We applied the widow's house to our individual dwellings. We may also apply it to the assembly as God's house on earth. We find the truths of 1 Tim. 3 in picture form in 2 Kings 4. The books of the Kings portray responsibility in connection with the truth, so do the epistles to Timothy, which emphasize our individual responsibility in the house of God.
The epistles to Timothy were not written to the Church but to an individual. The instruction is: "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." 1 Tim. 3:1515But 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. (1 Timothy 3:15).
Here it is responsibility, not of an old nature which cannot please God (because that old nature should be reckoned as dead), but of the believer (a new creature in Christ Jesus), having new desires and purpose. All things are become new By the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the believer has been given power to carry out the will of God. What we need is the direction as to which way to go and what to do.
Christ came to this earth to die for us, to put away all of our sins and to give us a new life. This was His work of redemption. Also God is doing a work in our souls. We seldom think of this side of the matter-of a work by the Spirit within us, giving us an appreciation for the things of God so that we will be able to enter into them.
The present day of grace is characterized by the coming down of the Spirit of God to be present among men, especially in God's house on earth.