Jesus Christ has established his church, "the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth" (1 Tim. 3.15b, ESV). A pillar and a buttress are specifically warlike objects. They are the defensive walls, the fortifications, protecting that which is inside. Our Lord here is very clear that we are a people at war, not at peace, and our job is to defend the truth. From the pillar we can see falsehood coming. As the falsehood - the gates of hell which will not prevail against the Church - comes to attack, we have identified it and the defensive wall of the Church is to hold against all falsehood.
What do we see instead? We see today a weakened Church which makes compromise, which does not guard the truth, which does not protect against false doctrine. We see a Church which is a "voluntary association of likeminded people." We see a group of people who are assembled around the Scripture but who are not prepared to take a stand on the wall. We see a group of people who are ready to take a stand on the wall but who don't know truth and error. They have not looked at the truth adequately to identify the attackers. We see a group of people who have allowed falsehood into their midst for so long that they no longer consider it an important issue.
May the Lord cleanse us, forgive us, give us eyes to see rightly, give us hearts to guard the truth, and restore his Church to be the true pillar and buttress.
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