Christ's Purpose for the Church #1

When a church takes the Word of God out and substitutes in something else, or waters down the teaching instead of giving the pure milk of the Word of God, it is dooming its people to spiritual mediocrity.

And they don't even know it's happening. What is the purpose of the church? Is it to have our needs met? Is it a place to socialize on Sunday?

Is it to entertain? Actually, the purpose of the church is clearly laid out in scripture, and Pastor Don Green will walk us through it on this edition of The Truth Pulpit. Hello, I'm Bill Wright, and today Don continues the series, Titus, God's Glorious Plan of Grace. Don, in too many churches today, the congregation is simply not being taught the biblical purpose for the church.

Well, Bill, I think that fits in the category of sad but true. I know that it's a constant burden on my heart to have a church that manifests the true purposes that Christ has for his people. And we need to be leading men to Christ. We need to teach biblical truth. And we need to proclaim our future hope in Christ that this world is not what we're living for. We're living for that coming day when we see our Savior face to face. We're going to look at all these things and more in the days to come as we study together on The Truth Pulpit. Have your Bible open to Titus, chapter 1, as we join Pastor Don Green now in The Truth Pulpit. We're answering the question, what is the church supposed to do?

What is Christ's purpose for the church? That's what we're after. We find three clear answers to the question. And it's wonderful.

It's clear. And what I want you to see and what I want you to have operating in the background of your mind as we look at this is the utter nobility of what a church is called to be and called to do. The nobility is not rooted in who we are, who you are, or who I am. Our nobility, the nobility of our purpose is rooted in the fact that our commission comes from the throne of God. Our commission comes from the Lord Jesus Christ as he expressed it in the words of scripture and as he communicated it to the Apostle Paul.

First of all, what's the church to do? Point number one, we lead men to Christ. We lead men to Christ. The Apostle Paul says that he received his apostleship so that those whom God had chosen would convert to faith in Christ. Look at verse one with me. Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

For, expressing the purpose here, what's the purpose of your apostleship, Paul? He states it right from the beginning. He doesn't mince words. He doesn't waste words. Everything in this is of profound consequence. He's not simply saying, hey, Titus, how are you? How's it going?

What do you think about the game last night? No. By stark contrast to the way that we often interact with each other, Paul's words were profound and he wasted no words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to communicate the sincerity and the importance of why he was called as an apostle. He says, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen of God. Jesus Christ commissioned the Apostle Paul. He was called to be an apostle so that God's chosen ones would come to faith in Jesus Christ.

He was an agent. He was a representative. He was a legate of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was sent on a commission to accomplish a particular purpose, and that was to bring the chosen ones of God to faith in Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of his apostleship, is that those who were chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world would come to faith in Christ. He's describing the fact that he was appointed to preach, to teach, to write, so that there would be a personal believing response to Christ by those who repent when they hear the gospel. He wasn't a man sent to the entire world, as it were, to address world problems on a world political stage, even though the Apostle Paul had the mind and the training in order to engage that kind of discussion.

No. No, his purpose was much more narrow. It was focused. It was directed toward the spiritual object to further and advance the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. That was why Christ sent him as an apostle.

It wasn't for temporary reasons, for temporal reasons. It was for the spiritual purpose of advancing the work of Christ. And you can see this clearly in Christ's commission to Paul in his own words. Turn back to Acts, chapter 26.

This will clarify it for you. Christ sent Paul to be an instrument of leading people to faith in Christ, saving conversion to Christ. Look at Acts, chapter 26, verse 15. You remember Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, stopped him in his tracks while Paul was going to persecute the church. The Lord was about to appoint him to be an agent of furthering the work of the church.

Remarkable. Verse 15, we'll pick it up mid-story. Paul is speaking here, and he says this, I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet for this purpose. Oh, purpose!

That's what we're talking about here today. We're talking about the purpose of Paul's apostleship, and now we get it straight from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, here's the purpose for which I have appeared to you. What I'm showing you from Acts, chapter 26, is that this is consistent with what we see in Titus, chapter 1. We're letting scripture interpret scripture for us. Jesus said, For this purpose I have appeared to you to appoint you a minister and a witness, not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, here it is, to, for this purpose, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. Jesus tells Paul, Paul, there's an entire Gentile world that is alienated from God. They are under judgment.

They are in spiritual danger. And we see that he appoints Paul, I am appointing you so that you can go and teach and preach, that you can reveal the gospel to them so that they will turn away from that and be saved to find the forgiveness of their sins. And we see in this that God is a saving God who wanted to redeem people from every tribe and tongue. God loving, God gracious, God reaching out to people who had no claim upon him. God loving, gracious, merciful, reaching out to those who were deserving only of his judgment. Who did he have in mind?

Look around in this room. You were part of the story. You were part of the intention of God. You were part of that unredeemed mass of humanity, under judgment, guilty, not seeking God, not loving him, not interested in him.

You were not, not interested in the things of the word of God. And in the great purposes, the great mercy, the great goodness of God, he sent someone, some thing, some book, some person, some message to you so that the message of the gospel would be delivered to you and that the Holy Spirit would take that message and give life to it in your heart so that you would respond and come to faith in Christ and be saved. This is the purpose of the apostleship that was given to Paul was so that that ministry would take place, that conversion story would be repeated multiple, multiple times, both in Paul's life and in the wake of his ministry that would follow. It was so that men would come to saving faith in Christ. And if Christ had not sent Paul to accomplish that, if he had not sent the apostles on that mission, you and I would all be miserably lost with no hope, no hope of eternal life, no hope of forgiveness, simply in chains, bound in darkness, never to find light, never to find freedom, never to find release, guilty, lost and condemned. And as it were, the Lord Jesus Christ sends the apostle Paul with the key to unlock us from that dungeon, to unlock us from that darkness and to unlock us from those chains. This is the ministry that Christ sent Paul to accomplish to advance the gospel amongst those whom Christ had chosen before the foundation of the world. This is wonderful.

This is marvelous. Paul was sent to lead men to Christ. And we have to understand the narrow, deep, profound purpose of that apostleship so that we would understand the narrow, deep, profound purpose that is ours as a church. We're not trying to change the world. We're not trying to change the political climate of the United States of America. What kind of mission would that be?

What would that mean for the rest of the world if we were sent simply to change the American political culture? That's not a transcendent message. That's a time-bound cultural message that has nothing to do with God's saving intentions toward the entire world. Christ sent Paul on a spiritual mission to lead men to Christ. Look at 2 Timothy. We see this being interpreted for us in another passage of scripture, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 8. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 8. Everything is secondary to the gospel.

Let me say that again. Everything is secondary to the gospel. Our lives are secondary to the gospel. That's why martyrs gladly shed their blood to uphold the name of Christ. Our lives are secondary to the gospel. Material wealth, worldly fame, it comes and goes. It's secondary.

It's passing. It's temporary and therefore we don't devote our highest energies and greatest thoughts to the pursuit of things that are tied to this world. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 8. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal. But the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen.

There it is, the same kind of language he was expressing in Titus. For the sake of those who are chosen so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. Leading men to Christ, leading men to salvation was the purpose of Paul's apostleship.

And beloved, nothing has changed. That's the purpose for the church today as well. Our goal, our desire is to preach and teach so that men would come to faith in Christ and be rescued from the darkness in which they are enveloped. To rescue them from the certainty of eternal judgment which will be theirs soon if they don't repent and believe in Christ. And so just as Paul's goal was to lead men to Christ, that's the goal that we inherit at Truth Community as well.

That's our purpose. We preach the gospel freely to all men without distinction. To anyone who will listen, we proclaim Christ as the savior of sinners.

Some who hear that message will repent and believe in Christ. And their response will show that God had chosen them out of the mass of humanity beforehand in order to enter into His saving grace. Why do we exist?

We exist because we realize that we have a temporary very passing life in this world. And that God has appointed us to, during that short brief period of time within the circle of relationships and the circle of opportunities that He's given us, for us to be a mouthpiece for the gospel of Christ to a lost and dying humanity. Whether God gives us a small circle or a greater circle, we are unaffected by the breadth of our ministry.

We just want to be faithful to the calling of our ministry, which is to lead men to Christ. That's why we exist. We realize that there are going to be political injustices that are never corrected in this life. We realize that we will always have the poor with us. There is always going to be poverty around us. We can't fix that. That's not why we're called.

It's part of a fall. We focus on the main thing that Christ sent us to do, which is to preach the gospel. Sometimes along the way we'll alleviate human suffering as we do that, but that is not why we exist. We have a purpose that no other institution on earth has, and that is to proclaim the gospel of Christ. Listen, if we don't do it, if we as the church, if the people of Christ don't preach the gospel, no one else will. There will be other people to pick up some of the problems with poverty.

There will be people to deal with political issues that are interested in that kind of thing. But as a church, as an institution, corporately, what do we do? Our focus is the gospel, and we leave earthly problems to others because we realize that if we devote ourselves to that, we're going to take our mind off the spiritual purpose for which we've been appointed to fulfill.

That's our goal at Truth Community. We want to lead men to Christ. That is supreme in our affection because it was supreme in the elevation of importance to what Christ gave to the apostle Paul to do. Now, that's the first purpose of the church. Secondly, related to that, we not only lead men to Christ, but secondly, we teach biblical truth. We teach biblical truth. Paul was appointed for that purpose. Look back at verse one with me again. Verse one.

I love this. Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God, that's what we just looked at, and he joins it together. He says there's something else in mind here. The faith of those chosen of God and a second purpose he lays out for us by the simple three-letter word in English, and. The knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. See the dual purpose. Paul is an apostle for the faith of those chosen of God and, secondly, to be an instrument of the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. Now watch this.

This is really, really important. This very phrase right here explains why we put at the center of our Sunday services the teaching of the word of God. This is why we do what we do. It's laid out clearly and plainly in scripture. Paul was an apostle for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. Beloved, what you have to see is that biblical instruction, biblical instruction is central to the church's mission. We teach because it's what God commands, and you see that carried through in what Paul said to Titus elsewhere in the letter.

The purpose of teaching, the centrality of instruction. Look at Titus chapter 1 verse 9. As Paul is laying forth the qualifications for leadership in the church, he says that these men must be those who hold fast, verse 9, they hold fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

If you want to find a biblical church anywhere, you need to ask yourself the question, are they teaching the Bible? Are they exhorting in sound doctrine? Are they explaining the doctrines of the Bible so that men can understand it, so that the people of God can understand it? Are they refuting those who deny central doctrine, central teachings of the scripture?

Is there a positive and negative tone to their teaching? This is what the Bible says. Some men say this, this is wrong, and here's why from the Bible. That is central to the mission of the church. That is central to the teaching mission of the church. Look at what Jesus said just before his ascension, Matthew 28 verse 18. Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Okay, this is authoritative.

This is a declaration of sovereign purpose. With what he is about to say, the disciples are gathered around him. By extension, we are gathered around him and say, Jesus, what would you have us do? Jesus, you know what Paul did when you appeared to him? He said, Lord, what would you have me do? I'm brand new to this. What would you have me do?

Corporately, we're brand new to this in a sense. And we look to Christ and we say, Christ, what would you have us do? What's your purpose for us in bringing us together? Verse 19, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

Go and lead men to Christ. Okay? Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Okay? Verse 20, teaching them, instructing them to observe all that I commanded you. It's a comprehensive statement. Jesus tells the disciples, go, you've been hearing me teach for three solid years now. Go and teach them what I gave to you. And that's a lot.

Jesus intends for his church to be an instrument of the teaching of the counsel of God. That's why we teach. That's what we have to do. That's what we must do because we are under authority.

We don't get to make this up. Look, look, lots of people pull together and make up their own clubs. That's fine. They can gather together, especially in our country.

They're free to assemble and do whatever they want to do. You want to have an airplane club, go have an airplane club. That's fine. You want to be a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals? Good. God bless you. Have a Cardinal fan club.

Whatever your interests may be, we say to the world, you can do that. But our purpose, our mission has been defined by the Lord Jesus Christ and we're under obligation to do what he tells us to do. He bought us with his blood. He redeemed us for his purpose. We're under obligation to do what the one who bought us tells us to do.

The foothold of our thinking, beloved, was secured 2,000 years ago when the blood of Christ poured down from his veins onto the ground around the cross at Golgotha. He earned, as it were, the right. He earned, he purchased the prerogative to tell his people what to do and we listen to no other.

We listen to no competing voices. We realize the singular authority in the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. We realize that he has expressed his authority, his will in his written word, the 66 books of the Bible, and that is where we find our purpose. That is where we find our marching orders. We lead men to Christ and we teach biblical truth because that's what Christ wants us to do. That's all the reason we need. And so, when we come together, when we give the support of our resources, when we give the attention of our minds, we give the attention of our presence to the teaching of biblical truth, we're doing a great and high and noble and lofty task which has been given to the church, which is to explain God's word, to explain the truth so that it would have an effect on the people of God. And we let no one else, we let no earthly men, no unsanctified, unregenerate men try to tell us what to do.

They do not have that prerogative. Any more, any more than you and I would have a prerogative to go into a business on Main Street and say, I think you should do your business this way. The owner of the shop looks at you and says, who are you?

Who are you? Did you invest in this business? Have you poured your life and money into this business that I've made? I'll run it the way I want. That's my prerogative. It's my investment, my time, my authority. I'll do what I want.

Get out of here. He says, and rightfully so. We have no prerogative to go in and tell a business how to run itself. In the same way, we have to be careful what voices we let influence the direction of truth community. The world will try to tell us what to do. And what I want you to see is the utter arrogance of that, the utter absence of position and prerogative to speak in that way. What does an unsaved man have to say to the Church of God?

By what right do you speak to us? A church in the apostolic tradition seeks to lead people to Christ and to teach biblical truth. Pastor Don Green will add a third purpose of the true church next time on The Truth Pulpit, and we hope you'll plan now to be with us.

Right now, though, Don's back here in studio with us with some closing words. You know, friend, we realize that you may not be close enough to our church to be able to join us as you would like to on any given Sunday. So let me invite you to join us on our live stream that you can find at our website, Sundays at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. And also we have a midweek service on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. We would love to have you join us in that way.

A lot of people do. You might as well be one more to join us for those special studies of God's Word and our church services on Sundays and Tuesdays. Here's Bill with some final information to help you find us. You can find the live stream and more information about this ministry when you visit us at the truthpulpit.com. Again, that's thetruthpulpit.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time for more from the Truth Pulpit.