Let us turn to God's Word, directing
your attention to the verse that we find at the end of 1 Timothy
chapter 3. In 1 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 on in the
world, received up into glory. Thinking particularly of the
opening part of the verse, that first clause, and without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. What is the mystery of godliness? Well, see how Paul goes on to
speak of godliness in the next chapter at verse 7 in chapter
4 he says 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 is godliness then is evidently that religion that is real that
has promise promise of the life that now is but also of the life
that is to come and what a mystery there is in that religion that
is real that religion that is truly wrought of God there is
much religion of course there are false religions and alas
in our so-called multicultural society we see these false religions
on every hand and how they advance but when we think of the true
religion which is that that is revealed to us here in scripture
and centers ultimately in the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Christian religion, how much of so-called Christianity
is false. What do men and women know of
that that is spoken of here in the text this morning without
controversy, Paul says, 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. It is a mystery, this religion,
because it is that that has come from God, and God himself must
be the one, therefore, who will reveal this truth to us. The
Puritan commentator Matthew Poole says that the mystery signifies
a thing secret and sacred. A thing secret and sacred, it
belongs to God and God himself must come and reveal it. We're just saying now, of course,
in the metrical version of the Psalm 25, and there at verse
14 we have that promise, the secret of the Lord is with them
that fear Him. He will show them His covenants. And remember, now in the course
of His own ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ, having made choice
of His disciples, tells them, unto you it is given to know
the mystery of the Kingdom of God. to them that are without,
these things are done in parables. In the parables there was a certain
concealing to so many, whilst at the same time there was a
revealing to others, to them, to whom it was given to know
something of the mystery of the Gospel. And Paul, in the course
of his own preaching, time and again requires desires of the
churches that they would pray for him. When he writes at the
end of Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 19, his request
is that they pray for him and that they pray for him to this
end that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the gospel. he considers the content then
of his ministry to be the mystery of the gospel and then we find
something very similar when he writes to the church at Colossa
and there in Colossians chapter 4 and verse 3 he asks with all
praying also for us that God would open unto us a door of
utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also
in bonds. How precious these truths were
to this man Paul, he was willing to suffer terrible persecutions,
awful privations, in order to execute that ministry and to
proclaim the gospel of salvation. He calls it, here in Colossians
4 and verse 3, the mystery of Christ, as he had called it,
the mystery of the gospel when writing to the Ephesians. And here, again, in the very
chapter where we find our text, as he speaks of the church officers,
that's the subject matter he's dealing with in the former part
of this chapter, the office of the bishop or the overseer, and
then he goes on also to speak of the deacons, and he says they
are to be those men who are holding the mystery of the fief. the
mystery of the faith in a pure conscience, the mystery of Christ,
the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of the faith. What is the mystery of the faith?
Well, he's not speaking here in verse 9 of the grace of faith. Believing is speaking of that
body of truth that constitutes the gospel. Jude says we are
to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered
unto the saints. Oh what a mystery is this great
body of truth. And in a sense we can say that
it is summarized in what is written here in our text. It is the sum
and substance of the gospel. 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. It all centers in the person
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this morning I want
us to consider this mystery of godliness as it were objectively. I want us to consider the mystery
of godliness in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He,
of course, is the great object of faith, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, says Paul when writing
in Hebrews chapter 12, looking away unto Jesus, looking only
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the great object
of saving faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the first thing we
observe here is of course the mystery of the person of Jesus
of Nazareth. We are told, are we not, without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. Here is the mystery. Now there
is A great mystery, of course, as we've said before, when we
come to consider the very doctrine of God. There is that first of
all mysteries to us, which is the mystery of the doctrine of
the Triniton. In the Old Testament, God says
to the nation of Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Judaism there is clearly a monotheistic
religion. They confess one living and true
God and none other. All the gods of the nations are
but vanities, are idols. And the only true God is Jehovah,
the God of Israel. But now, even there in the Old
Testament, we have those intimations that in one God there are three
persons and of course when we come to the New Testament we
have the fullness of that revelation of the triune God and that much
disputed verse in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 7 there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy
Ghost and these three are one. Three persons and not three gods,
but three persons in one undivided Godhead. There is a great mystery.
There is a great mystery. God is one and God is three. And then we also have this mystery
that is spoken of here in the text this morning. The mystery
of the Incarnation. God was manifest in the flesh. And we have it there in the Old
Testament, do we not? In the prophecy of Isaiah chapter
9 and verse 6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And how striking are the words,
the child is born, but the son is given. The Son given, of course,
is the Eternal Son of God. The Eternal Son of God always
has been eternally begotten of the Father. But in the Incarnation
we see how, as a man, He came to be. As the Eternal Son, He
always has been. The son is given, but the child
is born. The great mystery is that in
the fullness of the time, God sends forth his son, made of
a woman, made under the law. Now, I'm sure many of you are
well aware that in the Early Church, there was much controversy
concerning this doctrine, the doctrine of the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And even in the days of the apostles,
certainly at the end of the apostolic era, when John is an aged man,
the last of the apostles still living, how in his writings,
be it in his gospel or in his epistles, Also in the book of
the Revelation, of course, how John is the one who is always
contending for the truth concerning the doctrine of the person of
Christ. In that little second epistle
of John, that short epistle, we find two striking statements.
In verse 9 he says, "...whosoever transgresseth and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God, he that abides in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Is he not there speaking of the
eternal Sonship? There is an eternal Father because
there is an eternal Son. And so to deny the Sonship is
to deny God, that's what he's saying. He's speaking really
there of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. But also in that
same little short epistle, in verse 7, he says, many deceivers
have gone out into the world. And who are these deceivers?
Well, he goes on to say, he's speaking of those who deny that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and
an antichrist. So He doesn't only speak of Christ
as the eternal Son of God, His deity, there He also speaks of
the reality of His manifestation in the flesh, His incarnation.
Those are deceivers who deny that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh. So, from the earliest history
of the New Testament Church, there were those who were appearing
who were denying the mystery of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That in the person of Jesus of
Nazareth we witness one who is God and man. Those two distinct
natures. His manhood and his Godhood and
yet the one person. That is the mystery, one person.
and yet in that one person those two distinct natures. He is both
human and he is also divine. But how the controversy continued
through those early centuries of the Christian era and at one
stage Arianism became so dominant and it was Athanasius who was
the great champion of the Orthodox doctrine concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ and yet it seemed that it was atonacious against
the world because those heretical teachings of the Aryans were
so predominant. and then in the 5th century there
was the drawing up of what became known as the Athanasian Creed
although Athanasius himself had been living about 200 years previously
when that creed was formulated it was given the name the Athanasian
Creed and he does this statement concerning the Lord Jesus who
although he be God and man Yet he is not two, but one Christ. Although he be God and man, yet
he is not two, but one Christ. Two natures in one person, God,
manifest in the flesh. Now, let us not imagine that
these heretical teachings came to an end in the 5th century
with the drawing up of that great Crete. Alas, there are those
today who are really Aryan still. There are those who deny the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can think of those who are
liberal or modernistic in their theology, who don't really believe
the Bible and yet They take to themselves the name of Christian
and they don't really accept the truth concerning the miracle
of the new birth or the mystery of the incarnation. They deny
so much. They deny the miraculous in the
ministry of Christ. They deny the truth of his resurrection
from the dead, modernists and liberals. And then also, of course,
there's the activity of the cults, like the Jehovah Witnesses, who
deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are still those
today who would attack the very doctrine of the person of the
Savior. It comes closer than that. Even
in the 19th century, of course, there was much dispute in strict
Baptist circles. There were strict Baptists who
denied the truth of the eternal Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. They would speak of Him as the
Eternal Word. They would speak of God the Father,
God the Word, and God the Holy Spirit. But they said that the
Lord Jesus Christ was only a son by office, in terms of his covenantal
relationship with his people. They denied his eternal sonship,
and of course, as you're probably aware, it was J.C. Philpott who rose to be the great
champion of the orthodox view, writing on the eternal sonship
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very important doctrine. It is the most profound truth.
What does Paul says here in the text, he says, without controversy,
there's no controverting this point. Here is the great mystery
of real religion. It centers in a person, and that
person is the Lord Jesus Christ who is spoken of here as God
manifest in the flesh. But we know the natural man receive
us not the things of the Spirit of God, that foolishness to Him,
neither can He know them, because they are spiritually discerned
out. We need that God Himself should
open our eyes to see this great wonder, this great mystery of
our faith, that the one that we confess to be the Saviour
of sinners, even the man Christ Jesus, the only mediator between
God and man, is nothing less himself than true almighty God. And so having said something
with regards to the mystery of the person, let us in the second
place consider something of Christ's majesty as God. What do we read here? God, it
says God, was manifest in the flesh. He is God. In Philippians chapter 2 that
portion that we read, we have the opening 11 verses of the
second chapter as we read through from chapter 1, well there in
that second chapter we have a tremendous section of course with regards
to this subject of the person of the Savior. Paul says of him
who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. And then he goes on to say, I'm
being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now, observe
the language that is used there. In verse 6 of Philippians 2,
he speaks of Jesus being in the form of God. And then, in verse
8, he goes on to speak of him being found in fashion as a man. Now, the words that he uses are
synonyms. The word form and the word fashion
are very similar in meaning. However, they're not the same. There are certain subtle differences
in the words that he is using, and they're important differences
as well. The word form, who being in the
form of God as regard to an inner essential and abiding nature
of a thing. The form, the inner essential
abiding nature, the very mode of existence. He is in the form
of God. He thinks it not robbery to be
equal with God. The strength of the language
that is being used is that he is God. He is God. Being in the form of God and
thinking it not robbery to be equal with God, this is not something
he must grasp after because he is God. But then when he comes
in verse 8 to say that he is found in fashion as a man, the
word there, fashion, refers to the external fleeting appearance
of a thing. Now remember what we said concerning
those words in Isaiah 9, the child born and the Son given. The Eternal Son always has been. the man came to be. There was
a time when there was not the man Christ Jesus. That man came
to be in the fullness of the time when God sent forth His
Son. But he always was in the form
of God. And what do we see when he comes
into the world? Why he is the image of the invisible
God? In the incarnation, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as a man,
we have the image of God. No man has seen God at any time.
the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath declared Him." And how has He declared Him? Even by His
incarnation, by His coming into this world. And how these great
truths are constantly set before us here in the New Testament. Think of the opening section
of Paul's epistle to the Hebrews. And how he speaks here of the
majesty of the Son as God, God who at sundry times and in diverse
manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
that in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds,
who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image
of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better
than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they. For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, Thou art my son. This day have I begotten
thee, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be
to me a son." This day, always that one who is ever, always
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so we see His Majesty as
God revealed in the course of His ministry, do we not, when
we read the New Testament? we see him there in the second
chapter of Mark performing a great miracle when he raises again
the lame man. Remember how the man is born
of his friends and taken to the place where Christ is and there's
a great crush and yet they're able to gain an entrance and
what does the Lord Jesus Christ say to that man? who was lying. He said, Son, thy sins be forgiven.
And there were scribes present. And they said, why doth this
man thus speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God
only? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And then the Lord Jesus Christ
turns to the man and tells him to take up his bed to walk. How
Christ you see by the miracle is demonstrating to the scribes
and to all who were present the truth of His deity, His majesty,
His God. He has authority to forgive sins
as well as to raise a man lame so that that man begins to walk
again. All Christ is that one then who
as He comes into this world is the revelation. of the only living
and true God. In these last days God has spoken
unto us and spoken unto us by His Son. He has majesty. He has all the majesty that belongs
to deity because He is divine. He is God manifest in the flesh. But let us also here consider
this manifestation Manifest, it says, in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. The Word is God, evidently. God was manifest in the flesh
and John says the Word was made flesh. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God's. Now, when God's was made flesh,
what are we to understand? Well, by the word flesh, Dr. Gill makes the observation that
the reference here is to the whole human nature, the true
body and the reasonable soul. This is what makes a human being,
is it not? This is what distinguishes humans
from brute beasts. When God made the first man,
when God created Adam, he formed his body out of the dust of the
ground and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and
he became a living soul. Here is that that distinguishes
man from the brute beast. body and soul and the Lord Jesus
is a real man and it is important that we recognize that all the
importance you see of his coming into the world as I said it is
John who at the end of his life is contending so strongly for
the truth of Christ coming into the world He writes, therefore,
in the fourth chapter of his first epistle, Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of
God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every
spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist
whereof you have heard that it should come and even now already
is in the world. Or the spirit of Antichrist,
that is that spirit that denies the truth of the Incarnation,
the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. And John is such a champion of
these things. He was manifest in the flesh. He was a real man. We often sing those words of
Joseph Hartz, a man there is a real man. Yes, we contend for
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is God. But let us also
be as vehement in our contending for the reality of His human
nature, how He becomes one with His people, bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh. For as much as the children were
partakers of flesh and blood, He also likewise took part of
the sign, says the Apostle to the Hebrews. But how striking
are those words that we have in that portion that we read
from Philippians chapter 2. He made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant being found in fashion
as a man. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And that expression that we have
there at the beginning of the seventh verse, made himself of
no reputation. It's just one word really, when
we look at what's there in the original Greek, and it's the
verb that means to enter. and there's much controversy,
there has been much controversy over that very word what they
call the kenosis theory and it comes out in a sense in one of
the hymns of Charles Wesley where he has that line concerning Christ
how he emptied himself of all but love emptied himself of all
but love, but it's not a safe way of speaking or a safe expression
in any sense, because the implication seems to be that in becoming
a man he emptied himself of dietary. The expression as we have it
in our authorized version, made himself of no reputation, is
in fact straight from William Tyndale. That's Tyndale's translation,
and of course, as you're aware, so much of the Authorized Version is Tyndale. The vast majority
of what we find in the Authorized Version is straight from Tyndale.
And that particular expression there, there was a reason why
Tyndale saw fit to translate a single word literally meaning
emptied by such an expression as that made himself of no reputation. It's a good rendering. It's a
faithful understanding of what is being said. Because the whole
context of course there in Philippians chapter 2 is one of humility. How the Lord Jesus Christ humbled
himself in becoming the man. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. makes himself of no reputation,
humbles himself and becomes a man but it's a very practical chapter
is it not although it's most profound doctrine that Paul is
setting forth in Philippians chapter 2 is in the context of
very real exhortation and instruction to believers He says at verse
3 then, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness
of mind. Let each esteem other better
than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Then he goes
on to speak of Christ being in the form of God, making himself
of no reputation. and then being found in fashion
as a man. And the guy humbling himself
and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
What is he saying there? He's teaching the importance
of humility. Oh, how it's a lesson that we
have to learn over and over again, because isn't pride bound up
with our fallen nature? We have it, of course, there
in the Garden of Eden in the sin of our first parents. Yes,
it is unbelief that is at the root of the disobedience of Adam
and Eve, but it's all bound up with pride when Satan approaches
and comes to the woman through the serpent. Is it not to tempt
in the sense of man becoming as God. Ye shall be as God, he
says. Ye shall be as God. And so they
partake of the forbidden fruit. Unbelief, pride. It is pride,
a cursed pride. That spirit by God above will
do what we will. It haunts us still and keeps
us from the Lord. And the importance, therefore,
of humiliation, which we see demonstrated in the coming of
Christ, His Incarnation, in this world. We have the words of Christ
Himself, thus do we not concerning those who would be His followers.
If any man will come after me, says Christ, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow Him. Here is the Christian's
calling then, self-denial. Oh, how we have to be those who
are humble. How we have to, in a sense, become
nothing at all. Nothing at all. Again, we have
that line in one of the hymns of heart, but venture to be naught. And that, friends, is the venture
of faith, to be nothing. Paul says, although I be nothing. the zero, the cipher and it's
the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ this is what the Christian is
called to the denial of self. And we sing sometimes in the
hymn of Samuel Medley 172, Thus something, Saviour, may I be.
Nothing in self, but all in the, it's this person you see, of
the Lord Jesus Christ who is all and in all to the Christian.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself who is everything to the Christian. The Christian himself is nothing.
All that he is, is by the grace of God. This is his one great
desire, to be found in Christ, as Paul puts it. Not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. And again he says to the Galatians,
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. who loved
me and gave himself for me, ought to be nothing, you see, that
the Lord Jesus Christ might be everything. This, I say, friends,
is the high and holy calling of the Christian. This is what
you are called to if you are truly a disciple of Christ. This
is what I'm called to if I am a disciple of Christ. We ought to be nothing. with
to have that mind of the Lord Jesus Christ who so humbled himself
and humbled himself again and again look at the language that
Paul uses there when he writes in Philippians chapter 2 how
he keeps on humbling himself in a sense he humbles himself
in terms of the eternal covenant does he not? there he willingly
becomes God's servant though he be equal to the Father Yet
he becomes God's first elect and God's servant. Behold, my
servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. And
so in terms of the covenant then, in the fullness of the time,
he humbles himself by becoming a man. And when we see him as
a man, he humbles himself in his work. He's obedient. And he's obedient not only in
life, he's obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
For humiliation is what we see witnessed time and time again. And yet, here in the incarnation
of Christ, do we not also see Him as one who is justified in
the Spirit? God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit. How was He justified in the Spirit?
Well, He's vindicated. by the Spirit. Time and again
there's the miracle of His birth and the ministry of the Spirit
there. There's the life that He lives, the ministry that He
exercises and there we see again the ministry of the Spirit. There's
a death that He comes to die and then His resurrection and
the Spirit is there again. How He is justified in the birth
The miracle of that virgin birth, the Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, said the angel to Mary. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore
also that Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. He is conceived by the Holy Ghost. And then, when he comes to minister
God, give us not the Spirit by measure unto him. Oh, how the
Spirit descends upon him, that he is baptizing, descends in
the form of a dove, and so the miracles. What does he say to
the Jews? If I cast out devils by the Spirit
of God, then is the Kingdom of God come amongst you. His ministry
is a spiritual ministry. The Spirit is there vindicating
Him at every turn. And then, when we come to His
dying. Out there, we see Him as one
who is clearly divine. He declares Himself to be the
Great I AM, does He not? When they come to arrest Him,
There in John chapter 18 at verse 4 following, Whom seek ye? They say Jesus of Nazareth. What
does he say? I am he. And see how in those
verses, verses 4 to 8, he says that three times, I am he, but
the he is in italics. in other words it's been introduced
the pronoun has been introduced by the translators literally
he keeps saying to them I am I am I am and they go backwards
or they cannot raise a finger against him and so he puts himself into their
hands as it were they have no power to take him
He must give himself over to them. He says in John chapter
10, therefore does my father love me because I lay down my
life that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me. I lay
down of myself. This is the commandment I have
from my father. He's doing the will of the father.
He has authority from the father, authority to lay down his life.
and authority to take that life again. How he is constantly vindicated
and ultimately of course in the resurrection from the dead. Declared to be the Son of God
with power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. Oh he is one then who is repeatedly
justified in the Spirit, vindicated in His birth, in His life and
ministry, in His dying and His rising again from the dead, and
then ultimately ascending on high and received now into the
highest heavens where He ever lives to make intercession. All authority is now committed
unto Him in heaven and in earth. or this is the one that was manifest
in the flesh. Is it not interesting to observe
the reaction of Simon Peter when Christ in the state of his humiliation
again by means of a miracle reveals something of his deity in Luke
chapter 5. Remember the miraculous draft
of fish that are taken there with these experienced fishermen
that have been toiling and toiling through the night. They've taken
nothing. And Christ comes and simply tells them to cast the
net on the other side and they take such a quantity that the
boat begins to sink and they have to call their friends to
come and help them. And we have Peter's response. He says to Christ, depart from
me for I am a sinful man of yours. or what do we feel before this
person? The mystery of godliness that
we see in Him who is the great object of faith even the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself the mystery of His incarnation His majesty,
His authority as God and yet the wonder of His manifestation
in the flesh how He comes as a real man, He comes where His
people are For as much as the children were partakers of flesh
and blood, he likewise took part of the same. In all points tempted
like as we are, says Paul, yet without sin. All he's able is
he not to sympathize, he's able to minister to his people. Is
this the very center of our religion? Can we say that we are those
who delight in this great mystery of the faith? Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The hymn writer says, I love
the incarnate mystery and there I fix my trust. Oh, that all our trust, all our
faith, all our hope might center then in Him, the great object
of saving faith, even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. May the Lord be pleased to bless
His truth to us. Amen.