An introduction to the book of 1st Timothy:
The church is a little piece of heaven. It comes with its own laws, with it's own customs, with its own offices of government, and with it's own standards of communication. It has its own culture, its own values, its own celebrations and observances. Its officers have specific qualifications, its people walk in a certain fashion and manner, they are interconnected and functioning across previously unacceptable earthly boundaries of race, color, language, and nationality. This institution exclusively belongs to Jesus Christ, who is its head, its Lord, its champion, the supreme object of its affection, its hope, and its life. He dwells in the midst of it, adds to it such as He has determined, raises up and equips its officers, intercedes on its behalf, and rules as king and judge over it. |