comes to the theological, propositional truth of God's message, we are not moving. 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:19.799 We want stability. 00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:26.159 Secondly, pillars and buttresses give us confidence. 00:30:26.159 --> 00:30:30.720 If you have strong pillars, if you have stable buttresses, it gives you confidence to use 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:31.720 them. 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:36.799 You could all pile up into that balcony confident that these pillars are going to hold you 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:39.799 up. 00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:46.359 Paul is implying to us here that the church should give people confidence in God's truth. 00:30:46.359 --> 00:30:50.500 If you look at that pillar, it's strong, it's stable, it gives you confidence to go and 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:51.959 stand on that platform. 00:30:51.959 --> 00:30:54.599 The church should do the same thing with God's truth. 00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:58.439 It should give people confidence in God's message. 00:30:58.439 --> 00:31:05.879 Yet tragically, the church has repeatedly done the very opposite. 00:31:05.879 --> 00:31:12.240 In every generation, the church undermines rather than reinforces people's confidence 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:13.879 in the truth. 00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:19.840 The reason that happens is because the church detaches itself from God's truth. 00:31:19.840 --> 00:31:23.400 That's what was happening in Ephesus with these false teachers. 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:24.840 That's what can happen with us. 00:31:24.840 --> 00:31:28.680 We need to stay firm. 00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:32.760 We need to stay connected to the truth of God's word. 00:31:32.760 --> 00:31:35.520 Third thing we have is usability. 00:31:35.520 --> 00:31:36.520 That's obvious. 00:31:36.520 --> 00:31:41.560 The pillars in this building make the building usable. 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:48.000 That's one of the great truths, great purposes of the church to make God's truth usable. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.799 In other words, the truth of the gospel is not some secret knowledge that's to be kept 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:53.799 tucked away. 00:31:53.799 --> 00:31:56.599 It's knowledge that's to be used. 00:31:56.599 --> 00:32:05.359 It's the information that is the most useful piece of knowledge that you will ever encounter. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:12.000 And the church's role is to hold that up so that you can use it. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:15.359 And what are you going to use that knowledge for? 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:21.639 What can you use that knowledge for? 00:32:21.639 --> 00:32:26.879 You can use it to find peace. 00:32:26.879 --> 00:32:34.319 You can use it to take away the burden of every single mistake that you've made. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:38.679 You can use it to obtain hope. 00:32:38.679 --> 00:32:44.519 You can use it to remove the fear of death. 00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:49.319 You can use it to gain eternal life. 00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:54.519 You can use it to know God himself. 00:32:54.519 --> 00:33:02.119 Now that is useful knowledge. 00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:08.479 So as a pillar in the truth, we are to give stability, confidence, usability and forth 00:33:08.479 --> 00:33:11.959 to bring a presence to God's truth. 00:33:11.959 --> 00:33:16.239 When we think about a pillar, it's easier to think about something static, motionless, 00:33:16.239 --> 00:33:19.359 passive, and that as a church we're just to stay very still. 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:22.079 But that's true in one sense. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:27.559 But in terms of reaching out into the world, that's not true because a pillar and a buttress 00:33:27.559 --> 00:33:32.720 actually performs a vital role in bringing a presence to the world around us. 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:36.200 In other words, as a pillar and buttress of the truth, the church is doing a mission 00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:41.399 work because the pillars in this building mean that this building is present so that 00:33:41.399 --> 00:33:46.480 the thousands of people who walk past on the royal mile every year can see it. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:50.200 And the church performs the same role with God's truth. 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:56.599 We are to stand in a world that desperately needs to hear the truth and say, here it is 00:33:56.599 --> 00:34:04.719 as pillar and buttress, God wants the church to hold the truth stable, to give people reason 00:34:04.719 --> 00:34:11.400 to be confident, to make God's truth usable, and to keep the truth ever present in front 00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:14.639 of people who need to hear it. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:18.480 So we need to learn a lesson about Christianity from this passage. 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:20.839 It's all about the truth. 00:34:20.839 --> 00:34:26.559 We also learn a lesson about the church, that its role is to hold that truth high and secure. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:35.279 Lastly, and very, very briefly, we learn a lesson about ourselves. 00:34:35.279 --> 00:34:38.960 Every time we study what the Bible says about the church, it's vital that we remember that 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:43.920 when the New Testament speaks about the church, it's not speaking about a building. 00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:45.799 It's not speaking about an organization. 00:34:45.799 --> 00:34:47.480 It's not speaking about a denomination. 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:50.360 It's not even speaking about ministers and leaders. 00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:54.279 It is speaking about people. 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:56.840 It's speaking about God's people. 00:34:56.840 --> 00:35:09.720 That means that the pillar and buttress of truth in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 is you. 00:35:09.720 --> 00:35:15.240 You are the ones who hold up the truth of the Christian faith. 00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:22.880 This is the duty that we are all part of. 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:28.079 And there's just one thing I want us to focus on here. 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:34.440 If you look at that pillar, sorry that I keep pointing you to that pillar, but it's there. 00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:42.720 At what point is it not holding up the balcony and the roof? 00:35:42.720 --> 00:35:46.000 The answer is never. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:53.679 So as you go into this week as a Christian, at what point are you not holding up the truth 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:58.199 of God's message? 00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:01.320 The answer is never. 00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:07.760 In every part of our lives, we are to function as those who are holding up the truth of the 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:08.920 gospel. 00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:14.320 That's why the fact that the church is a pillar and buttress of the truth needs to shape the 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:17.240 way we behave. 00:36:17.240 --> 00:36:21.600 And that's reinforced so clearly in the instructions that Paul gives in this letter. 00:36:21.600 --> 00:36:24.680 He says, overseers need to be above reproach. 00:36:24.680 --> 00:36:27.480 Deacons must not be double-tongued or dishonest. 00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:29.600 Their wives must be faithful. 00:36:29.600 --> 00:36:31.720 Widows must not be gossips. 00:36:31.720 --> 00:36:33.360 Servants must be honorable. 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:39.280 All of that is because the truth of God contained in the Christian message should be seen in 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:49.920 the integrity, honesty, and consistency of the lives that we live. 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:58.519 And that makes perfect sense because the truth of God's message, if it's true, should have 00:36:58.519 --> 00:37:02.000 a profound effect on us. 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:08.160 It should humble us because it shows how tiny we are before the God who is king of ages, 00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:10.519 immortal, invisible. 00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:17.799 It should make us gentle because Jesus himself displays his perfect patience to us as an 00:37:17.799 --> 00:37:19.639 example. 00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:23.879 It should make us compassionate because the world around us is full of precious, broken 00:37:23.879 --> 00:37:29.159 people, and God desires that all people would be saved. 00:37:29.159 --> 00:37:32.239 It should make us self-controlled because we're capable of hurting others. 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:35.519 It should make us generous because we do not need to love money. 00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:43.320 It should make us truthful because Christianity is all about the truth. 00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:51.000 As you go into this week, you are a pillar and buttress of the truth, and you might be 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:59.360 the only one that the people around you will ever see. 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:05.039 Imagine people were talking about you and saying, what's that person like? 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:12.079 Imagine, imagine they said, do you know that guy or that woman? 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:19.519 She's a pillar and buttress of the truth. 00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:26.159 By God's grace, that's how I want to live my life. 00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:29.599 The church is a pillar. 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:34.279 It's a pillar and buttress of the truth. 00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:38.000 As we close, there's one final thing to say. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:46.800 If you're not yet a Christian, you need to ask yourself the question, where is the pillar 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:52.120 and buttress of truth in your life? 00:38:52.120 --> 00:38:54.600 Let's pray. 00:38:54.599 --> 00:39:09.159 Father, we thank you so much that in you, we find the truth. 00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:21.799 Please make every one of us a pillar and buttress of that truth as a church and in every part 00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:24.800 of our lives. 00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:52.039 Alright.