May it please Almighty God to
bless us together as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let us turn
to the first epistle of Timothy, and the third chapter and the
last verse, that chapter is verse 16. So the first epistle to Timothy,
and chapter 3 and 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, received up into glory. Quite clearly, the Apostle Paul
was concerned as he wrote this letter to his son in the faith,
Timothy, that he might be well grounded and instructed in the
things of God. These two epistles, the first
and the second, are very instructive for us today as they were, of
course, instructive for Timothy all those years ago and have
been down through the ages. And as we come to the end of
this third chapter, of course, remembering that when this was
written, there weren't any chapters and there weren't any verses.
It was just one letter written. But nonetheless, as we've had
it separated, it's beneficial for us to be able to locate places.
So here we have this 16th verse in this third chapter, which
is really statement to encourage the Apostle Timothy to actually
declare quite clearly the truth of God in all its breadth and
depth. And so he commences and says,
and without controversy, well we know that when there's a controversy,
there's a disagreement. about things, and we see controversies
in people, we see controversies in national things and international
things. There's disagreement. Well, the
Apostle here, as he speaks to Timothy, he says, and without
controversy. Therefore, there's no discussion.
There's no debate. Because these things are true
and sure and certain. And he obviously desired that
Timothy might be very clear in his mind about the truth of God
and the things of God as they had been revealed that they were
emanating through the work of the Holy Spirit and through the
life and death and resurrection and ascension of the Blessed
Saviour and the effect of that work. It's good for us to realise
that Almighty God has ordained this pattern, ordained the great
work of salvation, ordained that His only begotten Son should
come into the world and be that great sacrifice for sin in order
that unworthy sinners should be eternally redeemed. you know these things are so
relevant to us today as they were to Timothy all those years
ago hasn't lost any of its importance it is important for us then to
consider these things and he tells us he says, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness So it's easy for us to assume
that well of course these things have just occurred and no problem
with them at all but he tells us here it is a mystery God's
great plan of salvation if we receive the truth of God into
our hearts and it abides there and we therefore think about
it and we rejoice in it and its food and drink to our never-dying
souls. Because this is the crux of the
whole matter, to understand spiritually the great blessings and the necessity
of the completion of everything which is to be found and known
in the knowledge of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore We're told, without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. And the first mystery,
of course, which is a wonderful and grand and glorious truth,
which naturally is beyond our understanding, is the birth of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
born into this world, and his mother was a virgin, might his
mother a never known man. And yet you see there was conceived
in her that which was of the Holy Ghost. What a mystery that
was. And yet how relevant it was and
how important it was. And of course we we tend to home
in on that great truth over the time that we refer to as Christmas
when we remember more specifically the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we should not just pigeonhole
that to that particular time of the year. It should always
be a comfort and an encouragement to us to know that the Son of
God, the only begotten Son of God, the Saviour of sinners,
the Lord Jesus Christ was born. He took on our form. He took on Him nature. He was indeed in all points like
as we are, yet without sin. He had to be because he stood
in our place as our great and glorious substitute. We have a wonderful Saviour,
have a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ submitting
himself to be born into that manger in Bethlehem in such humble
situations no more humble scene and to think that there born
was the life of the Son of God the only begotten Son of God
the second person in the Trinity the one who created all things
the Almighty God you see it is a mystery Well, it's a great
blessing if God has given you and me faith to believe this
great and glorious truth, that it is a foundation truth to us. It's not something which was
dreamt up, not something which was just written about. It was
the very truth of God. And we have a wonderful record
of it, of course, in the Gospels. the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was then manifest as God and
manifest in the flesh. He was just like us, just like
you and me, no different. What a wonderful way of salvation. Sometimes it's good to just remember
that this was God's ordained way to rescue ruined man. Man who'd sinned. Man who'd turned
his back upon God. Man who'd disobeyed God. Yes, man who had walked in an
opposite way. Man who'd pleased himself rather
than pleasing God. and was in that downward road
to endless perdition in hell until, until that great day when
the Lord comes and touches our hearts. And many, many, many
people have never received that, have never been blessed in their
souls, have gone on aimlessly through life and perished in
their sin. have never known the benefit
of the Saviour, have never known the need of a Saviour, have never
realised how He humbled Himself and was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. So what a great and wonderful
blessing for you and me today, if the Holy Spirit has revealed
this great and glorious mystery to our understanding, so that
it is no longer a mystery. We understand what it is. We
understand the blessing of it, and we rejoice in it, realizing
how unworthy we are to receive any favor. You know, often we
pass by the fact, as we here today have been brought up in
Christian, in Protestant households, where we have been taught the
things of God, where we've been able to go and come and worship
the ever-living and true God. And there's been no opposition
to that from the laws of our nation. We've inherited great
freedom and great blessing. And we pray that these things
may be used, therefore, for our eternal good. We may not cast
them aside as something of no consequence, of no importance. They are the utmost important
things to us. And what a mercy. And do we thank
God this morning. Thank God for our birth. Thank
God for our upbringing. Thank God for the nation that
we're born into, for the freedom we have of worship. These are
great blessings. Are we thankful for them? And
so to understand this great truth, this wonderful blessing of Almighty
God was manifest in the flesh, manifest in the flesh, real almighty
God, condescended, condescended to take on to himself our flesh. Well, that's the first point
which is so relevant and so important. There'll be no birth, there'll
be no life, there'll be no death, there'll be no resurrection,
There'll be no ascension. There'll be no intercession.
All these things had to begin. And they began with the birth
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, it's good to think about
it, isn't it? It's good to meditate upon it.
It's good to read about it. And also to realize that it wasn't
something that just happened by chance. It was ordained by
God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in
eternity past. There was that very careful plan
to save rebellious men because man had rebelled against God. Adam and Eve had rebelled against
God. You might say, well is that really
true? Yes it really is true. Because they disobeyed. what
God had told them they must not do and they listened to the temptation
of Satan and they bowed down to him well my friends because
of that that sin that you might say simple sin nothing of course
is simple with regard to sin but nonetheless less that occasion
and that broad curse into the world. The hymn writer says,
O thou hideous, monstrous sin, what a curse hast thou brought
in. All creation groans through thee. Through sin, just try and imagine
without sin, There'll be no groaning, and atoned for all their sin. Well, then here, God was manifest
in the flesh. It's a very important truth. It's a very important doctrine
to know that the Lord Jesus Christ was born, as the Old Testament
testifies in so many wonderful prophecies about the birth of
the Saviour. Well, the Old Testament worthies,
they look forward to the day of the Messiah. And yet, you
see, it was it wasn't a clear picture. And yet there it was
prophesied and it came to pass as all God's truths come to pass. Nothing fails because he is almighty
God. He has control of everything,
everything. God was manifest in the flesh. Well, what a wonderful thing
that is to know that he was indeed manifest in the flesh. Well, we know that as the words
follow in, how relevant this was. justified in the Spirit. Yes, the Blessed Saviour was
indeed justified. He justified the holy law of
God. And in the first epistle of John,
we can read some very simple words in the third chapter and
the eighth verse. And it tells us, He that committed
sin is of the devil it's a very strong statement isn't it but
so it is it's the devil it's his work that causes us to turn
against god and sin and disobey god so that we're guilty before
god well it's a good thing when you and i understand that we
are condemned we are condemned we again are we thankful for
that perfect life that the Lord Jesus Christ lived. It's a mystery
to us because we're so sinful. We're so sinful in our thoughts,
in our words, in our deeds. And yet to know that there was
one who was born and had our flesh, in all points, tempted like as
we are, yet without sin. Again, it's a mystery, isn't
it? But isn't it wonderful if God gives us faith to believe
the Lord Jesus Christ was born and he did live. He did live
a perfect life. And he was just before God. And because of that, because
of his sin atoning death, we are justified through his death. It's a wonderful and great and
glorious mystery, but it's so true and so relevant and so important
to us. It's glorious to realize. And
as you and I are led into all truth, as it is in Jesus, and
we see the wonder of that plan of salvation, we can praise God
for the wonderful life of the Savior, without sin, without
sin, day after day, tempted of the devil, without sin. What a Savior. Oh, my friends,
total resistance to all those temptations, justified in the
Spirit. And then it goes on to scene
of angels. He was seen of angels. Come bless God that there was
this evidence from heaven. The angels testified that this
was the Son of God. And of course, we know that they
were with the Lord in his life, helping and strengthening him. We know of course that There
was that wonderful evidence when he was baptized, the spirit of
God descended upon him in the form of a dove to testify, this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Oh, my friends,
what a great and wonderful savior we have. We're told indeed he
was led into the wilderness and angels came. and ministered unto him. Yes,
angels. Scene of angels. The angels came,
you see, and they came and they strengthened him. And of course,
it was the angels that came and rolled away the stone at his
resurrection. What a great favor that was.
to know then that there are these angels again to us today we might
think well is this true? yes it is true because the word
of God tells us so and it is a mystery but you see it's that
mystery of godliness which is revealed to true believers to
believe and it strengthens our faith justifying the spirit seeing
of angels and then as we go on preached unto the Gentiles. Well, the Savior was preached
unto the Jews. Thankfully, he is still preached
unto the Jews, but for the most part, initially, the Jews rejected
the Savior. And therefore, through the grand
and glorious plan of God, he was preached to the Gentiles. And we here today are Gentiles. And we should be very, very thankful,
therefore, that in our nation today, we're able to go, we're
able to come and hear the gospel preached. Indeed, we're told
it's through the foolishness of preaching. And yet, what a
mercy it was, seeing the angels preached unto the Gentiles. Well, today, do we glory in this
wonderful truth of the preaching the Gospel, we of course mention
it last Lord's Day and it is a grand and glorious truth to
know as the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians and spoke to
them about that and he said for after in the wisdom of God the
world by wisdom knew not God no, by natural study We cannot
learn God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Well, I trust today
we appreciate the privilege of being able to come and hear the
gospel being preached. And again, we tend to take these
things for granted and we tend not to be thankful for them.
And yet, you know, if you consider the world at large, most of the
world does not really allow the preaching of the Gospel as we
enjoy it today. What a wonderful blessing it
is for us. And are we thankful? Do we appreciate
it? Do we love to go and hear the
preaching of the Gospel? Is it good news? from a far country. But it is good news from a far
country. And yet you see the Apostle spelled
out very clearly in this statement. He said, the Jews require a sign.
They wanted something more. They wanted something that they
could tangible, they could grasp. A sign. And the Greeks, after
wisdom, they wanted something which was, again, something their
minds could assimilate and appreciate. Well, the Lord in this great,
great blessing has given to his people, his church, faith to
believe. And now this morning, as we're
here before God, has he given us, you and me, faith to believe
in this great and glorious truth preached unto the Gentiles, the
Lord Jesus Christ. preached on the Gentiles, has
he given you and me faith today to believe in this great Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ? Because as the word goes on here,
preached under the Gentiles, believed on in the world. Are we those who believe the
Gospel? We are either those who believe
the Gospel, or with those who do not believe the Gospel. And
it's not something which can be ignored because no unbeliever
enters into heaven. What a blessing therefore if
the Holy Spirit has come and revealed to us this great and
glorious mystery of the salvation of our souls through faith given
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this Lord's Day
morning, my friends, do we believe, do we believe
that he's come into this world to save my soul, to pay the price
for my sin? There I am, a guilty sinner before
a holy God. I've offended God. I'm alienated
from God. I need to be brought back to
God. How is that? Brought nigh by
the blood, the death of the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. What does Jesus Christ and Him
crucified mean to us today? preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world. Do we believe that Lord Jesus
Christ died upon that cross at Calvary in order to redeem my
soul? As I often say, let us not forget,
real religion must be personal. We must have the application
of the death of Christ in our own hearts to realise that by
nature we are lost and ruined in the fall. We are undone sinners. We've offended the Holy God and
we need to be reconciled. We need to be brought back. We
can't do it ourselves. It's through the glorious death
of the Saviour. preached unto the Gentiles, believed
unto the world. Well, you see, you and I might
hear the preaching of the Gospel and it may go in one ear and
out the other. It may have no effect. What a blessing if God
gives us grace to believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That's a wonderful and glorious
outcome of the gift of Almighty God to unworthy sinners. You'll never be able to think
you're worthy of any notice. We're unworthy. What was there
in me to merit esteem or give my Creator delight? Nothing at
all. Nothing at all. Therefore it's
of His mercy. It's of His glorious love. that caused Him, the Saviour,
to come into this world and to die, to give His life in that
agonising way upon the cross at Calvary in order to pay the
price, the ransom required for our redemption. Oh, may these
things be real, not only real, may they be precious, precious
to us. valuable, because without the
knowledge of Christ, the knowledge, the saving knowledge of Christ,
we shall be eternally lost, and my friends, spend hell forever
and ever in that terrible place of agony, agony, agony, no return. Preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory. Received up into
glory. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he did ascend up into glory. And that was, of course, a very
wonderful occasion when he went out as far as to Bethany. And we're told in Acts of the
Apostles, the first chapter, 10th verse, and while they looked
steadfastly toward heaven, that's the disciples, he went up, behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus, remember that, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in light manner as you have seen him go
into heaven. That is the promise of God. That is the truth of God. And
my friends, he will return. He has gone into glory, has been
received into glory. He now sits on the throne on
his father's right hand there to intercede for you and me today. Again, the mystery of godliness.
I think there is the only begotten Son of God and the Father's right
hand as you and I pray in whatever way, in whatever form, in whatever
place. Our prayers cannot enter in unless
The Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, intercedes for us as the great
and wonderful High Priest. Oh, my friends, what a Saviour. Now think there. Think of the
hundreds and thousands of prayers that go up and the Blessed Saviour
intercedes for us, for our prayers. The mystery of godliness is beyond
our comprehension. but hopefully it raises up God
as a great and almighty and glorious one, a saviour of sinners, received
up into glory. Yes, the saviour did not fail
in the work that his father gave him to do. Naturally speaking,
we would think it was an impossible work, but no, the blessed saviour
fulfilled all that was required. He didn't fail in one smallest
dot or tittle. He completed the work his father
gave him to do. But the cost of that work was
to give his life in that excruciating way, on that cross at Calvary,
and to live that difficult life for those 33 years, all so that
you and I, as unworthy sinners, can be eternally saved. Oh, my friends, do we rejoice
then this morning in the great plan of salvation? Do we come
and bless God for this great truth, God was, manifest in the
flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Do we say Amen? Praise God for his great and wonderful work. Praise God if we have a hope
in that wonderful salvation which was procured for the whole Church
of God on Calvary so many years ago. And to believe we have a
Saviour who is alive forevermore. And may we look forward in gracious
anticipation to that day when we shall be with Christ, which
is far better if we are amongst those who are saved by his grace,
redeemed through the precious blood of Christ. Amen.