The Church, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth
By Lloyd Gardner
June 2006
These are trying days in which we live. There are many voices saying, “We are the way and we have the truth.” The institutional church offers hundreds of varieties of what people call “the church” and anyone can find one that suits his fancy. We live in the day of the spiritual “guru” in which churches are established by elite teachers who are making claims to uniqueness in presenting the “truth” of Christ. Christians have become numb with the myriad of possibilities available for expressing of truth. We have become like big business in America with hundreds of choices to choose from offered by hundreds of Christian “businesses” trying to win over the customers by working to beat out the competition with a more attractive product.
In this age of spiritual confusion, how are real seekers of truth to go about finding truth and a real corporate context in which to live it? Has the Lord provided a way in which His truth can be discovered and experienced in His power? Can God’s truth about all matters be discerned in the midst of the clamor created by the many religious voices in today’s religious scene? The answer to the last two questions is a resounding “Yes,” and that is the subject of this message.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “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 Tim. 3:15). Paul makes an astonishing statement in this passage. First, he is saying that His church is the house of God. God’s house is where He dwells on planet earth. He has a house in heaven but His earthly house is “the church.” Secondly, the apostle drops a bombshell into our thinking. He says that the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth.”
Let us look at these two statements one at a time. First, the church is the house of God. We need to be honest with ourselves and realize that everything called the church today cannot possibly be the true church. If the church is God’s dwelling place on earth, it should be possible to go there to meet and experience Him, His power and His victory. If God dwells in His church one should be able to see Him there and witness His presence in all of its fullness.
The church is a place of victory over Satan’s power. Jesus said, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). If we are to identify the church that Christ is building, we must find a place where hell is on the run and Christ the King is Victor.
The church is a place where Christ is present in power. Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18: 19, 20). If we gather in His name, He is in our midst. When He is present, we may ask in agreement concerning anything and the Father will accomplish it. If Christ is not present in power, it is not the church.
The church is a place of spiritual authority. Jesus said, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). Through the church the will of heaven is released into the earth and the will of hell is bound and defeated. This authority is given only to the church He is building because it storms the gates of hell and defeats the will of its defeated king.
The church is where Christ is revealed in the hearts of the people. When Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” Jesus responded by saying, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:16, 17). Then He declared, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). The church is where Christ is revealed in the hearts of those who seek Him and find Him. Christ builds His church upon the rock of His revelation in the hearts of believers. The church is the gathering of those in whom Christ has been revealed. Truth prevails there because the One who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) is there among His people.
In the true church there is real, experiential unity. Those who truly have the revelation of Christ in their hearts are one with one another. True followers of Christ do not have to try to be one or develop programs that encourage oneness. They are one in Christ. The Anointed One dwells within them and His anointing is within them. They are not united by doctrine or human ideas but by the glorious presence of Christ in their lives. Jesus said it: “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (John 17:22). If we are not experiencing oneness in Christ can we admit that His glory is not in us? Those in whom His glory is present melt into oneness by the fire of His presence. The called out ones who have answered His call to come are one because they gather in His presence to hear from Him.
Paul realized the true nature of the church when he wrote to the church in Ephesus, the church in which Timothy was serving when the apostle wrote his first epistle to Timothy. There he declared, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23). The church, the body of Christ, is the fullness of God. The word “fullness” applied to the church means that it is the container designed to be completed with the infilling of God. God is to be the very content of the church, that which fills it full and completes its purpose. A wine glass is not full when it contains water because it is a wine glass designed with the purpose of containing wine. The church was created to contain Christ. The church and only the church is the fullness of God because it is His house, the place where He lives and expresses all that He is. This astounding spiritual truth should fill us with zeal to discover and experience what it truly means to be the church.
The second statement of Paul is equally astounding: the church is “the pillar and ground of truth.” The word describes the church, according to its real identity, as the place of God’s truth. A pillar is a strong post that is stabilized by being put into the ground, the most stable foundation. Whatever the pillar is purposed to support, is held up and given stability because it is grounded, unmovable, and solidly in place. Paul describes the church in this passage as the support that enables truth to stand. It is clear that without the church, the truth is unstable and cannot stand. Truth, as revealed by and through Christ, cannot be fully experienced without the true representation of the church.
It is my strong belief that the stability of truth evades us today because we will not commit to the conditions that allow the expression of the church in its fullness. What are those conditions? What is necessary in the lives of believers before we have a real expression of the church? Is it the church when many believers meet in the same place? Are our denominational expressions, which have already decided and passed judgment on God’s truth the pillar and ground of truth? Is it the church when a pastor presents his version of the truth and presses others to commit to it? How do we know when we are part of a gathering of God’s people that is a true expression of truth?
The word “church” is first mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 16:18: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” As we all probably know, the word translated “church” is ekklesia in Greek. It is formed from the verb meaning, “to call” and refers to a group of people called together for one purpose. When Jesus said, “I will build My church.” He was saying, “I will build together a group of people whom I will call out of the world for My purpose.” The word ekklesia always refers to a group of people and never refers to an institution formed around those people. To use the word “church” for an institution of man, a building, a religious denomination or program is to miss the point entirely. The church of Jesus Christ is simply His people built together in Him.
The expression “I will build My church” makes it clear that only that which Christ is building can be the church. When it is something initiated and empowered by men or their programs, it is not the church. He is the One who does the calling and He is the One who does the building up of His people into a corporate unit, by His power. When men put their fleshly hands on it, it ceases to be the church and becomes an institution of man.
Let me get very practical about the nature of the church. When Christ calls someone out of the world to His purpose and they respond in obedience, they become part of His “called out” ones. The church is created as people respond to the voice of Christ. It begins with hearing Him and responding obediently. Those who come out to Him where He is building His called out gathering of saints are the church. The church is more than a group of saved people. The new birth merely positions us to hear the voice of Christ calling us to Himself for His purpose. Even during His earthy ministry, there were those who followed Christ at a distance. The multitude liked the miracles and eloquence of Christ but when He called them to commitment, they quickly abandoned Him. Many today follow Christ at a distance but they are not the church. The church is that inner circle of disciples who gather at His feet and hear what He has to say. Only those who obediently follow Him are His church.
The gathering together of those who respond to the voice of Christ is the church. That holy gathering is called by Paul “the pillar and ground of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). In that spiritual place of God’s choosing, we can easily find truth in the light of Christ’s presence. If we look at what happens in such a place we will understand why the true church is the pillar and ground of God’s truth.
First, the true functioning church is a place where believers test everything in the light of God’s word by the Spirit. Paul says, “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:20, 21). John says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). Paul admonished the church in Corinth to “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). All of these passages encourage the saints to participate in the gathering of the saints but also warn the saints to test and judge the things spoken in the light of word with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Truth will prevail in such an atmosphere and the Holy Spirit and God’s holy word will expose and expel that which is not truth.
Secondly, the true church is characterized by true fellowship. The Greek word koinonia, translated “fellowship,” means a common sharing of something between people. The members of the true church share Christ together. He is the content of their meetings. Believers come to the gatherings not only to receive something but to bring something of Christ. Every person has a part and has liberty to participate as the Spirit directs. The church is not a gathering consistently dominated by one person or group of people but is a forum of sharing in which everyone is equal before God (1 Cor. 14:26-32; Acts 2:42-47; 1 John 2:27).
In such a flow of the life of Christ by the Spirit, doctrines are constantly scrutinized by the open sharing of Christ between believers. The church is a threshing floor that separates the worldly chaff from the kernels of truth by the wind of the Spirit. There are no click groups where heresy can be cultivated but only open fellowship in Christ. John wrote, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Fellowship allows the blood of Christ to be a constant source of cleansing in the light of God’s presence.
Thirdly, the healthy church is led by a plural group of mature, spiritual leaders who are shepherds of the flock of God. Perhaps the greatest source of doctrinal imbalance in the body of Christ is the tendency to allow one person to dominate and manipulate the church. The epistle of 3 John warns us against such imbalance. In that epistle, Diotrephes, a manipulative leader, sought the place of preeminence in the church and expelled people from the church who did not agree with his ideas. He rejected the apostolic ministry of John and set himself up in the church as the primary source of truth. Such an atmosphere smothers and stifles truth. This is why John says in verse four, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
When mature men of God lead the church, they are able to share the shepherding responsibilities and prohibit one person from rising into a place of dominance. Falsehood is identified more easily by several men than by one. They are able to effectively watch over the flock and guard against wolves that are bound to come among the sheep. Diotrephes was rejecting the true servants sent by the apostle John because he judged them with skewed personal judgment. The elders are able to share judgment and thus receive what comes from the Spirit and reject the offerings of the wolves. Most Christians today do not accept this truth but it is the clear teaching of scripture. He that has an ear let him hear (Acts 11:30; 13:1;14:23; 15:6; 20:17-28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Heb. 13:7; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
Fourthly, the true church is composed of people who submit themselves to one another. Paul wrote, “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:18, 19). Notice that the believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit and that the result of that filling will cause them to speak and submit to one another. This is true spiritual accountability where the believers realize that they are members of one another in the body of Christ and must submit to the truth in one another.
Paul shared this truth with the Ephesian believers:
..but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Eph. 4:25, 16).
These verses are astonishingly clear. Paul tells us that in the context of love and truth the church will grow up into Christ. He also makes clear the truth that every believer has a part in the functioning of the body of Christ and that as each believer fulfills his part, the church grows in love. The true church is a body in which every member is able to function in submission to the other members of the body. No member has preeminence over the others but each one has a destined part in the functioning of the body that results in its growth toward completeness in Christ. Truth prospers in such an atmosphere of open accountability to one another.
The true church is composed of true believers who have the anointing of God and do not need constant teaching in order to prosper and grow spiritually. John put it this way: “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 John 2:27). This verse shows us two important things. First, it makes it clear that all true believers have the anointing of God within them and so they do not passively sit back and let others do their thinking for them. The anointing is the presence of the Holy Spirit within each believer. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide believers “into all truth” (John 16:13). Every true believer has this anointing. The person who does not have this anointing is not a true believer. Those today who must totally rely on outside teachers for their spiritual sustenance should take their spiritual pulse, for according to God’s word true believers have the anointing of God.
The second thing revealed in this passage is that this anointing “is true, and is not a lie.” God’s holy presence in us does not lie but bears witness to the truth. True anointing produces an atmosphere of truth and dispels the lies of the enemy. Some people believe that reliance upon this anointing will open the church to deception since it is such a subjective experience. Actually, the opposite is true because the person who has God’s anointing will have such a hunger for God that he will continually be searching the scriptures and will be eager to hear what true spiritual apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have to say.
Such people, however, will be actively pursuing the truth through their own Spirit-filled zeal rather than letting others convey a rendition of truth to them. They are those who will be open to prophecies but testing all things. They will be testing the spirits to see if they are from God. They, like the Bereans, will be noble seekers of truth who search the scriptures and accept only what comes from God. Such people will be walking in truth because God’s anointing keeps them on the pathway of God’s will. Without the anointing, people are “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men” (Eph. 4:14). The word “Christ” means “Anointed One.” When the Anointed One dwells among us and His anointing flows in us, His truth will prevail in our lives.
I am awed by the vision John received in the Book of Revelation. He heard a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet calling out. When He turned to see the source of the voice, he saw “seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man” (Rev. 1:12, 13). Notice that when John turned to hear the voice of the Lord he immediately saw the seven lampstands that represent the seven churches of Christ (v. 20). Christ is in the midst of His true churches and when we seek to hear the voice of the One speaking from within them, we will behold His glory radiating from the churches. The church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. It is the glorious evidence that He is God and the pillar and ground of His truth in the earth.
Dear reader let us examine our lives in the light of this truth. Are we being the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we hearing His call to come forth from the world and gather at His feet to hear from Him and commit to His purpose? Are we gathering with saints who understand they are called to a glorious purpose? Are we walking in submissive fellowship with others who seek Him and His truth? Are we testing the teaching others express into our lives or are we passive feathers blown on the winds of human doctrine? Do we walk in God’s Holy Spirit anointing which is true and not a lie or do we let the elite teachers among us tell us what is truth?
Please do not think that I am telling you to avoid teachers of God’s word and become arrogant, self-sufficient, isolated believers. Are you not reading this message and receiving teaching from me? The opposite is true. Let us honor those who lead us and labor in love to share the truth with us. Let us respect them by honoring the word they teach by being seekers of truth. Let us at the same time seek to be part of the true church, which is not passively accepting every wind of doctrine. Let us have renewed, transformed minds that are able to “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2).
Let us seek to be the church. Let us desire to be “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
By Lloyd Gardner
June 2006
These are trying days in which we live. There are many voices saying, “We are the way and we have the truth.” The institutional church offers hundreds of varieties of what people call “the church” and anyone can find one that suits his fancy. We live in the day of the spiritual “guru” in which churches are established by elite teachers who are making claims to uniqueness in presenting the “truth” of Christ. Christians have become numb with the myriad of possibilities available for expressing of truth. We have become like big business in America with hundreds of choices to choose from offered by hundreds of Christian “businesses” trying to win over the customers by working to beat out the competition with a more attractive product.
In this age of spiritual confusion, how are real seekers of truth to go about finding truth and a real corporate context in which to live it? Has the Lord provided a way in which His truth can be discovered and experienced in His power? Can God’s truth about all matters be discerned in the midst of the clamor created by the many religious voices in today’s religious scene? The answer to the last two questions is a resounding “Yes,” and that is the subject of this message.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “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 Tim. 3:15). Paul makes an astonishing statement in this passage. First, he is saying that His church is the house of God. God’s house is where He dwells on planet earth. He has a house in heaven but His earthly house is “the church.” Secondly, the apostle drops a bombshell into our thinking. He says that the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth.”
Let us look at these two statements one at a time. First, the church is the house of God. We need to be honest with ourselves and realize that everything called the church today cannot possibly be the true church. If the church is God’s dwelling place on earth, it should be possible to go there to meet and experience Him, His power and His victory. If God dwells in His church one should be able to see Him there and witness His presence in all of its fullness.
The church is a place of victory over Satan’s power. Jesus said, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). If we are to identify the church that Christ is building, we must find a place where hell is on the run and Christ the King is Victor.
The church is a place where Christ is present in power. Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18: 19, 20). If we gather in His name, He is in our midst. When He is present, we may ask in agreement concerning anything and the Father will accomplish it. If Christ is not present in power, it is not the church.
The church is a place of spiritual authority. Jesus said, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). Through the church the will of heaven is released into the earth and the will of hell is bound and defeated. This authority is given only to the church He is building because it storms the gates of hell and defeats the will of its defeated king.
The church is where Christ is revealed in the hearts of the people. When Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” Jesus responded by saying, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:16, 17). Then He declared, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). The church is where Christ is revealed in the hearts of those who seek Him and find Him. Christ builds His church upon the rock of His revelation in the hearts of believers. The church is the gathering of those in whom Christ has been revealed. Truth prevails there because the One who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) is there among His people.
In the true church there is real, experiential unity. Those who truly have the revelation of Christ in their hearts are one with one another. True followers of Christ do not have to try to be one or develop programs that encourage oneness. They are one in Christ. The Anointed One dwells within them and His anointing is within them. They are not united by doctrine or human ideas but by the glorious presence of Christ in their lives. Jesus said it: “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (John 17:22). If we are not experiencing oneness in Christ can we admit that His glory is not in us? Those in whom His glory is present melt into oneness by the fire of His presence. The called out ones who have answered His call to come are one because they gather in His presence to hear from Him.
Paul realized the true nature of the church when he wrote to the church in Ephesus, the church in which Timothy was serving when the apostle wrote his first epistle to Timothy. There he declared, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23). The church, the body of Christ, is the fullness of God. The word “fullness” applied to the church means that it is the container designed to be completed with the infilling of God. God is to be the very content of the church, that which fills it full and completes its purpose. A wine glass is not full when it contains water because it is a wine glass designed with the purpose of containing wine. The church was created to contain Christ. The church and only the church is the fullness of God because it is His house, the place where He lives and expresses all that He is. This astounding spiritual truth should fill us with zeal to discover and experience what it truly means to be the church.
The second statement of Paul is equally astounding: the church is “the pillar and ground of truth.” The word describes the church, according to its real identity, as the place of God’s truth. A pillar is a strong post that is stabilized by being put into the ground, the most stable foundation. Whatever the pillar is purposed to support, is held up and given stability because it is grounded, unmovable, and solidly in place. Paul describes the church in this passage as the support that enables truth to stand. It is clear that without the church, the truth is unstable and cannot stand. Truth, as revealed by and through Christ, cannot be fully experienced without the true representation of the church.
It is my strong belief that the stability of truth evades us today because we will not commit to the conditions that allow the expression of the church in its fullness. What are those conditions? What is necessary in the lives of believers before we have a real expression of the church? Is it the church when many believers meet in the same place? Are our denominational expressions, which have already decided and passed judgment on God’s truth the pillar and ground of truth? Is it the church when a pastor presents his version of the truth and presses others to commit to it? How do we know when we are part of a gathering of God’s people that is a true expression of truth?
The word “church” is first mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 16:18: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” As we all probably know, the word translated “church” is ekklesia in Greek. It is formed from the verb meaning, “to call” and refers to a group of people called together for one purpose. When Jesus said, “I will build My church.” He was saying, “I will build together a group of people whom I will call out of the world for My purpose.” The word ekklesia always refers to a group of people and never refers to an institution formed around those people. To use the word “church” for an institution of man, a building, a religious denomination or program is to miss the point entirely. The church of Jesus Christ is simply His people built together in Him.
The expression “I will build My church” makes it clear that only that which Christ is building can be the church. When it is something initiated and empowered by men or their programs, it is not the church. He is the One who does the calling and He is the One who does the building up of His people into a corporate unit, by His power. When men put their fleshly hands on it, it ceases to be the church and becomes an institution of man.
Let me get very practical about the nature of the church. When Christ calls someone out of the world to His purpose and they respond in obedience, they become part of His “called out” ones. The church is created as people respond to the voice of Christ. It begins with hearing Him and responding obediently. Those who come out to Him where He is building His called out gathering of saints are the church. The church is more than a group of saved people. The new birth merely positions us to hear the voice of Christ calling us to Himself for His purpose. Even during His earthy ministry, there were those who followed Christ at a distance. The multitude liked the miracles and eloquence of Christ but when He called them to commitment, they quickly abandoned Him. Many today follow Christ at a distance but they are not the church. The church is that inner circle of disciples who gather at His feet and hear what He has to say. Only those who obediently follow Him are His church.
The gathering together of those who respond to the voice of Christ is the church. That holy gathering is called by Paul “the pillar and ground of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). In that spiritual place of God’s choosing, we can easily find truth in the light of Christ’s presence. If we look at what happens in such a place we will understand why the true church is the pillar and ground of God’s truth.
First, the true functioning church is a place where believers test everything in the light of God’s word by the Spirit. Paul says, “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:20, 21). John says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). Paul admonished the church in Corinth to “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). All of these passages encourage the saints to participate in the gathering of the saints but also warn the saints to test and judge the things spoken in the light of word with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Truth will prevail in such an atmosphere and the Holy Spirit and God’s holy word will expose and expel that which is not truth.
Secondly, the true church is characterized by true fellowship. The Greek word koinonia, translated “fellowship,” means a common sharing of something between people. The members of the true church share Christ together. He is the content of their meetings. Believers come to the gatherings not only to receive something but to bring something of Christ. Every person has a part and has liberty to participate as the Spirit directs. The church is not a gathering consistently dominated by one person or group of people but is a forum of sharing in which everyone is equal before God (1 Cor. 14:26-32; Acts 2:42-47; 1 John 2:27).
In such a flow of the life of Christ by the Spirit, doctrines are constantly scrutinized by the open sharing of Christ between believers. The church is a threshing floor that separates the worldly chaff from the kernels of truth by the wind of the Spirit. There are no click groups where heresy can be cultivated but only open fellowship in Christ. John wrote, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Fellowship allows the blood of Christ to be a constant source of cleansing in the light of God’s presence.
Thirdly, the healthy church is led by a plural group of mature, spiritual leaders who are shepherds of the flock of God. Perhaps the greatest source of doctrinal imbalance in the body of Christ is the tendency to allow one person to dominate and manipulate the church. The epistle of 3 John warns us against such imbalance. In that epistle, Diotrephes, a manipulative leader, sought the place of preeminence in the church and expelled people from the church who did not agree with his ideas. He rejected the apostolic ministry of John and set himself up in the church as the primary source of truth. Such an atmosphere smothers and stifles truth. This is why John says in verse four, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
When mature men of God lead the church, they are able to share the shepherding responsibilities and prohibit one person from rising into a place of dominance. Falsehood is identified more easily by several men than by one. They are able to effectively watch over the flock and guard against wolves that are bound to come among the sheep. Diotrephes was rejecting the true servants sent by the apostle John because he judged them with skewed personal judgment. The elders are able to share judgment and thus receive what comes from the Spirit and reject the offerings of the wolves. Most Christians today do not accept this truth but it is the clear teaching of scripture. He that has an ear let him hear (Acts 11:30; 13:1;14:23; 15:6; 20:17-28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Heb. 13:7; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
Fourthly, the true church is composed of people who submit themselves to one another. Paul wrote, “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:18, 19). Notice that the believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit and that the result of that filling will cause them to speak and submit to one another. This is true spiritual accountability where the believers realize that they are members of one another in the body of Christ and must submit to the truth in one another.
Paul shared this truth with the Ephesian believers:
..but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Eph. 4:25, 16).
These verses are astonishingly clear. Paul tells us that in the context of love and truth the church will grow up into Christ. He also makes clear the truth that every believer has a part in the functioning of the body of Christ and that as each believer fulfills his part, the church grows in love. The true church is a body in which every member is able to function in submission to the other members of the body. No member has preeminence over the others but each one has a destined part in the functioning of the body that results in its growth toward completeness in Christ. Truth prospers in such an atmosphere of open accountability to one another.
The true church is composed of true believers who have the anointing of God and do not need constant teaching in order to prosper and grow spiritually. John put it this way: “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 John 2:27). This verse shows us two important things. First, it makes it clear that all true believers have the anointing of God within them and so they do not passively sit back and let others do their thinking for them. The anointing is the presence of the Holy Spirit within each believer. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide believers “into all truth” (John 16:13). Every true believer has this anointing. The person who does not have this anointing is not a true believer. Those today who must totally rely on outside teachers for their spiritual sustenance should take their spiritual pulse, for according to God’s word true believers have the anointing of God.
The second thing revealed in this passage is that this anointing “is true, and is not a lie.” God’s holy presence in us does not lie but bears witness to the truth. True anointing produces an atmosphere of truth and dispels the lies of the enemy. Some people believe that reliance upon this anointing will open the church to deception since it is such a subjective experience. Actually, the opposite is true because the person who has God’s anointing will have such a hunger for God that he will continually be searching the scriptures and will be eager to hear what true spiritual apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have to say.
Such people, however, will be actively pursuing the truth through their own Spirit-filled zeal rather than letting others convey a rendition of truth to them. They are those who will be open to prophecies but testing all things. They will be testing the spirits to see if they are from God. They, like the Bereans, will be noble seekers of truth who search the scriptures and accept only what comes from God. Such people will be walking in truth because God’s anointing keeps them on the pathway of God’s will. Without the anointing, people are “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men” (Eph. 4:14). The word “Christ” means “Anointed One.” When the Anointed One dwells among us and His anointing flows in us, His truth will prevail in our lives.
I am awed by the vision John received in the Book of Revelation. He heard a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet calling out. When He turned to see the source of the voice, he saw “seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man” (Rev. 1:12, 13). Notice that when John turned to hear the voice of the Lord he immediately saw the seven lampstands that represent the seven churches of Christ (v. 20). Christ is in the midst of His true churches and when we seek to hear the voice of the One speaking from within them, we will behold His glory radiating from the churches. The church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. It is the glorious evidence that He is God and the pillar and ground of His truth in the earth.
Dear reader let us examine our lives in the light of this truth. Are we being the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we hearing His call to come forth from the world and gather at His feet to hear from Him and commit to His purpose? Are we gathering with saints who understand they are called to a glorious purpose? Are we walking in submissive fellowship with others who seek Him and His truth? Are we testing the teaching others express into our lives or are we passive feathers blown on the winds of human doctrine? Do we walk in God’s Holy Spirit anointing which is true and not a lie or do we let the elite teachers among us tell us what is truth?
Please do not think that I am telling you to avoid teachers of God’s word and become arrogant, self-sufficient, isolated believers. Are you not reading this message and receiving teaching from me? The opposite is true. Let us honor those who lead us and labor in love to share the truth with us. Let us respect them by honoring the word they teach by being seekers of truth. Let us at the same time seek to be part of the true church, which is not passively accepting every wind of doctrine. Let us have renewed, transformed minds that are able to “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2).
Let us seek to be the church. Let us desire to be “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
