5 January 2016

Bible Overview: >-Pastoral Epistles - 1&2 Timothy and Titus

10. Beauty of The Church, The Glory of Christ

The church is the bride and the glory of Jesus, she is pure and blameless. The relationship between Christ and His church is similar to a bride and her bridegroom. From the beauty, godly virtues and the purity of the bride, people will want to know who is the bridegroom. So similarly, when a church lives out the holiness and righteousness of Christ, people will notice and be attracted to the supernatural grace and truth of Christian beliefs, living and fellowships. And they will naturally be drawn to go to church and other gatherings of believers. But if a church is influenced by the worldly culture, values and its self centred motives then people will see the bride as unholy and even defiled. We can asked ourselves this question, “of the people we know, what is their general perception and opinion on the church?” There will be various opinions and views but there will always be doubts on what the bible says about the purity and holiness of a church. When there are questionable doubts on that church, there will also be questionable doubts about the saving grace of Christ and His promises.

In this era of the end times we need to be aware of the perception and views of the non believers’ on our church. The church will advocate the love and grace of Christ but people will also see the discrepancies in areas like prosperity driven teachings, judgemental attitudes, self righteousness, irrelevant Christian mindsets, amongst others. The people of the world can see these discrepancies from the lives of their Christian working colleagues, friends and family members. That is why a church needs to preach about the death and resurrection of Christ to magnified the true workings of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life to be the salt and light of this era that is becoming darker each passing day.

1 Timothy Chapter 3

v 14, Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, -We know that Paul always makes it a point to personally keep visiting the churches he planted all over the region and this is also practiced by Life Church through the mission trips led by Ps Vincent and co-workers. In a broader sense besides mission trips, Paul is teaching us the necessity to gather as often as we can as co workers and disciples because the work of the Holy Spirit is most evident and powerful when we value and confirm the need to gather. 

- We need to create networks that can connect closely and personally with other affiliated churches and also within our own church to built genuine relationships that can move towards the same vision. Social medias like websites, live streaming, etc are just additional tools to connect but these channels can’t give the depth and personal touch to discern and understand the spiritual needs and challenges that a church is facing. The main objective of raising disciples is to built the fixed perspective to live out Acts 1:8 among the many Life Churches.

- Within the family of God, the work of the Holy Spirit is most evident when there are face to face contacts through personal interactions and communications. These personal relationships are very important for the Pastor and Mission Workers to minister and intercede for the churches and also for the Pastor to create sermons that are relevant to the time schedule of the church. During these face to face meetings we can share deeper about our issues and challenges that can’t be accomplished by social medias alone. 

- The spiritual growth and dynamism within a church depends largely on how people feel and read into each other emotions and spirit to understand and intercede for one another. As co workers and brethren we have to meet, understand and know each other in a deeper level and if a person only comes to church once a week during Sundays versus another person who comes for 3-4 meetings a week, there will be an entirely different level in the depth of their relationships and intercessions for one another. 

- A person will be more willing to share their deeper issues and thus will encourage the culture of openness and trust. These relationships will grow to be more practical rather than remaining in a surface level.  And the intercessions will also be more focus rather than abstract. That is why we need to engage one another and make more contacts to share and interact to received practical answers and directions. We need to feel and pray over their needs when we shepherd them.

v 15, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.- In that era we know that there are a lot of wolves that tries to creep into the church which means even now we will be facing all kinds of attacks which include false teachings and divisive spirits. We must all the more be vigilant because as I read these verses I know that Paul has a very earnest spirit to teach us how to interact and behave among brethren. This is to prevent any loopholes for the devil to enter into the church to cause divisions. 

When God talks about the church and accepting one another in Christ, there are 3 areas of emphasis: 

1) Household of God

2) Church of the Living God

3) Pillar and Foundation of the Truth

The first is the household of God which is a group of believers in that household of church. This refers to the concept of the family of God and irrespective of the church members being 10 or 1000 people, it is God’s heart to let us know that we are a family of God in Christ. And within this family there are different backgrounds, gender, culture, race, and also different levels of faith but they are all dignified and precious children of God. There are specific roles and conduct for every shepherd in the various fellowships in the church . And we need to know these through the Book of Ephesians, Chapter 4. Each time when Paul writes about the church it is about loving one another in Christ.

Ephesians Chapter 4

v 1, As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.-Paul is teaching us that to live a life worthy of the calling is to earnestly love the people of God. He is teaching us that it is from the grace he received and nothing else that enables us to love one another. And Paul goes on to teach us about the practical aspects of loving one another.

v 2-3, Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace- The Holy Spirit will continue to give us the heart to foster unity in the church. And it says, “be completely humble n gentle” which means when you are in a family of God there’ll always be spiritually weak brethren and that is why we need to accept them through grace and godly training. 

- To be able to accept them unconditionally as Jesus did, means there will be a cross that we need to carry. This will take a toll out of us because there will always be many types of difficult attitudes and behaviour of people that you will need to accept and edify. That is why we need to learn the “spirit behind the gentleness and being truly humble” as there are always people who refused or unable to change and will either consciously or unconsciously hurt you.

- To accept these sheep of God you will need to pray and let go of your own mindsets and prejudice and to have a heart that is willing to suffer for the gospel. You need to see them as victims and because of these weaknesses they are helpless and harassed.

- And that is why the shepherds in the church have to go deeper to keep receiving the approval, comfort and wisdom of God. They have to keep learning to receive new grace daily to cultivate a culture and values that spurs and upholds the unity in a church in a selfless and sacrificial way like Christ.

- In small group fellowships where everyone knows one another and coupled with the merry atmosphere of enjoying meals and friendships, people will naturally enjoy such gatherings. But the Lord will always gives us certain tests and he will surely test us from time to time and that is why we need to be prepared.

- There is a need to cross the boundaries between the different age groups in the SSG (small shepherding group fellowships). This means to join together people of different age groups in these SSG to challenge the group to be able to minister and edify people even though they are of different age and backgrounds. So we need to be prepared to learn and create contacts with each other in various age groups  and backgrounds.

And the second point is the church of the living God. And this means the church is different from the idols created by humans in other religions because the spirit of God dwells and lives in us in every moment, in all circumstances. The church of the living God in Exodus 29:45-46 says, “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” And when God said this it means he wants to consecrate his tent of meetings n his altar by setting apart Aaron n his descendants so they r appointed as priests. The priests will atone the sins of the people by performing blood sacrifice. 

- So in today’s era, we as the holy priests and servants of the Most High in our family and other fields. We need to preach and share the word of God that has the blood of the lamb and when people hears this, they will be sanctified by the word of God. We need to remember that when we teach our children or share with people in our lives, the word of God has the power of creation and will mobilise the army of heaven to work upon their lives. And likewise the Church will be filled with awe and reverence for God when it truly preaches the word with the death and resurrection of Christ.

- When you looked back to some revivals like what happened during the era of Charles Finny, Charles Spurgeon or even in Korea, you will see how the presence of God filled the spiritual atmosphere of the church to the state of awe and reverence. And people will be convicted deeply about their sins and brings them to true repentance. We need to know that the spiritual atmosphere, ambience and mood in the sanctuary are very important where people can immediately experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

- And when a person feels downcast or accused in their spirit for certain reasons he or she will be liberated just because of the presence of God in the holy sanctuary. However to artificially create this spiritual ambience and mood by utilising special lighting effects and other commercial methods is not right and should be avoided. This is because it is human driven instead of God driven which will only gives people the emotions of excitement and captivating them only in their flesh but not their spirit. 

- The true anointed spiritual atmosphere is when the people of God consistently hears the message of death and resurrection of Christ and be convicted. They will be moved by the power of the Holy Spirit and will be willing to continue to demolish and rebuilt their perspective because they are convinced that our living God is convicting and guiding them 24 hours. That is when the upright and contrite spirit in them can be restored which are the core attributes to meet God face to face. And even muddle headed people will be convicted to worship in spirit and in truth in that sanctuary where they will be healed through their submissive spirit and be liberated. 

- The church of the living God is where the presence of God is real and the Holy Spirit will consecrate the entire church starting from the altar and the lives of the shepherds and followed by the lives of believers. This reality of experiencing the great presence of God in a church can only happened when the remnants knows that they are living in the end times and will pursue such grace and holiness that can enable them to transcend their changing emotions, relative circumstances, words of fallen men and live by the absolute truth of God. This means we need to always reaffirmed our calling as a set apart remnants belonging to God and this is only possible when we enter into a truly anointed holy sanctuary and encounter the presence of God. 

- And we will be filled with the true conviction of the Holy Spirit when we go back to our fields. We will be anointed to evangelise and minister to people. We need to comprehend this mystery that we are set apart which means we are living as sheep among the wolves and lions that are in this world. Therefore we have no choice but  to cultivate a spirit of relying and continual seeking to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd who is the only one that can protect and cloth us with power from on high. If not, we will be swallowed up and be consumed by the world. In other words we will compromise our walk of faith or be deceived in hearing the wrong voices in the spiritual realm. For the last 10 years the Life Church of Singapore has been building the foundation to battle our flesh, our own selfish desires and motives, hypocrisy and pretensions. The spirit of a true bride of Christ is to continue to be set apart.

- Every time when we gather, we want to see prayers beings answered and people being drawn closer to God. And in such a sanctuary we can still see new grace and received answers even when we are not healed in our spiritual or physical illnesses or facing unsolved issues in our lives. We need to be sincere and upright to enter into a confession state in our hearts and spirit each time we enter into the holy sanctuary. And in the event that after we attend meetings and yet the disbelief heart, the unholiness and the non reliance heart towards God are still there, by the grace of God and in His time schedule we can restore back the submissive and contrite heart because of the culture that we have been building wholeheartedly throughout all these years. Therefore everyone will need to value and always try to edify one another to continue to built a culture in the church that gives us the realisation that we are always in a spiritual battle. That is why we need to face the enemy correctly in oneness. 

And thirdly, the church is the pillar and the foundation of the truth. And God uses the truth to built a church so that it will prevailed against all lies, deceptions and schemes of the devil. The church will “live on the truth” and protect the faith of believers. The church is the only place or institution in the world that preached the truth of God. How a church preserve and preach the truth is of vital importance. 

- Therefore the two words in this verse and central to all churches are “pillar and foundation”. Foundation holds up the pillars of a building so it will not collapsed. Spiritually it means to protect and preserve the truth against truncated and partial truth that dilutes the word of God that is preach in the church. And the pillars of the church correspond to how the pillars in a building supports the many levels in a building. In the same way, the pillars of a church is to support and uplift the truth of God which means the church have to exalt Christ through the pure gospel. Without Christ no one can come before God and so Christ must be in the centrality of our living and in everything we do. And without the centrality of Christ in our lives, the power of the Holy Spirit will be weakened. We need to live out the perspective of Christ so people can see that Jesus, the only way, the only truth and the only life is living in us.

- You can see the increasing needs and desires of mankind by comparing our forefathers who have a simple and contented life even when they are not wealthy with the people of this era who are getting more and more materialistic and yet are very dissatisfied with their lives. The increasing pursuit of security in the many aspects of their lives and the striving to attain financial independence makes them even more confused, stress and worried. These desires of the flesh that can’t be met will continue to torment them infinitely as they go all out to seek and live out their dreams and ambitions. We need to confirm that after the fall of mankind and because there is no truth of God in our lives, people will be tormented more n more in these end times.

- That is why we all the more need to pray and live by the truth to be the true bride of Christ. If not there will be no point of us gathering so many times a week. The reason why we gather is because we believe that once our spirits are connected to pray in oneness, God will fulfil these prayers that are prayed according to the truth. All we need to do is to face God uprightly when we gather and to pray with an anticipated and assured heart that God will surely fulfil our petitions n prayers. We’ve to walk with God with a contrite n sincere hearts as we continue to demolish and rebuilt our perspectives. 

1 Timothy 3

V 16, Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:- What is true godliness? To seek and face God single heartedly which will then draw people to Christ. We may know many truths in our head but in our hearts and spirit, many a time we are not single hearted in our pursuit of God. We are still self-centred in many ways and plan our lives according to our own conveniences due to our many strongholds of wanting to remain in the comfort zone. The strong and courageous spirit that is willing to step out in faith, out of our comfort zones like Joshua is the true spirit of a true remnant.

> Godliness is when we single heartedly confirm again and again that the covenant in Acts 1:8 and many other verses like in Genesis 1:27-28,12:1-3, Matthew 28:18-20 is the only way to be set free from our self centred nature and the clutches of the cares and pleasures of the world. And when we call upon God and received fresh conviction, we will abide without procrastination and obey wholeheartedly. When there are many people in the church who pursue godliness, there will be lesser n lesser divisions. When there is lack of godliness the selfish desires of people will be magnified and many cliques will formed in the church for their common self centred interests . We’ve to pray and live with the truth everyday because our fallen nature do not want to live by the spirit for long but to live by flesh. We may be weak today spiritually or emotionally but as we continue to value and live by the truth, there will be new grace to help us overcome our shortfalls. And this is one of the great mysteries in living a godly life when we continue to persevere while receiving answers.

What are the essence of godliness? There are 6 areas in these phrases in verse 16.

“He appeared in the flesh,

was vindicated by the Spirit,

was seen by angels,

was preached among the nations,

was believed on in the world,

was taken up in glory.”

In these six phrases, it also could be the core message in 1 Timothy because the entire Book of 1 Timothy talks about the training to live a godly life. Paul wants to train Timothy to be a shepherd who upholds godliness so that when Paul is not around he can manage the church with steadfastness and godly wisdom. In the same way, as we attend Discipleship Training week after week, we are being trained in godliness. We need to built the holy sanctuary within our spirit so that we can rely on this godly foundation instead of being led by our flesh and emotions each time a problems occurs. Our flesh will make our fears, worries, frustrations speak to us instead of the spirit and coupled with our emotions and circumstances we will be confused and overwhelmed. We need to be train continually to hear our Lord’s voice in our spirit in all circumstances and our changing emotions. 

Godliness is beyond being fervent and passionate in our walk with Christ which can actually cause repercussions when we let these emotions overwhelm us. Because we are being driven by flesh and not by the power, grace and truth of the Holy Spirit, people around us will see us as unbalanced and irrelevant. Always remember that the Holy Spirit’s conviction is usually practical and appropriate in our daily living. To confirm if we are being convicted correctly, you will notice that people will be attracted and be liberated through the grace and truth as we live out the the selfless, sacrificial and long suffering attitude of Christ.

Here are six areas concerning Christ, which make up the mystery of godliness.

1) “He appeared in the flesh”.That Christ is God who manifested in the flesh.This proves that Christ is God the Son, the eternal Word was manifest in the flesh. When God was to be manifested to man, he was pleased to manifest himself in the incarnation of his own Son: The Word was made flesh, Jn 1:14.

Christ live among sinners, suffered a humiliating death and resurrected to conquer death. He lives to give glory to God in all circumstances when he was in flesh. The divine one became flesh to live out the entire divine nature of God in humanity. This is the greatest glory that can be attributed to God when a person continue to learn and live out this mystery. 

2) And the next phrase is “was vindicated by the spirit” which means he was justified by the Holy Spirit.Whereas he was reproached as a sinner, and put to death as a criminal, he was raised again by the Spirit, and so was justified from all the slanders he was accused. He was made sin for us, and was delivered for our offences. 

Jesus is filled with the spirit of perfect submission and lived with the perfect faith. During the extreme suffering on the cross he can still hear the voice of God and that is why he came to show us the way to live in complete obedience and perfect faith. All we need is to receive by grace the finished work on the cross and to rely on the power of his resurrection to do the will of God. The spirit of sonship, the most precious gift in this universe is already given to us for eternity. 

3) And third, it says “was seen by angels”. They worshipped him (Heb 1:16); they attended to his incarnation, his temptation, his agony, his death, his resurrection, his ascension; this is much to his honour, and shows the unsurpassed glory he had in the heavens, that angels ministered to him, for he is the Lord of angels. The angels acknowledged him as the son of God and angels are spiritual beings but they r not omnipresent, omnipotent or omniscience but Christ has all these 3 aspects of the divine nature of God. 

4) And fourth, “was preached among the nations”. After Jesus completed the mission of God, the Holy Spirit descended upon us and revealed the mystery of God through the gospel of Christ. In Acts 28:31 Paul was preaching the gospel in Rom and no one can stop the work of the Holy Spirit when he preached the pure gospel that has the blood of the lamb. 

5) The fifth point tells us that he “was believed on in the world”. He was believed on, which means the predestined believers can’t resist the salvation and the good news of the gospel. In Matthew 24:14, the gospel will be preached to the ends of the world.

6) And finally the sixth point tells us that he “was taken up in glory”. He is sitting at the right hand of God, where he ever lives, making intercession for all of us, and has all power, both in heaven and earth which is given to all of us to fulfil the will of God in our lives. 

We are to imitate Christ in our lives as husbands or wives, brothers or sisters, employees or employers and so forth. To continually learn to listen to the voice of God and obey through the submissive spirit of Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are to share the grace and truth of Christ and evangelise to the ends of the world. This is the entire mystery of godliness which is the core teaching in 1 Timothy. Therefore we are to comprehend 1 Timothy 3:16 and use this guideline to understand the whole Book of 1 Timothy.