I did let you have this place. My faith has found a resting
place Not in device nor creed I trust the ever-living One His
wounds for me shall clean I need no other argument I need no other
plea It is enough that Jesus died And that he died for me
Enough for me that Jesus saves Distant my fear and doubt A sinful
soul, I come to Him, He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died,
and that He died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word,
the written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name,
salvation through His blood. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died,
and that He died for me. My great position heals the sick,
the lost He came to save. For me His precious blood He
shed, for me His life He gave. I need no other argument I need
no other plea It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for
me. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. I know there's a preacher out
in Rescue, California that wishes his children were there, but
I'm delighted to have them with us this morning. It's a joy to
have you and I appreciate the song. And I want to say one other
thing that's not characteristic of me, but I'm delighted to have
my own son home. Hadn't been here for a while,
Gary and Natasha and the family. We've enjoyed them a little bit
since they've been here, and looking forward to have them
with us this week. The children, the parents are
going to take off someplace, but they'll be with us. The children
will be with us for a week. Get to know my grandchildren
a little better. Open your Bibles, please, if you will, to 1 Timothy.
1 Timothy. Paul is writing to young Timothy
and giving him encouragement, warnings, instructions. And here
he says, 1 Timothy, verse 14 of chapter 2, chapter
3. These things write I unto thee,
hoping to come there, come to thee shortly. If I tarry long, if it's some
time before I come, I write these things that you may know how
to behave yourself, how you ought to behave yourself in the house
of God, the house of God, which is the church of the living God. which is the pillar and the ground
of the truth. The church is the salt of the
earth. The church is the light of the
world. And it's because of this next
verse that they are so. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. Almighty, eternal, invisible
God was manifest in human flesh. Well, that's a mystery, isn't
it? Almighty God become one of us. But the Bible says, in the
fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
of a woman, made under the law, born of Mary in Bethlehem of
Judea, grew up in Nazareth, mountainous, secluded village, walked the
sands of time, suffered the contradiction of sinners against himself, delivered himself into the hands
of his enemies to be crucified, laid in a dark, empty tomb. And three days later, he got
up and walked out. Went back to glory. You know
what this book is? The whole book is a testimony
of God concerning His Son. Everybody talks about Jesus the
world over. Jesus, some prophet, Jesus, somebody
died for sinners, and all these things they say. But the Bible
says the Gospel is how he came according to the Scriptures,
as I heard David say this morning. He lived and died and was buried
according to the Scriptures. And this is a verse that is according
to the Scriptures. This is the testimony of God
concerning His Son, without controversy, beyond any doubt. Great is the mystery of godliness. What a mystery it is. God was
manifest in the flesh. He was justified in the Spirit. He was seen of angels. They attended
Him everywhere. He was preached unto the Gentiles. He was believed on in the world. And he went back where he came
from, went back to glory. One day in the midst of a group
of followers, he lifted up his hands and he
blessed them, and his feet left the ground, and he ascended up
and up, higher and higher, until he ascended through the clouds
out of their sight. And they stood there filled with
wonder and amazement. And an angel came and said, you
men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing into the heavens?
This same Jesus, same one, is coming back in like manner as
you saw Him go away. Go on about your business. Do
what He told you. That's what we're waiting for
today, this same Jesus, to see Him face to face. Paul told Timothy
in the opening verse here that he hoped to come to him shortly
and talk to him personally and teach him personally and comfort
and strengthen him. If it doesn't work out, he said,
if I tarry long, I've written these things that you may know
how to behave yourself in the house of God. Now that doesn't
mean behavior like we think of conduct on a report card at school. This behavior has to do with
not referring to deportment as we commonly think of it, but
Timothy knew how to behave himself, how to conduct himself, and he
did it quite well. But this means at the course
of action, that we take in regard to this last verse I read. How to behave yourself in the
house of the living God concerning these truths without controversy. How to uphold these truths. How to contend for these truths.
How to live on these truths. How to hold them fast, don't
let them go. holding and contending for the truth, teaching the truth,
the appointment of others to teach the truth and carry it
on perpetually in the house of God. I'm not going to turn to
all these verses. You are familiar with them. Then
Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 through 22, 1 Corinthians chapter
3 verses 16 and 17 tells you the house of the living God is
not a building. It's a people. He dwells with
his people. Always with his people. Manifests
himself to his people when they meet together in his name. He dwells in them by His Spirit. They dwell in Him by faith, all
according to and through the truth. He dwells in their minds
and in their hearts and in their souls. He lives with His people. There He lives, in the truth,
by the Spirit of truth. Christ dwells with His people.
And then it says, this uses this term, the living, living God's
living church. Church of the living God. That's
what a church is. It's a live place. It's not dead.
Church is a live place. The Bible says Christ has life
in himself and he gives life to his church. Because he lives,
we live. And it uses this wonderful illustration
that's so easy to understand. The vine tree and the branches.
The branches have no life apart from the tree. But it's their
union to the tree, their connection to the tree. And life flows out
of the tree into the branches. And that's our relationship to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He has life in Himself, and He
gives it to whomsoever He pleases. And we have life because He has
life. 1 Peter 2, 5 talks about us being
lively or living stones built upon the chief cornerstone, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have life in Him. And I repeat
this illustration like a vine tree in the branches. We have
no life apart from Him. Without me, He says, you are
nothing. You have nothing. You can't do anything. Without
me, all is in Him. But with Him, we can do all things. Now the church is called next
the pillar and ground of the truth. Pillar and ground of the
truth. That's what the church is in
this world. Salt of the earth. Light of the world. It's a light
shining in a dark place. But it'll never be extinguished.
Because he said, on this rock, Christ Jesus, I build my church.
The gates of hell shall never prevail against it. I'm going out of this world,
come back again sometime to receive you unto myself. But I'm with
you. I'm with you always. Even to
the end of the world. Even to the end of the ages.
Pillar and ground of the truth. The truth is revealed to the
church of the living God. They only know the truth in their
hearts in a living way, in a reality. Planted in their mind, written
in their hearts, written in their souls, the church has the truth. That's how you know a true church,
by the truth. Isaiah 8, 20 says, If they speak
not according to this word, to the Lord, to the testimony. If
they speak not according to this word, they have no light. It's
because they're in darkness. We know a church by the truth,
by the gospel, the gospel, the testimony of God concerning His
Son. The church has the truth. The
church holds the truth. The church loves the truth. The
church lives on the truth. And the church proclaims the
truth of God. It's a pillar and ground of the
truth. Where do you want to find the truth? Where do you go to
find the truth? You go to a church. And you visit
church after church until you find the truth according to this
book. And you'll be like the noble
Bereans that said Paul commended them because they searched the
Scripture daily to see if even the Apostle Paul, to see if he'd
tell them the truth. That's what we ought to do. See
if a preacher tells us the truth. And most of them aren't in our
day. Sad to say, but it's so. The church is ordained of God.
for His glory and for the salvation of the souls of His people, the
churches ordained, and put in this world. And He said, go into
all the world and preach the gospel. I'll always be with you. I'll always be with you. And
I have all power in heaven. I have all power in earth. You
go preach. I'll be with you. That's all
the power we need. The power of the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is this truth? What
is this truth? It's found in verse 16. The pillar
and ground of the truth. The church is the pillar and
ground, the support, the proclaimer, the sustainer, the maintainer
of this truth by the grace of God. What is the truth? This
is God's greatest gift, His Church. The Apostle Paul spoke of it
one time. He said, we have this, in 2 Corinthians 4, he said,
we have this treasure, this truth in earthen vessels, that the
excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. That's
it, the gospel. We have such a precious truth
in these earthen vessels. We carry it around with us. It's
in our minds. Paul said, the Hebrew writer,
it's written in our hearts. Not just on our garments and
on our clothing and on the doorpost. It's in our hearts. God has written
it. The mystery of the gospel, the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's greatest gift to
the church, the mystery of Jesus Christ. That's the very heart
of the gospel. If you believe not that he came
in the flesh, you're antichrist. Antichrist. Antichrist. The mystery of man's redemption
in the gospel of Christ, the life and death of Christ, How
God made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made a righteousness of God in Him. And the mystery of God
soon to be finished. The book of Revelation says soon
the mystery of God will be finished and time shall be no more. It
will be all over as far as time is concerned. And then in 1 Corinthians 2,
7, and 8 talks about the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the
gospel. Paul said, had they known it,
had they known who he was, they would not have crucified the
Lord of glory. But they didn't know. Matthew
chapter 13 said, it's given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of God, special gift of God, to know these mysteries. to love them, to live upon them,
to uphold them and proclaim them, earnestly contending for the
faith. God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. 2 Corinthians 2. A precious treasure
in these clay pots, that's what it is. Great mystery of godliness. This truth is set forth here
in six parts, six particulars rather. And all of it pertains
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in this verse 16 talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything. He is everything. The fullness of the Godhead bodily
dwells in Christ. And we are complete in Him. He's everything. Everything.
All pertains to the Lord. If a poor sinner is wrong here,
He's wrong about it all. It doesn't matter how much he
knows, how much he may have experienced. If he can't receive and love
this testimony of God concerning his son, he missed it. He missed
it. This is that important. This
is the truth of God that the church holds and loves and proclaims
and lives upon. It doesn't matter what a man
knows or experiences if he doesn't know the truth of God. You shall
know the truth. The truth shall make you free.
Christ said, I am that truth. The way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. And it's called here the mystery
of godliness. The mystery of godliness. Designed of God. This whole gospel
narrative is designed of God to make ungodly men godly. To make the ungodly holy. To make men righteous and acceptable,
unblameable, unreprovable in the sight of God. And that's
what it does. That's what it does. And this
is a mystery to natural religion. They don't understand it. The
Bible says twice in the book of Proverbs that there's a way
that seems right to man, but the end thereof is always the
ways of death. The Bible says in John chapter
3, verse 19, this is the condemnation, that light, true light, the light,
the Lord Jesus, has come into this world and men love darkness
rather than light. I thought about that in the most
simplest way I can. That means that when I was born
into this world, I'd rather hear a deceptive lie than the truth. And that's true of every man
that comes into this world. He'd rather hear some preacher
Tell him how he can escape hell and go to heaven. And to hear
the truth about who he is and what he is and what God requires
of him. And how that remedy is in the gospel. And only in the
gospel. That's where we're born. We love
darkness rather than light. Mystery of godliness. Chapter 4, verse Timothy. The
Spirit speaketh expressly. that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of demons." That's what God tells us expressly. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having
their conscience seared with a hot iron, I'm writing to tell
you how to behave yourself in the church of God, the house
of God. Forbidding to marry, commanding
to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received,
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. That's
been preached for years. Not so much, not so strongly
in our day. It was one of the platforms of
the Church, the Roman Church, for years. And some people look at it and
say, well, that's just a little different belief than ours. No,
that's a doctrine of devils. Anything man teaches you can
do to make yourself more holy, more acceptable in God's sight
is a doctrine of devils. Forbidding to marry, not eating
this on a certain day or that on a certain day, the doctrine
of devils. Every creature of God is good,
nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for
it is set apart by the word of God. and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance
of these things, thou shalt be a good minister. Thou shalt be
behaving thyself wisely in the house of God. There is stuff in the words of
faith and of good doctrine whereunto thou hast attained, but refuse,
refuse, don't pay any attention, don't stay away from it. Refuse
these old wives' fables and exercise yourself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise that has
nothing to do with weight lifting and running and jogging, that
has to do with so disciplining the body and
structuring your life and what you eat and what you drink and
where you go and where you don't go, these things profit very
little. But godliness, godliness, acting
like God, is profitable unto all things, having the promise
of life that now is and that which is to come. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. Preach these things. This is
how you ought to behave yourself in the house of the living God,
church of the living God, pillar and ground of the truth. Now,
first of all, God manifests in the flesh. I heard a sermon a couple of
nights ago at home going through some old tapes. Fr. Griswold preached the message and brought
this out. If you believe not that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh, you're antichrist. He did a good
job. Your answer, Christ. I heard
about a fellow one time. We all know here in town we have
friends that are, some call them oneness and some are Unitarians
and anti-Trinitarian, whatever. They don't believe in the Trinity
as God has set forth in the Scriptures. This fellow one time I read about
had a brother that was a Baptist, but he himself was a anti-Trinitarian,
didn't believe in the Trinity. And he called his brother up
and said, now I'd like for you to come preach for me sometime,
but if you wouldn't preach for anything controversial, I'd like
my people to hear you. And he got up and he opened his
scriptures to this verse 16. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness, Almighty God became a man. That's what
he asked him to do. Preach something not controversial.
God said it's not controversial. It's a great mystery, but it's
true. The whole of our welfare, the whole of the glory of God
rests upon the fact that Christ became one of us, born of Mary
in Bethlehem of Judea. Wonder of wonders to my soul
that God, my Creator, without Him was not anything made that
was made. became one of us. It behooved
Him in all things to be made like His brethren. The seed of
Abraham. Hebrews chapter 2. He became
one of us. He who sustains all things, upholds
all things, was upheld by a human mother, drew nourishment from
her breast, was held in her arms, clothed and nourished and cared
for. That's what this is saying. And that's the very heart of
the gospel. That that man wasn't just a man, he was Almighty God. Just as much so as if he had
never become a man. And he was just as much a man
as if he were not God at all. He was the gloriously unique,
amazing, incomprehensible God-man. God manifest in the flesh. Philippians
chapter 2, let this man be in you which is also in Christ.
Being in the form of God, being equal with God. became a servant,
made himself of no reputation, was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. That man was God. That man was
God. God Almighty, the very heart
of the mystery of godliness, John chapter 1, verses 12 and
13 He was in the world, the world was made by Him, the world knew
Him not. And He came to His own, the Jewish people, through whom it was prophesied
that He would come. And all these prophecies were
written and given unto them. And they received Him not. But
as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born,
not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, born
of God. And that's a mystery too. Nicodemus,
don't sit down and ponder about these things. The wind blows
where it pleases. You hear the sound of it. You
see the results of the blowing. But you can't tell where it came
from, where it's going. That's exactly the way men are
born of God. The Spirit of God blows across
the soul through the preaching of the Word, and men are born. And the next verse is what I
was leading up to. We who are born of God, we beheld
His glory. The glory as if the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. The glory
of God in the face of that That's what Paul's testimony was. God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That man was more than a man
to the end, more than a prophet to the end. He was the Son of
the living God. Peter said back early, we know
and are sure That thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living
God. And you have the words of eternal
life, and we're not going to leave you. We're going to stay
right with you. The Son of God. That Christ. That Messiah. The righteousness which He obtained
for us is called in the New Testament and in the Old Testament, the
righteousness of God. Adam had the righteousness of
a man. We have the righteousness of the God-man. The very righteousness
of God. He who hangs dying because he
is God, turns and forgives the dying thief by his side. Who
can forgive sin but one? Nobody. Only God. Only God. Secondly, justified in the Spirit. Boy, men didn't have much use
for Him, didn't have much time for Him. They turned thumbs down
on Him, despised and rejected of men, suffered the contradiction
of men against Himself all the days of His life. But He was
justified by the Spirit of God. Let your mind run back through
the Scriptures. Acts 2.22 to begin with. Acts 2.22. I don't think I can
quote it. I'll turn there and read it to
you. You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, justified by the Spirit, A man
approved of God among you. Approved of God among you. Now listen, by miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, and you
know it, you saw it, you were there. This man was approved
of God. His miracles bore witness to
Him. At his baptism, the Holy Spirit
spoke from heaven. God said, This is my beloved
Son, whom I am well pleased. Man of transfiguration, the same
thing. This is my beloved Son, whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Listen to Him. Listen
to Him. If you don't listen to Him, you'll
perish. If you don't hear Him, you'll be cut off. And then in
all of the miracles, Manifestations of God. Diseases fled from him at his
word. The sea lay down to sleep at
his word. A boisterous sea. Death flew away and life entered
into dead bodies. by His Word. All these are testimonies
of God concerning His Son. No man ever spoke like this man,
and no man ever did the works that this man has done. He gave
sight to one that was born blind. And the people cried, it must
be that prophet. But their leader said, no, it's
not him. Are you so foolish? Look it up. We haven't believed on him. But
they were wrong, willfully wrong. In Romans 4.25, he was raised
again from the dead, justified. Acts chapter 2. Testimony of
the Spirit. About 3,000 souls bowed to him
that day. They had no soft music. They
had no invitation. They had no religious cheerleader. They just had a fisherman turn
preacher. Uneducated. Telling them the
truth. And God made that truth to be
reality to their souls. The final message, the final
word of that message as far as it is recorded was this, that
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God made, I like
this, that same Jesus whom you crucified. God hath made him
to be Lord in Christ. Back when I first started my
ministry, the preacher's favorite thing back then, one of them
was, won't you make Jesus, let Jesus be your Lord. Two thousand
years too late. God done made him your Lord a
long time ago. A long time ago. The Bible says thirdly, he was
seen of angels. Do you remember in the first,
after his baptism, he went back into the wilderness, led by the
Spirit, to be tempted and tried and tested? And one of the things that Satan
used was God giving his angels charge over them, lest you dash
your foot against a stone. In other words, the angels are
here to protect you and watch over you and minister to you.
They were always there. They told about his conception,
Mary's conception. They sang at his birth. They ministered to him in his
temptation, after the temptation, and in the garden. They were
there at his death in wonder and amazement. And
they were there when he got up from death and walked out. Angels
of God. His secret witnesses. His ministers. And then fourthly, it said he
was preached to the Gentiles. Boy, I'm glad it is. This is
one of the big hang-ups to the Jews and one of the points of
ignorance for the free willers in our day. God so loved the
world. We think that's supposed to be. God owes us all, you know. He's
supposed to die for us. That was a shock to the Jews.
Who ever heard of the Jewish Messiah doing anything for the
Gentiles? But he never died just for the
Jews. He died for Jews and Gentiles, his people, his elect, scattered
throughout the world, every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
He died for his people. He died for the elect of God,
not for everybody. What a shock to the Jews how
God has honored preaching, preached unto the Gentiles. Oh, I'm glad. Preached unto the Gentiles. It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who
believe. Not just preaching anything,
but preaching the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Preached unto the Gentiles. Believed
on in the world. And I noticed years ago, Paul,
somebody would be preaching in the book of Acts, and it would
have this at the end. Some believed and some believed
not. A few believed, but most believed
not. But some did believe. He was
believed on in the world. This God-man, the one who was
manifest in the flesh, He was believed on in the world. Manifest in the flesh. justified in the Spirit. He was
believed on in the world. Seen of angels. He was seen by
faith of men in the world, too, and believed on. Preached unto
the Gentiles. Believed on in the world. Had received up into glory. Believed on in the world. the
truth of Christ, the testimony of God concerning His Son. This
is the record that God has given to us eternal life. And this
life is in His Son. If you have the Son, you have
life. And some believed and were saved. And they continue to believe,
trusting completely, completely. and entirely and wholly and alone
in Christ. That's what it means to be believed
on. They trusted Him alone. And then it says, Sixthly, He
was received up into glory. The round trip of the Lord Jesus
Christ came down here and became one of us. Lived every day of
His life. In my name. Your name, if you're
a believer. And at the end of his days, he
had no sin, he did no sin, he knew no sin, but he was made
to be sin with our guilt. And God punished him in our place. And now, as David said this morning,
that God is a just God and a Savior. He can't be anything else. Now
He is faithful and just. Faithful and just! Not only loving
and merciful. Faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Faithful
and just because our sins have been paid for. Faithful and just
because our sins are gone. Faithful and just And they'll
never be remembered against us again. It's finished! It's finished. Salvation is accomplished. Oh, the mystery and the glory
and the power and the intercession of Christ. That man, God became
a man and went back to glory. Always be a man. Like us. except he never knew sin. But
he is a man though, like us right now, touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, living, ever living to make intercession for
us, representing us in glory, a man who understands, who understands
us. A man in glory who has all power
in heaven, That's our Savior. My Savior has all power in heaven
and all power in earth, and John 17, too, all power over all flesh. We are here today. We are in
the hands of Christ. He has all power over all flesh,
all flesh. That's not what the preachers
are telling folks, but nevertheless, that's the truth. God has given
him a name above every name. Because of who he was and what
he endured and what he suffered and accomplished, God has given
him a name above every name. That is the name of Jesus. Every
knee should bow. Things in heaven, things in earth,
things under the earth. And every tongue shall confess.
that He is L-O-R-D, to the glory of God the Father. Name above
all names, a name above any name that ever has been or ever shall
be, the name Jesus Christ. He is the only potentate, the
King of kings and Lord of lords, and everybody is going to bow
to Him, just a matter of when, just a matter of when. He's taken possession of the
whole universe for the salvation of his people. The big question here this morning
is, can we believe on him? Can we
trust him, who he is, what he accomplished, rather than try
to trust ourselves and what we do and what we feel? I have such peace trusting in
Him alone. I have perfect sympathy with
what Paul said in Philippians 3.3. We're the circumcision.
We worship God in the Spirit. All our rejoicings in His Son.
We have no confidence in this flesh. We trust Him. God give us an increase in faith. And if you haven't exercised
faith or had faith before, may God grant it to you this hour. Okay, David.