Good morning everybody. If you'd
like to follow along, turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and look
at verse 14 with me. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
14. We'll read three verses. Paul, in writing to a young minister
here, a young preacher, says in these verses, writing
to Timothy, a young man, these things write I unto you, hoping
to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how you ought to behave yourself in the house
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. I found myself thinking about
these verses at many different times. We all have favorite verses and
they change from time to time. But this has been one that I've
dwelt on a lot. Not that I haven't figured out.
That's not what I'm saying. It puts me in a total state of
wonder in the sense that I find them amazing and astonishing. and beyond my imagination, this
is not something that any man ever conjured in his mind or
came up with on his own. It's a revelation. Paul, up to this point, had just
reminded Timothy that the church of the living God is the pillar
and ground of the truth. and had emphasized to Timothy
that he should behave himself appropriately in the midst of
these men, these faithful men whom he associated with, had
committed the gospel. He was a young man. And if by
some means or some reason this young minister should think that
the treasure committed to the church was of little value, Paul
declares that beyond all controversy, it was great and it was precious. Those who don't believe, even
those who do not believe the things that we believe, we those
who scoff at Christ, those who belittle Christ, those who berate
Christ, and the message concerning Him, even they have no controversy,
without controversy with us. They have no controversy with
us concerning these unspeakable great things and the things concerning
Christ, if they're true. If they're true, they have no
controversy with us. Any reasonable man has got to
admit that Christianity does not deal with trivial things, unimportant things. Paul in verse
16, and that's where I'll spend most of my time here, declares what this mystery of
godliness is. Now we think of mystery as something
that can't be understood or can't be conveyed. The mystery is concerning the
manifestation, the making visible of God in human flesh. The mystery is concerning Him
becoming flesh and He's saving men from their sin. You have to agree and even admit That's important. Whether you
believe it or not. I wish that everyone in their
hearing of the gospel could realize that there is no room for indifference
where this thing is concerned, where this gospel is concerned.
The gospel that we believe, listen to me, the gospel that we believe
is either the most astounding imposter that ever was perpetrated
on man or even proposed, if it's not true. Or it's either the greatest revelation
ever revealed to mankind, to one or the other. Now we, I think,
sitting here, as God's people, know that it is not an imposter. Not one person, though, in this
world can ever safely remain undecided about it. What Paul is saying here, trying
to give you the context of what he has said, what Paul is saying
to this young preacher is to bring him to the single thing,
one thing, that will answer every possible controversy that might
ever arise concerning all the things that he has referred to
before in this book. Let me tell you, I cooked three
of them, not all of them, but just to give you a direction
in what led him to say what he said here. In chapter one, I'll just paraphrase, he deals and addresses things concerning
the use of the law. how the law is to be used in
the church and in the congregation, in the worship. And in chapter
2, he admonishes Timothy to pray for those who have the rule over
them. And he's talking about in the
church as well as in the world, the governments. Pray for your
president. Pray for your king. And then he addresses the place
of women in the church. And then he says what he says
here. Timothy as a young pastor has one single duty. When he's faced with any and
every controversial thing that may come up in the church, he
is to behave in a certain way He's to do what He's been called
to do. Settle the controversy with that
which is without controversy. You see? Paul's saying the answer to every
single issue that might arise in the church or in life is the
declaration of who Christ is, why He came, and what He did,
and where He is now. And that's the outline that we
find in verse 16. First, if you'll look, Paul says,
great is the mystery of godliness. I want to note this word mystery
in the text It's not meant to be something
which cannot be known. That's not what it's saying.
The best definition of the word there in that verse is simply
one word. Mystery there means secret. And a secret is not something
which cannot be known and it's not something that's baffling
or something which is dark and difficult. And I'll give you an example.
Have you ever had a secret? Did you ever tell a friend what
your secret is? Well, that's what God's done
for His people. Sure, you have. And God shared this mystery,
the gospel, with a people that He has purposed to save. In Romans
chapter 16 and verse 25, now listen carefully, I'll read it. Paul reveals this mystery again,
as being the gospel and the preaching of Christ according to the revelation,
the revealing of the mystery. And he's talking about the same
mystery here, the gospel of Christ, which was kept secret until since
the world began. But now is made manifest. It's made known by the scriptures
and the prophets. It's made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith. What is that secret that's been
made known? That's what I want to try to
show you out of our text. It's revealed in the five phrases,
last phrases of verse 16. What is that mystery? God was
manifest in the flesh. You think about that. Did you hear it? God was manifest
in the flesh. God. God became a man and walked
on this earth. Here, the mystery is revealed. The secret is made known. It's Christ. Simple as that. You think about
it. John the Baptist began his writing
over in the Gospel of John by saying this, in the beginning
was the Word, was. The Word was with God, and the
Word was made flesh. God was manifest in the flesh.
This is not speaking of God the Father now. It's not speaking
of God the Spirit, but it's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. God became a man. The One who
created the universe, who laid the foundations of the earth,
who created the worlds and all that are in them, became a man. Look back. Maybe a page. Verse eight. Unto me. No, I'm sorry. Look at Ephesians. Three in verse eight and nine. Paul writing this book also said,
unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace
given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ and to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery which from the beginning of the world have been
hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. God became a
man. He didn't take on Himself the
nature of angels, He took on Him the seed of Abraham, became
a man. What a wondrous mystery is that,
in the sense that we understand the mystery. God became a man. He was fully God and fully man. Christ became a man. Why? That leaves us only one
thing to wonder. Why? There can only be one answer,
one explanation for such a stupendous thing. Why? It was to fulfill
God's purpose of redemption by substitution. God can't suffer, and God cannot die. Man cannot satisfy the demands
of God's law, but the God-man can do both of them. In fact, he has done both. He's
both died and He satisfied God's law for us. He did. Christ did. The King. Eternal. Immortal. Invisible. The only wise God. To whom be honor and glory forever
and ever. The one mediator between God
and man. The man, Christ Jesus. has accomplished
salvation. God was manifest in the flesh.
The next phrase, He was justified in the Spirit. You see that? Christ alone, as a man, received
the Spirit without measure. As a man, He did what He did
by the Spirit of God. In acts, It said, the Word which
God sent unto the children of Israel preached peace by Jesus
Christ. He's Lord of all. That Word,
I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judea and began
from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, was this,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, the Spirit. and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him. He was justified in the Spirit. And every claim of the Old Testament
and every claim that he made of himself was justified and
ratified by the Spirit. Every action of the Spirit is
nothing more than taking the things of Christ and showing
them to men. That's who the Spirit speaks
of. Never of Himself. If you've received the Spirit,
then you will be obsessed with this great mystery. I can assure
you of that. In other words, you'll be obsessed
with Christ and the things of Christ. He was justified in the
Spirit when the Spirit descended on Him at His baptism. John said,
I knew, the Lord said, He whom you see the Spirit descending
on, that's Him. And He saw a Spirit descending
on Him like a dove. He was justified by the Spirit,
by the miracles that He worked, by the power of God's Spirit.
Proving Him to be the Messiah. He said one time, You don't believe
Me? Believe the things that I do.
No man's ever done these things. He was justified by the Spirit
coming down upon the apostles at Pentecost. And the apostles
in their ministry vindicated Him from all the doubt that was
cast upon Him. In the flesh, Christ was manifest
and put to death by the sins of His people when He was made
sin. And by the Spirit, He was made
alive quickened and declared to be the Son of God, being raised
from the dead. He was justified from all the
sins of all His people, and we're justified in Him. He was made
full satisfaction to justice for them. Look at that next phrase. He was seen of angels. I've wondered at this phrase
a lot in that it only says this of the angels. Didn't man see him? Was this
the first time that the angels had ever seen him? In a body, yes. But now there's
other things to go with it. Angels saw Him in a way here
that man can only see Him by a revelation of God. They knew
who He was. They'd known Him before. They see Him. Man sees Him. in the new birth and regeneration,
in the gift of faith given to us in God quickening us from
the dead, making us alive. This word seen in this phrase
here as it pertains to these angels has to do with revelation. Christ revealed Himself to the
angels. They had sung His praises since
creation. They knew He created this world,
this universe. But they had never seen Him in
this wondrous capacity that they now saw Him. In fact, 1 Peter
1 and verse 12 reveals to us that to this day they desire
to look into the things of Christ. They don't have the appreciation
for Christ that man has, who has been given faith and justified by His work and
His death. What a revelation it must have
been for the angels to see Him in the capacity of our substitute. When they attended His baptism,
an angel has a face, you know, they're a little perplexed maybe. Can you imagine when they ministered
to Him in the wilderness when He was enduring His temptation?
And then again when they ministered to Him in the garden of Gethsemane
in His torment. And this may better illustrate
it. As He hung on that cross, they knew that He could call
10,000 angels to come and help Him. Call them down in wrath and in
judgment upon that mob that was present that day. But can you
imagine their wonder when they were not called? It must have been amazing to
them. He went there alone. And he went there by himself.
And can you see them perhaps now, picture this. hovering around
His grave, or maybe walking, or maybe sitting at His tomb. They were watching Him. He was
seen of angels. They saw Him rise from the dead.
Do you remember what they did? They announced that He is risen. Who did they tell? Well, the
Marthas and the Marys that went there. Do you remember those
women that went to the tomb? That angel met them. The angel
answered and said to the women, fear not. By His resurrection, they knew
that God's people had nothing to fear anymore. He's not here. I know you seek Jesus which was
crucified, but He's not here. He's risen as He said He would. Come and see the place where
the Lord lay. I'll show you. He was right there
and He's not there anymore. And go quickly and tell His disciples
that He's risen from the dead. And behold, He goeth before you
into Galilee. There shall you see Him." I've told you. Now go do it. They saw Him. as they had never,
ever seen him before. Next phrase, he was preached
unto the Gentiles. Now this was a mystery, a secret
which caused the Jewish people so much consternation, they were
miserable. Though it was spoken of, the
prophets, they never dreamed that God would grant repentance
and life in Christ to the Gentiles of the world. You remember Jonah,
when the Lord told him to go to Nineveh? Jonah had the same
attitude these Jewish folks had. He said, Lord, I ain't going
to Nineveh. He wound up in a bad place because he refused to go,
too. I don't want to go over there to them people. They're
heathens. They're pagans. They're sinners.
And I know if I go over there, you're going to save them. Is
that stupid? The word Gentiles is synonymous
with pagans and sinners. Most people wouldn't readily
admit it, but they think that salvation is for good folks.
That was the thinking of these Jews. And our Lord laid the ax
to that root when he associated with pagans and sinners and ate
with them. Our gospel is for sinners. Sinners
who don't know Christ and sinners that do know. Both are pagans and idolater
worshipers. And by nature, we are all whores
and saints at the same time. And if you ever progress past
being a sinner, the gospel will mean absolutely nothing to you. Christ being preached here to
the Gentiles is necessary to this mystery of godliness. It's
necessary to the gospel and the purpose of God in Christ. His
command was, go ye into all the world. Next phrase, he was believed
on in the world. Perhaps the most confounding
part of this great ministry is that Christ is believed on in
the world. Faith and belief that attends
faith is a marvelous mystery. We know the source of it, it's
a gift. Belief, believed on in the world. We know that all men have not
faith. Now we personally know that if
we have it, it's a mystery. For a rebel,
think about this now. For a rebel who hates God with
every fiber of his being, one second, and in the next second,
love him with all his heart, has simply begun explanation. I know that men have tried to
make it a simple plan or a little more than a mental ascent to
some facts in defining faith. But for a rebel whose life is
spent despising the things of God to suddenly and even miraculously
rest the entirety of his soul's salvation on Christ and the merits
of his death and work is nothing short of a mystery. Because to everybody else, it's
foolishness. If you think it's merely a matter
of opinion, get this, please. If it's a matter of opinion,
and it's simply an exercise of your will, then do it. Do it. I can tell you personally,
I tried. Go ahead and cease from anything
and everything about yourself. Go ahead and despise your own
goodness and self-righteousness and agree with God that you're
ungodly. Just do that. Put your head on the chopping
block and know that you deserve hell and give up everything. Go ahead and believe. Gray is
the mystery of godliness that Jesus Christ is believed on in
the world. It's a miracle. He was received up into glory. That makes this mystery great.
Why was He received up into glory? Why was such a one as He After
suffering so for sin, after being esteemed as stricken and smitten
of God and afflicted, and after being forsaken by His own Father,
after dying a death that was reserved for the worst of humanity,
why was He received up into glory? I think this is why. He earned
it. He earned it. How did he earn
it? By his successful, substitutionary,
satisfying death, he appeased God, satisfied God in every demand
of the law. Every demand of obedience. And
he was rewarded for saving everyone for whom he died. And that reward
was being received in the glory. He ascended to the right hand
of the Father, and He's going to be there till all His enemies
are made His footstool. And every knee is going to bow
and confess that He is Lord. It's by the proclamation, the
preaching of this great mystery, the Gospel, that the believer
is to behave himself in the Church of God. It's the solution to every controversy. And he talked about the demands
of the law, the place of a woman in the church, those things that
he names before he gets to this point. The longer you hang around in
religion, they'll never get this. Religion will never get this.
We shouldn't even expect them to. The longer you hang around
in religion, They're just going to demand more for you to do. And more. And more. And more. But there's no more to do. It's
done. This answers every controversy. And it's the pillar and ground
of the truth of the church. Read the text. We'll end it right
here. Verse 14. These things write
I unto thee, hoping to come unto you shortly. But if I tarry long,
that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house
of God, which is the truth of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth, and without controversy. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and he was received in
the glory. If you go home and think about
that, I think you'll be amazed. God bless you. Bye!