Kenny Moorer - The Importance of the Church_ Part 2

3:29PM Feb 24, 2025

Speakers:

Kenny Moorer

Keywords:

Church importance

First Timothy

Bible class

live stream

service schedule

false teachers

gospel truth

New Covenant

Old Covenant

biblical doctrine

spiritual growth

worship practices

local church

New Testament

spiritual encouragement.

Well, if you have your Bibles available, and if I hope that you do this morning, be turning to the first chapter of First Timothy. We're going to look at a passage initially in our lesson this morning that comes from First Timothy. It's good to see each other this morning. We welcome all who are here. We welcome those who are visiting, and we always have those. Welcome those who are watching our live stream broadcast today. And I know we have several who are doing that as well. We would encourage you, if you can, to come and join us and be with us here in our building, and encourage each other that way, if you can. Remember the Bible class tonight for the children's at 440 and then remember, our service tonight is at five o'clock tonight, because it's the last Sunday of the month we will have a regular, what I'd call just a regular service tonight, in which we will do some singing and some praying. I'm going to have several readings tonight, and a Brody Coan's going to preach for us tonight. So I look forward to that, and I know you do. So I look forward to being back with you tonight at five, if the Lord wills.

I am talking this morning about the importance of the church, and I'm really doing that. This is the second lesson that we talked about, some this, some last week, and I feel like there's some things that I want to talk to you about today, to kind of finish the thought as we were talking about that last week. So that's what I want us to do this morning. The first passage that I want us to look at comes, as I said, from First Timothy one, beginning in verse three, when Paul told this young evangelist, Timothy, he said this, "as I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which causes disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from sincere faith, from which some having strayed have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm." This whole book, as well as a second book is what an older evangelist says to a younger evangelist about what he ought to do, and it gives him guidelines. And some of the guidelines is a contrast from what others are preaching and others are saying and to what Timothy needs to preach. And so Paul was going to tell Timothy that he needs to teach what he teaches, because he understands that. The reason I think I can imply that is because in verse 14, he says, "these things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, 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." I think there is a sense in which this applies to all of us, but I think in a specific sense it applies to Timothy. And in even a more specific sense, it applies to everyone who seeks to be an evangelist, maybe one who he, too, wants to teach the gospel in the way that Paul was doing and in the way that Timothy was doing. And Paul says, what I want you to do is to conduct yourself how you should in the house of God. And then he talks about some things that I think are understood. If you go back to that previous passage, God is concerned about what is understood. That's what he said. Some people don't understand. There are people who are false teachers. They don't teach; they don't understand it, they don't affirm it, and they don't teach it. And Paul says to Timothy, I don't want you to do that. If you're going to teach, I want you to teach so that the church grows. And I think he's talking about what you say will help everybody grow.

I read this this week. I thought it was good. I just want to share it with you. The church grows by nutrition, not addition. That's the first time I've heard it put that way, and that impressed me when I read that the church grows by nutrition, not addition. We may-- we may grow numerically, and if we do, that's a good thing. But the more important thing is that we grow nutritionally, that we grow in how we understand what it is that God wants us to understand. And as I continue to read passages like what Paul would say to Timothy and other places that we're going to look at this morning, here's my question, Does God care about what we believe and practice? Did God care about what Timothy was going to practice and what he believed? Well, I think it's clear, yes, he did.

There are a lot of people today, spiritually speaking and religiously speaking, who think that it doesn't matter what you preach, who think it doesn't matter what you believe. What matters is that you're spiritual. What matters-- what matters is that you're moved spiritually, do what you need to do. And I don't disagree with that, but I certainly don't think that's some exclusive end result of what I'm supposed to do spiritually. Because I'm moved? A lot of things move me. If it was all about me being moved spiritually, I'd change what we do in this hour. I'd do things that I really, really like that move me in some physical kind of way or some emotional kind of way. This does move me what we do, but it's not because-- it's simply because what God has said, That's what moves me. And so this moves me because of that, but God cares about what we do. And I want to stress that to you, and I want to pull that into what the church does this morning. That's what I'm hoping to do. And I'm going to look at some things that I've heard all my life that I think are clearly biblical, that, frankly, I don't preach about as much as I ought to. And as I prepared this lesson, I thought, you know, when's the last time I said some of this? And as I prepared it, I thought, You know what, I need to say this. I'm glad I'm preaching this. Sometimes I'm not, I shouldn't say I'm not glad I'm preaching something, but sometimes, as I'm preparing, I'm thinking, is this really what's needed? Well, I'm going to tell you something. Today, I think this is really what's needed. This is a lesson, if not for you, for me, this is a lesson that I think is needed, because I'm reminded of of what Paul said to Timothy. I'm reminded of what Paul said to the Galatian churches. In Galatians, one when he says, I want you to preach the gospel. I don't want you to preach a perverted gospel or a different gospel. And so my question is, what exactly is it? What is that gospel. Well, what I am clearly aware of is that God has never remotely left the impression that we can decide what we want to do in reference to Him. He's never remotely left the conclusion you just do what you want. You just do what you want, and as long as it pleases you, and as long as it makes you feel better spiritually about what you're doing, that's what I want you to do. There's nowhere in Scripture that says that. A matter of fact, just the opposite is true. This passage that Jared just read from in Exodus 19, makes it clear that God wanted His people to be consecrated, and and come near the mountain, but come near the mountain in the way that he wanted. He's saying, This is how you approach me. This is what I want. If you just ran through that chapter again, he said, I want you to come on the third day, and I want you to do this, and I don't want you to do this. It's clear from this passage, God said, This is what I want, and anything that that deviates from that's not what I want. And I think that we need to be impressed with the fact that God tells us what he wants. Now we may have to determine some things. And I think there's good ways to do that. I think there are accurate ways to do that but, but we have to do what God said.

This story stands out. We've all heard, if we've heard Bible stories for long enough, we've heard this story a lot. "Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took a censure and put fire in it, put incense on it and offered profane fire before the Lord which he had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said, Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke, saying by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people, I must be glorified. So Aaron held his peace." Now I want you to think about this. Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, take a censure, put fire in it, put incense on it, and they offer profane fire before the Lord, and the Lord doesn't say, Aaron, I'm sorry. I'm going to have to kill your sons. The sons are destroyed because of what they did. And Aaron kept his mouth shut. He held his peace. These are his sons. These are not just some fellas that came up and were offering this fire that he didn't know, and then they were destroyed, and it didn't really have an effect on Aaron. These were his sons, and he held his peace. He held his peace. And what that shows me that is that God cares about what we do. He cares about the details, and he cares about when things are done that don't please Him, and there are some unavoidable conclusions. This was an unavoidable conclusion from God's vantage point. He didn't give Aaron an opportunity to say, Hang on, just a minute. Can we go back and change that? They shouldn't have done that. Lord. Let me give you a second chance. That's not what happened. They did what they did, and they died before the Lord and Aaron held his peace. That's a strong statement.

You think about that Old Testament worship in various aspects. Why did God go through the tiny details that he went through to tell the people this is what I want you to do. Why did you do all that? To make it hard on them? No, because He's God. He knows what he wants, and he doesn't give you, and he doesn't give me, and he didn't give them a right to say, here's what I want. Here's God. I love you. I'm concerned for you, and I know you need to receive the glory and all the honor and all the praise, and here's how I'm going to do that. No, God said, here's how you're going to do it, and when you don't do it the way I said to do it, and in some cases the way I commanded it done. He said, there's going to be a price to pay. It's going to be strong. And God hadn't changed his mind. Jesus Himself said, in Matthew 15, he said he called people. He said, "You hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts far from me, and in vain, they worship Me, teaching his doctrines, the commandments of men." This was a little bit reversed on what we just read about. But what Jesus said, No, you're keeping some things the way you ought to keep some things, but your heart is far from me. You've neglected that part of what I have asked you to do. And so Jesus saw the opposite problem. In a sense He says, you're careful with the details, but your heart's not near me. The Pharisees worship was useless. That's what Jesus said. He called them hypocrites. God wants the details and the heart. I tell you what I think that clearly says to us, just in terms of this aspect of how we live our life, this morning, when we assembled, it's clear that from the New Testament that they assembled. And what's clear is that folks did what God wanted them to do, and God said, I want you to do that, but I want your heart to be joined with that. If you do what you do and your heart's not there, I don't want it. If your heart's there, but you don't do what I want you to do, I don't want it. A good heart pays attention to the details, and it's not one or the other, it's not one or the other, it's both.

And here's something I want, I want to spend just a few minutes talking about something that I think I neglect. This is, maybe it is a doctrinal point, but it has some serious, practical implications. There is a -- this is a key principle. And I don't remember really the last time I talked about it like I should, but I'm talking about it for a minute today because I think it's important for us to remember. In Deuteronomy, five Moses called to Israel and said to them "Hear, oh Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak in your hearing today that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive." Moses says he calls Israel, and he says, Let me tell you something, the Lord has made a covenant with us. He didn't make it with the Gentiles, he didn't make it with the rest of the world. He didn't even make it with our fathers, but he's made it with us, and the demand of us is that we keep what he says in his law, in this covenant that he has made with us. Jeremiah later would proclaim this same covenant. "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." Now you have to understand who he's talking about there, but I think we do from prophecy and the fulfillment of that. "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother saying, know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says, Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more." There is a covenant now and its forgiveness is offered not just to God's chosen people, not just to physical Israel, but to everyone. We need to be reminded of that.

And the Hebrew writer went to great lengths, I think, to make the people to whom he wrote understand. That's what I want you to understand. Hebrews eight, "because finding fault with him, he says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." Have you heard that before? "Not according to covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant." Heard that before? "And I disregarded them, says the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I will put the law and my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his neighbor and none his brother, saying, know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." Have you heard that before? He's quoting almost verbatim Jeremiah. He's saying, when this New Covenant comes, it's going to change but it's not going to just be for physical Israel. It's going to be for everybody.

And then he draws a conclusion that I want us to remember. In verse 13 of this same chapter, he says, "and in that he says." In other words, that creates this what I'm about to say, he says, "a new covenant. He has made the first obsolete." No longer is effective. In the sense of, you're not bound to that. "Now, what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." In essence, he's saying what it did, it's no longer going to do. There still be a purpose, but it's not going to be what it originally did. And so as he goes through this letter to these people who want him to go back, he says, wait just a minute. Verse-- chapter 19 and or nine, "For this reason, he is the mediator of the New Covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant. That those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." You see this transition is taking place? "For where there is a testament, there must also, of necessity, be the death of the testator. For a testament is enforced after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives." We've heard these passages. We've been taught, and I think, accurately so, what that means. Jesus is this mediator of a new covenant that was established at his death. And what he's saying to us, it's given to you, not the old covenant. The old covenant wasn't given to you, but the new covenant is it's given to everyone. And he says, don't just dismiss the Old Covenant completely. But he says, the Old Covenant has value, but it's not binding to you. It's not binding to us. We bring our Bibles and to this worship period, and we study from our Bibles, and we have in our Bibles two testaments, an old and a new. And the old is valuable, but it's not binding to us. The old talks about the 10 Commandments and these things you ought not do. There's nothing about the 10 Commandments that binds me to them. I don't murder because the 10 Commandments say do not murder. I don't commit adultery because the 10 Commandments say don't commit adultery. That wasn't binding to me, but there's plenty in the new covenant that helps me understand that none of those things are things that I need to do because of what Jesus himself has said. And Jesus said himself, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to make those of no importance anymore. I did come. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. What you read in that Old Covenant, what has been said. Those are things that now I fulfill. Don't dismiss it entirely, but understand you're not bound by that, but you are bound by what I say. Well, this passage is pretty familiar, I think, to most of us. Paul would say in Romans 15, "for whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope." Was there a purpose? Sure. Is it important to study the Old Testament? Absolutely. I think one of the great reasons to think about that is what we're studying in the book of Revelation, and all the imagery that's used in the Old Testament and that kind of literature that helps us understand what John has seen in the book of Revelation. It helps us understand what he's talking about. Is there value? Yes. Is there serious value? Absolutely. That's why we need to study that.

How do we use this principle? Well, just think about this. How did they worship God? How did God's people worship God under the Old Covenant? Do we worship with incense and animal sacrifices and instruments played in worship periods? Do we do that? Well, it's clear, if you're part of this local church, that's not part of our worship. Why do we teach that God doesn't want that today? Well, he did want it under the Old Testament. It was commanded in the Old Testament. They were used. Well, you say, well, we aren't told don't do that. Well, that's true. We're not told don't use animal sacrifices, don't offer incense. And there is a mention of altars and incense in the New Testament, yes, in the book of Revelation. But again, that's symbolic. That has to do with something that's pointing in a direction, not that we're commanded to do that. It's not even talking about what we do here. Then why do we stand against offering incense? Why didn't ,when we walked in this, why isn't there incense burning and the smelling of it and the aroma going off, and why aren't there animal sacrifices outside as you come? Why is that not done? Because we're not commanded to use that anywhere in the New Testament, anywhere in this New Covenant. We're not commanded to do that. Matter of fact we're told the contrast that's made. We're told what to do. We're told that our prayers are this aroma to God. It's not that incense, it's our prayers. Now, we're told that it's not the animal sacrifices, it's us. It's our bodies are the sacrifice. We are the temple. We're the sacrifice that's offered. We ourselves are the sacrifice.

And so what does that mean? What does that mean then to a local church. What does all -- what does all of what we talked about this month, what all does that have to do with who we are? Well, I would suggest this. The importance of the church. And let's, I think I'll say the importance of this local church, because I think that's how we would apply this. Mostly, I think accurately, so scripturally so is to honor Christ the way he has told us to. Now you may not agree with an application that someone make about what it is that we are to do, but we can all agree, I think that what we are to do is what God authorizes us to do. Whatever Jesus says in this New Covenant, that's what we're authorized to do, nothing more, nothing less. And that principle, I think, is clearly taught in Scripture. I think it's taught in the old system. I think it's taught in the new system. The issue is clearly taught that we are to do what we are authorized to do. Now how you reach that conclusion is another lesson for another time, but I think the principle is clearly stated. So I want you to think about me for just a minute. How's that for preaching? Think about me for just a minute. I want you to think about how sober that makes me feel about what I do when I stand before you, or when I talk to you individually, when you come to me and say, Kenny, what do you think about this? Which happens. And I'm thankful. I expect that, not because I'm some great spiritual guru. But because that's just, that's part of what you expect from me, for me to give you a biblical answer, at least what I think a biblical answer is, that's what you would expect of me, and you should. But when I tell you, like I'm doing this morning, what I'm telling you, let me help you understand that never comes flippantly. Never. Or when you go to the four men who serve as our overseers, whose primary responsibility is to help you spiritually, it is to look out for your spiritual wellbeing. They're not telling you what they tell you because they want to feel good about themselves. What they will tell you is, and I'm confident of this, what they will say to you is, here's what we believe, here's what I believe God says he wants you to do. Now that doesn't make it right. Just because they said, or just because I said, doesn't make it right. But do you see how challenging and sober it would be for us to provide you information that God wants you to understand? Or how about you as a as a teacher in these classes that that we go to, like tonight, that'll be in here, or in these, these other classrooms, or if you're teaching the two and three year olds, imagine, think about the soberness that you ought to feel when you're telling some two year old, a three year old, and sometimes younger than that, and many times older than that, the children are telling that here's what God said. Here's how responsible you are to what God said. Think about the challenge of that. Think about the responsibility of that to actually be given the task of telling a group of people, or a person, here's what God says in His Word.

Periodically, biblical truth and teaching is challenged. It's challenged here. Challenged everywhere. Nothing wrong with challenging nothing wrong with challenging anything that I teach, or anything that the elders would teach or say. Nothing. There's nothing wrong that matter of fact, that most of it's right to do that, as long as the motive is pure and good. If there's a question or something you don't understand, or something I don't understand, or something they don't understand, the very thing to do is to challenge it so that we can better understand that. But what happened in the first century, what Paul said to Timothy, there are things that you're going to have to make sure you understand what the truth is about that, because it happens today. And what I have to do is my best to understand that here's here's here's a problem for me. Listen, I'm like you. I'm a person that reads and that concludes and it reaches decisions. And sometimes I may not reach a good decision, sometimes I may not reach a biblical decision. I'm confident that sometimes I don't and I need to rethink or I need to restudy. I know that. But I know that God cares about what I believe, and I know he cares about what I practice. It's clear from scripture, and when I don't care anymore about what he thinks, or when I'm not willing to dig deep enough to find out what he thinks, he's displeased with me, and I don't want him displeased with me.

And the church. Let me take this to this, to this end, that the church is a place where one should expect to find out what the truth of the gospel is. Now, don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that the church decides that that's part of the problem with people. They think that a church decides what the truth is. A church doesn't decide truth. God decides truth. The church is to be a place where that truth is preached, where that truth is broadcast, where that truth is stated, so that it can believe, be believed, and where it can be practiced, as long as it's according to Scripture. And everyone should be held to that standard. Everyone doesn't have to be just the preacher or the elders or the teachers and everybody, every if you're a part of this church, God would hold you to that standard. If you're if you're a human being, God holds you to that standard. You gotta be truthful with what you read in Scripture, and you can't, you can't look at it and try to push it some direction to fit what you need. That's a mistake. That's sin. Don't do that. He's made this covenant for everyone for all time. And what he says is, is that I want you to read it. I want you to conclude from it. I want you to understand it and to affirm it and to teach it as well as you can.

And if I'm held to that standard, which I am, then I want to be a part of a group that seeks that very same standard. You're that group. So I study for myself, and I ask is, is the teaching that I read about in this covenant that we have, that God's given to us, that Jesus said, this is what I have come to fulfill. This is now my word. This is now what I authorize people to do. My question is, is the teaching that I teach and is what you hear the type of New Testament worship that's being taught in this covenant that we have? Or is the teaching I hear about what it means to become a Christian.?Is that what I read about in Scripture? When I when I talk to you in this public kind of way, or if I talk to you individually, it's what you hear coming from my mouth, what I believe the Bible teaches about, what you need to do to be a Christian, absolutely. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. But what I need to do is make sure that I'm studying and I'm trying to reach the best conclusions I can. And there's all sorts of applications when I think about a New Testament church, when I think about a local church. Am I preaching, am I believing and am I practicing what I read about in Scripture that the New Testament Church was. And if I'm not, if I'm not preaching, it's shame on me, and if we're not practicing, it shame on us. Is the first century gospel I read about in the New Testament, the same gospel that I hear about here in the 21st century. I hope it is. Is the new covenant that Jesus brought, being followed here? Is it being followed here? We can't make his words optional. We can't ignore His words. I want to be a part of a local church that seeks to follow the New Testament. And I believe I am. I believe I am.

So to go back a little bit to what I talked about last week, the local church isn't just a place to find encouragement, to be stirred up that is important, that is critically important, but it's a place where truth is practiced. It's a place where what we do collectively. It's a place where we have, collectively, to the best of our abilities to work with each other,we've reached conclusions, says this is what we're going to do. But it's a place where the truth is practiced and where the heart is moved, and if either one of those are not being met something needs to change, or you need to go somewhere else, because that's what a local church is. Both of those things find importance in a local church so ask yourself, why is it, why is it that I'm here? Why is it that I'm here? Let me, let me give a few bad answers about that. Well, I'm here because I grew up here. I don't care where you grew up. You're here because you grew up here? That's about the worst answer I know. I'm here because it's where my friends go. I'm here because it's where my family goes. I'm here because it's close to my house. I can leave the house at 9:27 I'm there by 9:30 so that's where I go. I'm here because when I go here, my parents are pleased, and when I don't go here, my parents are not pleased, and I want to please my parents. Or I'm here because I want to please my spouse. It's where she wants me to be or to where he wants me to be. So that's, that's why I'm here. You come up with, you come up with all-- you come up with all sorts of lists, right? There's all sorts of reasons that I think are bad answers. If that's the only reason. Let me give you, let me give you the good reason: because truth is taught and it's practiced, and I moved to be a part of it and to grow spiritually. That's a good reason. And if anything on that first list, make your list wonderful. It's a win-win.

Is the church important? Yeah, and we live in a society that continues to diminish the importance of the church. No, it's important. It's not just important. It's critically important because it's what the Lord wants. It's what the Lord has said. Now that doesn't mean that we're perfect. It doesn't mean we're right about everything. It doesn't mean that I'm right about everything. It doesn't mean you're right about everything. But what it means is here is a place where, if it's what it ought to be, it is a place where the search is ongoing, where the commitment is ongoing and where the heart continues to be stirred, to find out what it is that he wants you to do, and what he wants me to do, and then what he wants us to do. I think that's good enough. I think that's what he wants, because it brings honor and glory to Him the way He wants it, not the way I want it. I've already told you, if it was up to me, if it was up to me, my friends, this wouldn't look like it looks. Not if it was all about what I want and all about what moves me and all about what what makes me emotional and all about what makes me feel spiritual. If that were the case, this wouldn't look exactly like it looks. My guess it wouldn't look that way for you either. But what we have done, and what we will continue to do, is search in God's word and say, what is it that he wants, and if what we find ever changes. We need to change, but if what we continue to find is the same, then it need never change, not for change's sake. And I hope that we are encouraged to do that. I think that I should probably say that more than I do, and I hope this morning that you have listened clearly. I know you've listened well, because I can tell. Thank you. But I hope that these thoughts will encourage you to consider why we do what we do and why you believe and practice what you believe and practice. May God help us to always do that.

If you're in this assembly this morning and you have never rendered obedience to the gospel, this would be a great time for you to do that. If you believe with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, if you're willing to repent, that's a strong word, isn't it? If you're willing to repent, you don't have to, but you have to if you want to please God, if you're willing to confess to the world that He is the ruler of your life, that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then if you want, and if you have a need to have your sins washed away, then you need to be buried with them in baptism for the remission of your sins. That's what the New Covenant teaches, and I'm going to preach that until I die, God willing. That's something that you'd like to act on this morning we would love to help you with that, if you'll let us know by coming forward as we stand and as we sing.