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Sunday 02/02/25
Title: Seeking not just the Word, but the One Who inspired it!
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Seeking not just the Word, but the One Who inspired it!
Last week we ended with a few instructions which were intended to place these Ephesian believers back on the right track in their walk with God.
For context, which is ALWAYS important, we need to recall that just as the Spirit predicted through Paul several years prior – false teachers had brought in unscriptural doctrines into the church. Some of these teachers were fellow church members and some were said to have come in among them.
Now I think that expanding your grasp of the situation might prove helpful.
Ephesus was a bustling city of about 250,000 people and if history can be trusted, it paints a nearly unbelievable picture for us of the conditions the believer in Ephesus faced daily.
You see all 250,000 people lived in an area only 550 acres large. What this means is that if there were NO buildings – whether commercial, political, religious… only housing – each person only had about 11/5000ths of an acre to live on.
That the world renowned temple to Atemus was a prominent and huge struction in this city only made this worse.
Suffice it to say this was a hyper cramped city to live in.
Now most calculations place the percentage of Christians compared to the overall population of the Roman Empire to be around 0.01 – 0.02%. This would mean that the body of Christ in Ephesus was between 2,500-5,000 people.
Now for a visual, consider that Palmetto (not including Ellenton or Parrish – but just Palmetto) is about 2,816 acres and as recently as the 2020 census was populated by under 14,000 people.
Ephesus had 250,000 people in an area 5x’s smaller than Palmetto! That boggles the mind to think about!
Christians were outnumbered by 99.98% at best.
So, you can imagine that in these conditions, encountering false doctrine was an hourly affair.
Now these believers of course did not meet in one central building, but from house to house.
Paul had been there quite a bit over the years – even living there for just under 3 years at one point. He had left Aquila and Prisca (or Proscilla) there. Of course later he sent Timothy as we know.
It was imperative to strengthen these people in the faith or they would be wiped out through nothing more than neglect of the maintenance of sound doctrine.
Does that help you get a mental handle on what was going on here?
Our situation is possibly worse in that we are constantly inundated with secular, ungodly ideologies which are not only contrary to scripture but many are outright hostile to it!
The struggle is to strike a balance between rigor in regard to doctrine while not losing the intimacy of relationship – which is what happened to the Ephesians.
Years later, after Paul, Apollos, Timothy as well as Aquila & Priscilla had moved on they had fallen off on the opposite side of the ditch. In Jesus’ address to them He praised them for their adherence to sound doctrine. For not being able to tolerate false teachers and apostles. For hating the teachings of the Nicolatians which He also hates – BUT… He had one thing against them which was every bit as dangerous as their previous condition of instability in doctrine. They had lost the passion of their youth. They had their doctrine straight, but it read and communicated like an accounting ledger rather than a love story. All the facts were there, but it didn’t take your breath away!
Can you see why it is SO important to model church after the examples we have in scripture?
This serves to highlight one of the more serious reasons why I believe the pattern for the local assembly we see modeled for us in the 1st century by the Apostles were smaller home groups who were all part of the greater body of Christ within a city.
These were led by shepherds or pastors all of equal authority throughout the city. These pastors or elders were accountable to one another, they communicated with each other, more than likely they rotated throughout the home gatherings so that the instructions of scripture could be obeyed which required the laity to know their elders, submit to them and call upon them in times of need and sickness.
You see, if Ephesus had been a modern church with thousands of members who all met in one central building with only one main pastor then the problems Paul sent Timothy to address would very likely never have come to light.
You know, I find it interesting that the development of “small groups” which functioned like micro-ministries within a larger church – only really developed and took off once churches began to grow to ridiculous proportions. While it had limited expression in the 1700’s in the Methodist churches under John Wesley, it didn’t popularize throughout Christendom until the 20th century.
It was conceived of in order to address a problem. You see, they realized that unless the church can touch people as individuals, the message will largely be ineffective. So these small groups were used as a key tool for spiritual growth and community building within the church.
Notice what the small group was to satisfy the need of – spiritual growth and community.
Meaning, they noticed that people were not really growing spiritually in the huge gatherings because they were not personal. People could not ask questions, were not engaged and largely sat there as in a lecture making the assembly a spectator sport only. Also, even though there were SO MANY people in the larger gathering, it did not seem to promote community. For that they needed smaller groups.
However, if we read the New Testament – these two things were the PRIMARY two reasons for the very existence of the local assemblies in the first place. Furthermore a the two main components of these assemblies were pastors and laity. If these small groups are only composed of laity and THAT is where believer are getting most of their doctrine – well, NASA, we have a problem!
Instead of responding to the problem by dividing up into many smaller home churches with qualified and called pastors who circulate among them as we see modeled in the New Testament, we reinvented the wheel. We retained a top-down model of church with one Grand Poobah at the lead and many small groups led by unqualified laity underneath.
Now I am not just speaking in the wind here.
I both know of and have even personally participated in small groups which functioned as smaller ministries within a huge church. I have actually been IN groups which taught things which I know with 100% certainty the Pastor would not have agreed with.
This means that unless the Pastor was VERY led by the Spirit or one of these smaller group members were to have told the pastor, they would never know that doctrine contrary to the church was being taught right under their nose in a forum which was going to have a far greater and lasting impact than that which he as the pastor had over them on Sundays.
The ones leading these small groups are rarely Pastors and in many cases are probably not even required to report much of anything to the Pastor. If they do, it would most likely be at their own discretion what it is being shared.
That is a GREAT way to disseminate contradictory doctrine and even false doctrine.
Also, sin can run largely undetected in a church like that so that the command of God to judge sin in our midst not only would rarely happen – it virtually couldn’t. Not only this but such is sadly the model held up before smaller churches as the standard to achieve.
Paul told Timothy that he needed to press the need for growth in knowledge and correlating action in these believers. That he needed to duplicate himself in certain men who would be able to help carry the load. That together, those called as spiritual leaders needed to confront those who were spreading false doctrine, but do it with skill, authority but also with gentleness with the genuine hope that God might grant these people the ability to change their minds back into agreement with scripture.
Can you see that this kind of solicitous care and personal involvement of the Pastors with the laity is imperative and that it can only be realized within a smaller, more manageable forum? That such is genuinely not conducive to the way church is typically conducted today.
Now, the reason this is important to mention here this morning is because we are seeking to learn and live out what we see in scripture.
Here in the letters of Paul to Timothy we are dealing with a church struggling to maintain the purity of sound doctrine due to extraordinary circumstances.
I submit to you that the modern church is no better off – but in fact worse. At least these Ephesians KNEW there was a problem that needed addressing and it could be addressed by the way they were internally structured.
Today that just simply is not true in a great majority of cases!
I don’t think many churches today read the scriptures and then seek to apply them to their lives. If they did, they could scarcely read much of the New Testament without the thought popping up in their minds at some point of – “How did these apostles and pastors even know about these micro-uprisings within their church?” They not only knew about them, but addressed them BEFORE they could truly take off and do irreversible damage – HOW?
Well that’s a valid question!
So you can readily see how terribly important sound doctrine is!
Paul told Timothy towards the end of chapter 2 things which would help get back on the right path doctrinally. NOW he tells Timothy things which will help the Ephesians stay on the right path and make them fit for kingdom use.
They are:
- Run away from youthful passions
You know there are some things in our lives in Christ we are to turn around and face with resolve and Spirit inspired courage.
There are others however, which only place us in a position of compromise should we turn around and attempt to face them.
In these we are to be like Joseph who, in his haste to flee an ungodly sexual encounter, slipped out of his cloak which Potiphar’s wife had latched onto and RAN!
It is prudent for you to know the difference!
- Pursue righteousness… Faithfulness… Love and peace IN THE COMPANY of those who are sincere and devoted to Christ and to their confession of Him as their Lord.
Meaning, our pursuit of these qualities of character are best achieved within a community of grace – amongst God’s people.
Now surely this does mean those within a local assembly of believers but is in no way limited to that expression!
Then in closing out his thought, Paul circles back to where he began by saying,
“(23) But reject foolish and ignorant controversies, because you know they breed infighting. (24) And the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes but be kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient, (25) correcting opponents with gentleness.
Perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth (26) and they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap where they are held captive to do his will.”
These would include people like Hymenaueus, Philetus and Alexander the coppersmith.
We see here the sovereignty of God again over the soul of man. Yes indeed, we have freewill, BUT not without consequences.
If we as believers begin to go astray, we have an Anointing from the Holy One says John – or said another way, we have the Holy Spirit given to us by Jesus, Who convicts and convinces us of sin. Not to condemn, but to keep us back from condemnation.
If we spurn His counsel, we set ourselves up for a calloused heart – that becomes increasingly numb to His warnings.
Following the progression we see in several places in scripture – a soul like this becomes insensitive.
Paul had previously warned the Ephesian believers regarding this in Ephesians 4:17-25 by saying,
“(17) So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. (18) They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. (19) Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
(20) But you did not learn about Christ like this,
(21) if indeed you heard about Him and were taught in Him, just as the truth is in Jesus.
(22) You were taught with reference to your former way of life to
- lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, (23)
- to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (24) and
- to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.
(25) Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another.”
For all of this we NEED the Holy Spirit of God. We need to realize and acknowledge how dependent we are on Him! He IS afterall, the One Who seals us for the day of redemption!
The point is that repentance (which means ‘to change the mind’) is a gift given TO us. It is NOT something which is in our power to just grab anytime we please. It is granted to us by His mercy.
So Paul says, “preadventure God MAY grant them repentance”… “He MAY grant them the power to change their minds” so as to escape the devil having already been taken captive by him to do his bidding!
You might ask – how do we keep from such an awful possibility?
Listen and be quick to respond to Him AND do what I am about to teach you in closing.
What if you are not fully calloused yet but need His help? Cry out for it!
Like the man who confessed faith but admitted it was weak faith – say to God, “Father I don’t want to obey… but I want to want to.”
If you are sincere, those prayers meet with mercy I assure you!
Now the last BIG takeaway of Paul’s instructions here is not specifically mentioned by him in so many words but is more illustrated in his and other forefather’s lives and is no less important.
Knowing God’s word
Knowing the word of God is imperative – meaning it is NOT optional in the faith.
Naturally, some are at a greater advantage than others regarding this…
- Some do not have good pastors or perhaps any pastor.
- Some do not have a copy of the scriptures in their language.
- Some live in lands which are hostile to the scriptures in any form.
For those in these extraordinary situations there is grace as well as the Holy Spirit of Truth Who is ever present to reveal Jesus to us. Leading and guiding us into all truth which leads me to the very point I am closing with!
As I said, knowledge of God’s word is imperative.
Study, solid teaching, a good church with called shepherds and sincere believers are all part of this and there can be no substitution for them when and where they are available.
Remember the Psalmist said, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” – Psalm 119:11
However, (and OH what a big HOWEVER) the idea here is not just one of familiarity and memorization of the Word.
No it is far more personal and relational than that, which is what these Ephesian believers forgot in their pursuit to be accurate in their theology.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day did pursues knowledge about God in the scriptures and yet, did not know or receive Jesus as the Messiah because they were blind to the truth.
They had forsaken the love of the truth – exchanging it for other loves.
According to Jesus Himself, these men were searchers of the scriptures.
By today’s standards these men would be looked up to for their scholarly pursuits in the scriptures.
These men believed they would find life in God’s word – yet God’s word gave them every clue necessary to recognize their Messiah when He came and they not only missed Him – they actually opposed and eventually killed Him!
So clearly studying the scriptures alone is NOT enough!
Communion with God / Encounters with God
Jesus lived the law perfectly and yet, He had no private copy of the scriptures.
In fact, you will search in vain to see examples of Jesus studying the Word at all!
Now we know that as a Jewish boy He HAD been instructed in the scriptures rather rigorously. That having been said, the gospels do not in any way lead to believe Jesus spent any real time at all in synagogue outside the Sabbath in order to study the scrolls.
So, what DO we see Him doing?
Withdrawing from people – isolating Himself for a while in the mornings and in the evenings in order to commune with the Father in prayer.
It’s been a long time since I’ve quoted this to you but it has been revisiting my heart a lot lately and this seemed like a great place to take it back out of the closet, dust it off and say it to you again.
Though it is often erroneously attributed to Henri Nouwen, he was actually only quoting from Theophan the Recluse a Bishop of the Russian Orthodox church in the early 1800’s who said,
“To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there stand before the face of the Lord, ever present, all-seeing, within you.”
This is THE KEY to hiding His word in our hearts!
Developing an ongoing and intimate relationship with the One Who spoke the words of Scripture!
Without a connection and ongoing communion with the God Who spoke the words, the words themselves can carry no real power.
What makes these words valuable is NOT what they can do FOR you, but rather Who spoke them.
I’ll go one step further than that and tell you that if SEEKING HIM is not the basis of your searching, then there can be no power for living in the scriptures!
Our lives must be ones of loving devotion to God
A passion for His presence is everything and that is what we see in those we admire in scripture.
Rare indeed are the times we see the fathers of the faith reading the Words of God (though we know they did so and were imminent well versed in them) – but what we DO see them doing is seeking God and communing with Him.
In fact, it was OUT of times like these that many of the scriptures we DO have were inspired!
It is the Person of the Word Who evokes the change in us.
It is the inner working of the Spirit of God, Who has been given to us, which causes us to “will and do after His good pleasure”.
I mean even consider the words there – “after His good pleasure”.
Why is it said this way?
- If this was just a matter of strict obedience to a set of principles.
- If this was just religious dogma meant only to regulate behavior devoid of heart, then verses like this would not even exist. Or at very least they would be worded MUCH differently!
It would say, “after His commands and ordinances” not “after His good pleasure”.
Now sure, scripture does make use of both phrases, but the later need not exist at all if obedience was all there was to this!
God wants our hearts – our loyal devotion due to His preciousness, His valuableness to us!
Peter says,
“to you who believe, He is precious” – 1 Peter 2:7
The word precious there also means HIGHLY VALUED!
At the end of the day, when we set all our religious thoughts to one side and look deep within – if we are truly in Christ – our hearts adore Him! And it is out of the fervor of that adoration that obedience springs.
We WANT to please Him!
So it is not just times of worship, times of prayer and communion alone NOR is it just bible study alone, but both working together, within a greater community of grace with leaders who have His that evoke heart change and fruit that will remain!
Blessings!
Tri