If you turn to 1st Epistle of
Paul, the Apostle to Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 3. I'd like
to draw your attention to a few verses near the end of this chapter.
1 Timothy 3, verses 14 to 16, where we read, These things write
I unto thee, Timothy, 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 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. Thy 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. Paul's epistle, first epistle
to Timothy, his letter that he wrote to his son in the faith,
Timothy, to this preacher raised up under the Apostle Paul's ministry,
to this preacher saved by grace, whom God sent as an example of
preachers throughout the generations after him who would later be
saved by the message of the gospel, by the grace of God, and sent
forth to preach the gospel. This letter that Paul writes
to this preacher, Timothy, is one which is recorded in the
scriptures for us to provide that instruction that Paul gives
to this preacher regarding how he should instruct and lead the
church which he was given to serve. Paul gives him a number
of exhortations or charges or literally ordinances which he
should apply in the church in order that the gospel might have
the preeminence in the meetings of the saints gathered in the
church where Timothy served. The whole end of this epistle
and the whole end of every ordinance and charge and instruction given
to Timothy is to enable the gospel to have free course amongst the
people. It's to guard it from error.
It's to guard it from any trouble coming in from the people or
any persuasion of man or any activity which would prevent
it being preached, prevent it being heard, prevent it being
received. It's to ensure that the gospel
is preeminent in all the meetings. of the gathered church. For it
is the gospel which saved Timothy. It is the gospel which saved
all those under his care who were true children of God. It
is the gospel which brought the church into being. And it is
the gospel which sustains and which adds to the church, and
nothing else does. Then every instruction that Paul
gives to Timothy It's to the end that the gospel might be
preached, maintained, protected from error and have free course.
So he opens the epistle by writing to Timothy, his own son in the
faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus
Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still
at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some
that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and
endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying
which is in faith. So do, only preach this doctrine,
Timothy, only preach this gospel. The end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith
unveiled. from which some having swerved
have turned aside unto vain jangling desiring to be teachers of the
law understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm
but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully knowing
this that the law is not made for a righteous man but for the
lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners,
for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons,
and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was
committed to my trust. So Paul reminds Timothy of the
danger of that persuasion that comes in to turn from grace,
turn from the grace of the gospel back to the law, just as had
happened at Galatia. So in many churches there are
those who would turn aside unto what Paul calls vain jangling,
desiring to be teachers of the law, though they don't know what
they say, nor what they affirm. Paul asserts that the law is
good if a man use it lawfully. It's for the disobedient, to
bring conviction of sin, to shut him up unto Christ, to teach
him what he is, to teach him how dead he is by nature. Dead in trespasses and sins.
To teach him that he has no good in him, no righteousness, that
he cannot commit one righteous deed before a holy God. To teach
him that he's black from head to toe, that he's lost. to lay
him down before God convicted as the Spirit takes it and uses
it to convict him, and to lead him to Christ in the gospel,
and to shut him up unto Christ, who is the only Saviour of sinners. The law is good, but it's not
given for the righteous man, not given for the believer, but
given for the unrighteous to teach them their need of the
gospel. And when they are brought to
faith in Christ, by that gospel, they are delivered from the law,
delivered from works, brought under grace. Brought under grace
in the glorious gospel of the blessed God. which as Paul says
was committed to my trust. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord
who have enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting
me into the ministry because before I Paul was a blasphemer
and a persecutor and injurious. I was one of these for whom the
law was made and at the time I was zealous for the law. I
was a Pharisee of the Pharisees I loved it I tried to serve God
by it. but I was black and evil under
it. A blasphemer and a persecutor,
I persecuted those that followed Jesus Christ. It did me no good. It condemned me, it made my state
worse. And yet despite what I was as
the chief of sinners, I nevertheless, like you Timothy, obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. and the grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. For this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation, the acceptation of all men, the
acceptation of all of them. of every aspect of us, of all
of our acceptation in every regard. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all of our acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom Paul says, I am chief. be it for this cause I obtain
mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. After this opening, Paul
goes on to say, This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according
to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by
them mightest war a good warfare, hold in faith and a good conscience,
which some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck, of
whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme. I exhort therefore that first
of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks
be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of
God our Saviour. Paul goes on to exhort Timothy
from this stage on, of how he, as one who is sent to preach
this gospel of grace, should defend that gospel, should preach
that gospel, and should lead the church in which he is set,
should serve that church, should appoint deacons and bishops,
should appoint those in authority in the church, should instruct
the people, should pray, pray for the world outside, pray for
those in authority, pray that God would have mercy and would
lead people to hear the gospel. He instructs him on how the people
should gather in the church, that the women should adorn themselves
in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided
hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but with good works, that
the women should learn in silence with all subjection. Paul says,
I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence. He uses the illustration of Adam
and Eve, a reason for this. He speaks in chapter 3 of the
appointment of bishops and the qualifications to be a bishop.
That a bishop should be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant,
sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach,
not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but
patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that rules well in his own
house, having his children in subjection with all gravity,
not a novice, lest he be lifted up with pride, having a good
report of all. Likewise the deacons must be
grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy
of filthy lucre. All these, any who have an office
in the church, any who serve, any who preach, any who lead,
should like Timothy hold the mystery of the faith, the mystery
of the faith, the gospel, in a pure conscience. Let these
also first be proved, They should not be novices. They should be
proved. They should have experience. They should know the truth. They
should know Christ. They should be seen to know Christ.
Seen to have evidence of grace. Seen to have experience of the
pathway, of the pilgrimage, of the ups and the downs. Have good
knowledge of the full doctrine of the gospel. Let them be proved. Let them that use the office
of a deacon be found blameless. Their wives should be grave,
not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons
as the bishops be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children
and their houses well. For they that have used the office
of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree and
great boldness in the faith which is in Jesus Christ. These things
write I unto thee, Timothy, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But
if I tarry long, I write these things unto thee, Timothy, that
thou mayest know how thou ought to behave thyself in the house
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth. The house of God, the church
of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Here
Paul describes the church as being the church of the living
God, the church of the living God. This is the church of which
Timothy was a part. This is the church in which Timothy
preached the gospel of the grace of God. This is the church in
which Timothy was given the authority to serve in and to rebuke and
to exhort, to appoint deacons, to appoint those who would rule
over it, to instruct. This is the church in which he
and his brethren were one, the church of the Living God. the pillar and ground of the
truth. This is what sets this apart
from everything else that takes the name of religion, even if
it takes the name of the Christian religion. This is what sets this
apart from everything else which takes the name of religion in
this world. There are many religions, many
meetings, many temples and meeting places, many so-called churches
in which the people worship dumb and dead idols. Whether these
are the Eastern religions with their physical idols set up and
their incense and their superstition and their worship of idols of
their own creations which can do nothing, or whether these
are those churches which take the name of Christ and yet set
up an idol that they call Jesus who differs from the true Christ
revealed in the scripture. An idol of their own imagination,
a Jesus that they want to worship, a Jesus that they like, that
they've formed in their own minds not the Christ of the Scriptures,
but one that they are happy to worship. And they set him up,
and they talk about him, and they come to worship him. Yet
he doesn't exist, he's not in the midst, and he's but a dead
idol. They gather, they talk, they
make much noise, they go away again. But all is in the flesh,
all is of man, God is not present. This is as much the gathering
to worship an idol as the superstitious of the heathens who actually
make physical idols and gather to worship them. But not so the
children of God. And not so Christ's Ecclesia. And not so Timothy. and his brethren
who gathered in the house of God, who gathered not in the
house literally, a building, but who gathered together as
the house of God, the people, the church, who gathered as the
church of the living God. They gathered to worship, not
dumb idols, not something in their own imagination, but the
one true and living God. He who lives, he who reigns over
all, he who is from everlasting to everlasting, he who in Christ
is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the reason
for the existence of all things, the one who was before this world
was ever brought into being, the one who spake and brought
this world into being. The one who breathed life into
Adam the first man and took his wife out of his sight and instructed
him and blessed him. The one who watched as Adam rebelled
and turned against him and brought the whole human race into the
depravity of sin. The one who watched as mankind
multiplied upon the face of the earth and the wickedness and
evil of mankind multiplied. but the one who set his love
upon a people from before the foundation of the earth, despite
what they are by nature, despite their wickedness, despite their
rebellion, despite their sin, and who in the fullness of time
sent his only begotten son into this dark and evil world to be
made a man, to suffer the despising and the rejection of all men,
to be cast aside, to head for the cross, to have all men around
him cry out, crucify him, crucify him, to be nailed to a tree,
to be slain, to die. This is the living God who sent
his Son, the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to
die for sinners. to die for his own, to offer
his own life a ransom for many. This is the living God that sent
his Son to redeem his people, to set them free, to deliver
them from captivity, to deliver them from the grave, to set them
at liberty, to give them life. This is the God who brings life
to those who are dead. He sent his son a sacrifice for
sin. His son died. He drank the cup
of God's wrath against the sins of all his people throughout
all time. He drank it to the dregs. He
took away their sin. He blotted it out. He washed
them clean in his own blood. As he suffered the outpouring
of God's wrath, he looked upon them in love. He gave himself
for them because he loved them. The son of the living God. He
gave up the ghost as he cried out, it is finished. Salvation
wrought, salvation accomplished, salvation complete. And all his
people died with him. All their sin condemned. All
their sin taken away. and on the third day they in
him rose again victorious. Living, alive, resurrected from
the grave. The living God delivered the
dead that they might have eternal life in Christ. He delivered
the sinful that they might have the righteousness of God in Jesus
Christ. He breathed life into this people
again. Eternal life. Eternal life. And they with him are gathered
in the church of the living God. The living God. A people who
were dead like you and me. A people who were once nothing. But now by the grace of God,
I made the children of the living God. Is this you? Do you know this God? Has he spoken life to you, to
your soul? Has he spoken unto you? Has he
come unto you in the depth of your sin? Has the Spirit convicted
you of your sin? Has he led you unto Christ and
lifting up the gaze unto the Son upon the cross? Has he said
unto you, live? Has the spirit quickened you
unto life? Have you been born again by the
mighty operation of God? Or do these things wash over
your head? Do you come and go apathetic? Do you come to the meeting and
hear the gospel and go away again unmoved, untouched? Are you dead? or has God breathed life into
your soul and made you live? Well all who are in Christchurch
are in the church of the living God and they know what it is
to come into the presence of the living God they know what
it is to have life from this God He is their life He is their
all they know what it is to be dead and they know what it is
to live. As it says in Romans 9, 26, it
shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto
them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children
of the living God. A people who were once not God's
people. In the gospel, God sent his message
of grace into the four corners of the earth, no longer just
to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, who were people who were not
even born Jews, a people who were nothing, who were not his
people. And he said that these will be my people. I will save
my people from Jews and Gentiles. And these who were not my people
shall now be called the children of the living God. The living
God. not the worshippers in a dead
church around a dead idol. For as 2 Corinthians 6 16 says,
what agreement have the temple of God with idols? For ye are
the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. God's people know what it is.
to have life because God dwells in them and walks in them and
he is their God and they are his people they know it they
don't follow some persuasion of man they don't simply gather
according to some mental persuasion they don't simply follow that
which men say They haven't simply turned over a new leaf and decided
to associate with a certain group of people. But they are gathered
with this people because God has taken those who are dead
and made them live, and they know what it is to live. They
know what it is to commune with their God. They know what it
is to have fallen down on their face as it were dead before this
God, conscious of their filthy hearts by nature, conscious of
his just judgment against sin. aware that if they remain in
that state then death and hell awaited them and they know what
it is when the gospel comes in power to have the Son of God
speak forgiveness to their soul and to say that no judgment does
not await you you will not pay for your sins because I have
paid for them to the uttermost they are forgiven you are forgiven
You are mine. They know what it is to know
Christ, to hear his voice, to behold him by faith in the gospel,
to see him, to love him, to walk with him. They know that they
are in the church of the living God, the living God, which is
described as the pillar and ground of the truth. the pillar and
ground of the truth. How may we know what is the church? Many, many meetings, many, many
meeting halls have the name church above the door. Many meeting
halls say that they worship Christ. But when you go in, is the living
God in the midst? And do you know it? Well, he'll
only be in the midst where the truth is declared. And he'll
only be in the midst of those meetings which stand as the pillar
and ground of the truth. For this is the church. It is
the pillar and ground of the truth. It upholds it. It is that
ground upon which it is laid. It is those pillars upon which
it rests. and wherever the true church
of God is gathered, you will hear the truth. Plainly, clearly
and boldly concerning the grace of God in salvation. Concerning
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning His free grace in
dying to save sinners. Concerning His electing love
for that people whom the Father gave Him before the foundation
of the world. Concerning His substitutionary
death, that effectual death by which He saved all for whom He
died. That death by which He justified
His people, by which He sanctified them, by which He brought in
the righteousness of God for them. That death in which they
died with Him and rose again with Him. You will hear that
message plainly. And you will hear that they have
been delivered from sin, from death, from hell, from condemnation,
from the law which condemned them. That grace is that which
saves and grace is that which keeps. You will not hear in the
church of the living God vain jangling from those who have
swerved aside from the purity of the gospel to desire to be
the teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof
they affirm. But you will hear the law used
lawfully, for the law is good, and it is preached plainly to
convict sinners of their sin and to lead them unto Christ. you will hear the truth. And
where this gospel is not preached, that gathering is not the church
of the living God. And it has neither pillar nor
ground upon which the truth is laid. But Timothy knew the gospel,
and God had sent him to preach that gospel. in his church. And that gospel was revealed
from on high, it came down from heaven above, it was revealed
unto Timothy by grace. Christ spake out of the heights
of glory by his Spirit unto Timothy. He made known his truth unto
him, and the truth was as it were lowered down and rested
upon those pillars of the church set upon the ground of the church,
the pillar and ground of the truth. The truth is heard in none other
place but the church of the living God. The church exists because
of this truth and it exists to declare this truth. And this
truth is exclusive to the Church of the Living God, the House
of God. It's what brings it into being, it's what sustains it,
and it's what goes out from it. As the children of God gather
in the meetings of this Church, they gather to hear this Gospel
preached. And as they gather, they gather
that the sound of this Gospel might go forth out of the Church.
And when others come in to gather with them, they will come in
to gather and they will hear the gospel of the grace of God.
And if they don't hear that gospel, if they don't hear Christ, they
have not come in to the church of the living God. But where
Christ's church is gathered, the gospel is preached. And where
any sinners come and gather with that people, they will hear that
gospel. The church does not gather simply
for praise meetings as many have where all it does is it comes
to have a sing-along and out it goes again and there's not
one word of the gospel. The church's gathering is to
gather to worship God and true worship comes from a heart of
faith which is drawn out in love and adoration of the Saviour.
And the heart of faith is only drawn out in love and adoration
of the Savior when the Savior is made known. And the Savior
is made known in the preaching of the gospel. We may presume
that believers know the gospel and know the Savior, but if we
neglect the preaching of the gospel when they gather, we cannot
assume that the God, the Christ that they come to worship, that
they speak of, is the same Christ. For there are many errors and
many persuasions which go out to many deceptions, and except
you continually feed on the gospel of Christ, you continually eat
of his bread and drink of his wine. you will soon be drawn
aside by the deceptions and snares of the evil one. And if the gospel
is neglected in the meetings, whatever people may say of believing
the gospel and of following Christ, the Christ they speak of can
increasingly become different from that Christ which is made
known in the scriptures and in the gospel. This is why it is
so important that the gospel is continually preached in the
midst of God's people. and why all Paul's exhortations
to Timothy in this epistle are to that end. There are only bishops
and deacons in the meeting to order the meeting to watch over
it so that the gospel may be preached and the people fed and
true worship rendered. The women are to keep silent
in the meeting as an example of the fact that the woman is
a picture of the bride of Christ, that Christ is the man, the husband. It is Christ who preaches the
gospel to his church, the bride, the woman, and therefore the
woman comes in the midst of the meeting to hear his voice, not
to teach him. So it's important in the meetings
that the women are to be silent. So Paul exhorts and so it continues
to the end of the age. Even in our day it is important
that they gather and that they are sober. It is important that
the children respect their parents and are taught to be in subjection
to their parents. For this shows that the children
of God are in subjection to their father. And that they come in
all gravity and seriousness in the meetings of his house to
worship him who has authority over them and who has life. Yes, the church is the pillar
and ground of the truth. But Paul writes this epistle
to Timothy as he says, 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. I write
this to you, Timothy, that thou, and the people with thee, may
know how thou art to behave thyself in the house of God, in the church
of the living God. There is a way to behave in God's
house. There is a way for the minister,
the preacher, to behave, as Paul instructs Timothy. And there
is a way for the people who gather with him to behave. They do not
come into his meetings. They do not come into the meetings
of the church of the living God. How they like in any free and
slipshod fashion. There is a way to approach the
living God. This is why Paul reminds Timothy
here that this church is the church of the living God. He
reminds him just who we gather before. how serious the meetings
of God's Church are, how reverent we should be in God's presence,
how high a view we should have of God, and how low a view we
should have of man, for we are but the dust of the earth before
the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. We by nature are fallen
sinners deserving of his wrath and judgment. He is the almighty
God from everlasting to everlasting, righteous, pure, perfect and
holy. And though he is a God of grace
and a God of mercy in the gospel, It does not alter his character
as God as being holy and righteous and just and pure and perfect. It does not mean that the children
of God have a familiarity with God by grace. That means that they can come
into his presence freely and carelessly. though they know
him personally through Christ, though they know the grace of
God in salvation, though they have the spirit of sonship put
in their hearts to cry out Abba Father, nevertheless they still
own him as father, they have that respect that children have
for their mothers and fathers, that respect they have for their
father, they fear God. He is the living God. He is the
one who has power to condemn and power to justify. The children
of God, when they gather, gather seriously, aware of whom they
come into the presence of. We often pray at the start of
meetings that the Lord would be present with us, that he would
meet with us. We cannot expect him to answer
that prayer. if we come with lips which draw
nigh unto him when the hearts are far from him, if we come
in a slipshod fashion as though the meeting of God's saints is
just the gathering of some social club, if we come carelessly,
if we come noisily, if we come hurriedly, if we rush in chattering
about all sorts of worldly conversation to the very minute that the meeting
starts, then the meeting goes on for an hour or so, then we
go off again back to the conversation we had before, as though this
is just a little pause in our pathway. This is not how the
children of God gather in the Church of the Living God. There
is a way that they ought to behave themselves in the house of God.
And Paul writes to Timothy to instruct him of how this people
and how he should behave in the house of God. We approach in
reverence with godly fear, knowing that this God is a consuming
fire outside of Christ. As Hebrews 10 31 tells us, it
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
A fearful thing. When Moses met with God, when
God met him in the burning bush, God told him to take the shoes
off from his feet because the ground whereon he stood was holy
ground. He did not remain as he was before. He took the shoes off from his
feet in awe of the one before whom he stood. that holy, perfect,
righteous, almighty, glorious God who dwells in light inaccessible,
inaccessible to all but those who are approaching Christ. He
is holy. And if we are aware of this,
if we know God, if we know his righteousness, if we've known
the true conviction of sin, in our natural state, when God has
worked in our hearts and taught us what we are before him, if
we've been taught our state before him, if we've then been shown
Christ in the gospel, we will know how fearful it is to fear
the hand of an angry God upon us. We will know his awesome
power, and we will know his wondrous grace in Christ in the gospel.
But that grace that we know in the gospel, will cause us, will
cause us to ever be aware of how holy this God is who has
forgiven us of our sins. And to always approach Him in
worship with a seriousness and a gravity which respects these
things. When we come to worship we come
in reverence. We come quietly. We don't come
as a hubbub before the start of the meeting, chattering, but
we prepare our hearts. We come to hear Christ speak.
We come to hear his voice. We come praying that he will
meet with us. We still our hearts before him.
We sit silent before him. This is so neglected in so many
places which call themselves Christian churches. You go so
many places and you go in the meeting and it's like a nightclub
before it starts. And as the speaker comes in,
slowly the chattering dies off as he stands up to talk. He gives
his 30 minute message, sits down and then it all chatters again.
And so much of the chatter is on the world, not on Christ and
his gospel. What has this got to do with
gathering before the Living God? If we know how almighty and glorious
He is, it affects our whole approach to worship and gathering, our
whole conduct in the meeting, how we prepare for it, how we
enter it, how we leave it, how we speak or don't speak in the
meeting, how we worship, how we sing the hymns, how we pray,
how we prepare ourselves, how quiet we are. How we dress for
the meetings, how we conduct ourselves before others. I'm
sometimes asked, why do you dress smart on a Sunday in your meetings? Why the suit, Mr. Potts? Are
you just putting on an appearance before a man? Not at all. We come and we dress in a manner
not according to some legal rule. But according to that which is
put in our hearts by the Spirit of God, by grace. Because we
know that there is a way to approach unto God and where there is grace,
there is the obedience unto righteousness. Where there is true grace in
the heart, there is not sin. We don't sin that grace may abound. We don't come slipshod and slovenly
before God. We don't come noisily before
him but we come, we dress, we approach in quiet spirits before
him because we recognize that he is the true and the living
God. We recognize his power and his
might and his authority. We recognize his holiness and
we come respectful of that. If I were to go and to meet some
person in business, in various arenas of trade, you would dress
smartly for the occasion. If I was invited to visit the
Queen for whatever cause, I would dress accordingly. The world
knows what it is to dress smart according to the people you are
meeting and to show them respect accordingly. You would not go
dressed in your normal jeans and t-shirt to go and see the
Queen. neither so when we gather in the church of the living God.
And to excuse it by speaking of grace and our freedom to live
as we like is just to use grace as an occasion for the flesh.
That is not grace or a true understanding of grace. We come before God
mindful of who he is if we put a suit on to visit the Queen
we'll certainly put a suit on when we gather to worship God
in holiness and in reverence. Not to dress up to lord it over
others or to be seen as the best dressed for that would fall into
the error that James speaks of. Not to overdress but certainly
not to come in in the clothing that we would wear to the beach
or every day as though this is just another place to visit.
We come and we gather, seeking to meet with the true and the
living God. We come praying that he will
speak unto us, that he will declare his grace unto us, that he will
be present by his spirit in the midst. We come knowing who he
is, and we approach reverently and respectfully accordingly. We approach quietly, we gather
quietly. How can we expect to hear the
voice of God when our tongues wag to the very last minute before
the meeting starts? We must sit silent before him
that he may speak unto us. I have seen some who approach
the meetings in a casual fashion. Some years ago we held a meeting
in Honiton where Don Fortner preached and one man turned up,
a man in his 50s, a man who professed sovereign grace, professed to
love these things. But he spoke a lot about grace
and the freedom that that gave him and he turned up at the meeting
wearing a football t-shirt. And I thought it stood out as
a bit odd, a bit counter to his profession. But I'm sure if I'd
said that to many at the time, they'd have said, well, don't
judge. Two years later, he wrote to me, saying that he had renounced
the Christian faith. That it was all just a mental
persuasion. And he fell away. And the reality of his profession
was made known. The reason he didn't gather before
God in the manner you should gather. was because grace to
him gave him liberty and license to do as he liked. Because grace
was embraced by a mental persuasion that never took root in the heart.
And that's why he fell away. But where the reality, where
the root of the matter is in the heart, the heart cries out
unto the living God and knows whom it meets and comes into
the presence of. And where the heart is right,
The outside is right. We may say, does God not look
on the heart? Does it matter how we dress or how we are? Yes,
God looks on the heart, but when the heart is right, our conduct
is right too. When our heart is right, we come
into the meeting reverently, seeking to hear Christ's voice.
When the heart is right, we will dress right before him. We won't
need anyone to tell us how to. We know what's right and what
is wrong. The hearts of those in whom the Spirit works are
one in Christ. They are of one mind, they approach
in one way. Everyone is individual, everyone
is different. We don't all wear exactly the
same clothes, we don't all look the same, we don't all sound
the same. yet we will all approach God with reverence. We will all
approach him in unity in the truth. We will all approach him
with the same awareness of just who we come into the presence
of. Just who. Some will say but if
you If you're like that, if you're so serious in your meetings,
you dress so seriously and you act so seriously and you're so
quiet at the beginning of the meetings, oh this will put the
world off, they won't come in, they'll be put off by that. The
world is put off by religion and Christianity full stop. As
Romans tells us, there is none that seeketh after God, none. they've all gone astray that
not there is none that do if good nobody seeks God no one
will come into the meeting except God draws them and when the spirit
of God goes forth in the hearts of people and draws them unto
him there is no barrier that can be seen in the meeting or
in the way the saints gather that will prevent them coming
in. The world knows that God when he's truly worshipped by
those who truly know him, is regarded seriously. The world
expects the children of God to gather seriously. And the world
laughs at those meetings which make a mockery of the worship
of God, where they're joking and they're laughter, and they're
aping the world's ways, the world's fashion, the world's music, the
world's entertainment. When so-called churches turn
their meetings into discos in order to encourage young people
in and they fill the churches to capacity, all they do is they
encourage dead sinners to gather in their particular social club.
That is not the church of the living God. And the world, the
common sense of the world, looks on at that and laughs and scoffs
at it. It may appeal to some, but many
can see through it. And though we may say that they
might not like the seriousness of coming and sitting and listening
to the gospel preached, in a quiet and a serious meeting, reading
from a translation of the Bible, as the authorised version is,
which is several hundred years old, though many will say all
these things will put everybody off, the reality is they put
none of God's lost sheep off. Indeed, the rest of man's wisdom
and tricks which he puts on to gather people in, gathers none
of God's true sheep in. They see through it. They're
longing for meat and drink. They're longing for the reality
which can answer their soul's condition. They're longing for
the gospel, for Christ, for his grace, for his salvation. and
nothing short of it will satisfy and they'll go wherever they
can hear it and eventually they'll come to that church of the living
God where the saints gather and meet and where the gospel is
preached and where God is worshipped in spirit and in truth. For there
and there only they discover that place where the living God
meets with his people. There and there only they discover
the pillar and ground of the truth. There and there only they
discover Christ declared in power in the gospel. There and there
only they hear the gospel of their salvation. To what end
does Paul instruct Timothy to behave himself in the house of
God in this light? To this end that the gospel is
preached and that the mystery of godliness is made known in
that gospel. As Paul concludes at the end
of this chapter, without controversy, without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness. This is the mystery Timothy,
this is your message. This is why you gather in this
way. This is why you must gather seriously,
quietly, why the women should be silent, why you should be
grave, why the children should be subject to their parents,
why they should listen. This is why you gather to hear
this message of Christ. 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 and received up into glory. Yes, we gather to the end to
glorify Christ. To glorify him as our gaze is
set upon him by the preaching of the gospel in the midst of
his people. To look unto him who is life,
the son of the living God, the living God. As Peter said when
Christ asked him in Matthew, who do men say that I am? Peter
said, we know that thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God. and we gather to worship Him. He who is the mystery of godliness,
He who is God manifest in the flesh, He came into this world,
He came to save sinners, God was made a man. He was made a
man. He died upon the cross for sinners. He was justified in the Spirit. He was laid in the grave. He
was seen of angels. He was preached unto the Gentiles,
preached throughout all the earth. He was believed on in the world.
He was received from the grave he rose up victorious over the
grave and he rose into glory and from glory today this living
God this son of the living God reigns over his church reigns
over the world and preaches his gospel in the midst of his people
in the house of God the church of the living God. This is why
this church exists, to hear His voice. This is the message declared
in its midst, Christ crucified. Christ and His salvation. And
this is the message that goes out from this church to the four
corners of the earth. Have you heard Him? Do you know
Him? Do you know His life? Do you
know the Son? of the Living God. Amen.