Christ's Purpose for the Church #2

Well, how do we progress from where we're at to get a little bit closer to the likeness of Christ in our life?

Scripture says it's through the teaching of the Word of God applied to your heart. Welcome to The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hello, I'm Bill Wright, and today Don presents more of a series in the book of Titus titled, God's Glorious Plan of Grace. You'll hear part two of a message describing Christ's purpose for the church. Last time Don gave us the first two purposes, leading God's chosen ones to Christ and teaching biblical truth to affect life change among the congregation.

That is to say we've never arrived, so long as we're still breathing in our skin. The Word of God is continually bit by bit transforming us into more Christ-like servants of the Lord. Today, Don will add a third important and exciting purpose as given to us in the book of Titus. So turn there in your Bible as we join our teacher now in The Truth Pulpit.

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? No, we look to our Lord who bought us, who gave himself for us, and with tender, submissive, loving hearts, we say, Lord, what would you have us to do? He says, well, consider what I said to Paul. I appointed you for the faith of those chosen of God. I appointed you for the knowledge of the truth.

There's what you do. You further the purposes of the apostles whom I appointed to lay the foundation for my church. Now let's go from outside the walls of the church to bring it inside here.

I have no agenda here. I just want to help you understand. I want to give you perspective.

I don't have any of you in mind personally with what I'm about to say, but let's just think through life in the church, broadly speaking, not just truth community, but life in the church of those who claim to be the people of God. Within that circle, there are people, many people, who are impatient with sustained biblical instruction. They don't want to spend their time on this.

Forty-five minutes is too long of a message for them. They want more stories, more entertainment. They want interpretive dance for some reason.

I don't know. There's churches that do that. Don't be expecting me as in part of a dance line anytime soon. You don't want that and I don't want that.

It's just not going to happen. But some people are impatient with that. Why does it have to be so long? Why do we have to listen to this?

Can't we get in and out in an hour and get to the roast in the oven? Look, there is something embedded in that. A lot of them probably just aren't converted as part of it. But let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say they are true Christians with that attitude. You know why they can be like that? You know why they can say things like that and have that attitude?

I'll tell you why. It's because they do not realize that they need to grow. They are satisfied with their own spiritual condition. They are happy with where they are at as a Christian and therefore they say, I don't need this instruction. I know what I need to know.

My life is where it needs to be. So would you please stop spending so much time on the grammar and context of scripture. What else can you say? That's the only thing that would explain that attitude. Well, let me tell you. Join in this with me. You and I are in the same kettle of soup here with what I'm about to say. You and I, without exception, every one of us needs to grow.

Every one of us. Turn over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, why do we teach? It's because teaching is the instrument of Christian growth and we all need to grow. We're all commanded to grow. You see, at root of all of it is a question of pride versus humility.

I don't need the instruction, which is a statement of pride, that I'm okay where I'm at. The humble believer says, I'm not okay where I'm at and therefore I need biblical instruction to achieve the purposes of God in my life. 1 Peter 2, verse 2, says, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Are you here as a Christian today? You've tasted the kindness of the Lord in your life. He's been good and loving and merciful to you. If you've tasted that kind of kindness, then long for the milk of the word so that you could grow even more in respect to that salvation. Turn over to 2 Peter, chapter 3, at the end. This is a verse that has stuck with me, that has informed my prayers for many, many, many years. It's my prayer for truth community. We see in chapter 3, verse 17, Peter says, you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, that there's going to be people that distort the scriptures, knowing that people are going to distort the scriptures, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness. But, here it is, but, it's a command, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. You see, we can't stand stationary.

We're either moving forward or we are regressing. And Peter says there in verse 16, he says, there are untaught and unstable men who distort the scriptures to their own destruction. They're all around you. And he says, on account of that, be on guard.

Watch out for them. And as you're watching out, realize that I command you to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Growth, spiritual growth, is a safeguard against error. You see, go back to Titus now for just a second. This is clear from the words of the apostle Paul. Titus chapter 1, we're picking up in verse 1 again. I'm an apostle. It's for the faith of those chosen of God and this second purpose, equal coordinate purpose.

It's not just evangelism, it's the sanctification of those who belong to Christ. He says, it's the knowledge of the truth. Watch this.

Watch the qualifying phrase there. The knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness. God is speaking to us in order to promote our spiritual growth. And what that means is, follow this all the way through and realize how humbling this is.

What it means is that you have not arrived in your Christian life to a place where further instruction is no longer necessary for you. You need to grow in your understanding of the doctrines of scripture, every one of you. You need to grow in your character. You need to grow in your seriousness and earnestness and profundity of your prayer life. You need to grow in biblical conduct.

So do I, on every point. You see, we have not attained perfection yet and the result of that is that we are short of, we fall short of, even as earnest believers we fall short of what God would have us to be. Well how do we progress from where we're at to get a little bit closer to the likeness of Christ in our life? Scripture says it's through the teaching of the word of God applied to your heart. A biblical ministry produces life change. Look at chapter 2 verse 14 of Titus. You see, there's a sense in which there is a holy, sanctified dissatisfaction that should mark the life of every true Christian. That says, oh I love Christ. He is so perfect and great and I love and magnify him and I am secure in my salvation.

But you know what? In my daily life I fall short of those aspirations. I'm not all that Christ would have me to be.

I want to get more like him. There's that holy dissatisfaction that motivates us toward growth. And that is the purpose of salvation is that we would grow. Look at chapter 2 verse 14. Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed to purify for himself. There's some impurities left in your life.

There's some imperfections. There's remaining indwelling sin in your heart that we need to be purified from so that it would less manifest itself in our daily life and we would be more manifesting the fruit of the precious spirit of God. Purifies us that we would be zealous for good works. Chapter 3 verse 1. Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed. Verse 8.

This is a trustworthy statement. I want you to speak confidently that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. Apparently there was a carelessness about life that marked these people and Paul says Titus, I'm sending you. I want you to remain on in Crete and to instruct them so that this ungodliness would be diminished in their life and we would see the fruit of godly character, good deeds being brought out and manifested. That's why you're supposed to teach them.

It says it in verse 14, chapter 3. Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs so that they will not be unfruitful. Well, at the very start of the letter, Paul said, my apostleship is to promote the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. As we understand the truth, as we earnestly, humbly receive it, it has a transforming impact on our lives and that is the purpose of biblical instruction in the church. We teach so that the mental understanding of the truth can be upheld and strengthened but it's not just that. It's a transformation of life as well. Our purpose is to produce godliness in God's people and the way that that is done is through the teaching of God's godly word. We teach Christians the Bible so that that kind of transformation is continually occurring.

Our goal, our expectation for every one of us as we come together is that as we come together around the word of God, as we share in that commitment, as we share in life and fellowship together under the teaching of the word of God, there's going to be this progressive growth that is produced by the teaching of the word of God to receptive Christian people. We don't want to stay where we're at. I don't want you to stay where you're at. I know you're not perfected yet. I don't want to stay where I'm at.

I'm not perfected yet. We need to grow. The way that we grow is through the teaching of the word of God. 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.

They think everything is okay, but it's not. We're willing to admit we're not what we should be. We understand and pursue the word of God because we understand that the word of God is that which produces growth in God's people. That's what we want to do as long as God gives us breath. Now, we lead men to Christ. We teach the Bible. The scriptures are central to it.

Now, third point, now we get to the really good stuff. It would be great to be a church and to lead men to Christ. That would be great. That's a high and lofty purpose that motivates us.

It would be great. It would be wonderful to be a church that is growing spiritually, teaching the word of God and we're seeing our lives conform to godliness. But there is something else. There's a third purpose to what we do that informs the other two, that makes everything so very sweet.

This is the most wonderful capstone that could be added to our purpose. And Paul lays it out as he explains his apostleship. Look at verse one with me again. Paul, a bond servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God in the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness. Ah, we got that.

That's good. He goes on and he adds something else. There's a whole another pillar that undergirds the whole purpose of the church. Verse two, in the hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago. What's our third purpose? We proclaim our future hope. We proclaim our future hope.

You see, I really want to just stand on this pulpit right now, but I'm not going to do it because I know I'd fall and that wouldn't be cool. We proclaim our future hope. You see, the reason we exist is not earthbound. The reason that we do what we do transcends this earthly life for every one of us. It transcends any biblical instruction that takes place here and now. It transcends any of the life change that takes place in our lives right now, as important and essential as that is. We have a transcendent purpose in the establishment of truth community that goes beyond this life and echoes into all of eternity.

We proclaim our future hope. This is the purpose of the church. This is what fuels your joy and confidence in this life that includes so many tears and sorrows and temptations. A God, an omnipotent, all powerful God who cannot lie, has promised us that He has eternal life waiting for us when this life is over. This is our hope and earnest expectation, the hope of eternal life. Oh, oh, beloved, especially, especially in the watered-down, insipid preaching that marks the church in America today, by and large, that focuses on what's happening now, your best life now, and health and wealth and prosperity now. It's a total perversion of the game and the goal of biblical teaching to have that focus. Political change now, no, no, that's not what motivates us. If we fix the culture, the next people that come along would just mess it up right after us. That's a waste of time. That's not going to happen in this life.

Paul said evil men will proceed from bad to worse. And so we're not so focused on this life. Our hope, our motivation, the thing that enraptures our soul and captures our affections is this.

It is that. Salvation is more than the forgiveness of sin. It is more than godly living in this life. The capstone of our salvation is an endless, eternal future life in the presence of Christ in heaven that will never end. We must teach men. We must exhort one another.

You must look yourself in the mirror. You must look yourself in the face and say the sorrows and difficulties of this life are secondary to the future hope that belongs to me in Christ. Paul was an apostle designed to promote and teach and proclaim the hope of eternal life. And you see it woven through his letter at key points. Look at chapter 2, verse 11. Paul says, verse 11, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. There's that biblical instruction that leads to godliness from verse 1 of chapter 1. Now look at verse 13 of chapter 2. This is picking up on chapter 1, verse 2. While we're teaching this, while we're growing in godliness, what are we doing? Verse 13 of chapter 2, we are looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Christ Jesus who gave himself for us. Our hope, our expectations, our desires are not rooted in what this life can bring to us.

That is not Christianity at all. Our hope, our joy, our great satisfaction is going to be when Christ appears and brings us with him, when we see him face to face, when we are made like him by the sight of his glory and it transforms us and he conforms us to the body of his glory by the power that he has to subject all things to himself, Philippians 3, verse 20. Oh, oh, oh, beloved, that's what salvation's ultimately about. That's what we're looking forward to. We have to proclaim that.

We have to teach that. We have to love that hope and believe it. That's what enables us to transcend the sorrows that make us negative about this life.

Without that future hope, it all kind of collapses. With that future hope, our spirits transcend the gravity of this life and soar to worlds unknown. Look at chapter 3, verse 7. Let's start in verse 6. Speaking of the Holy Spirit, he says, he poured out the Holy Spirit 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. You see, as Christians, we have received eternal life, but the fullness of what all of that means is still future to us. We are waiting for the best part to come. Here in this life, as we share in life together at Truth Community, as we lead men to Christ, as we teach the Bible, as we grow in godliness, we're tasting, we're enjoying, it's sweet, it's wonderful, it's great, but it's not all that there is to it. This is a little bitty tiny appetizer to the full greatness of eternal life that is going to belong to us in Christ one day.

One day soon, he's coming back and he's going to bring us with him. And if we die first, then we're just going to be there in the midst of his presence. Oh, beloved, you're going to see Christ face to face. You're going to be like him in perfected glory.

You will no longer sin in that day. You will be with the saints from all the ages. And just like Peter recognized Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration, somehow I don't understand this, we're going to recognize and know the saints through all the ages. The ones that we've loved in Christ that have gone before us are going to be there. We're going to know them. We're going to be reunited with them. You will have perfect peace, never to be broken. God will bless you forever.

It will never get old. Lead people to Christ, teach biblical truth to edify, and most of all, perhaps, proclaim the eternal hope of life everlasting through Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of the church, as we've been reminded the past couple of days here on The Truth Pulpit. Pastor Don Green will move further into our series, Titus, God's Glorious Plan of Grace, next time, so don't miss a moment. Well, Don, you know, I think what really stood out in your message today is that the church is not here to reform the culture.

Even if we succeeded in fixing many moral or social problems, the effects would only be temporary. That's exactly right, Bill, and that's why I'm committed to a biblical philosophy of ministry rather than pursuing a social gospel that gets praise from men because we do good things for people rather than focusing on the purpose that Christ has established his church for. We are servants of Christ.

We proclaim Him and Him crucified, and we seek to honor Christ by preparing His people for the life to come. And friend, we invite you to visit thetruthpulpit.com. There you'll find out how to get free CDs of Don's messages. Once more, that's thetruthpulpit.com, and thanks for your support of this ministry. Now for Don Green, I'm Bill Wright, inviting you back next time when Don presents more of The Truth Pulpit.