Let us turn again to God's word
in the chapter that we read and directing you now to verses 14
and 15 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verses 14 and 15 These things
write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly but if
I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth. And our text is found
here at the end of verse 15, the words, the house of God which
is the church of the living God, the pillar and grounds of the
truth. I trust that we are real Baptists
and if so we must have a very high view, a high doctrine of
the church, of the local church. We do not believe in a territorial
church. such as we see in the established
Church of England or the established Church of Scotland, one being
an Episcopalian Church governed by bishops, the other being a
Presbyterian Church. Both of them national churches. We do not believe in such a church
as that. We believe in the local church.
We believe that God gathers his people together in local congregations
and the very word that is used in the New Testament and translated
church literally means the called out, the plasia, those who are
called out. those who are gathered out of
the world and gathered together in local congregations as you're
probably aware in his version Tyndale translates the words
more correctly as congregation. We are congregationalist in that
sense we see the importance of each local church and each local
church is a microcosm of that one true church When we think
of the church, we can think of it in that sense, can we not,
as the whole company of the election of grace? One church, one faith,
one baptism. But that great church, the whole
company of the elect, is manifested in local congregations. And so
we have a high doctrine of what it is to be a member of the local
church. And here we see how Paul writes
to Timothy and exhorts him with regards to his own conduct in
the church. Paul is absent. Timothy is left
there without Paul in Ephesus. But he writes, if I tell you
long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth. Now let us, before we
come to the words of the text, just make some remarks concerning
the context concerning the chapter. In verse 14 he refers back to
those things that he has been speaking of, these things, right
on to the hoping to come on to the, shortly, what are the things
that he has been writing, what he's been speaking of the ordinary
standing offices of the church. In the opening seven verses,
he speaks of the office of a bishop, more literally, an overseer. This is a true saying, if a man
desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. We have to think in terms of
bishops as we are familiar with them in the Church of England,
who are often diocesan bishops and they have under them a number
of parishes and those who are rectors or vicars and so forth
in The parish churches are all beholden to the diocesan bishop. That's not the biblical meaning
of the word. It literally means an overseer. And it is used interchangeably
in the New Testament with the word pastor. Pastor is an overseer,
overseeing the church of God, pastoring shepherding the sheep
of Christ. And he says there in the opening
verse, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work. Those who God is pleased to call,
he puts it into their hearts to serve him and God in his own
time, will make it evident that they are to exercise that pastoral
ministry in the local church. And he speaks of the qualifications
of the overseer there in the opening verses, the first seven
verses of the chapter. That is one of the standing offices
of the local church, the overseer. the bishop. But then there is
another office that he goes on to speak of. At verse 80 he begins
to speak now of the deacons. Likewise must the deacons be
grave, not double-tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy
of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure
conscience, and so forth. And so from verse 8 through to
verse 13 he speaks of the qualifications necessary for those who will
serve the local congregation in the office of the deacon. These are the things that he
speaks of in verse 14. These things write I unto thee,
hoping to come unto thee shortly. These two offices that of the
overseer and that of the deacons in the local church. Now the
same qualities are required, similar qualifications are set
out with regards to each of these offices. And the qualifications
as we read through the chapter you will observe are principally
spiritual qualifications. The office of the overseer is
of course something quite different and distinct to that of the deacon. But the qualification is required.
as we read through the verses they are so similar one to the
other. The deacon together with the
overseer must be a spiritually minded man. That is so clear. We don't need to read the verses
through again. It's a high standard that God
sets before us here with regards to those who hold office in the
churches. And as spiritual qualifications
it is interesting to see how when Paul writes to the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and there at verse 14 he speaks,
does he not, of distinctions diversities of gifts. He says the body is not one member
but many. If the foot shall say because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? If the ear shall say because I am not the eye,
I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole
body were an eye, where were the seeing? If the whole were
hearing, where were the smelling and so on? He likens the church
then to a body, and a body that has distinctive parts. Again he says previously, oh
there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit, and there
are differences of administration, but the same Lord, and there
are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which
worketh all in all. The church is a spiritual body,
the members are spiritual members. They are living stones, lively
stones. Well, those who are to hold office
in the church must also be spiritual men. And it's important that
we recognize these truths if we're going to be those who rightly
maintain a high doctrine with regards to what we believe is
the local church. these two standing offices he
speaks of and he goes on with regards to the deacon here in
verse 9 to speak of them holding the mystery of the faith in a
pure conscience what are we to understand by that expression
the mystery of the faith well it is that that body of truth
that is believed in the church. That doctrinal body will come
on presently to say something more with regard to that particular
body of truth. But again observe that those
men who were first appointed to the office of deacon, as we
have it recorded in Acts chapter 6, were very much spiritual men. We read there of seven men full
of the Holy Ghost and men who clearly held that
mystery of the faith, that body of Christian doctrine in a pure
conscience because we go on to read of one of them in particular,
a man called Stephen and we are told he was full of faith and
power Paul is saying much then here
with regards to the church and those offices that are so necessary,
so vital to the well-being of the church, the office of the
overseer and that of the deacons. These things write I unto thee,
hoping, he says, to come unto thee shortly, but if I carry
long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave Thyself. As I said, Timothy has been left
by the Apostle Paul. He is there in Ephesus. We go back to chapter
1 and verse 3, As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus,
when I went into Macedonia. He was in Ephesus there in Asia
Minor or Turkey as we would now call it. And Paul had gone over
into Macedonia, that's the northern part of Greece. I besought thee
to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia that thou
mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. He had given Timothy a charge
with regards to the church there at Ephesus and he was to watch
over it. And it's interesting because
we see something similar with Titus. These epistles, 1st and 2nd Timothy
and Titus are often referred to as powerful epistles. And
so also with Titus we read in the opening chapter, verse 4,
to Titus, my known son, after the common faith, grace, mercy
and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Saviour for this cause, left Isaiah in Crete. that they should
set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders
in every city as I had appointed them. He has a task to perform
then under the authority of Paul the Apostle in ordaining these
elders in the churches. I would contend that both the
pastor, the overseer and the deacons are in scripture referred
to as the elders. As I said the qualifications
for these offices are so similar. Now the reason why I make that
assertion is because of what we read in the Acts of the Apostles. In chapter 6 we read of the appointment
of the first deacons and then later in chapter 11 the end of Acts
chapter 11 we read of certain relief being sent to the church
of Jerusalem the first deacons were appointed there at Jerusalem
of course to attend to that ministration to the widows. There has been
some dispute amongst the Hebrews and the Greeks concerning the
distribution of funds and the apostles must give themselves
continually to prayer, the ministry of the word, they haven't time
to deal with all these matters and so we have the establishment
of the deacon. And then as I say at the end
of chapter 11 in the Acts, relief is sent to Jerusalem. We are
told of this prophet Agabus who spoke of a great dearth throughout
all the world which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability determined
to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. which also
they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas
and Saul. They send relief to the churches
there in Judea, Jerusalem of course, the principal city in
Judea, they send it by the hands of Barnabas, and who is it sent
to? The elders. Who were the elders? Well the
only elders we ever read of previously are those men spoken of in Acts
chapter 6 verse 7. is served as the deacons. And so when Titus is given this
charge in Crete to ordain elders he is there and he is attending
to the matter of these two offices. There must be those who are the
overseers of the churches, pastors in the churches but also there
will be deacons serving those churches in and about Crete. and so too here in Ephesus where
Timothy is Paul has every intention to return there into Asia Minor
to go again to Ephesus and he's writing, he's written to Timothy
these things hoping to come onto the shortly you see how he would
visit and visit again these various churches that he had been instrumental
in establishing as he went on his various missionary journeys. When he writes to the Corinthians,
for example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, he gives certain
instruction and direction with regards to conduct at the Lord's
table And he says the rest will I set in order when I come. He
had every intention of going. He would return to these places.
But there were these men like Titus and Timothy who were serving
under the Apostle. Now this is the context you see.
He writes to instruct Timothy with regards to his own conduct. That thou mightest know how thou
ought us to behave thyself, he says, in the house of God, which
is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of
the truth. And so, I want us to come to
the text now and see what Paul is saying here with regards to
the church, the local church. What is the local church? First
of all, it is the ground of the truth, considering the statements,
as it were, in reverse order. The church is the ground of the
truth. Margin gives an alternative reading,
it says the sky of the truth. Now in some ways these words
that are used might be said to be synonyms, the pillar and sky
of the truth. They both support in that sense. but the pillar of course is that
that will support the roof whilst the whole of the building is
stayed upon the foundation and so when he speaks of the church
as the ground of the truth we are to think of that groundwork
of truth that groundwork of truth in the church now let us be clear
here we are not to imagine that it is the Church that in any
sense authenticates the truth. That is the teaching of the Roman
Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church places
itself above the Word of God, above the Bible. The Roman Church
refers to itself, of course, as Mother Church. And there's
no salvation, they say, outside of Mother Church. And the Church
decides what books will constitute the Canon of Scripture, what
books are to be included and recognised as the Word of God.
And, as you're probably aware, The Roman Catholic Bible is in
some ways different to our Bibles because they include those apocryphal
writings as part of Scripture. The apocrypha. The Church gives
authority to those writings. The Church puts itself, as it
were, in that position whereby it makes decisions as to what
is to be recognized and accepted as the Word of God. And not only
that, of course, but the Roman Church would say the traditions
of the Church are also on a par with the Word of God because
the Word is to be understood and interpreted in line with
the traditions of the Church. So the church is all important,
it's the church that authenticates the truth. But Paul isn't saying
that. When he says that the church
of the living God is the ground of the truth, he means that the
church, the true church is grounded and rooted in the truth. And
the true church must therefore abide faithful to that truth
of God's Word. As I say, Paul has left Timothy
at Ephesus when he addresses him in this epistle. And remember
now, when we turn to the Revelation, one of the seven churches, in
fact the first of the letters to the seven churches is addressed
to the church at Ephesus. Unto the angel, or the messenger
of the church of Ephesus writes these things. It is the Lord
Jesus Christ himself addressing the church at Ephesus. And what
does he say? I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore, from
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
out of its place, except thou repent." They had departed from
the truth. They had professed a love for the truth, but they
left the truth. And Christ is saying if they do not repent
and return to the truth, he will remove the candlestick, it will
cease to be a church anymore. It is the truth that governs
the church, not the church that governs the truth. That is the
important thing. The truth is the very groundwork
of the church. And so it governs all the life
of the church, the corporate life of the church. God's truth
must govern the worship of the church and the witness of the
church. What is it that we are to recognize
as that groundwork of truth? When he goes on to speak of it
does he not hear in verse 16, without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Here is the truth, the truth
as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks of that great mystery. That mystery of godliness, that
manifestation of the Son of God is coming into this world as
a real man and all that great work that he accomplished. This is the groundwork of the
true Church. This is the truth that will be
proclaimed and preached. There will be that contending
for the faith once delivered unto the saints. Jude, writing
in that general epistle, that short epistle just before the
revelation, writes, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to
write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. earnestly contend, he says, for
the faith, not the grace of faith, it's that body of truth, it's
that that we referred to just now, spoken of in terms of the
deacons in verse 9, the mystery of the faith, holding the mystery
of the faith in a pure conscience. We must know what the faith is,
what the true faith is, what the true doctrine of Christ is.
and we must be those who would contend for it if we are going
to be a true church, a faithful church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He must have the preeminence
in all our service of worship. He is that one whom we should
be desiring to exalt. The truth governs the doctrine
that is proclaimed in the local church. but the truth also governs
the practice of the local church the manner of our worship is rooted and grounded in this
same truth, is it not? remember what was said repeatedly
to Moses when he received instruction and direction from God concerning
the tabernacle and the worship of the tabernacle see that thou
makest all things according to the pattern shown unto thee in
the mount. He was forty days and forty nights
in the mount receiving all that instruction, all that direction
concerning the tabernacle and the worship of God in the tabernacle.
And it must all be after that pattern. He must do exactly what
God himself had said, what God himself had prescribed. now some would say that was the
old testament and that was a legal code that
they were tied to but of course with the new testament it's so
different they would say now we have the liberty of the spirit
and so we are not regulated so strictly as with those under
the old testament We are free to worship God in the way in
which we would reckon ourselves to be right and proper and appropriate.
Well is it right to say such a thing as that? Well look at
what Paul says when he writes to the Hebrews. In Hebrews chapter
12, remember, he draws a contrast between the Old Testament between
that covenant that was given at Mount Sinai and the New Testament,
which he refers to in terms of Zion. There in Hebrews chapter
12, speaking of Zion in verse 22,
he says, But ye are come unto Mount Zion. Now previously he's been speaking of what happened at Mount Sinai. Verse 18, You are not come unto
the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and
unto blackness and darkness and tempest and so forth. That place
where Moses was told, see that ye make all things according
to the pattern. shown unto thee in the mount.
Verse 22 But ye have come unto Manzion, and unto the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, and to the general assembly and church of
the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge
of all, and to the spirit of just men made perfect, and to
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, into the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse
not him that speaketh. For if they escape not that refuse
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then
shook the earth. But now he hath promised saying,
Get once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. Is it not, friends, more solemn,
more serious, to come to God in terms of Mount Sinai than
ever it was to come to Mount Sinai. Even you see under the New Testament
we are to be careful then to do those things that are rooted
and grounded in the truth of God, in the conduct of the worship
in the house of God. which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and ground of the truth, let all things be
done decently and in order, says Paul to the Corinthians. Oh,
the truth, you see, it governs the whole corporate life of the
church, the people of God, with regards to their worship, with
regards to their witness, In all of these things we must attend
to God's word, we must be rooted and grounded in it and do only
those things that are therefore right in the light of what God
has said in Holy Scripture. But then also, when we think
of this text concerning the church, can we not think of those who
are individual members in the local church? Isn't God's truth
also to govern our lives individually? As those who have been given
a name, a place amongst the people of God, those who are those lively
stones built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. God's truth should
govern our lives. We should seek to live our lives
in the light of these holy precepts of the gospel. We should be those
who would be conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As Paul says when he writes to the church at Rome, and he comes
to the more practical aspect of his teaching there in chapter
12, remember the opening words, I beseech you therefore brethren,
He says, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. We are to be those then who conform
not to the world, but to the word of God, who live our lives
in accordance with the truth of God's word. Ye shall know
the truth, said Christ, and the truth shall make you free. That
doesn't mean that we're free to sin. No, it means we're free
from sin. Oh, this is what we should desire,
is it not, that we might be those who, by God's grace, live our
lives in accordance with all his holy law. We don't want to
be partial with the word of God. We love those exceeding great
and precious promises. That's the gospel, is it not?
The great promise of the forgiveness of our sins and peace with God.
But let us not be partial, let us be those who also love the
priesthood. Who desire to be holy men and women. Thy word,
says David, have I hid in mine heart. that I might not sin against
thee. Are we such then friends as are
rooted? The church, I say, is the ground
of the truth. But then also here, we read of
the church of the living God, the pillar, the pillar of the
truth. Now what are we to understand
by that? There's certainly some similarity.
The pillar and stay of the truth as I said just now the pillar
supports the superstructure, the roof besides that there is
the basic groundwork there is a similarity but there is also
a difference is there not what are we to think of then when
we read of the church as the pillar of the truth well think
of it this way ancient rulers would have their edicts posted
on pillars of public buildings. And the Church is to hold forth
the Word of God in that sense. The Church is to hold forth the
truth of the Word of God. You know, I've heard it said
by men who were very much respected in what are usually termed reformed
circles. In other words, men who would
say that they believe in the doctrines of grace. Yet I've
heard some of these men say, well, these doctrines are foundational
doctrines. That's the groundwork. And when
you're building, you dig out your footings and you lay the
foundation and then you cover the foundation you don't see
it anymore and you erect a superstructure and those great doctrines, those
great truths of the reformation, the doctrines of grace they say
well that's the ground work but you don't see it once it's laid,
you lay it certainly you do that at the beginning but then it's
all covered up well this text surely flies in the face of that
because the church is not only the ground of the truth it's
also the pillar of the truth and as I say those ancient rulers
would post their edicts upon the pillars of public buildings
and so the church is to hold forth the word of God and hold
forth the truths of the word of God It's to proclaim these
truths, it's to preach these truths. It's not to hide them
and conceal them. I contend really that these men,
whilst they might profess to believe these doctrines, they
certainly have very little love for them. They have not really
been burnt into their souls. Surely if the truth of scripture
is burnt into a man's soul, he must contend for it, he must
preach it. we know as that the apostles
are referred to as pillars in Galatians chapter 2 and verse
9 we read of James, Cephas and John who screamed says Paul to
be pillars they were pillars of the church, the apostles James,
Cephas or Peter and John. And already we refer to those
words in Ephesians 2 concerning the church built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets. New Testament prophets as well
as apostles and Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. But as pillars the apostles were
not only foundational, they were also those men who were holding
forth the word of truth, who were proclaiming it. They were
witnesses, were they not? They were men called to bear
testimony to Christ and his teaching, Christ and his work, Christ and
his death, Christ and his resurrection from the dead. Why we have the
record of their ministry there in the Acts of the Apostles,
how faithful they were. in proclaiming that great message and what was true of the apostles
is to be true of those who hold any office in the church look at how later in chapter
5 where again Paul refers to the
elders, he says, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy
of double honour, especially they who labour in word and doctrine. Why these men are to labour in
word and doctrine? And again he says something similar
when he writes to Timothy the second time in 2 Timothy 2 and
verse 15 He exhorts study to show thyself approved unto God,
a workman that deedeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth, that shun profane and vain babblings, for
they will increase unto more ungodliness. Here is the task
of the true minister of Christ said he is to show himself approved
unto God, he is to rightly divide God's word, he is to be unashamed. in proclaiming the great truths
is to hold them forth and remember these are offices in this chapter
I say the office of the overseer and that of the deacons are offices
that are essential for the well-being of the church but the church
itself you see is to hold forth the world just as those pillars
in ancient times would hold forth the Kinzidi Philippians chapter
2 and verse 15, holding forth the Word of Life. We are not to hold back. We are
to declare that Word of Life. What is that Word of Life? It's
the Gospel of the Sovereign Grace of God. There is no other way
of salvation. Salvation surely is of the Lord. The down word. It is incumbent
upon the Church, you see, not only to hold forth that Word,
but also, as it were, to authenticate what he is being held for by
living the life of godliness. Look at what is actually said
there in that passage that I just referred to, Philippians 2, verse
15, he says to the Philippians that ye may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world,
holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day
of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in
vain." They are to live the life of godliness. And so that word
that is being held forth, that gospel that is being proclaimed,
those precious truths of the sovereign grace of God, how are
they authenticated by the lives of godly living of these people,
blameless, harmless, sons of God, without rebuke, living in
the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation. Or the church, friends,
it's the pillar of the truth. Not just the groundwork, the
church holds forth that precious truth of the word of God and
then thirdly we read of the house of God and what is the house of God
the Lord Jesus Christ says my house shall be called of all
nations the house of prayer the house of God is a house of prayer that thou mayest know how thou
oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God which is the
church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth it's interesting this expression
the house of God Timothy remember was at Ephesus as we see in chapter
1 and verse 3 Now what was Ephesus? At that time it was the centre
of the most gross pagan worship. That's what it was. There stood
the temple of Diana. And remember how in the Acts
of the Apostles, in Acts chapter 19, as a result of the Apostle
Paul being there, and preaching the gospel of the grace of God,
there was tremendous uproar. We read of a certain man named
Demetrius, the silversmith which made silver shrines for Diana,
brought no small gain unto the craftsmen, whom he called together
with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs, you know that
by this craft we have our wealth, Moreover you see and hear that
not alone at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul
hath persuaded and turned away much people saying that they
be no gods which are made with hands. So that not only this
our craft is in danger to be set at naught but also that the
temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised that her magnificence
should be destroyed whom all Asia and the world worshipper. And when they heard these things,
these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying,
Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled
with confusion. It was a terrible uproar. And
this is the scene, you see, of the ministry of Timothy. He's
there in the place where stands that pagan temple to Diana. It's the house of idolatry. And Paul quite deliberately,
you see, speaks here of the church as the house of God. You can
think of that assembly that had been called out, that gathering,
that had arisen as a result of the preaching of the apostles. And this says, Paul to Timothy, this is the
house of God. And what is the temple of Diana in comparison
with the house of God? Now, we're not saying of course
that the reference there is to the building in which they met. We don't know
whether they had any building. Maybe they had to meet in the
homes of various individuals. We don't know. Even when we go
back to the Old Testament, when Solomon prayed at the dedication
of the Temple of the Lord, what did Solomon say? Will God indeed
dwell on earth? He built this magnificent temple
so different to the pagan temple to Diana of the Ephesians. This
is God's temple. But Solomon says, will God indeed
dwell on earth? Behold heaven and the heaven
of heavens cannot contain Him. Even in the Old Testament you
see there was that recognition. Yes the temple was God's special
dwelling place in the midst of Israel, but of course it's different
now under the New Testament as Christ says in John chapter 4,
when He speaks to that woman of Samaria, God is not worshipped
in this mountain in Samaria, nor yet in Jerusalem. But God is to be worshipped by
his people in spirit and in truth. What is this house of the living
God? Why it's made up of living stones,
is it not? Remember the words of Peter. Peter writes in there, in 1 Peter
chapter 2, and verse 5 says to believe as
ye also as lively stones or living stones are built up a spiritual
house and holy priesthood and to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ always the church it's the people
of God that is the house of God And
it is, friends, the house of prayer. And does it not apply
also to us personally and individually? Is our heart, is your heart,
is my heart a house of prayer? When we look to ourselves, when
we examine ourselves and prove ourselves, When we are exposed
to God's truth, when God comes to us and searches us, what do
we see? We look inside, we see so much of a ruin, do we not?
We sang just now those words of Charles Wesley, the ruins
of my soul repair, and make my heart a house of prayer. Do we
think of what we say when we sing the hymns? What doctrine,
what truth is contained so often in the words that we sing? Is
that what we desire? That not only as we come together,
and we do come together, and I trust we feel that there is
some profit when we come together Thursday by Thursday, the stated
hour of prayer. And there, there is public prayer,
corporate prayer, and we can say our Amen to the prayers of
the brethren. But if we are those who are the
Lord's people, are we not individuals to be those whose very hearts
is the house of prayer. The ruins of my soul repair and
make my heart a house of prayer. Paul then writes to Timothy and
speaks to him concerning this high doctrine of the church. It's the church of the living
God. It's God's church. These things write I unto thee,
hoping to come unto thee shortly, he says, but if I tarry long,
that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself. This word that he uses, to behave,
it means to live, to conduct oneself, how we are to conduct
ourselves. In the house of God, which is
the church, of the living God, the pillar and the ground of
the truth. O God, grant that we might, each
of us, have a name, a place in that building, to be those lively
stones, those living stones, and to be those who are, by God's
grace, given that blessed place, to know that we are truly the
children of God, of the living God. May the Lord
be pleased to grant His blessing on his work.