Tony Evans - The Repository of Truth (07/20/2022)
The church is God’s designated repository of truth—the pillar and foundation upholding His absolute standard in a deceived world. From 1 Timothy 3:15, Acts 19, and other Scriptures, the preacher declares that the church must proclaim undiluted biblical truth, centered on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, to equip believers and impact culture rather than conform to it.
The Church as Repository of Truth
A repository is a container. It is a storehouse. The repository for our medicine is the pharmacy. It is the place we go that houses that which we need for health and healing.
You go to the records building downtown—which is a repository of information about people and locations and history.
You have a repository. God has a repository—a storehouse, if you will—a community location for your spiritual well-being—a place where you are supposed to be able to go to get good food—a place where you are supposed to go, be able to go, and eat well.
He has a place scattered throughout every community for health, healing, and well-being—not only of the people who attend but, because of its location, for the people who live in the surrounding vicinity. It is the repository of truth—and God’s repository of truth is called the church.
The church is that place He has singled out that does not find its first obligation in the culture—that does not find its first obligation to a person’s racial identity, cultural identity, gender identity—where the commitment is not first to who you are, how you were raised, or how you live, where you live.
It is a repository that is supposed to give you good food—not rotten fruit—because it is committed to one overarching issue—and that is the declaration of the truth.
The church is God’s spiritual grocery store.
Paul’s Charge to Timothy
This is what Paul says to Timothy—his son in ministry—in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 14: “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you soon—but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
Timothy is located in a very secular city—the creme de la creme site of Asia Minor—called Ephesus. A church has been established there. We will give it a name: Ephesus Bible Fellowship.
And Timothy is the pastor there—and Paul, his spiritual head, writes him—and he says, “Young man, I want to make sure that when people come to your grocery store, they are coming to the truth.”
Ephesus is of secular culture. It is full of idolatry. You can read it all in Acts chapter 19. It is full of materialism—it is full of witchcraft—it is full of errant theology, errant teaching—and social decay—even though it is an influential marketplace of ideas.
And he says, “And all the stuff that the folks are hearing, Timothy—and all the ideas, ideologies, idiosyncratic perspectives that they are imbuing into their minds—in spite of what the kids are being taught in school or the young adults are being taught in college—in spite of what they are hearing in corporate America—in spite of what they are hearing in the governmental regimes—in spite all of that—you make sure, when they shop at this store, they are getting the truth.”
Defining Truth Again
Now, we have defined the word “truth” each week—and let us define it again. “Truth” is God’s absolute standard by which reality is measured.
Truth sits outside of you. It is not dependent on you. You do not have to feel it, like it, or agree with it for it to be true. It just has to be what God says—then it is true—and you and I, we have to adjust.
We live in a world that does not want God’s viewpoint—therefore, it does not want the truth.
Because it does not want the truth, what we wind up with is cultural consequences—in our personal lives, family lives, church lives, and in our civic engagement.
And yet God wants to speak truth into all of those issues—personally, economically, socially, racially, morally—He wants to speak the truth.
And so He tells Timothy in a number of places, “You make sure this grocery store is well-stocked with truth.”
Tells him in chapter 1, verse 3: “I urge you because some folks are going to come with strange doctrines.”
He tells him in chapter 3, verse 9: “holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.”
Why? Because chapter 4, verse 1: “They are deceitful spirits and demons”—verse 3—“who do not know the truth.”
We are living in a duped society. We have been duped—and because we are living duped lives in a duped world with duped thought—we are living in a chaotic environment.
He says, “At this grocery store, Timothy—you make sure that when they go shopping—when they show up—we cannot change everything in society—but you make sure they are hearing the truth”—meaning God’s view on whatever the subject matter happens to be.
What the Church Is
The first thing we need to remind you of—since the church is the grocery store of the truth—we need to remind us all what the church is.
It is not a fraternity or a sorority. Yes, it has those relational components. In fact, it is called a family in 1 Timothy chapter 5, verses 1 and 2.
He says, “Treat the older men like fathers—the older women like mothers—the younger women like sisters—the younger men like brothers.”
He said, yeah—it is a familial environment—but it is a familial environment to equip people with God’s point of view.
The Bible knows nothing of an unchurched Christian. There is no such thing.
Person says, “Well, I do not have to go to church to be a Christian.” You are absolutely right. You become a Christian by faith alone in Christ alone.
To be part of the church is a commitment to be identified and dynamically involved with a local body of believers who are learning to live kingdom lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
His identity and involvement—it is not just sitting, soaking, and souring. It is serving a King and His kingdom—like our servicemen and servicewomen serve the kingdom of the United States of America—whatever branch they are in.
We serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords as His church.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, verses 18 and 19: “I will build My church—and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it—and I will give the church the keys to the kingdom.”
God does not skip the church house to fix the White House. He does not skip His grocery store if the culture wants to eat right.
And so He says, “I will give the church”—and Matthew 18—“the keys to the kingdom.”
He says, “I am going to give the church the keys”—that is access—“to Me—have keys of the kingdom of heaven—and if they use My keys, I will give them My authority. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
He says, “I am going to give you My authority on earth because you are using the keys that belong to Me in heaven.”
So how can we have all these churches on all these corners—with all these programs—all these members—all these leaders—all these preachers—and still have all this mess?
There is a dead monkey on the line somewhere.
How can you have the 11 o’clock on Sunday morning being the most segregated hour in America—and people still using Jesus’s name and calling themselves “the church”?
Why? Well, because we are using wrong keys. We have got cultural keys—racial keys—gender keys. What we do not use are kingdom keys.
He says, “and the way you know you are being the church is the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.” Hell cannot stop you.
So if you know hell cannot stop you—humans cannot stop you—because you are using keys that belong to a whole another order—and those keys have to do with God’s view on whatever the subject happens to be.
So He says that we are to represent Him as His kingdom people.
Over and over again in the New Testament—Ephesians chapter 1, verses 22 and 23—Jesus is head of the church—and we are His body to carry His viewpoint—He says—to fill everything.
That is why we want each of you to become a kingdom disciple who is a kingdom servant that makes a kingdom impact.
He says in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10—He says God checks with the church before He deals with the principalities and the powers.
So if you are trying to deal with the principalities and the powers—and God says, “I am not going to skip you to help them. I am going to start with you—because if I cannot get you straight, they are sure not going to listen to Me.”
The Church: Pillar and Support of Truth
And so He says to Timothy, “Timothy—you make sure the people who come to this grocery store—this food place spiritually—are people who understand the church—that you are not just showing up for a service once a week or twice a week. You are learning how to live out a divine frame of reference in all of life.”
And how do you do it? Well, He says the church—how one ought to conduct himself because that has to do with how you are living—in the household of God.
He calls the church a family—a household—and then says, “which is the church of the living God.”
I hope everybody understands God is alive. Okay? “The church of the living God”—so we are not just out here talking smack and talking up in never-never land and fairy dust. He is the living God.
And then He says, “the church of the living God—which is the pillar and support of the truth.”
Okay, now—you have to understand what is going on here.
Remember, I told you—Timothy is pastoring Ephesus Bible Fellowship.
If you were living in biblical days and you went to Ephesus—everybody would be talking about one thing—because located in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was called the Temple of Artemis or the Temple of Diana.
It was one of the seven wonders of the then-known world. People came from all around the world to see this massive tribute and statue to the goddess of all gods—Diana or Artemis.
When you read Acts chapter 19, you will see they had built a whole economy around Artemis—because that was like—you know—going on vacation to some awesome—like people going to Italy to the Leaning Tower of Pisa—and they got all the artifacts surrounding it—and people would buy and sell. It became a place of economic development and economic impact.
So it was a beast. That is why you went there.
Well, in the Temple of Diana—they had a hundred pillars. You know—the pillar in a building? You know—it is holding up the roof. It comes from the floor and holds up the roof.
This thing was so massive—it had a hundred pillars sitting on the foundation to carry it up to the rooftop.
So Paul did not just choose that word. He is talking to Timothy in Ephesus—and he says, “They got pillars to a lie.” Read Acts 19. “They are believing the wrong thing and are giving it worship. They are worshiping the wrong thing.”
And this hot mess we have got ourselves into with the nation—it is because we have got folk worshiping the wrong thing and building pillars to it.
It is a hundred pillars—and everybody is coming to Artemis.
And he says, “No—no-no-no—you build a pillar in the church to the truth.”
He says, “The pillar and foundation—you lay the groundwork for the truth—and you build up people’s lives—the pillar of their life—the pillar of their family—the pillar of their culture—the pillar of their society. You build up things based on the truth—not based on the pursuit of a lie.”
It is the ground—He says—and pillar of the truth—He says—because we want men to operate differently—the conduct—He says—that men know how to conduct themselves.
Guess what? God calls all of creation “God’s house”—because “The earth is the Lord’s, the fullness thereof—the world, and all they that dwell in it.”
See—this whole thing is God’s house.
Now, if you go out and create your own world—you can do your own thing—but the moment you insist that your rules operate in My house—we are going to be in conflict.
You are going to be in conflict—because your rules and My rules do not—well, they are not agreeing. We are going to be in conflict.
We are living in a world in conflict with God—and so people are in conflict with one another—because folk are in conflict with God—because we do not want to accept His truth.
And while the world can do that out there—He says, “Believers—those who name Jesus Christ”—He comes now to His final point.
He says, “Timothy—you make sure when they show up they hear the truth—they hear it with clarity—they hear it with love—but they hear the truth.”
And then He says in verse 16, “By common confession—great is the mystery of godliness.”
Say that again. He says, “By common confession”—something we all agree on—common confession—this is something everybody should be saying—“great is the mystery of godliness.”
Now, that statement did not come out of nowhere. When you read Acts 19, verse 28—the people who had come to see Artemis said, “Great is Artemis.” That is what they say in Acts chapter 19, verse 28.
Paul picks that up and says, “Oh yeah—there is something great—but it is not her.”
He says, “Timothy—when the people gather at the grocery store of truth—everybody should be saying, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness.’”
The Mystery of Godliness: Jesus Christ
So let me talk about the word “mystery.” In the Bible, the word “mystery” refers to “something that was concealed in the Old Testament that was revealed in the New Testament.”
And it is called a “mystery.” That word is used throughout the New Testament—refers to something that was either unknown or unclear in the Old Testament that has been now made clear in the New Testament.
When He says the word “Great is the mystery”—this is a shout—“Great is the mystery of godliness.”
It was a confession—He says. It was something they blurted out—and they said it at one time: “Great is the mystery of godliness.”
It was a shout—and then they sang a song—because the rest of verse 16 is a hymn. It was a hymn that they would sing after they cheered and shouted.
He says, “This confession will make you want to shout: ‘Great is the mystery.’ I have not even told it to you yet—and I feel like shouting.”
“Great is this mystery.”
What was concealed in the Old Testament that was not clear or fully revealed in the sacrifices—fully revealed in the worship—fully revealed in the Jewish laws—fully revealed in the books of the Old Testament—has now—bam—been made clear.
So the question is—what is the mystery?
He said, “Let us sing a song.” And He recites the hymn. Let us look at the verses.
The first verse: “He was revealed in the flesh.” That is called “incarnation.” No—He was not beginning in the flesh. He was revealed in the flesh—because “Unto us a child was born”—but “Unto us a son is given.”
The Son existed before the child was born. That is called the “incarnation”—God becoming a man in flesh. It is called the virgin birth.
See—what God did was He was in heaven and went “click-click”—took a selfie—and up pops Jesus Christ in a manger. Impregnated Mary by the Holy Spirit—so that He is fully God—fully man in one person—and that leaves him to want to shout.
“Great is this mystery” in the Incarnation.
He goes to the next verse: “was vindicated in the Spirit.” So He goes from incarnation to vindication.
What vindicated Jesus? Why do we not make Jesus ordinary—and we make Jesus extraordinary?
Well, the virgin birth is not enough—but in case you did not get it—He proved to be who He said He was—and the way He proved to be what He said He was—is by a sinless life—by His miracles—and by His resurrection.
So even if you did not believe what He said—you could see what He did.
So He moved from incarnation to vindication.
Let us go to the next verse: “seen by angels.” That is visualization.
The angels showed up at His birth. The angels showed up in His temptation. Angels showed up in His death. Angels showed up in His resurrection.
And whenever He ran into demons—they shook.
So the spiritual world could not ignore Him—and vindicated that He was who He declared Himself to be.
Let us go to the next verse: “proclaimed among the nations.” That is “proclamation”—that there is nowhere you can go where His name is not held in high honor—where Jesus the Christ is not given the props that are due Him as the King of kings—the Lord of lords—the eternal Son of God.
He goes to the next verse. He says, “believed on in the world.” That is “confession.”
You will hear people confessing the name of Jesus on every continent. You will find Him in every hole. You will find Him in the most inconspicuous of places.
Why? Because of who He was—God has made sure that people know and give attesting to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
Then He gives the final verse of a song. Song. He says, “taken up to glory.”
That is the ascension after the Resurrection.
After Jesus rose from the dead—40 days later—He stepped on a cloud in His glorified body. An angel showed up again and said, “Why do you men stand here gazing up into the heavens? This same Jesus that is gone is going to return.”
I do not know about you—but that makes a man want to shout.
What is the mystery of godliness? It is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
It is God become a man in the person of Christ—so do not you apologize for Jesus Christ. Do not you be ashamed of Jesus Christ. Do not you hide Him behind a bush just because His person is offensive.
Anybody who gave His life for you—died for you—rose for you—ascended for you—coming back for you—you do not apologize for.
You give honor to His name. He is King of kings and Lord of lords—and that is a common confession.
Everybody who comes to church ought to confess. I do not just believe in God. That is generic. I recognize His Son—because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1—truth is in Jesus—because Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 through 11—“at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord—to the glory of the Father.”
So excuse me if I stick with Jesus—excuse me if I stick with the truth—excuse me if I speak it to the church—because He is the mystery of godliness—and He deserves our undivided and undiminished praise.
Somebody—stand and give Him a common confession.
God has a central location that He has created and designed to hold the truth and deposit it in the lives of people—and that central location is the church.
When the church is being what God created the church to be—it lays a foundation where people can know they can hear the voice of God accurately proclaimed—so that they can inculcate it into their lives for good and for the benefit of others.
When you go to church—you should be going to a location that is not going to give you what men or society has to say—but what God has to say on every subject.
[spoiler=Reflection & Discussion Questions]
What is the church according to the preacher?
God’s repository (grocery store) of truth—the pillar and foundation upholding it in a deceived world (1 Timothy 3:15).
Why is the church called a “pillar and support of the truth”?
Contrasted with Ephesus’ Temple of Artemis (100 pillars to a lie)—church upholds God’s absolute truth against cultural deception.
What is truth?
God’s absolute standard measuring reality—His view on any subject, independent of feelings or agreement.
Why proclaim truth clearly despite opposition (2 Timothy 4)?
People turn to myths/ear-tickling; church must rebuke, correct, preach Word in/out of season.
How has culture abandoned truth today?[/h4>
Lies/myths on life, marriage, identity, government, race—leading to staggering chaos (Amos 8:11-12).
[h4]What is the church’s role in society?
Equip with God’s viewpoint; not conform to culture/race/gender but transform through kingdom truth.
Why no “unchurched Christian”?
Church is commitment to local body for kingdom living under Christ’s lordship—not just salvation.
What keys does Jesus give the church (Matthew 16:18-19; 18)?
Kingdom authority—heaven backs church using biblical (not cultural) keys; hell cannot prevail.
Why racial segregation in churches contradicts the church’s purpose?[/h4>
Uses wrong (cultural/racial) keys—not kingdom keys; divides what God unites.
[h4]What is the “mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16)?
Uniqueness of Jesus—incarnation, vindication, seen by angels, proclaimed/believed worldwide, taken to glory.
Why shout “Great is the mystery of godliness”?
Replaces Ephesus’ “Great is Artemis”—common confession celebrating Christ’s uniqueness.
How should churches address cultural issues?
Proclaim God’s truth clearly—with love but without compromise—as pillar against lies.
What happens when churches use wrong keys?
Chaos, division, ineffectiveness—hell prevails instead of church overcoming.
Why is the church God’s “household” and “family”?
[i]Relational (treat as fathers/mothers/brothers/sisters)—but for equipping