The Pillar And Ground Of The Truth

Introduction

I don’t think it matters how many years you’ve done this or how many times you’ve done this. And I know it was true even when I was preaching regularly for a small congregation, there’s just absolutely nothing that tames the butterflies in your stomach when you’re about to get up into the pulpit. Because you immediately remember the awesome responsibility that is before you, and that is to communicate clearly the things of God. And so I want to endeavor to do that for just a few minutes this evening. Dean, you where did you go? You really couldn’t have led a more appropriate song wherever you’re at than the one that oh, there you are, than the one that you just led for the lesson to follow. Seek first the kingdom of God, Matthew 6 and 33 says, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

If there is one identity that we have, one absolute obligation and responsibility that we all share, it is to be truth seekers, to be seekers of God’s kingdom, to enlighten the way for others to see the path that could lead them to the eternal spiritual abode of the Father. And I think that’s one of the reasons why in 1 Timothy, the third chapter, the Apostle Paul makes the following remarks. I am writing these things to you, verse 14, hoping to come to you before long. But in case I am delayed, I write to you that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. Some of your translations will say ground of the truth.

By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness, he who has revealed, he who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. But the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith. Paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. For it is sanctified by means of the word of God in prayer.

In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ, constantly nourished on the words of faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables, fit only for women, for old women. Paul said that, not me. For bodily discipline is one of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Are we today the pillar and ground of the truth?

1. Painfully Honest With the Scripture

Are we today that which holds up the truth so that others might see it? Do we shine the light upon that which God has revealed to us so that others might be enlivened by that truth? Are we spiritually disciplined? Are we nourished on the words of faith and sound doctrine? I would say to you this evening, and these are not original thoughts. In fact, I was just listening earlier this week to a lesson by Russ Bowman. In order for us to be a New Testament church, we’re first going to have to be painfully honest with the scripture. We’re going to have to look at what the scripture says about our behavior as individuals. We’re going to have to look at what the Scripture says to us as a body of God’s people, and we’re going to have to admit that there may be times where we don’t measure up and where we don’t measure up.

It is imperative that we bring ourselves into conformity with the truth. Not for the sake of tradition. Not because, as is said by many people, and this is one of the things that we need to just completely divorce from our vocabulary. This is what the Church of Christ believes. Church of Christ doesn’t believe anything. The Church of Christ is a unified body of believers. What matters is what you and I believe and what the truth dictates that we believe. If we’re going to be a New Testament church, we’re going to have to be willing to see beyond tradition. Traditions sometimes can be wonderful things. My wife is one of those people that if the Star-Spangled Banner is playing and I’m not hearing it, I will get a sharp elbow under the ribs until I rise to my feet, put my hand over my heart, and remove my baseball cap.

Because that’s tradition. We have certain traditions, don’t we? There’s traditions and times that we need. There’s traditions in all aspects of everything that we do. But we have got to be willing to see beyond tradition so that when tradition runs afoul of the truth, it’s tradition that loses and the truth that wins. We’re going to have to be, in order to be a New Testament church, disciplined to make full application of the scriptures.

Even, and maybe I should have said especially when it contradicts our own ideas and opinions. Brothers and sisters, one of the great dangers, and we’re going to come around to this spot again in just a moment. One of the great dangers in the modern age. In the age where most of our communication borders on something less than personal. Where most of our communications on a daily basis happen through mediums of text message and Facebook is we want to congeal and condense something that’s true down into something that’s easy to remember. And I know from discussions that I’ve had with other people online about things like this, that there are even people today who wear the name Christian who share the same faith that you and I share, who don’t understand any longer what the problem is with denominational thinking.

What’s the problem with thinking of the church? It’s just the church of Christ is just another denomination. What’s the problem with thinking in a creedal kind of way? Why not write out those things that we believe? And you know what? That would make it really easy to pass on to our children and our children’s children. And then nobody will ever stray from the doctrine because we’ve got a creed that we wrote down, and this would be a good thing. Except that’s not a good thing. We’re called upon to be the pillar and ground of the truth. We’re called upon to hold those things that are up that are true. We are not called upon to hold up a limited subset, no matter how true it might be.

We’re not called to hold up a limited thinking on the truth that was blessed and ordained by a handful of men, and then pass that down from one generation to the next as if this is what the church of Christ believes. That each generation needs to be working out its own salvation. Every person needs to be going back to the book and learning what’s true. We’ve got to be disciplined to make full application of the scripture. And you know, I was thinking about this morning as Steve, who I think is ushing or ushering. Is it ushing or ushering? He’s out there. As he was talking this morning, he gave a very simple lesson, and I don’t, I don’t, I’m not saying that in a in a negative sort of way.

The beauty of that lesson was in the simplicity as he was talking about the road bumps that come upon us, and that sometimes life just throws more at us than what we’re expecting. That’s when traditions are easy to fall back on. Well, I’ve always done this, so I’m always going to do this. We’ve always stood for this. Are we disciplined enough to make full application? Because you know, sometimes we have to do the hard thing. Sometimes we’ve got to admit that maybe that thing that we thought all along is not as accurate or in keeping with the new with the New Testament as make it ought to be. So who are we? If we’re to be the pillar and ground of the truth, what attitude do we bring?

2. All Scripture Is Inspired by God

Turn over, if you will, to the book of 2 Timothy. If you’re still in 1 Timothy. That’s just one book over. And 2 Timothy, the third chapter, beginning in verse 10. It says, Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and suffering, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, but evil men and impostures will proceed from bad to worse. Deceiving and being deceived. Pause right there for a second. I want you to see that’s the second passage we’ve looked at tonight, where we’re told that evil men were going to come. Deceivers were going to come.

False teachers were going to come, bearing things that sound like truth, but aren’t measuring up to the standard of truth. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture. Verse 16, if you’re not caught up with me, all scripture is inspired by God. And profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Some of your translations will say complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. But they all begin in verse 16 by saying, All scripture is given by the inspiration of God.

All scripture is breathed by God, all scripture is provided by God. God put his seal of approval upon this book so that you and I could know what’s expected of us. He didn’t give us some creed. He didn’t give us some authority for some creed. He didn’t call upon us to think denominationally and to think of ourselves as one of many among a sea of people that claim to be Christians. He called us to be those that would stand for the truth. Those that would take every ounce of it. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. I like how the King James says this. It says instruction in righteousness. So that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Let me ask you something this evening. Are we equipping ourselves? And remember, only you can answer for you. Are we equipping ourselves for every good work? Are we preparing ourselves with study and training and dedication to be people of God? Next Lord’s Day, Lord’s willing, I’m supposed to deliver the lesson on Sunday morning. And we’re going to be talking then about what it means to be a peculiar people. Or God’s chosen people. And so this lesson is kind of a launching point, if you will, for the one for next Sunday morning. I know it’s kind of odd to stagger them that way, but that’s the time’s idroof. But are we striving to be people of God, equipping ourselves with everything the truth brings to us? Everything that the truth prepares for us, prepares us to do.

3. The Truth That Convicts or Traditions That Are Comfortable

So what are our attitudes toward the scripture? Are we embracing attitudes of spiritual maturity? Or are we embracing doctrines of convenience, the things that we’ve always heard? Because let’s face it, if we never shirk, if we never shirk from the things that we’ve always heard, mommy and daddy will never be disappointed. Grandma and granddaddy will never be disappointed. The elders will never be disappointed if we embrace the convenient doctrines, the doctrines that we’ve always heard. Rather than being spiritually mature, we’ll never run the risk of disappointing anybody that’s close to us, will we? Well, it all depends on what standard we’re trying to come up to. What is our attitude toward the scripture? Do we embrace the truth that convicts or traditions that are comfortable? Do we look at passages that challenge us and promote growth?

You know, I think that’s one of the real dangers as it sits today. I believe within the church, in this church, God’s only church. And maybe even within our own local body. We’ve begun to fool ourselves into believing that we’ve somehow achieved spiritual perfection. That we’ve attained some level of perfection, that there’s nothing new to learn, there’s no new application, there’s nothing new to strive for. Brothers and sisters, that’s a dangerous kind of thinking. Because all we’re really saying is not that we’re perfect, because I can promise you the Apostle Paul said in Philippians the third chapter that he had not yet attained perfection. Not because we’re perfect, but what we’re really doing is we’re just striving to hear things just as we’ve heard them before.

Now, brothers and sisters, if the things that we’ve heard before are true, there’s not a problem there. But if we’re only accepting of them because it’s what we’ve always heard, then we’re not allowing the truth to speak for itself. We have in fact taken out the authority and allowed the traditions of men to speak where God’s word should be speaking. How many of you have seen this? I remember growing up, at least one of the places, I think it was in LaPort when Dad was preaching there for a while. I didn’t know mom and dad were going to be here. This was in the junior high school Bible classroom. It took me forever to find this exact one. But, you know, here’s God’s part. And here’s man’s part.

Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard that. Only one of you? Okay, there’s more hands going up. Come on, don’t be shy. If you haven’t heard that, we got a lot more to talk about. Okay, we got some shy people here. Or maybe you even have this in the back of your Bible. I did for the longest time. A summary of God’s plan of salvation. According to the book of Acts. And look at this, we’ve even got scriptures over here on the side. There it is again. Hear. Believe, repent. I’m sorry for you guys over here. I’m always going to the way. Confess. Be baptized. See, it’s over here too. Now, let me ask you something. Is that what the New Testament says?

I’m seeing some heads go like this. Well, yes. That is rooted in truth.

But you know what that won’t do? That plan. Taught in that way. Isn’t going to convert anyone that isn’t already converted.

Because it doesn’t speak truthfully about godly things in godly ways. Let me ask you, what’s the difference? We’ve got our five-point plan right here. Believe, repent, confess. Baptism. Woo-hoo! And the denominations have their five-point plan. I chose Calvinism because it actually is a five-point plan. Total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, preservation of the saints. I hope I got those right. Actually, I don’t care. Do you see some similarities there? This is what they go to. Total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, preservation of the things. Everybody say, here, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. And you might say, well, we’ve got scriptures for ours. Guess what? They’ll pull them out of context, but they’ve got scriptures for theirs too. They’ll break the context.

Sometimes we do too if we’re not careful. They’ll break the context, but they’ll have scriptures for theirs too. So what’s the difference? They’re both saying salvation in five easy steps. Actually, there’s this one step, but there’s five parts to it. Salvation in five easy steps. Is that what Jesus died to bring to us? The plan of salvation, and if you hurry down fast, I’ll throw in a toaster. Five easy steps. I don’t mean to be sacrilegious. But that’s how we treat it. I screech there, sorry. That’s how we treat it. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. Why? Because we’re rushing people to that baptism one. Let’s get them in the water, get them wet and get those sins off them. You’re chuckling at that. But are you chuckling because it’s funny, or are you chuckling because it’s uncomfortable that we actually do think that way from time to time?

Is this really all the Bible says? Well, let’s just take one of these, and we’ll come back to it in just a second. But you see, this is dangerous thinking. When we try to distill the truth down into an easy to remember mnemonic, an easy to remember memory tool, something that doesn’t expect anything of anyone but to remember a few verses and hey, you got our five-point plan. It’s usually three points, but this one’s five. All we’re really doing is thinking dangerously. Because you see, that’s denominationally minded. That’s not taking them to the whole truth. That’s not even telling the truth about what those fundamental things are. We haven’t told them what they’re supposed to hear, or what they’re supposed to believe, or what it means to confess, or what it means to repent.

I got those out of order, sorry. According to the five point plan. Or even what it means to be baptized. And I think what’s lacking is that we have a woefully inadequate sense of authority. One of the things that I appreciated when Lauren and I first came to this congregation. Tony was just finishing his class on 2 Peter. And the very next quarter, Mike began a class on studying the Bible. And he took us through verse. And he and I had a conversation about this because my dad had given me kind of a chain reference that worked a lot like. How many were in that, Mike? Wasn’t it like 12 or 13 chain references that you had? That took you all the way through the New Testament and that touched on every subject, but touched on it in a very deep kind of way.

That each verse that you added expanded your understanding and subsequently brought you into a deeper appreciation for the truth. That’s not taking salvation and breaking it down into a five-point plan. And it certainly isn’t creating a creed. But if what if we’re distilling the truth down into five easy steps, we’re not sort of creating a creed. We’re not almost creating a creed. We’re creating a creed. So this is what we believe. Remember, we said the church doesn’t believe anything. The believers believe. The truth dictates. So let’s look at something here. Let’s look at how we describe baptism. I’m just going to pull a few words that I’ve seen in conversations I’ve had online and articles that I’ve read, even some that have been written by other preachers.

4. Baptism: God's Work, an Appeal to God, a Rebirth

Baptism is a ceremony. Is it really? Baptism is a metaphor, borrowing on the Romans 6 passage. Baptism is man’s part in God’s plan. Baptism is an analogy. I think they actually meant allegory there, but analogy is what they said. What does the scripture say? Does it teach us that baptism is a ceremony? Does it teach us that baptism is a metaphor? Does it teach us that it’s man’s part and God’s plan? Does it teach us that it’s an analogy or an allegory? Well, let’s look at a couple of passages. Colossians 2. Now remember, we’re just taking baptism here. This lesson is not on baptism. I don’t want you to get sidetracked here. But we’re going to use this as an extended metaphor for what can be wrong with our thinking.

Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed in overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world. Rather, according to Christ, for in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in him you have been made complete. And he has had overall rule and authority. And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God.

Circle that. If you underline and circle in your Bible, feel free to underline that, or just mentally put a start by that. Who raised him from the dead, when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of the flesh, of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of death, consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rules and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. Look at what he says there in verse 12. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.

Whose work is baptism? The denominations don’t like that. We talk about baptism because they say that we’re teaching salvation by works. Baptism isn’t my work. I don’t do anything in baptism except submit to authority. God does the work. God takes away the filth. God takes away the sin. God takes away the writing against us because Jesus died to do that to make that possible. Or how about 1 Peter 3? Verse 18 and following.

In which also he went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through the water, corresponding to that, in like manner, some of your translations will say. Baptism now saves you. Not the removal of dirt from the flesh. It’s not just about getting wet, but an appeal to God for a good conscience. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him. Brothers and sisters. When’s the last time you thought about baptism being an appeal to God?

Asking God for that which he freely wants to give. It’s not about, although it’s summed up in the plunging beneath the water, but it’s not about the flesh going beneath the water. That certainly is New Testament baptism, immersion, and we’ll talk about that all day long. But how many times are we honest about what it really is? It’s an appeal to God through that action to take away our sins. To make our consciences what they ought to be. Oh, we’ll talk about immersion, and we’ll stand up and we’ll talk about how infant baptism doesn’t meet with the scripture, and that’s absolutely true. And we’ll talk about, we’ll talk about immersion, and then how this isn’t some kind of spiritual, better felt than told feeling, and that’s absolutely true.

The pattern over and over and over again that we see in the book of Acts is physical immersion in water. But it’s not physical immersion in water for the sake of getting somebody wet. It’s physical immersion in water so that the conscience can ask God for that which he wants to give. Some of you are looking at me with question marks.

Did we make an appeal? Did we ask God? Did we answer, as the new king as the King James says? Did we provide an answer to God’s invitation to come and be saved? It’s an answer to God for a good conscience. How about Titus 3? Titus 3, for we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. Wow, that’s bad. But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness. So it’s not about law keeping. But according to his mercy, look at this word. This is almost beautifully poetic. By the washing of regeneration.

And the renew and renewing by the Holy Spirit. Remember how we said that God, that baptism was God’s work? God was doing something through baptism. The washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The washing of regeneration. When you were baptized, were you regenerated? Did you arise as a new creature? How about Romans the sixth chapter? Again, this is an extended metaphor for spiritual thinking. What shall we say then, Romans 6, verse 1? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Or do you not know that as many of us as we’re baptized into Christ Jesus, we’re baptized into his death. Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Or do we just talk about it being immersion? Do we talk about baptism being rebirth? Or do we just talk about it being something that’s a necessity because we see it over and over and over again in the book of Acts? Do we really help them to understand it? And do we really understand ourselves that the old man passes away and the new man is raised to life? You know, it comes down to our attitude toward the truth. There’s a danger of true things being accepted because they’re convenient. Because they’re tradition. Or dare I say, because they’ve even become a creed. True belief, true acceptance is more than just accepting tradition for tradition’s sake. It’s accepting what’s true because it’s true. Are we truth seekers? Are we truth seekers?

How about John 3? Barry talked about this passage when he was here a couple of weeks ago. Nicodemus said to him, verse 4, how can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Jesus answered, Truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed, I said to you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit? Were we born of the Spirit when we were baptized? Or were we just fulfilling a requirement on somebody’s chart? He had an excellent point at the end of that lesson, and I think a point that went missed by a lot of people. He said, if we camp out on John 3 and 5 and teach that is exclusively teaching baptism and leave out the spiritual rebirth that’s necessary, then we’re as ignorant of what the text says as those that camp out on John 3 and 16 and teach belief only. Were we reborn spiritually? Was the old man put to death and the new man raised up? Was the man that serves the flesh put to death and a man that was enlivened by God’s Spirit brought forth from the water?

It’s time for some honest thinking. Remember, baptism is just a metaphor for a larger problem. Yes, it’s immersion. Yes, it’s part of God’s plan. Yes, it’s necessary. But it’s really God’s work. It’s really an appeal to God, an answer to God. It’s a regenerative washing. A cleansing. It’s a rebirth. In our strident efforts to stand up against denominationalism that we know to be false, are we reducing the truth of God down to something that’s less than what it is? You see, it is all these things. But it’s also all these things. It’s all these things, immersion, God’s plan. Necessary. But what it really is to you and to me and those that have put him on in baptism is God’s work. An appeal to God. Regenerative washing.

5. Why Are We Here? Itching to Hear

New I was going to mess that word up. Regenerative washing. Rebirth. You know, one of the questions we’re going to have to answer is why are we here? Open your Bibles, if you will, to 2 Timothy, the fourth chapter. In 2 Timothy, the fourth chapter in verse 1. The text reads as follows. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead. And by his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.

And will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things. Endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. We’re itching to hear, aren’t we? We like to come together. We’re itching to hear. We talk about how much we get from, how much we draw from each other, how much we’re encouraged by each other when we’re coming together. We’re itching to hear, but what is it that we’re looking to hear? Is it what we’ve always heard? Are we looking just to hear that we’re okay and not really be convicted? You know, you’re never in more trouble as a preacher than when you start stepping on people’s toes and telling them the one thing that they really need to hear.

Are we looking to hear what does not move us beyond where we are comfortable? You know, sometimes it’s good to be comfortable if we’re comfortable in the truth. But if it’s the truth that makes us uncomfortable, and we’re deriving discomfort from hearing something that we need to hear, and we turn our ears against the one that’s presenting the truth, then that says more about us than it does about him. Are we looking to hear what does not challenge us to consider more, challenge us to consider more deeply? Are we just looking to hear what we’re comfortable hearing? Even if it keeps us spiritually uninformed. Somebody really smart, you’ll notice the quote of attributation there at the bottom. What we want to hear is rarely what we need to hear, and what we need to hear is rarely, if ever, what we want to hear, said by somebody really impressive.

Maybe Mark Twain, probably not really. I just made it up this afternoon. I’m pretty sure of that. Although Mark Twain probably said something sort of kind of like that. What we want to hear is rarely what we need to hear. What we want to hear is peace and safety. What we want to hear are the things that make us comfortable. What we want to hear is that we’re better than they are, and we’ve got red rubber, red rover, let the Baptist come over because we’re staking our stand on the truth because we always have, and this is a church of Christ, and the church of Christ knows what it believes. That’s not doctrinally sound. Do you know the truth? Do I know the truth? And when the truth says something contrary to what we believe and what we think, are we willing to accept it?

Because rarely are the things that we need to hear those things that we want to hear. Occasionally I get a phone call. And it’s always the same pleasant person on the other end of the line and says, Mr. Bowman. Because I wait until the last minute to pay bills. Your credit card is a day late. I said, huh? Well, I sent it off two days ago. And the lady on the other end of the line will always say, Well, it takes about five days to get here. I say, Oh. I don’t like those calls. I should like them a whole lot less because maybe then I’ll quit waiting to the last minute to send off bills.

But we don’t like to be told that we’re in error. We don’t like to be told that we’re messing up. We don’t like to be told that, man, I really should have gotten that done earlier. I don’t like it when my wife asks me, why is it you change your mind on a Sunday afternoon about the things you want to preach Sunday evening? Because I always end up in a position where I’m stressing to get the last light of the PowerPoint done, and I tell her, but babe, this other thing is so much better. She goes, How do you know if you don’t ever preach it? She’s right. And I always tell myself, one day I’ll go back and preach those other lessons. But do you ever notice that?

That the things that we want to hear are rarely the things we need to hear, and the things we need to hear are rarely the things we want to hear. How many of you ladies like to go dress shopping and find out that the tag that used to have one number on it now requires another number, and maybe it’s going up? I got no hands on that one. 2 Timothy 4 again. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort. With great patience and instruction, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.

6. Spiritual Growth and Edification

You know, the thing that we want to hear can oftentimes sound a whole lot like truth. But if it’s not truth, it’s just not truth. So why are we here? Are we here for spiritual growth and truth? 2 Timothy 3, 16, 17, we were there earlier. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God. It’s profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness. I know it out of the King James, and I’m trying to, and I need to read it off the screen. So that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Or how about Ephesians 4? And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth. Remember, spiritual growth. Is that what we’re here for? But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects unto him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes growth of the body and the building up of itself in love?

Are we committed to the spiritual growth and edification of our brothers and sisters? Remember, we’re supposed to be the pillar and ground of the truth. That’s where we started this lesson. Are we committed to the spiritual growth and edification of our brothers and sisters? Are we lifting each other up and encouraging each other to press toward the truth, to grow to the truth? Or are we just kind of comfortable where we are? Maybe a little bit divisive. Maybe a little bit uncertain. Maybe a little bit like we were last year and not really making any plans for any spiritual growth or edification over the next year. Are we pursuing this kind of growth? Are we building each other up? Are we using the truth? Striving for perfection.

Is it what we’ve always heard? Is it what does not convict? Is striving for perfection what does not move us beyond where we’re comfortable? What does not challenge us to consider more deeply what we’re comfortable or is it just what we’re comfortable hearing? Is it what keeps us spiritually uninformed, or is it growth? Is it that which compels us to change? Is it that which challenges us to think more deeply and to be more encouraging and more edifying and more uplifting? When we strive for perfection, are we leading ourselves deeper into the truth? So we can have a more solid foundation underneath our feet spiritually.

Conclusion

Or that which we already know. When we strive for perfection, are we striving for that which enlightens us and quickens usitually? So are we the pillar and ground of the truth? Are we striving for perfection? Are we growing in knowledge? Are we committed to the truth and the truth only? No creeds, no interpretations, no traditions, no believing something because it’s what we’ve always believed. Are we diligent in our application of the truth? Are we united in spirit? Brothers and sisters, the world needs us to be the pillar and ground of the truth. Needs for us to be growing. It needs for us to be a body of people like that, like the one that’s described and taught in the New Testament. It needs people that know the truth for truth’s sake, not just what they’ve always heard.

It needs people that can give more than a simple answer, but can use the word of God to thoroughly convict others. Not just that their path is wrong, but that there’s a righteous path, a godly way, and a salvation that awaits any who are seeking it. Are we the pillar and ground of the truth? Or are we just pretending? There’s anyone here this evening that owes some duty to God if your soul is not right. There’s not ever going to be a better time to change that than right now. Won’t you come forward confessing your sins as we stand as we say?