Well, thank you for having me
again. It's been such a blessing. And
it's good to see familiar faces again. And sweet fellowship. And I just
thank you. And thank you for Chet and Nancy opening up their
home and allowing me to stay there. It's been such a blessing.
And everybody's been wonderful. And we have a wonderful family in
the family of God, don't we? It's amazing. You can be gone
away for a while and then come back and it's like you were never
apart, no matter where you visit. It's incredible. Also bring greetings
from Central Point and also from Jean-Claude. He said to say hi
and he loves you all and he's praying and thinking about you
often. Him and I often talk. He's just a dear fellow and you
guys have a real spot in his heart. So I just wanted to pass
the greetings on. Today we'll be in 1 Timothy chapter
3. It's always an honor and a blessing
to preach Christ and a privilege to exalt our Savior 1 Timothy 3, and the verse we'll
be looking at is verse 16. I know we looked at the portion
for our reading, but the main verse is verse 16. And the name
of the message is, Great is the mystery of godliness. Great is
the mystery of godliness. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. We see here in the Scripture
it says, great, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. A mystery in the New Testament
Greek, in the sense of the word, is not something mysterious,
as it is in the modern English word, rather it's truth that
the natural senses cannot apprehend, and which can only be made known
by divine revelation. The mystery of godliness can
only be made known in the manner and in the time appointed by
God, and only to those to whom He
is pleased to reveal it." Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. And we see right before our eyes
this precious truth. The Lord had been speaking to
Pharisees and such, and he always spoke to them in parables. Matthew 13, verse 10. And the
disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou in parables? And look at verse 11. He answered and said unto them,
because It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. It's given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it's not given. Beloved,
right before us we see distinguishing grace. It's the distinguishing grace
of God in Christ. The only reason we know Christ
is because of His distinguishing grace and by divine revelation.
Because it's given to us. We're recipients. You remember the analogy of the
potter and the clay? The potter or the clay can't
say, well, make me this way. No, he's molded. The potter molds
the clay into whatever he sees fit. We have absolutely nothing to
boast of in salvation. Because it's all of grace. It's
all of grace. And the master continues. For
whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they see not." They see with their physical
eyes, but they don't see Christ. They don't know who He is. They
just see Him as a man, don't they? And so did we before the
Lord saved us. Seeing, they see and see not. and hearing. There was a time
when we sat and heard the gospel, but we didn't hear it. But one
day, we heard the voice of the Son of God and lived. And so the Lord's saying, they
see and see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand. They can't. They haven't been
given hearing ears or seeing eyes. They have no understanding. And this is natural man. This
is the state of us when we come into this world, dead in trespasses
and sins. And unless God saves us, we stay
in that condition. Beloved, the gospel is a revelation. If you have been given the ears
to hear and eyes to see, rejoice. Because scripture says it's not
given to everyone. And this destroys the Armenian
view that Christ died for everyone. No, He died for the elect. He
died for His people. Just as the Old Testament sacrifices
were only for the nation of Israel, so the sacrifice on Calvary's
tree is only for spiritual Israel, for those who are His elect. And then in verse 14, our Master
continues, And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which
saith, By hearing, ye shall hear, and shall not understand. And
seeing, ye shall see, and shall not perceive. This is the natural
state of man. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they
have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, that I should heal them." And
again, this is the natural state of man. No understanding of spiritual
things. We're devoid of spiritual things
when we come into this world. Dead in trespasses and sins.
No hope. You can't tell one of God's elect
from a goat before he's saved. You can't. But God knows. God
knows who his sheep are. He knows. He knows. And he knows
his own. And pervenient grace, like the
old-time preachers used to say, grace before grace. God caring
for us even before we're saved. Why? Because he's loved us from
eternity. He's loved us with an everlasting love. And look at verse 16. But blessed
are your eyes, if you say blessed are your eyes. Blessed. For they see. They see. And your ears, for
they hear. And remember, tie this verse
into 11. He answered and said unto them,
because it is given unto you. It's only by God's grace that
we see. It's only by God's grace that we hear. It's not our doing. We cannot come to any kind of
understanding about God unless He reveals Himself to us. It's
all of grace. We're given eyes to see and we're
given ears to hear. The deaf can hear and the blind
can see. Oh, rejoice. It gives us great comfort and
joy. And it also humbles us, knowing that God chose us. He
chose me. And each one of us say that.
Me? Oh, the mercy of God in Christ.
And verse 17 says, for verily I say unto you that many prophets
and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye
see, and he's speaking to the disciples here, and have not
seen them, and to hear these things which ye hear and have
not heard them. Now, Brother John Gill said it
best on this passage, so I'm going to quote him about the
many prophets and righteous men. He says, to see Christ in the
flesh, and have a clear insight into the knowledge of the mysteries
of grace, were things very desirable to men of the highest class in
church and state, and of the best characters such as Abraham,
Jacob, David, and Solomon. They desired, they desired, they
looked to Christ. In the church in his time, Isaiah
and the saints with him and many others, these indeed had a sight
of Christ, they saw him afar, in the promises and in the prophecies,
all those types and shadows in the Old Testament all pointed
to Christ. They saw Him afar off in the
promises and prophecies of Him through types and sacrifices.
Whereas, now, and this is where the Lord said many, many, many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see these things. Gil goes on to say, whereas the
disciples saw him in person and heard him preach. They saw him
and they heard him. And they took in the evidence
of his miracles. And they felt the power of his doctrines and
spiritually and savingly understood them. They were given eyes and
ears to hear and see. Turn with me, if you would, to
Colossians 1.26 and keep in mind our main text about the mystery
of godliness. Colossians 1.26, Scripture declares,
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to his saints. Manifest to his saints. So the mystery I've spoken of
in 1 Timothy 3.16 is the same mystery spoken of here in 1 Colossians
1.26. Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints. Manifest. And the mystery spoken of in
our text here is by divine revelation. It's made known in a manner and
in a time appointed of God. For every believer, there's a
time appointed for them to believe that they would flee to Christ. And we're made willing, aren't
we? The unwilling are made willing, and they run to Christ. They
flee to Him. The Holy Spirit must reveal Christ
to us, or we will never, ever know Him. We'll never know Him,
unless the Holy Spirit reveals to us who He is in our state
before a holy and righteous God, that we are bankrupt sinners
before a holy and righteous God. The mystery spoken of here must
be revealed as it is outside the range of unassisted natural
apprehension. We can't apprehend it on our
own. See, even Christ, in the text
we looked at in Matthew, he said it's given. It's not something
you can learn. You have to be taught. In Scripture,
Christ must be revealed to us. And as we looked at this morning,
grace is given where there's no ability. If there's ability,
you can't have grace. But where there's inability,
oh, salvation is of the Lord plus
nothing. It's all of God's doing. As I said, we're just recipients,
just recipients of his grace. He has mercy upon and based upon
absolutely nothing in us. And nothing we do, it's not this
God looked down through time stuff. Not at all. Because then
that's works. That's based upon something you
do. No, it's the pure mercy of God. The only reason we are saved
is because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Plus nothing we do. And as I said, this grace can
only be made known to us by divine revelation. And it's only made
known to us at a time appointed by God. In the ordinary sense, a mystery
implies something withheld. But in a scriptural sense, it
is truth revealed. Truth revealed. We have truth
revealed to us. What we never knew, is revealed
to us. And thus the terms associated
with the mystery is Paul proclaiming made manifest. Made manifest. Something that we never knew
is made manifest to us. And manifest, revealed, preached,
and by revelation. Among the ancient Greeks, the
mysteries were religious rites and ceremonies practiced by secret
societies unto which anyone who so desired might be received. And those who were initiated
into these mysteries became possessors of certain knowledge, which was
not imparted to the uninitiated. It was a secret society. Only
the folks who were part of it knew. And no doubt the Apostle
Paul had these mysteries in mind when writing this. and presents the gospel in contrast
to those. Believers in Christ can distinguish
the things revealed only because God has revealed the mystery
to them. That's the only reason. The only
reason we understand about what Christ has done for us is because
it's been revealed to us. We are born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, we are taught by God, we're taught of God,
that Christ, who is God himself, became a man. That he, being
fully God and fully man, that he lived a perfect life in a
Roman stead. And then as a sinner's substitute,
he died on Calvary's cross. And he's satisfied. God's sword
of justice was unseathed and it was plunged into Christ. And
he bore it all. satisfying the justice and law
of God in the sinner's room instead. And then he was raised from the
grave for our justification to prove that God was satisfied
with the sacrifice. And he did all this in the sinner's
room instead. And now he's been received up
into glory. And he rules and reigns right now. He's not waiting
to rule. Folks think he's waiting around. He rules and reigns right
now. He's king. Oh, he's king. So the mystery Paul
speaks of in our text in 1 Timothy 3.16 is the truth that the natural
sense is we can't apprehend it. We can't understand it. And it
can only be made known by divine revelation, by God just revealing
it to us. Otherwise, we would never know it. It's a mystery
because no human wisdom could ever have devised it. An old
preacher from the past wrote this. It is a mystery because
no human wisdom could ever have devised it. It is a gem of grace
dug from the deepest mind of the divine intelligence and lifted
from the profoundest recesses of the divine compassion. Oh, this mystery of godliness
is the mystery of Christian faith, the mystery of God incarnate.
1 Timothy 3.9 says this, holding
the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. As Paul here explains,
it is this mystery of a divine person being revealed, being
the revealed truth of Christ in His immeasurable greatness. God has revealed Christ to sinners, to those of us who could otherwise
never have known Him. And He's pleased to do it. He's pleased to do it. He's pleased
to have mercy upon His elect. And this mystery is without controversy.
Look in our text. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. This mystery is without controversy
because it's the common confession of all believers. And to deny any part of this
mystery is to deny God and His Christ, which is ungodliness. So we're going to look at the
points mentioned in this text here. And Paul here expresses
this mystery of Christ in our text. And without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. So our first point is, God was
manifest in the flesh. manifest in the flesh. The one
who the heavens cannot contain. The one who spoke, take a look
at the night sky and what we see is but a fraction of the
universe. The one who spoke it all into
existence. The one who had angels prostrating
before him in heaven. becomes a man. Fully God and
yet fully man. God in the person of Christ became
incarnate. Psalms chapter 2 verse 2 says,
the kings of the earth set themselves And the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, I will
declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee. He is God the Son. And He coexists
with God the Father in eternity. If you want to turn to John chapter
one, verses one to three, He coexisted with God in eternity.
He's God. In the beginning was the Word.
And we know that further on down, it says, the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us. This is speaking of Christ. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. God manifest in our point, in
our text, God was manifest in the flesh. And it says, the same was in
the beginning with God, and all things were made by him. All
things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything
made that was made. He is therefore co-eternal and
co-equal with God His Father, and deserving of all praise and
all honor. He is the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 5. Verse 23. Now, folks who say there's salvation
for others in different religions, and they say, well, you can get
to heaven without Christ. A lot of folks say that. A lot
of false religions believe that. Look at John 5.23, that all men
should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that
honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent
him. There's no salvation outside of Christ. None at all. You don't
honor the Son, you don't honor the Father. There's only salvation. Here
our text before us clearly states, clearly states that Christ is
the only way to heaven. He's the only way. There's no
other hope. And in order to save fallen men,
in order to redeem his sheep, he assumed humanity with all
its weaknesses and infirmities. Christ was fully God and fully
man. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh, yet without sin, and in order to condemn sin in the flesh.
Romans says this, for what the law could not do, it couldn't
redeem us, could it? Not at all. Shows us our condemnation. Shows us our hopelessness before
God. In that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh. Think of the condescension. Think
of the condescension. The God of all glory becomes
a man. He who is all becomes nothing. The creator of man becomes the
son of man and lived as a man. The Lord of the universe becomes
the servant of all. The richest of all. You can't
plumb the bounds of the riches of God. The richest of all becomes
the poorest of all. What condescension. The possessor of all glory becomes
a man. The law giver becomes the law
keeper. The sinless one becomes the sin
bearing one. He was without sin, yet he died
in the sinner's room instead, before the justice of God. And think of the love, think
of the love Christ has for his bride. To leave the glories of heaven, and to condescend, and to become
a man, a man of souls, acquainted with grief. and to die in the sinner's room
before the justice and law of God. And he did this because
he loves his people with an everlasting love. Scripture says he set his
face like a flint to Jerusalem. There was no other way for us
to be redeemed. We've looked at that. There's no ability in
us to save ourselves. He must redeem his people from
their sins. And he goes to Calvary's tree.
And he dies in the room instead. And as he's dying, he cries,
it is finished. It's finished. And God is satisfied with his
sacrifice. What love Christ has for his
bride. Our text again continues, and without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit. Now men despised and rejected
Christ. In their rage, they plotted against
Him. They tried to trip Him up and catch Him, but He's God. He knows their thoughts. And they said, like we did before
the Lord saved us. If we're here, we're saved. They
said, we'll not have this man reign over us, not have this
man rule over us. And they cried, away with him.
Crucify him. Crucify him. And if we had been
there, we would have yelled the same thing in our natural state.
to our shame. And they killed him like the
worst of criminals. But the Holy Spirit justified him, vindicated
him. For in Romans 1.4 it says, declared
to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. Christ was raised for our justification. to prove that God was satisfied
with the sacrifice of Christ. Our text continues to say, seen
of angels. God was seen of angels. They saw Him in glory, and they saw Him in His humanity. And this points to the fact that
although man saw the resurrected Christ with eyes clouded in somewhat
disbelief, angels saw him clearly as the resurrected Lord. Turn
with me if you would to Matthew 28. And all this is revealed. All
this is revealed. Why do we believe that God was
manifested in the flesh and others don't? Because it's being revealed
to us. It's been given to us. Why do we believe that God was
justified in the Spirit? Because it's been given to us. Look at Matthew 28, verse 1.
In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary to the scepter.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of
the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the
stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like
lightning, and his ramlet white as snow. In fear of him, and
for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead
men. And the angel answered and said
unto the woman, fear not ye. What did David say to Mephibosheth? Fear not. Fear not. Fear not
ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not
here, for He is risen. As He said, Come see the place
where the Lord lay, where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell us, disciples,
that He is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you
into Galilee, and you shall see him, lo, I have told you." So
he was seen of the angels. They knew who he was. The next portion of the scripture
says, preached unto the Gentiles. God was preached unto the Gentiles. Now Christ in his earthly ministry,
he preached among the Jews. In Matthew 15, 24, Scripture
declares, But he answered and said, I am not sent, but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as a priest or as a savior
and redeemer, he was sent to make satisfaction and atonement
for the sins of all God's elect. He was sent to obtain eternal
redemption. And he did it. He did it. He's a successful Savior. He did it. He was sent to obtain eternal
redemption and salvation for all of them, whether Jew or Gentile,
all of his elect. But in his earthly ministry,
he preached among the Jews. But after his resurrection, he
commissioned his preachers to, and turn with me if you would,
to Mark chapter 16, just one verse. Sorry, I have you turn
in quite a bit today. Mark 16, verse 15. And he said unto them, go ye into
all the world. and preach the gospel to every
creature. So salvation is not only for
Jews, but for all the elect of God, both Jew and Gentile. Ephesians 1.4-6 says, according
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy sinners made holy, and without blame, without blame, before Him in
love. Heaven predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. Remember we looked at that this
morning? It's God's free, He has He has free choice to choose
whomever he will. And he did. I remember hearing, I think it
was Brother Donnie. He said, I believe in free will. Free will of God. That's true. And it is all to the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us, see we don't
make ourselves, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. All the elect of God, whether
Jew or Gentile, were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. And isn't it marvelous that it
says, preached unto the Gentiles, because that's what we are. And then the next portion, 1 Timothy
3.16 says, believed on in the world. So preached unto the Gentiles, and believed on in the world. When the resurrected Christ is
preached among all nations, regenerated men from all nations trust in
Him. Every tribe, tongue, kindred and nation, they trust Him as their Lord
and Savior. Turn with me if you would to
Isaiah 2. I'll just read a portion of scripture
before we get there, another one in Acts chapter 10. It says,
of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. See,
there's nothing in us, there's no reason in us for God to save
us other than his mercy and his grace. God is no respecter of persons,
but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. Isaiah chapter 2, verses 1 to 3. The word that
Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and it shall
come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's
house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto
it, and many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God
of Jacob, and He," now look at this, "'He will teach us of His
ways.'" Taught of God. God's people are taught. That
which we could never naturally apprehend is taught to us, is
made known, is manifested unto us. And we will walk in His paths.
As a result of being saved, we'll walk in His paths and in His
ways. Why? Because the love of Christ
constrains us. We won't go out that door and
go crazy. God keeps His sheep. Now, we're sinners. but the power of sin has been
broken in the believer. The penalty of sin has been paid
for. And praise God, the condemnation
of sin has been taken away. All in the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ in him alone. This is why we rejoice. Heaven
forgiven you all trespasses and sins. You mean all? I mean all! What a wonderful salvation we
have in Christ. Some folks will say, well, you
don't know what I've done. What did David do? He committed
adultery and had a man sent to the front lines and died. What did Paul do? He was going
and pulling Christians out of homes and throwing them in prison,
and they were being executed. Oh, but they found mercy in the
eyes of the Lord. Mercy. Heaven forgiving you all trespasses. The believer, all the believer,
as far as the east is from the west, so far have our transgressions
been, we're forgiven. We're forgiven. but only because
of what Christ has done, not because of anything in us at
all. Not at all. Nothing we could do can gain
merit and favor with God. Nothing at all. Turn with me, if you would, to
Colossians chapter 2. Here's a precious truth that we need
to rest in as believers. This is one of my favorite portions
of scripture, because I know what I was, and I know what I
am, and I know what I'm going to be. But all my sins are forgiven
in Christ. And because of Christ, not because
of anything I've done. And this is why we say, flee
to Christ, so that God would grant you faith, and that you
flee to Him. Look at verse 13 of Colossians,
chapter 2. And you being dead in your sins. This is our natural state. This
is how we come. This is how we're born into this
world. This is how we live our life. Dead in your sins. And the uncircumcision of your
flesh. Hath he quickened? The believer is born again. Regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
You have to quicken together with him. Heaven's forgiven you. All trespasses. I love that.
Past, present, and future. All. Just a little word, eh? But so
much meaning. Look at this. Blotting the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. Oh, there was many, wasn't
there? Which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way,
nailing it to His cross. And the word blotting out there
means to obliterate in the Greek. Obliterating the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. This is why we proclaim a
marvelous, wonderful salvation in Christ alone. All our sins
are forgiven. spoiled principalities and powers,
he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And
no doubt, Paul here was speaking of a Roman triumph, when the
leader would come back into Rome and they would have a procession.
And the legions that were in the battle that performed greatly
would be with them. And the leader would be in a
golden chariot going into Rome. And then behind them would lead
the captives of the armies in chains behind them. The Lord is a triumphant king.
He's a triumphant king. But may we rest, those of us
who believe, may we rest in the fact that Christ has forgiven
us for all our trespasses, all our sins. What a wonderful salvation. And this is, when the scripture
says in 1 Timothy 6, believed on. We believe on Christ. We believe
that He died for our sins. And we trust and rest in Him,
in Him alone. He's our only hope. Again in our text, and without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, So the Gospels preached and believed on in the
world, and look at the last part, Christ is received up into glory. He's a reigning king. He's not
waiting to reign. He reigns and rules. He intercedes
for his people. And beloved, where he is, we
will shortly be. And many men still reject him.
But God has received the Lord Jesus Christ in the glories of
heaven, saying to him, sit on my right hand until I make thine
enemy, thy enemies, thy footstool. He who completed the work was
God manifest in the flesh, and he is now exalted. He's the God
man reigning and ruling in heaven. And there's no controversy among
believers, is there? We believe this. We rest in it. We trust in Him. Now the question is, do you confess
this mystery? For all of us, do we confess
this mystery? May God give you grace, if you
don't believe on Christ, to believe on Him. To believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.