Let's turn again to God's word
and the words that we considered in the morning hour in 1st Timothy
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 only in the world, received up into glory. And in particular I said how
my thoughts these past days had gone very much to those opening
words, the first clause, and without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness. the mystery of godliness. What are we to understand by
such an expression? Remember how in the very next
chapter, as we said, in chapter 4 at verse 7, Paul exhorts exercise
thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth
little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise
of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. One of these faithful and true
sayings then concerns this godliness which is said to have promise
of the life that now is and of that which is to come and we
remarked this morning that we're to understand this surely in
terms of that real religion, and so we thought of that as
it centers very much in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, because that's what Paul goes on to speak of here in this
16th verse. It's a tremendous sum of the
content of the Gospel, all the concerns the Lord Jesus 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. And so we sought to address ourselves
to the matter of Christ as that One in whom all real religion
centers. He is that one, of course, who
is the only object of saving faith, looking onto Jesus, looking
away. That's the force of the word
there in Hebrews 12. to take the eye off every other
object, looking away, looking only onto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, and for the joy that was set before Him,
endured the cross, despising the shame, and He sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high. So we thought of the
mystery of the faith objectively in terms of him who is the object
of all true faith well this evening I want us more particularly to
think of faith subjectively and we have it of course here at
the end of the verse without controversy great is the mystery
of godliness and we read of that message that was preached unto
the Gentiles and believed on in the world. One has to think
then of faith more subjectively in terms of believing. As the hymn says, true faith's
the life of God deep in the heart it lies, it lives and labors
on the load though damped it never dies to think then of that
saving faith that faith that is promised of God that faith
that is also performed by God and that's the twofold division
really that I want to take up as we come to consider this subject
first of all the faith that is promised of God's and then secondly
the faith that is performed by God's so what do we read here
Concerning this mystery, the mystery of godliness, we have
that that is preached unto the Gentiles and believed on in the
world. There is a mystery, is there
not, with regards to the preaching of this message. the proclamation
of this mystery of godliness, the setting forth of the gospel
of the grace of God. Paul tells us how he pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now that verse is often misunderstood,
misapplied, People seem to think that what Paul is speaking of
there is the act of preaching, a man standing and proclaiming
a message. That's the foolishness of preaching,
they say. But that's not what is being
said. The word preaching there is not so much the act, it is
the matter of what's being proclaimed. It's the message. It pleases
God by the foolishness of the proclamation of this mystery
of godliness. It pleases God by means of this
message to save all them that believe. There is a mystery,
is there not, when we think of preaching. And here we're told
how this message is to be preached unto the Gentiles. And so we see in particular here
how Paul is referring to the fact that this message concerns
Jesus of Nazareth, a man whose ministry was very much confined
to Palestine in many ways, principally in the northern regions around
Galilee was where he exercised his ministry and then rejected
of the Jews he was crucified under the Roman authorities and
put to death, of course, outside the city walls at Jerusalem. But this is a message that is
to be preached unto the Gentiles. And that's significant. In the
Old Testament, of course, we see that the grace of God was
confined to the people of Israel. There were others of the Gentile
nations who were converted to that true religion, but it's
evident, is it not, that God made choice of these people. And so, for example, in the 147th
Psalm, at the end of the Psalm we read, "...he showeth his word
unto Jacob." his statutes and his judgments unto Israel, he
hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his judgments they
have not known them. Praise ye the Lord God's dealings
then were exclusively, we might say, with the children of Israel. In Amos, Amos chapter 3 and verse
2, it says, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. And yet, what do we have there
in the Old Testament? We have a prophecy concerning
the calling of the Gentiles. In prophecy God speaks of that
that will come the day when there will be the proclamation of the
message, the preaching of salvation unto the Gentiles. Look at Isaiah, there in Isaiah
49 and verse 6, He said, It is a light thing
that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to reserve the preserved of Israel, I will also give thee
for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation
unto the end of the earth." Here is prophecy then of a message
that is to no longer be confined to one nation but is to go to
all the nations to be proclaimed amongst the Gentiles and of course
he goes right back really to Abraham who is the father of
the nation we might say certainly the father of all them that believe
right back in Genesis chapter 22 that great chapter that speaks
of how God tested Abraham in the matter of the promised son
Isaac how he was commanded to sacrifice his son, his only son,
and his obedience to the command of God. But there he is taught
the great truth of substitutionary atonement because Isaac is spared
and the ram is sacrificed in his stead. But then here is the
promise. There in Genesis 22 and verse
17 God says, In blessing I will bless them. And in multiplying
thou wilt multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and
as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."
Now who is the seed? Here, of course, in the immediate
context, it is evidently Isaac. This is the promised son, this
is the seed. But here God says something far greater, In thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Now we
know from the New Testament, from the writings of Paul in
Galatians, Galatians 3.16, Now unto Abraham and to his seed
were the promises made. He saith not, Unto seeds, as
of men, but as of one, Unto thy seed, which is Christ. There, Galatians 3.16 makes it
abundantly clear that we are to understand that promise that
was given to Abraham all those many years before does not so
much concern Isaac. Isaac is but a type, and the
great anti-type is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true seed of
Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed. And here it is, you see, preached
unto the Gentiles. believed on in the world. Now isn't this part of that great
mystery that was revealed in the Gospel day? We read it in
that chapter that we read in Colossians, Colossians chapter
1. And there at verse 25 Paul says,
whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation
of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. He's writing to a Gentile church,
Colossae. And he says, even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations but is now
made manifest to his saints to whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in the earth, the hope of glory. And then Paul deals with it in
a much fuller sense in the opening part of Ephesians chapter 3.
You can read Ephesians chapter 3 in the opening section to see
how he speaks there of this mystery, which had been hidden, was now
revealed. And what is the mystery that
is being revealed? It is the fact that this message is to
be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. There is prophecy
then of the calling of the Gentiles and the fulfillment of that prophecy
under the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then with regards
to the the preaching we see also how that together with that proclamation
there is that faith that has been procured and that faith
that is provided also for sinners of the Gentiles. All of this
of course is the great outworking of God's purpose. It is God executing
his eternal decrees. It is that that was transacted
in the eternal covenant of grace that must, in the fullness of
the time, be worked out. Now, in that covenant of grace,
isn't the Lord Jesus Christ assured of success? Isn't that a true
statement? Such is the covenant that there
is no possibility at all that it should fail, it must be fulfilled
it must be accomplished I will make an everlasting covenant
with you says God even the sure mercies of David that's how the
covenant is spoken of as the sure mercies of David and think
of David when he comes to the end of his days there upon his
dying bed, as he looks back upon his life, looks about him in
his own family, and he sees much to discourage him, but in the
midst of all the discouragement, here is his hope, the covenant.
He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, David says, ordered
in all things and sure. This is all my salvation and
all my desire, though he make it not to grow when he looks
at his family, and the sad scene in the family. And yet, here
is the covenant, and it's ordered in all things. Now, ultimately,
of course, this covenant concerns not so much David as David's
greatest son, Psalm 89. Psalm 89, that long psalm, that
says so much of the covenant, and there we see clearly how
that David is a type of the Lord Jesus, his greatest son. And
now in that covenant there is the assurance given to Christ
concerning the outcome of His obedience. What does it say at the end of
the 53rd chapter of Isaiah concerning the Lord's suffering servant? He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. All that agony that he endured
when he made his soul an offering for sin, when God poured upon
him that wrath that was the just desert of sinners. He won't suffer in vain. He shall
see of the travail of it and he'll be satisfied. It's a great
truth, is it not, of particular redemption? Dear dying Lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power, till all the
ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more. Now, here then, in the Covenant,
in the outworking of the Covenant, we see an assurance that is given
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't Christ Himself spoken of
as the very Covenant? Look at the language there in
Isaiah 42, 6. Christ given for a covenant,
it says. For a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles. A covenant of the people, a light
of the Gentiles, preached unto the Gentiles. believed on in
the world as the message is proclaimed, so there will be those who are
the election of grace who are brought to saving faith. And how we see the Lord Jesus
Christ, even as he comes to the conclusion of his earthly ministry,
praying to the Father. And in that prayer, that high
priestly prayer in the 17th chapter of John, what do we witness?
We see him pleading in terms of the covenants. The language
is most remarkable, most striking really. The way in which as he
comes to the end, as he's about to make that great sacrifice,
that one sacrifice for sins forever. He's now going to fulfill the
very purpose of his coming into the world and he's been instructing
his own Disciples there in the previous chapters in John, these
words by Jesus, He'd been speaking to His disciples, but now He
turns to speak to His Father in heaven. He lifted up His eyes
to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify Thy Son,
that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh. that He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given Him. He has power, He has authority
over all flesh, over Gentiles as well as Jews. And He has authority
to give eternal life to all those that the Father had given to
Him in the eternal covenant. So what does He say? Verse 9,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world but for them which
thou hast given me, for they are thine." Now, here we have
Christ, of course, in his priestly office. And the office of the
priest involves prayers. Priests were to pray for the
people. And the other part of the office was that they served
God at the brazen altar. They made sacrifices. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is a priest. in the fullest sense of that
word. He's a praying priest and he's a sacrificing priest. Now,
who does he pray for? I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. And what is true with regards
to Christ as a praying priest is also true when he comes to
Christ as a sacrificing priest. He doesn't sacrifice for the
world. He sacrifices for them that the
Father hath given to Him. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, He says, but for them which thou hast given Me, for
they are Thine. And then He goes on at verse
29, that pray I for these alone, that is for the disciples, but
for them also which shall believe on Me through their word. Oh, we see quite clearly, you
see, that there is in the Lord Jesus Christ that awareness of
the covenant and how he comes to pray and he pleads with God
in terms of the promises of the covenant. Christ was assured
of fruit. He would see the fruit of all
his sorrows he would see of the travail of his soul, he would
be satisfied, but more than that, more than that, what did the
Lord Jesus Christ procure and provide for his people? He is
that One who also has received gifts for men. Remember the language
of the Psalmist in Psalm 68, and those words of the Psalmist
are taken up in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 8, clearly the Psalmist
is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, thou hast ascended on
high, thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious
also, that the Lord God might dwell amongst them. He has received
gifts. And what are the gifts? Well,
amongst those gifts that the Lord Jesus Christ has received
is that faith that He bestows by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God it is the
gift of God well this is that you see that is spoken of then
in the Old Testament this is that that God has prophesied
by the mouth of His servants, the prophets. This is that that
God has promised. There is a faith and that faith
is to be bestowed not only upon the Jew but also upon the Gentile. This great message is to be proclaimed
in all the world, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in
the world. And so we see here that as God
as purpose these things and as God has given his promise in
the scriptures concerning these things so God is the one who
also performs the faith. And so let us turn to consider
in the second place this particular fact that the faith that we're
reading of is that that is performed by God, is not the performance
of man. Those who believe believes on in the world. Here is the
mystery without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness.
What a mystery there is when we come to consider the subjective
aspect of this faith. In Colossians chapter 2 and verse
12 we have that expression, faith of the operation of God. It's stated quite plainly, is
it not? It is faith of God's operation, faith of God's working,
faith of God's doing. Now there are, and we've said
this on previous occasions, but let me just quickly remind you
of the fact that there are different sorts of faith spoken of in Scripture. There are different types of
faith. There is what we might refer to as natural belief, natural
faith. a bare assent to the truth of
God's Word. And when John is writing, sorry,
James is writing in his epistle, there in James chapter 2 and
verse 19, he says, They believe us, there is one God, they do
us well. The devils also believe, and
tremble. There is no siding faith for
the demons, those fallen angels. There is no provision made for
the angels. He took not upon him the nature
of angels. He was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death. The Lord Jesus, He
comes to save sinners of mankind. There is no provision for angels
that fell And yet, those demons believe. And that's not saving
faith. And of course what James is doing
when he writes in that fashion is in a sense to rebuke these
people. To remind them that their talk
of faith is not enough. They'll believe us. Or the fool
hath said in his heart there is no God. There are many men
who are theists, they believe, Not all atheists are men who
believe that there's a God, there's design in the universe and so
on and so forth. But that's not saving faith.
There is a natural belief and a sense to the truth that God
is. And then also in scripture we
have to say that there is a faith that we can only describe as
a temporary faith. And think of the parable of the
sower and his seed as some of the seed fell upon the stony
ground and because it had no root it sprang up quickly but
then it withers and dies and the Lord of course gives the
interpretation of the parable and he speaks of those stony
ground hearers he says they receive the word with joy but then they
fall away Maybe we know of some who made a profession, he did
run well. What did hinder you? There are
those who respond very positively, very joyfully to the message
of salvation. We need much discernment, you
see, to try the spirits. We should be wary where there
is initially that joy. Surely when God begins to deal
with the sinner, What does a sinner first feel in the way of emotion?
Not so much joy. Surely there must be that conviction
of sin, that grieving over what he is as a sinner, that feeling
of unworthiness before God, that fear that God would never receive
him. We should be suspicious of such who receive the word
with joy. So often they only fall away.
There is a faith, I say, which we can only describe as temporary
and there are those fearful passages I think of that section in Hebrews
in Hebrews chapter 6 and there at verse 4 Paul says
it is impossible it is impossible for those who were once enlightened
and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers
of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the
powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew
them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shine." Oh, it's impossible. Their faith was but a temporary
faith. But how close God's word comes
to us at times, friends. You ever find yourself in reading,
reading the word of God or maybe reading some good book and all
of a sudden you think, well really what do I know of these things?
Oh yes I have some intellectual awareness, some understanding
of these things but do I really know these things? Is this true
in my experience? How we have to examine ourselves,
how we have to prove ourselves, how we have to know ourselves.
These exhortations aren't mine. These are the exhortations that
we find in the Word of God. We have to look to ourselves.
And I speak to myself as well as to anyone else. There is such
a thing, you see, as a faith that is but temporary. And then
there's another type of faith. There's a faith that seems to
be associated with miraculous gifts. when Paul writes to the
Corinthians of course this was a church that had remarkable
gifts evident in its life and its ministry and so Paul writes
to them there in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 6 he says there are diversities
of operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit
the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another
the gift of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working
of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits,
to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation
of tongues. But all these work at that one
and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he
will." Now see what he is saying here, he's speaking of various
gifts, and not all are going to possess the same gift. But
the spiritual gifts, they come from the Holy Ghost, and he divides
to every man, it says, severally as he will. Now amongst the gifts,
There in verse 9 is faith to another faith by the same Spirit. Now that is not saving faith.
That is some peculiar special type of grace of faith that was
given to one but not given to another. All who are believers
are in possession of saving faith. That's what makes them believers.
It is clear there then that he is speaking of something quite
different. Not siding faith. There are these different faiths,
a natural faith, a temporary faith, a faith that is associated
with miraculous gifts. But it's none of these that we
are to understand when we come back to our text. preached on
to the Gentiles, believed on in the world. This is saving
faith. This is saving faith. The faith
that is associated, you see, with the proclamation of this
Gospel, the setting forth of the great mystery of godliness
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what we said earlier
today. He only is the object of faith. Faith is looking on to Jesus,
But we are trying to say something with regards to the subjective
aspect of faith. What is it? Well, this saving
faith is only by the power of God. It must be so. It must be so. Because the natural
man receives not the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness
to him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned. A natural man cannot produce this faith. And remember
we have here how this message is to go to the Gentiles. That's the context. Preached
unto the Gentiles. Believed on in the world, that
is the world of the Gentiles. But what does Paul say concerning
Gentiles? Well look at Ephesians. There
in Ephesians 4, 17 and the following He speaks of them, how the Gentiles
walk in the vanity of their mind. Gentiles walking in the vanity
of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness, or as the margin says, because of the hardness of their
hearts. That is the condition of the
Gentiles by nature. Oh, that is the condition, of
course, of all men, Jew and Gentile, by nature. What is man's natural
mind? Man's carnal mind? Well, we're
told there in Romans 8, 7, the carnal mind is enmity against
God. It is not subject to the law
of God, neither, indeed, can be. Again, how emphatic is the
language of the Apostle. It is an impossibility. It cannot. It cannot be subject to the law
of God. It is so contrary to God. It
is not only an enemy of God, it's enmity. Enmity personified. It's all against God. That is
what man is by nature. How can the natural man then
receive these things? How can the natural man believe
these things? Do you not see, friends, the
futility of speaking then in terms of duty-faith. Is saving
faith really duty-faith? Is it really so that God requires
of these men who can do nothing, who are in a state of complete
and utter alienation from Him, to exercise faith? What does
the Scripture say? This is the work of God, that
ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. This is the work of
God, is it not? It is faith. It is faith of the
operation of God. And what an operation, what a
great work of God it is that must take place in the soul of
the sinner. Remember the language of Paul
again there in Ephesians 1 at 19. It's the exceeding greatness
of his power to us-ward that believe. Oh, in those that are
believers, the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that
believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him
at his own right hand. or that power that was there
when Christ rose again, that power that was there when Christ
ascended on high, it's the same. Thy dead men shall live, says
Christ, together with my dead body shall they arise. We've referred already to those
words in Colossians 2.12 faith of the operation of God. But
look at the context. It says there, risen with Him,
that is with Christ, risen with Christ through faith of the operation
of God who hath raised Him from the dead. Oh, it's that blessed
union, you see, between Christ and His people, those that the
Father gave to Him. What a union it is, it's an eternal
union. They must, they must be raised,
they must be born again, they must come to this faith, they
must receive this gift. And so what does Christ say when
Peter acknowledges and confesses Him there at Caesarea Philippi?
Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father. which is in heaven. It is a revelation,
is it not? It is a revelation and it is
a revelation that is made in the soul of a man. It is the
life of God coming into the soul of a man. That's what faith is.
That's what faith is. Paul says, when he pleased God
who separates me from my mother's womb and call me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. Oh, it was an inward work of
the Spirit of God. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. With the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. It's that work that is taking
place in the heart. It's that new heart. A new heart
also I will give them. A new spirit I will put within,
this is God. Behold, the Kingdom of God is
within you. All this believing you said,
it is a mighty effectual work of God that is accomplished in
the soul of the sinner. The power of God that is necessary
then for any man, any woman to come to this faith. But, let
us mark this, God doesn't work this faith in a vacuum. it is associated, is it not,
with the preaching of the Gospel preached on to the Gentiles,
believed on in the world. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Here is a message, you
see, that is to be proclaimed. This message which is such a
great mystery. This message which the natural
man cannot comprehend and yet this is a message that is to
be preached because we're told our faith cometh. Faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Oh what a privilege
it is then to be those who are hearing the Word of God. those
who attend to that holy, divine ordinance that God himself appointed,
even the ministry of the works. We're told concerning those Hebrews
that fell in the wilderness, remember the 40 years in the
wilderness, the whole generation died away. That was a generation
that could not enter into the Promised Land because of unbelief. they fell in the wilderness the
words preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith
in them that heard it all the necessity then of that faith
that mixing of faith with the things that we're hearing and
we cannot of ourselves work up that faith manufacture that faith
and spin it, as it were, out of our own bowels like the spider
might spin his web. No, we have to look to God. The
God as we come under the Word would grant us the Holy Spirit
and that by the Spirit's ministry there might be in us that fight,
that mixing of fight with the things that we're hearing. Of
His own will begat he us, says James, with the Word of Truth. It's the sovereignty of the Divine
Will. But how that Divine Will is associated with the Word,
by His own Will, Begatios, with the Word of Truth. What is the
Word of Truth? It's this message that is being
proclaimed. Again, think of the language
that we find at the end of the first chapter in Peter's first
epistle. He says, being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, nor
the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Oh, what a blessing, friends,
that we come together and we come under the sound of the Word.
And the Word, of course, has such a central place in all the
service of worship, the reading of the Word, the preaching of
the Word. Our whole service is Biblocentric in that sense, is
it not? But it's not enough that we have
the Word, how we need to know that gracious ministry of the
Holy Ghost. And the Spirit coming to open
up the Word to us, but not only opening up the Word of Scripture
to us, but revealing to us Him who is the Word incarnate, even
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the great object of our faith. that Christ to be set before
us throughout the Scriptures. Oh, it is the great mystery,
you see. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
Oh, this is the mystery of that religion that is real, something
wrought of God, that that centers in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus, 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. Oh, the Lord then
be pleased to bless His Word to us tonight for His name's
sake. Amen.