It's certainly good to see all
these strangers. It seems like I've been gone
forever. And this Wednesday night, oh my goodness, I was ready to
go. Open your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 1 for a scripture
reading this morning. It is so, I've looked so forward
to being here. Ready for both services today. Good to see everybody. Let's start reading in verse
26. Read down through verse 39. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin as spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored,
the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with
God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. Then Mary said unto the angels,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth,
she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing
shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed
from her. And Mary arose in those days
and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah. O great and blessed and glorious
God of heaven and earth, creator, sustainer, life giver, blessed
hope, all that we have, all that we hope for, and all that we
need, you've given to us through your blessed son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we lift up our hearts in
praise and thanksgiving to bless you, to praise you, to thank
you, to honor you, magnify you, bring glory to your blessed name,
and ask for your holy presence ask for the Holy Ghost to come
into this service and bless the message, bless the word, bless
the gospel, Lord, to your glory and the good of those that's
gathered out here. We bless you that you give us this great and
glorious opportunity, this blessed, blessed privilege to gather,
to pray, to sing, to preach, call on your name and look to
you and be reminded again of the grace of God, to remind it
again of the love of God, the power of God, the mercy of God,
the mutability of God, the glory of God. And oh Lord, may we worship
today. May our hearts be touched. May
our souls be lifted up. May Christ our Lord be glorified
and honored. And Lord, we pray for those among
us who are being tried and who have burdens, whose bodies are
weak, who has sicknesses that only you know about. God, meet
the needs of every heart, every home, every life that's represented
in this body of believers. We ask for your presence and
power again. We thank you in our Lord Jesus
Christ's name. Amen. Let me tell you, I listen
to the men's messages, always do, when I get back. And these
fellas, these men, just do an outstanding job. I'm telling
you, they do. Oh, my. The word and will of
God, substitution, satisfaction. Can't get no better than that.
I sit and rejoice as we listen to them. Thank God for them. Oh, what a blessing to be able
to leave have men in this congregation and feel comfortable and be able
to pray for them, not wonder about what they're going to say.
That's a blessing. That's a blessing. Alright. Now
I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Timothy
chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. And look at one verse of scripture
with me. Verse 16. 1 Timothy 3.16 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. Now I want to talk about the
mystery of godliness. Now I've learned over the years
and don't learn much. I'm a very, very slow learner.
But I've learned about four things about people that preach, men
who preach the word of God, who preach the gospel. The first
thing they ought to have in mind, and this is a hard thing to do,
is the glory of God. We have so much flesh. So much
weakness in the flesh. And as old Scott used to say,
I don't want to embarrass myself and I certainly don't want to
embarrass God. But the first thing that a preacher must do
as he's preaching is preach for the glory of God. Do for the
glory of God. Secondly, he needs to adhere
to the truth of the word. The truth of the word. Not what
we think, but what the word of God actually says. You know how
many times we look in the scripture and it says, Thus saith the Lord.
The word of the Lord came unto me. And so we must be true to
the word of God. Paul said, I have not shunned
to declare unto you the whole counsel of God, the will of God,
the purpose of God, the counsel of God, the word of God, what
God has to say. He said, I've not shunned to
declare it unto you. I'm not shunned to do that. And
then the third thing I think I've learned and hopefully I'll
learn these things better as I get older, but the sincerity
of our purpose. We've got to have a purpose and
be honest in our purpose, sincere in our purpose. And what is that?
It's to see people converted, to see true conversions, to see
people actually saved by the grace of God, to see God move
in the heart and soul. of men and women and change their
wills and change their minds and change their natures. Take
them and make new creatures out of them. Open their understanding. Take that darken away from it
and turn on the light. Oh, to see true conversions.
Not just to use our ministries for our own personal gain. Not
to covet anything that anybody has. And then the fourth thing
I hope that I've learned over the years is this. Simplicity. Simplicity. We can't make anybody
believe. It's impossible for us to make
anybody believe. But we can make the message plain
and understandable where folks can be without any excuse. You
know, Paul says we use plainness of speech and we use the simplicity
of the gospel, the singularity of the gospel. But hear this
verse that I read to you, 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 in the
globe. Now it can't get any plainer than what it says right here. This verse of scripture doesn't
deal with trivial things and trivial matters. It deals with
the greatest, most mysterious thing that's been known in this
universe. God was manifest in the flesh. And there's nobody here boasting
about denominationalism or sectarianism. The message to all men is this,
that God, God, the eternal God, the immutable God, God who's
the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity came to earth. Huh? Ain't no complicated ceremonies
here. I don't need no drops of water
sprinkled in anybody's face. We don't have to have any music
to make us understand this and move upon people's emotions. Here we have God's mercy to sinners
in the Lord Jesus Christ. God was manifest in the flesh. And in this verse of scripture,
there's no arguments over laws whether we're under it or whether
we're not. There's no regulations, no rules here. What it is is
the coming to earth of a person, not a system of doctrine. It's
the coming to earth of a person, not a rule book or a constitution
for us to follow. This is the gospel of a living,
eternal, blessed God, not just old cold logic and reasoning
and dead letter of a doctrine. No, no, this is a person, about
a person who came to this earth. And I'll tell you something else
that this is not in this verse of scripture. There's no prophecy
involved here. There's no effort to predict
anything that's going to come, anything that's going to happen
in the future. But this is a declaration of what's already happened, something
that's taken place. God was manifest in the flesh. And that's why Paul says without
argument, without debate, without controversy, And to my mind,
this is the most amazing truth ever declared to the human mind,
or it's the greatest, most astounding deception ever pulled on the
human race. There's no middle ground. And
I can't, my person, I can't afford to be indifferent about this
right here. If this is true, I must believe it. My salvation
rests on God manifest in the flesh. And if it's not true,
I must know that too. So let me give you six things
out of this, or six things, six blessed truths about God being
manifested in the flesh. And every one of these, and the
first one's this, and without controversy, great is the mystery
of God. God was manifested in the flesh. Not God became part man and part
God. Not man became deified and God
didn't become humanized. God Himself came down and was
manifest, seen, brought out, clearly revealed in the flesh. Now look with me in John chapter
14. John chapter 14, we all know John 1 where it says, In the
beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God,
and was not anything made that was made without Him, and the
Word was manifest in the flesh, and we beheld His glory as the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
full of truth. But look what He said here in
John 14 and verse 8, Verse 7, If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Show us
the Father, and it will suffice us, it will be sufficient for
us, it will satisfy us. And our Lord said unto them,
Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. How sayest thou then, Show me
the Father? He said, When you look at me,
you're looking at God. When you see the Father, you
see me. God who's in heaven and I am one and the same. You can't see God without me.
And you can't see the Father without
me. You can't see the Father without
seeing me. That's what our Lord is saying.
And I'll tell you, beloved, and we read there where the angel
came and told Mary, you're going to conceive and bear a son, and
you're going to call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. And this was all said that might
be fulfilled, which was by the prophet. God was manifest in
the flesh. Emmanuel, God, has come to be
with us. Oh my, and all that he did for
sinners, listen to me now, all that he did for sinners depends
upon who he is. Our sins is so great. Our estrangement
from God was so far off. Our death was so dead. We were
so dead and so blind and so ignorant and so miserably far from God
that it took God himself to put away our sins and to bring us
back to himself. That's what an awful condition
we were in. And when that child was born,
when that baby was born, that manger in Bethlehem holds the
God of glory in human flesh. And men came and worshiped him
when he was in that manger. And that carpenter shop in Nazareth
was the home where God Himself lived. He was called the Son
of the Highest, and yet a man of sovereigns, higher than the
heavens, and yet made lower than the angels themselves. He was
the King of kings, and all the angels of God worshipped Him,
and yet He was made lower than the angels. In Him was life,
and his still life and yet he died on a cross bearing sins
not his own. He was made of a woman and made
under the law and yet he made the woman by whom he was born. Oh God. What a mystery, what
a mystery. I asked Scott and Henry one time,
and I told you this before, I said, what's the greatest mystery in
the scriptures? What's the greatest thing that
you've ever been confronted with in your ministry? And both of
them answered immediately, God manifested in the flesh. That's
the greatest mystery ever. That's the greatest mystery that's
ever happened. That when our Lord Jesus Christ came to this
earth, that was God. God, the God who spoke to Moses
on the mountain was Jesus Christ manifested in the flesh. God who gave the law on the mountain
came in the person of Jesus Christ and lived under that law, made
under that law to redeem us out from under the curse of that
law. God who told Noah to build an
ark for the salvation of his house. That God came down in
Jesus Christ to be the one to save us from the judgment and
wrath of God bearing it for us. Every step he took was a step
of God. Every word he said was the word
of God. Every deed he did was a deed
of God. And it says that he purchased
the church of God by his blood. Oh, listen, now look what else
it says over here in 1 Timothy 3. Second thing is, the second
blessed truth. Oh, great is the mystery of godliness. Not only was God manifest in
the flesh, but said he was justified in the spirit. justified in the
Spirit. I read it to you there in Luke,
where the angel came and says that the Holy Ghost shall, Mary
said, how's this going to happen? I've never known a man, he said,
the Holy Ghost shall come upon you and that Holy thing that
shall be born of you shall be called the Son of the Highest.
and His dominion shall be forever and ever and His reign shall
be forever and ever when it says He's justified in the Spirit.
What does that mean? Now this is talking about the
Holy Spirit of God. This means the Holy Spirit of
God vindicated and gave proof to everything Jesus Christ our
Lord was was justified and vindicated by the Spirit of God. The Holy
Spirit justified every claim that our Lord Jesus Christ did.
Now let me show you that. Look in John 5. I'll show you
four or five things that the Holy Spirit gave claim to our
Lord Jesus Christ. Justified in the Spirit. In other words, God said He gave
the Spirit to him without measure, without measure. The only person
ever been on the earth that God gave the Spirit to without measure.
But in John 5, 31, look what our Lord Jesus said here. He
said, If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. If I
justify myself, my witness is not true. If I go around here
telling everybody, bragging on myself, my witness is not true.
There's another that bears witness of me. And I know that the witness
of me which he witnessed of me is true. Now listen to it. He
said, I have some people that bore witness to me. He said,
you sinned unto John, and he bear witness to the truth. He
told the truth about me. He said, there's coming one after
me who's mightier than I, who's shoelatching. I'm not worthy
to bow down and unloose. He was before me. He's preferred
before me. He must increase. I must decrease. John bore witness of me. And
he said, when he saw me there, he said, Behold the Lamb of God.
And he said, Everybody who has followed John turned around and
followed the Lord Jesus Christ. But he said, I don't receive
testimony from men, but these things I say that you might be
saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for
a season to rejoice in his light. But now he said, I've got a greater
witness than John. He says the works, his second
one, the works that I do, they bear witness of me. You ever
seen anybody open the eyes of the blind? Somebody born blind?
You ever seen anybody cleanse a leper? You ever seen anybody
speak to a dead man with a stone over his grave and been dead
four days? Call him out of the tomb and
give him life because he said, come forth. You ever seen anybody set 5,000
people down and take five loaves of bread and two fishes and feed
5,000 people with them and then take up 12 baskets so nothing
would be wasted? When you started with one basket,
you end up with 12. Huh? You ever seen anybody take six
water pots with about 30 or 40 gallons of water in them and
tell them to fill them up with water and then tell folks to
go over there and get them something to drink and they stick their
cup in there and it's the best wine they ever drunk in their
life? You ever seen anybody ever just
send the word and say your son is healed and the son was healed
before the man even started back to his house? You ever seen anybody on their
way to a graveyard and me stop them in the way? And a little
old, a young man laying in his casket, his mama following him
crying? Have you ever seen anybody say,
oh, rise up? And the man raises up in his
casket, crawls out of his casket, and walks back home with his
mama, and his mama rejoices. He said, the works that I do,
they bear witness of me. And oh, listen, what works he
had. And I'll tell you what, I'm one
of his works. Some of you, some of his works. What is the work of God that
you believe on Him? That don't mean that it's your
work, that means it's God's work that you believe on Him. Oh,
listen. He said, the works that I do.
And He said, listen, and the works that the Father give me
to finish, in verse 36, the same I do. And then, listen, here's
the fourth thing He says that does it. And the Father himself
with hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither
heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye don't
have his word abiding in you. For he whom ye sent, ye believe
not. And then here's the fifth thing
he said. Search the scriptures. They tell about me. Tell about
me. Oh, was the Holy Spirit justifying? Did the Holy Spirit magnify him? Did the Holy Spirit say, yes,
this is the Son of God? Yes, this is God manifest in
the flesh. Oh, listen, the formation of
his body in the womb of that version was by the Spirit of
God. When he was being baptized, the
Spirit of God descended upon him and said, this is my beloved
son. And Romans 1, 4 says that he
was raised up from the dead by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit
raised him up from the dead. And his disciples were filled
with the Holy Spirit to do what? To preach the gospel, go into
all the world, and teach all men about me, preaching repentance
about me. The Holy Spirit was with him
at all times and justified everything. They came to get him one time,
the Pharisees said, go over and get him and bring him to us.
Well, they stood right there, they stood there, they had their
authority, they had their warranties ready to arrest him and take
him back to the Pharisees. And he was standing there preaching and he was talking And those
fellas that come to get him, they were so enthralled with
the words that he said, the words that come out of his mouth. And
they went back to the fellas, they just forgot all about arresting
him. Said, why didn't you bring him? Said, well, we got to listen
to what he had to say, and I ain't never heard a man speak like
that man. You know, I got so taken up with
what he was saying, there's no way in the world I could arrest
him. I just was enthralled with what he was saying. Oh my, justified. Then back over here again in
1 Timothy 3. Not only was he God manifested
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, but look what else it
says, seen of angels, seen of angels. Do you know in today's
world of religion, God doesn't honor today's message. doesn't honor today's preaching.
And the things that men do don't attract the attention of heaven.
You know, all men do today is promote themselves. Their organizations,
they have telethons. They're always begging, always
selling, always having building programs. And nothing seems to
be supplied by heaven or honored by God. They got to go out and
raise their own money. But all that the Lord Jesus Christ
did and said, Heaven recognized it. God listened to everything
He said and done. Heaven recognized it. In fact,
He said He was seen of angels. Do you know that when our Lord
Jesus Christ was born, it says that the angels appeared and
they began to say unto you, this day is born in the city of David. The Lord. The Lord. Uh-huh. And the angels, and then
they appeared at His birth, rejoiced at His birth, and started singing
praises unto God at His birth. And then when our Lord was in
the wilderness being tempted of the devil 40 days and 40 nights,
Being hungry, Satan just assaulted him and assaulted him and assaulted
him and assaulted him for 40 days and 40 nights. And then the angels came and
ministered unto him and comforted him and strengthened him. And
then at his tomb, Mary came. And other women came,
and they looked in the tomb, and there's two angels sitting
there. They said, who you looking for?
Jesus and Asher. We're looking for Jesus. Said,
he's not here. He's not here. Well, where's
he at? Well, he's not here. Why in the
world are you looking for the living among the dead? Didn't he tell you he's going
to see you over in Galilee? And at his ascension, you all
know this, oh I love this, I love this. After 40 days spending
with his disciples, they walked out, Jerusalem, on the mountain,
but they walked outside Jerusalem. And he was talking to his disciples,
and then he started losing gravity, and he started going up. And
they stood there just gazing, oh, And two angels appeared and
said, you men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus who went up, go come back the same way he
did. And then that's what it says,
when the voice of the archangel is sounded. The voice of an archangel. Then what's gonna happen? A trumpet's
gonna be sounded. Then the Lord himself shall descend. Oh my. Look in Hebrews 1.6. Let's look at this just a minute.
Hebrews 1.6. Oh, talking about scene of angels.
Scene of angels. And he said in verse 6, and again,
when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith,
let all the angels of God worship him. Let them all worship him. So he was God manifest in the
flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels. Look what else
it says about him now, here in this 16th verse. Not only was
he seen of angels, but he was preached unto the Gentiles. Now,
you think, well, what does that mean? That was one of the mysteries
that had been hid in the scriptures and was revealed to the apostles
and especially Paul when he came into this world and preached
the gospel. See, the gospel of grace in Christ was preached
to the Gentiles. That was a great mystery. That's
a great miracle. One reason why they hated Paul
and persecuted him so much was because he was an apostle to
Gentiles. That's what we are, Gentiles.
If you want to be mistreated by Jews, go to New York City.
Go to New York City and follow those fellas around in them long
black coats and those big old broad brimmed hats with their
white shirts and their beards and their curlicues coming out
from under their heads. And they won't give you the time of the
day unless they're selling you something. And you go up there where all
the diamond district is and every single store up there is run
by men in black coats and big broad black hats. They once said the nearest thing
to God is an angel. The farthest thing from God is
a Gentile dog. Now I want to show you, keep
1 Timothy and look with me in Ephesians 3. Let's look at this
just a minute. This is what I'm talking about.
You know, we were sometimes a far off. We were without God, without
Christ, without hope, strangers from the covenants of promise.
But now in Christ Jesus, we that are far off are made nigh. And
we were, we were so far off. Now look what the apostle said
here in Ephesians 3. For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation,
the time of grace, the life that God give me to preach the gospel,
the grace of God given to me towards you. And you know you've
heard how that by revelation, he made known unto me the mystery. And I wrote this before to you
in just a few words, whereby when you read what I've told
you, you may understand my knowledge, what in the mystery of Christ.
Now listen to this, which in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men. Through the Old Testament, it
wasn't made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Now this is that
mystery, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same
body and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel. whereof
I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power unto me
who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given
now listen to it that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ We're Gentile dogs, and they
still regard us that way. True Jews still regard us that
way. And, oh, listen, that's why Peter, Peter, you know, this,
the Lord was gonna teach Peter something. And there was this
great sheep come down out of heaven. You can read it in Acts
chapter 10. And he looked in that sheep, and there was all
manner of beast and creeping things and all things crowded.
And God said, Peter, rise, slay and eat. Peter said, oh, not
so, Lord. There's nothing unclean. I've
never had touched or eaten anything unclean. I ain't gonna do it.
So he took it up, come down a second time. Rise, Peter, slay and eat.
No! Nothing unclean has ever touched. I ain't gonna eat no unclean
animal. I'm not gonna touch unclean things. That's the law. Read
through the book of Deuteronomy. And I'm telling you, when I read
that, I am so thankful that we're not under the law. There is small
law, there's so many laws. You're just in Deuteronomy 30,
there's so many laws. And then the third time it came
down. And every time, God says, what thou, God hath cleansed,
call not thou common or unclean. Came down the third time. Rise,
Peter, slay, and eat. And he said, not so. He says,
I've never touched or eaten anything unclean. God said, what God hath
cleansed call not thou common nor unclean. About that time,
somebody knocked at the door. Peter went over to preach for
some Gentiles. And you know what the first thing he told them
when he got there? He said, you know it's not lawful for he which
is a Jew to come to men of other nations or preach, or be with
men of unclean character. That's what he told them. He
said, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm really, really going
against my religion to be here. That's what he said. And oh,
listen, our Lord told that Canaanite woman. She came to him and said,
Lord, have mercy on me. My daughter is grievously vexed
of a devil. He said, it's not right that
I take the children's bread and give it unto dogs. You're just
a dog. That's what you are. You're a
Gentile dog. And she said, Lord, you're exactly right. That's
all I am. I'm not worthy of anything. But even a dog, just a little
old dog, gets the crumbs from the master's table. He said,
go thy way. Your daughter is healed. Let me give you the fifth thing.
Let me hurry up here. Back over here in our text. Oh
my, was preached to the Gentiles. And he's still being preached
to us Gentiles. Gentiles still being converted. Believed on in the world. Oh,
you're talking about a miracle now. Believed on in the world. Not only preached, but believed
on. Saving faith. Oh, what a miracle saving faith
is. It's a miracle. If God's moved
upon a soul and they really believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ to the point that they come and say, yes, I'm going
to bow to him, I believe him, I'm going to trust him, I'm going
to cast in my lot with him, my soul, my life, my body. He said,
I believe it and he's everything to me. That is a miracle. That's an absolute miracle. Ain't
that right? I don't remember that little old
chorus we sang. It took a miracle to hang the
stars in space. But when he saved my soul and
made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. That's what
it took. And I tell you what, the longer
I live, the more I understand what a miracle it is. Not only
that He gave me life, and gave me saving faith, but He keeps
me believing, and keeps me cleaving, and keeps me trusted, and keeps
me saved, in spite of a thousand things that are wrong with me.
That's a miracle! Oh, listen, for by grace, Are
you saved through faith and that's not of yourself? What is it then?
It's the gift of God, not of works. Why ain't it of works?
Because if it was, man would boast about it. Oh, listen, people
are religious by nature, but if they're ever saved, they're
saved by grace. Men know of God's existence,
but if you ever see his essence and his glory, it'll be a revelation. Men can know and brag about God's
works but His will and His wisdom in the Lord Jesus Christ must
be revealed. Men can talk about God's power
but if you ever know anything about His purpose it must be
revealed. They can know about God's miracles But if you ever see sovereign
mercy, he'll have to reveal it to you. Men can know of God's
judgment, but to know him as just and justifier is a revelation. You see, true conversion, true
conversion and salvation is more than somebody saying, I made
a decision for Jesus yesterday. I made a decision for Jesus this
morning. I never will forget one time
and it upset me to no end and I ended up getting in a lot of
trouble over it. But I tell you, a man was telling folks, stand
up if you want to be a lady or a gentleman for Jesus and side
with Him. Christ didn't come to save ladies
and gentlemen. He came to save sinners, awful
sinners, horrible sinners, desperate sinners. black hearted, blind,
oh God, hating sinners. And you, if you ever know who
Jesus Christ is, you'll bow down to him and you'll say, me, who
am nothing, how in the world did you save me? Why would you
save me? So if you believe on him, it's
a miracle. Huh? Oh, my. What faith is, it's a living
union. What salvation is, it's a living
union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's a miracle. You're
made new creatures in Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Huh? Oh, let me give you the
last one. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. Oh. Started in glory, went back to
glory. This is a man who was born of
a woman. This was a man who lived his
life in this world for 33 years in the flesh, in a body like
ours. Here was a man who was born under
the law and was tempted in all points like us, yet he was without
sin. Here was a man who actually died. He was dead. No life. No color in his body. And a big
gash in his side. A great big gash in his side. And they took him down off that
cross. And they took and prepared his
body and wrapped it up just as tight as they could wrap it the
way they do. And put him in a grave. In the
rocks. and put a big stone over it. And they done that Friday afternoon. Early on Sunday morning, about
daylight, the stone was gone. And he was too. And they looked in there and
they saw all the grave clothes just like he laid it. and the
napkin laid over here by itself. How's come? You think an angel
took the napkin off or he did? He took it off, of course he
did. Same way that when the children got there coming in from fishing
and there was a fire with fish on it. My Lord, where did the
fish come from? Where'd the fire come from? We're talking about God manifest
in the flesh. Oh, but he was raised from the
dead by the Spirit of God. God accepted him and all of his
life and work and received him up into glory and said, set at
my right hand till I make you enemies, you footstool. Oh, my. Where's he at? He's setting at
the right hand of God. And who is he? He's God and he's
man. There's a man setting at the
right hand of God. There's a man in glory. The Lord
Jesus Christ. And oh, why? Because he was justified
in the spirit. Why? Because he purged our sins. And why? He's there to intercede
for us. There, he's there to represent
us for us. And let me close with 1 John
Chapter 5. Let me close with this. Oh, no
wonder great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in
the flesh. God was justified by the Holy
Spirit. God was seen of angels. God was
priest unto Gentiles. God was believed on in the world.
And God in the man, Christ Jesus, was received up into the glory. But now look here in 1 John 5.10. 1 John 5.10. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath the witness within himself. The Spirit of God bears witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar. Why? Because he believeth not
the record that God gave of His Son. He don't believe what God
said about His Son. And this is what God said about
His Son. This is the record. That God hath given to us eternal
life and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath
life. and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God." Believe in God's record concerning His
Son. I believe what God said about
Him. I believe what He said about Himself. I believe what this
Bible says about him. And how do I know? I've got the
witness. The Holy Spirit bears witness. My heart bears witness. My soul bears witness that this
is what I believe. That's what I believe. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the gospel. Thank
you for this great, great truth, these blessed truths concerning
your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer. Oh,
bless you for the gospel today. Lord, it's in your hands to do
what you will with it. We can't make men believe, but
you can. We can't give men faith, but
you can. We can't give dead sinners life, but you can. You can do
it. Nothing with you, nothing is
impossible. And we trust you and believe that you will. You
will do that. In our Lord Jesus name. Amen. Amen.