in case I am delayed, so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.But 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.but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
4 sermons cite this verse
… be my family that's going to be my home that's going to be my spiritual base what is god's family we looked at it last week first timothy chapter 3 verse 15 that family is the church it is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth. The church isn't an institution, it's a family. Now, God's purpose for your life includes not just believing in him, but belonging in his family. So you can say, I'm a believer, but you could also say, I'm a belonger. Because being in the family of God is what makes you saved, being part of his family. Now, notice it said there, that family is the church, the support and foundation of truth. what happens when a building has no foundation and support? It collapses. We've seen that in California a lot because of earthquakes. You need the spiritual support of God's family and you need a small group to support you when you go through the earthquakes of life. …
… 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. That's it. the pillar and ground of the truth is what the church should be all about. And that's where a Christian should attend, and that's where a Christian should be. I'll give you another observation. This is my own. I believe that professional religion of this era is irrelevant to these times. I'm agreeing with Billy Graham. Professional religion. What is that? I believe that a Bible-less church is irrelevant to these times. Somebody just told me on Monday, I was with Lisa and I, we were at an event Monday night, and somebody told me that they were on vacation, and they attended a church, and they went to the church, and that young lady goes to this church. She went to that church that she was visiting in some other state, and she was the only one carrying a Bible in that entire church. She was shocked. And then she looked closer and she saw that the pastor didn't have a Bible. …
… and it is God's family. First Timothy chapter three, verses 14 and 15 says this. I'm writing to you so that you'll know how to live in the family of God. We need to learn how to live in God's family. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth. So anytime you talk about church, you're talking about God's family. Anytime you talk about God's family, You're talking about the church. There is no family of God outside of the church. It is the same. So it's God's family on heaven and earth. Number two, it's composed of saved and baptized believers. The church is composed of saved and baptized believers. Now you might have your name on a roll as a child in some church, but that doesn't make you a part of the church. It just means you're on somebody's roll. You have to be saved and you have to be baptized. to be a part of the church of God. …
"The house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the Truth." 1 Timothy 3:15. [This sermon was preached during "The Rivulet Controversy," of which an account is given in Volume II of C. H. Spurgeon's Autobiography, in the chapter entitled, "The 'Down-Grade' Controversy Foreshadowed." It was a very long discourse—nearly one-third longer than the twelve pages here given— and although it was delivered more than half a century ago, its message is as timely, now, as it was then.] WE live in very singular times just now. The professing Church has been flattering itself that, notwithstanding all our divisions with regard to Doctrine, we are all right in the main. A false and spurious liberality has been growing up which has covered us all, so that we have dreamed that all who bear the name of ministers are, indeed, God's servants— that all who occupy pulpits, of whatever denomination they might be, are entitled to our respect as being stewards of the mystery of Christ. But, lately, the weeds upon the surface of the stagnant pool have been a little stirred and we have been enabled to look down into the depths. This is a day of strife—a day of division—a time of war and fighting between professing Christians! God be thanked for it! Far better that it should be so than that the false calm shall any longer exert its fatal spell over us! The day is come when we must know who are for the Lord and for His Truth—and who are on the side of error! The time is now come when some men, once distinguished among us for the attractiveness of their preaching, must be ranked among those who are opponents of the Truth of God! We did once imagine, in the blindness of our charity, that we all preached one Gospel, but now the enmity of the carnal mind has appeared. Carnal churches have chosen to themselves cruel teachers who have begun to teach strange doctrines which they mystify by their words, garnish with their eloquence and try to support by deceptive logic apart from simple Scripture. …