Preserving the Gospel: The Church as the Pillar and Ground of Truth | Part 3

Introduction

If we are truly going to talk about the intention and the purpose of God for His church we cannot go past the event in Matthew 16:13-19. The message here shows the significance and the purpose of the church and the foundation upon which the church of God is built. We know obviously that earthly governments and kingdoms build physical institutions to protect their laws, currency, and history. However God did not leave the preservation of the Gospel to chance or to the fleeting whims of culture. He established His own institute on earth which is the Church. It is not just a building or a weekly event. It is the living depository of eternal truth. The intention of our Lord Jesus Christ was to lay a foundation that is based on the revelation of Jesus and the truth therein.

1. More Than a Social Club: The Pillar and Foundation

The Apostle Paul writing under the function of the Holy Spirit declares that the church is the household of God which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth.

"but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)

Consider what a pillar does. It stands firm against the weight of the structure above it absorbing pressure so the building does not collapse. Without the pillar the roof caves in the walls buckle and everything that was built comes crashing down. Consider what a foundation does. It anchors the entire building to the earth keeping it from shifting, settling or sinking into instability. Without the foundation the structure drifts slowly at first then catastrophically. The primary mandate of the Church is not entertainment or social relevance. It is to hold up the uncompromised Gospel so the world can see it clearly.

Yet who are these pillars? Scripture reveals that the Church is not upheld by human ingenuity or organizational skill. It is upheld by divine gifts and appointed offices. Christ Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. These are the fivefold pillars placed within His Church. The apostles are sent with divine authority to lay the foundation. The prophets speak forth revealed word to bring correction and direction. The evangelists herald the good news to the lost. The pastors shepherd the flock with care while the teachers ground the people in sound doctrine. Paul even names specific men as pillars, noting when James, Cephas, and John who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that had been given (Galatians 2:9). They exist solely to equip the saints, strengthen the Church, keep it from collapse and ensure that the truth remains uncompromised.

History reveals a tragic pattern. When the church shifts from being a pillar of truth to a platform

for human popularity the structure begins to fail. The building of faith becomes unstable, the roof of sound doctrine develops cracks and the walls of moral conviction begin to crumble. This drift becomes inevitable when the fivefold pillars are neglected. When evangelists are silenced the Church ceases to reach the lost. When prophets are ignored the Church loses its spiritual compass. When teachers are marginalized the Church drifts into error. When pastors are replaced by corporate CEOs the sheep are scattered. Jesus Himself warned that every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and a divided house simply cannot stand (Matthew 12:25). When we divide from the biblical order of the pillars He established we divide from our own foundation.

2. The Custodians of the Sacred Trust

The church in its essence is a gathering of believers and not a platform to exalt human popularity. God has founded the Church on the truth of the Gospel and by doing so it is necessary that this truth is not diluted by human philosophy or a show of eloquence of speech and parading of self achievement or glory. We are collectively responsible for ensuring that the Gospel preached today is the exact same Gospel passed down by the apostles unwatered, unedited and pure. The corporate body of believers has been given a sacred trust. God is so much interested that if anyone must be in His church the person must first believe in the truth of the Gospel and not believe the worldly description of who He is.

We can see in Matthew 16:14 that there were different descriptions of who Jesus is. One says He is this and the other says He is that but none of them spoke from the point of conviction and encounter. Like they haven't met Him at all. God's intention is for the church to be bound by one spirit and one message.

Furthermore the Church does not operate by flesh and blood. Jesus speaking in Matthew 16:17 was so specific about the mode in which God's revelation comes. Flesh and blood represent human ideology, methods and schemes to understand who Christ is. These have been identified as satanic tactics to deviate full attention from the spirit. When the flesh books or human ideas try to explain Christ they are usually off the point because they miss the message by trying to place God in a box of their own knowledge. The true revelation Jesus has bestowed upon His people is founded on the rock where we meet Him face to face and get to know more and more of Him as He reveals Himself to us. We saw this process in the life of Paul.

"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood." (Galatians 1:15-16)

The moment the church, which is like a pillar, starts to introduce unbiblical doctrines and activities it gradually starts to fail and people start to lose trust in God’s establishment. We see this all around us now because the church has failed to stand on the truth that projected us to the world as we have adopted the ways of the world by pleasing man and displeasing God.

3. A Living Archive of Grace

The mandate of the church is not to be the reflection of a corrupt country or society but to be the reflection of God in the world. The Church is where the world should look to see the New Covenant in action. Through our unity, holiness and devotion the Church becomes visible breathing proof that the Gospel is alive. This living witness stagnates when we stop yielding to the Holy Spirit as the early church did. In the book of Acts the leaders were fasting and ministering to the Lord when the Holy Spirit spoke clearly to separate Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He had called them (Acts 13:2). Because they were sensitive and obedient to the Spirit's voice they immediately laid hands on them and sent them out launching the global expansion of the Gospel. When we lose that deep sensitivity and stop yielding to the Spirit no lasting fruit abides because we disconnect from the source. Scripture explicitly reminds us of Jesus' words.

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

He appointed us to go and bear fruit and that our fruit should remain. When we fail to prioritize Jesus' vision for His church we inadvertently become anti gospel hindering the message instead of promoting it as we ought to.

A pillar that bends or shifts no longer supports a building; it threatens its collapse.

The Church must therefore return continually to its foundational calling to be the unyielding support of God's unchanging truth upheld by the very gifts Christ has given.