Read more: The Word of God Holds the Church Together – 1eBut 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. Read 1 Timothy 3:15 (KJV).
Welcome to this week’s discourse – The Word of God holds the Church Together.
We have been considering the Church as a Biblically functioning community of hope. But that raises an important question for us to consider, what sustains this Biblically functioning community of hope?
What holds the Church together? Paul says, “The house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Read 1 Timothy 3:15. The Church is therefore not simply an organization or an institution. It is the house of God, the Church of the living God, and it has been entrusted with the truth. Therefore, what is truth? The Bible helps us answer the question from John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth.” Paul also says that believers, “Are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.” Read Ephesians 2:20.
Watch this observation from Ephesians 2:20; the Church has a foundation, and that foundation is not based on human personalities, culture, tradition or institutional structures, rather on “Christ Himself being the cornerstone.” And the apostolic and prophetic witness provides the foundation upon which the people of God are built. Hence the Bible says, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Read Acts 2:42. These believers understood that the Church had to be anchored in the teaching that they had received from Christ through His apostles, and this principle remains critically essential in this 21st Century Church. Therefore, the Church must remain a people of the Word of God (pause and calmly think). The Bible further explains, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” Read Hebrews 6:19.
This now brings us to a deeper question – What is it that holds this Biblically functioning community of hope together across generations? First of all, let us think about what we often associate with the Church; we think about people, pastors and leadership, we think about the preaching, ministries, programmes, buildings, traditions, fellowship, and worship. All these are legitimate thoughts, but none of them is the ultimate foundation of the Church. The Bible says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Read Psalm 90:2. Furthermore, the Bible posit, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Read Hebrews 13:8. Beloved, people change, leaders change, programmes fade, buildings and infrastructures change, even culture changes. But, the Church of the living God continues from everlasting to everlasting, because the Church is ultimately held together by what God has spoken in His Word, “…I will build My Church…” Read Matthew 16:18.
God has revealed Himself through His Word. And that Word reveals His Son, establishes truth, shapes His people, and preserves the Church in the faith. This is the reason why the Word of God must never become peripheral to the life of the Church. The Word is not simply something we read on a Sunday, neither is it merely a material for preaching. Instead, the Word of God is the foundation of who we are. It tells us who Christ is. It tells us what the Gospel is. It tells us who we are as His people. It teaches us how we are to live. And it gives the Church the truth by which it must remain faithful in every generation, especially in an ever-changing world.
In a polarised society, the Church is constantly confronted by new cultures, new ideas, new philosophies, and new definitions of truth. I am glad that the Church is not defined by cultural norms. The Church receives truth, and instructions from God’s Word alone – Sola scriptura. And that is the reason why Paul calls the Church “Pillar and ground of the truth.” Therefore, our responsibility is not to reinvent the truth, but to preserve it, proclaim it, and live it. Hence the Bible says, “That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” Read 2 Timothy 1:14. The good thing is the gospel message, which was committed to Paul, and to every believer in Christ. The Bible further declares, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” Read 2 Timothy 4:2. Likewise, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” Read Ephesians 4:25.
There is a huge correlation between the Word and Christ. The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Read John 1:1, 14. The Bible further posit, “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God.” Read Revelation 19:13. Furthermore, Hebrews 1:2-3 says, “But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom, also He made the universe. And Christ is, “Upholding all things by the Word of His power.” Read Hebrews 1:3.
Therefore, if we want to be a Biblically functioning community of hope, we must remain a Word-centered Church.
Father in Heaven, thank You for giving us Your Word. The Bible says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105.
We write. You read. Be encouraged.
The Bible makes us understand that the “The house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Read 1 Timothy 3:15. And each believer is, “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.” Read Ephesians 2:20. Acts 2:42 notes that the early Church devoted themselves to the apostles teaching (During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ gave direct instruction to His apostles. They were commissioned to preserve and expand this teaching, ensuring that His Words remained central to the Gospel and to Christian living, and ultimately for the Church to be sustained by it. In like manner, as believers, we have all been commissioned to preserve the Word of God in our gatherings.
As I alluded to, the Church is a Biblically functioning community. The next question to ask is how is this Biblically functioning community sustained? What holds this Biblically functioning community of hope together? Is there something deeper, something more foundational, that sustains the Church across generations, cultures, circumstances, persecution, suffering, and change? The Church is held together not by personalities, programmes, traditions, buildings, or institutional structures, but only by the Word of God, which reveals Christ, establishes truth, shapes His people, and preserves the Church in faith.
When we think about the Church, several things might come to mind – the people, the leadership, the preaching, worship, including programmes, ministries, buildings, traditions, fellowship, and communities. The Church is held together because God has spoken His Word. The Bible says, “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Read Hebrews 1:2-3.
The Word of God reveals who God is.
The Word reveals who we are.
The Word reveals our sin and our need for salvation.
The Word reveals Jesus Christ.
The Word establishes truth.
The Word gives the Church its identity, its doctrine, its mission, its boundaries, and its hope.
Therefore, if Christ is the Head of the Church, the Word of God is the authoritative voice by which the Church knows Christ and understands how it is to live under His Lordship.
