First Timothy chapter three.
First Timothy chapter three. This is one of those pastoral
epistles written for the instruction of churches concerning men who
preach the gospel. men who serve as leaders of God's
church, men who are pastors, deacons as well, how things ought
to be done in the church, ruled by the word of God. The apostle
tells us in verse three, verse 15 of chapter three, that the
church, this local assembly right here, the church is the house
of God. This is the church of the living
God. The church is not a social club. It is not an entertainment center. It is not an amusement park.
It's not a theater. It's not a place where we put
on a production to impress folks. This is the house of the living
God, the church. the Living God. Look at what
Paul says, verse 15. If I tarry long that thou mayest
know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God which
is the church of the Living God and this church of the Living
God it is the pillar and ground of the truth. This is the church
of the Living God. the very house of God. That means
several things, but it certainly means this. This is the place
where God meets with his people. This is the place where God's
family gathers. This is the house where the Lord
God makes himself known to his own. This is the place where
God feeds, instructs, and comforts his family. I just have one daughter,
very thankful for her, but we just have the one. And I don't
pretend to be a man who can give anyone instruction about raising
children. But I made it my determination never to discipline faith except
when absolutely necessary in public. If she misbehaved, She'd
get a good firm look and I'd give her one of those faith. And she understood when we get
home, you're gonna get blistered. And that took care of it. And
then I'd give her the instruction at home. This is the place in
his house where God makes himself known to his family, where God
instructs his family, where God disciplines his family. where
God directs his family. Paul tells Timothy and tells
us plainly that his purpose for writing this epistle is that
we as the Church of God and the people of God might know how
we ought to behave ourselves in the house of God. Now I rarely
recommend that you Turn on the television and watch the religious
stuff that's produced in the name of worship and preaching. But if you want to see how not
to behave in the house of God, just turn one on for five minutes.
We'll see how not to behave in the house of God. A man is to
be honored in his house and God Almighty demands that we honor
him in his house. It matters not what society wants. It matters not what the people
want. It matters not what's appealing
to this generation. That's totally irrelevant. Totally irrelevant. But Father
Don, we're out of step with the times. That's on purpose. That's
not by accident. But nobody does things the way
we do them. That's right, they need to straighten
up. We do not attempt to do things to please the thoughts of men.
We ought to honor God as we come to his house preparing to worship
him. We ought to honor God as we come
to his house dressing to worship him. I was talking to Audra Grace
before she left to go to England a few weeks ago. I said, don't
be surprised. You'll be flying overnight. You'll
see some idiots get on the plane with their pajamas on. Watch, I promise you will. I
promise you will. Folks sometimes go to church
like they had their pajamas on. Folks ought to dress with seriousness
coming to the house of God. Oh, but Brother Don, that's not
the way things are done today. That's the way it ought to be
done today. You ought to treat things respectfully that are
respectable. In our attitude, we come to God's
house It ought to be an attitude of seeking to hear God's word,
see his face, have him expose ourselves by his word and reveal
his son in us. We ought to listen to the word,
begging God to speak to us by his word. I sat down yesterday
and read a good bit from this book. And as I read, I begged
God, Lord, speak to me now by your word. Speak to me by what
I read here. God, speak to me as I hear your
servant open your word and declare your message. And God's to be
honored by everything done here. Songs we sing. The way we conduct
our worship services, I know folks want to make people feel
good. And let's shake hands, everybody,
make everybody feel good. We're so glad you came and honored
us with your presence. God is to be honored in his house,
nothing else. And all that's preached ought
to honor him. Every word spoken from the pulpit
intended for his glory. And then Paul tells us that the
church This local assembly of blood-bought sinners is by the
appointment of God the pillar and ground of the truth. What does that mean? This is
the place where truth is established, maintained, and promoted in this
world. The pillar of the house bears
the inscriptions honoring the one who built it, Christ the
truth. The pillar is that which upholds
the house and gives it stability, Christ the truth. The ground
is the basis, the foundation on which the house is built and
stands. This building stands on a foundation, Christ the truth,
that's the foundation. The ground, the foundation is
that which determines the shape and structure of the house, Christ
the truth. Anything else that is the foundation
and determines the structure and shape of the house, anything
else upon which the house stands is just sand. And everything
built on the sand will fall quickly. We're not left to guess about
these things. We're not left to form our opinions
about them. In the very next verse, God the
Holy Ghost clearly identifies that body of truth of which we
are to be the pillar and ground in this world. That body of truth
we are to uphold and maintain and declare in the generation
in which we live. Look at 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. I want you to hold your Bibles
open right here and follow me through this verse of scripture
as I endeavor one more time to declare to you that which is
the truth of God committed to our hands. The truth of God that
this generation must know. The truth of God alone by which
God will be pleased to make himself known to men. We are here to
make known to this generation the Christ of God. Who is he? Who is he? We hear much talk
about Jesus, much talk about Christ, much talk about salvation,
much talk about the Savior. Who is the Christ? Who is the Savior? Who are we
to trust? Listen to what Paul tells us
here as he speaks to us about irrefutable things. He says,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. He
seems to intend that we understand these two things. The doctrine
of the gospel is irrefutable. It is irrefutable. That which
it reveals is irrefutable. Godliness is the whole body of
revealed truth, particularly the truth of God regarding the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul uses the term
here, godliness, he refers to the doctrine of Christ, the whole
revelation of God concerning his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I make it my business, I didn't
always. When I was a young man, I thought
I had to be clever and come up with stuff and present arguments
and give out lessons and such as that. I made it my business, since I was 26 years old, I made
it my business to only come to the pulpit and declare that which
is irrefutable. I defy any man anywhere in the
world by any means to refute any doctrine you've heard me
preach in this pulpit. that can't be done. I don't dabble
in speculation. I don't dabble in, somebody wants
to know, what do you believe about this, that, and other things?
Well, I've got some thoughts, but I leave my thoughts back
yonder. I come here with God's revealed truth concerning His
Son. I don't offer it here for you
to, well, you've given us some things to think about. I'm giving
you some things to believe. I'm giving you some things to
hear. some things to obey, I come to you with irrefutable revelation
from God. Even those who are blessed of
God, however, to understand and know and receive the gospel,
recognize that this is a mystery which no man can comprehend.
It can't be known, understood, or received by any except by
revelation and by grace. Only as a person is born again
by God the Holy Ghost, given eyes to see and ears to hear. Can he hear the things of God
and see and understand things of God? Our Lord said to Nicodemus,
except you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. He was not suggesting that if
you're born again, then one of these days with your physical
eyes, you're gonna see the kingdom of God floating down out of heaven
and you'll be able to see a physical kingdom. That should go without
saying, but there are folks who believe that nonsense. What he
is saying is that unless you're born again, you can't possibly
see Christ. You can't possibly see that which
can't even be refuted. You can't possibly see even irrefutable
facts of divine revelation. Only by the revelation of God
the Holy Ghost will you ever come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I warn you, I plead with you,
I beg you, I pray for you, I weep for you. God is my witness, I
do. I call your names before God
in prayer, but I can't make Christ known to you. That's God's work. If God leaves
you alone, you'll go to hell. If God reveals his son in you,
you'll see him. And you will understand who the
Christ of God is. And you will believe him who
is the Christ of God. And even then, this still is
a mystery beyond human comprehension. Here we see and rejoice to see,
but we see through a glass darkly until at last Oh, blessed be
God, we see Him face to face. Then we shall see clearly in
heaven's glorious light. Now let's see what the scriptures
here tell us about this one who is the Christ of God. Number
one, God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the
flesh. I come back to this fact again. The greatest mystery in all the
world is the mystery of the incarnation. It was a miraculous, supernatural
work of God. And that which is supernatural
can't be explained by the laws of nature any more than that
which is spiritual can be explained by the laws of physics. When
Paul says God was manifest in the flesh, He is declaring that
God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who is in
the covenant of grace, took on himself all responsibility for
his people, who assumed all responsibility for his elect, and undertook
by his own hand the work of saving his people from their sins. This
one who is God came into this world a man, that he might accomplish
this great work. Christ the Word, Christ God the
Son became flesh. He became one of us that he might
save us. There was no way, Mark Daniel,
for the Holy Lord God to save your soul except by God becoming
one of you. God must become a man. Because man sinned, man must
die. Because man sinned, man must
be punished. Because man sinned, man must
suffer the wrath of God. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. No one, no one, no one will ever
escape the wrath of God. It doesn't happen. God will by
no means clear the guilty. How then can God ever forgive
sin? Only if a man comes of infinite
worth, a man who is himself God and suffers all the wrath of
God in the room instead of his people, thereby giving infinite
satisfaction to divine justice for the sins of his people. Jesus
Christ is God come in the flesh. A sacrifice of infinite value,
of infinite worth, of infinite efficacy to put away sin. Jesus Christ, the God-man, his
own self, bear our sin in his own body on the tree. And when
he died, We died in him. I haven't begun yet to grasp
that. I can't begin to explain that,
but I know this is so. I was crucified with Christ. When he suffered the wrath of
God, every sinner represented by him, Every sinner in him by
God's purpose of grace, every sinner chosen of God, every sinner
of God's covenant, every sinner God purposed to eternal life
was one with his son. And when he died, we suffered
the fury of God's wrath in his son until God's fury and his
wrath were gone. justice is satisfied and now
since the Lord God has fully punished sin to the complete
satisfaction of his justice this one who is God manifest in the
flesh by the sacrifice of himself has put away our sins. He who was made sin for us suffered
the wrath of God for us. And we now are made the righteousness
of God in him and are rewarded by God for his obedience unto
death for perfect righteousness because in him we fulfilled all
the will and law of God honoring him perfectly. And this one who
is God manifest in the flesh is a man, today, touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. An intercessor in heaven, having
suffered all the wrath of God for us, is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, so that he is able to succor them that are
tempted. He's able to help with feeling. He's able to help with a sense
of what it is you're suffering. We often say, I know what you're
going through, and the person would say it too. Recognizes,
well, he's doing the best he can do, but you don't have a
clue what I'm going through. But if you meet somebody who
just lost his wife, and you just lost yours, and you say, I know
what you're going through, he understands you know what you're
going through. You can't possibly know what somebody else experiences
unless you experience it. Now hear me, my brother, my sister. Whatever is your infirmity in
the flesh, the Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, is touched with the
feeling of your infirmities. He knows exactly what you're
going through. Even to the struggle of guiltiness
and sin. For he who knew no sin was made
sin for us. And now he's able to succor them
that are tempted. With omnipotent arms and omnipotent
grace, the God who is man is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. God was manifest in the flesh,
number two, justified in the spirit. That's far more full of meaning
than I can begin to suggest in this message. I don't pretend
to understand all that's meant by the statement. But it means
this, the spirit of God given to Christ without measure attested
to the validity of his claims as the Christ, the Messiah, the
Redeemer, the Son of God. Our Lord Jesus, by all that he
did and said, he said, before Abraham was, I He said, he said,
Abraham, rejoice to see my day. He said, David, David called
me Lord. David spoke of me, I am the Christ. And the spirit of God said, I'm
gonna testify to that. And through his miraculous works,
as he was through his works on this earth, Constantly under
the influence, direction, and anointing of the Spirit of God,
God the Holy Ghost attested this is the Christ. Who but the Christ
could stand in front of a crowd and break a piece of bread and just keep breaking it until
5,000 men had been fully satisfied? Who but the Christ could do that? Who but the Christ, that man
who is God, who on earth has power to forgive sins, who but
he could touch a man's eyes who was born blind and send him walking
home without a cane? Who but the Christ could take
a hippotent man and cause him to leap and dance and carry his
bed on his shoulders and go home rejoicing? Who but the Christ,
by the mere speaking of his word, could cause the leprous to be
cleansed and made whole? Who but the Christ could say
to the dead, arise and the dead arise? I'm not talking about
something that's guessed about. I'm talking about things that
were done openly, publicly, well-attested to by all who saw it. The Spirit
of God said, this is the Christ. See the power that resides on
him. I have no doubt this also refers
to the fact that when our Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for
us, when he was raised from the dead, he was justified in the
Spirit. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. When our Savior was made sin, He was slaughtered and buried. there his body must lay unto
this day except he by the sacrifice of himself put away the sin which
brings death and on the third day that one who had indeed put
away sin, break the bars of the gates of hell and death in the
grave, and ascended up from the dead, rose up by the power and
virtue of his own resurrection, of his own blood and his own
merits. He rose from the dead, came forth from the tomb, and
this one is testified to by the Spirit of God. This is the Christ. The Spirit of God continues to
bear witness of him. In John 16, our Lord said, it's
expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away, the comforter
will not come. But if I go, I'll pray the Father
and he'll send you this comforter. And when he's come, he'll reprove
the world. He'll convince chosen, redeemed
sinners everywhere in the world. Everywhere in the world. He'll
convince them of sin. Your sin. Not just what sin is, but Jerry,
that you are sin. Convince you, you are sin. He'll
convince you of righteousness. Not how to do righteousness,
you can't do that. He'll convince you that righteousness
is done because I go to my father. And he'll convince you of judgment.
He'll convince you that judgment is over because the prince of
this world is judged. And then he will take the things
of Christ and show them to you. The spirit bears witness with
him and bears witness with our spirit of him and it testifies
this is the Christ. How do you know that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Christ? I know because He's revealed
in me, and God's given me faith in Him, and the Spirit of God
speaks to my conscience and says, you're justified. You're righteous. There's no condemnation. Your
sins are gone. Christ put them away and speaks
peace to my soul. Third, he was seen of angels. Seen of angels. Oh, think about
that. All the elect angels, those angels
who were kept by Christ in their holy habitation, whom he made
ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall
be heirs of salvation. Saul the son of God performed
the whole work of redemption. I don't know when the angels
were created and I'll tell you a little secret nobody else does
either. They appear to have been the first creatures of God. A
third of the heavenly host lost their holy habitation. They lost
their first estate following Satan in rebellion because the
Lord God announced to the angels at their creation, I made you
to be servants to men who should be the heirs of salvation. And
Lucifer said, not me, not me. and led a third of the heavenly
host in rebellion to the throne of God. I know better how to
be God than you. But those angels who were held
by God's omnipotent hand of mercy and could not fall, the Lord
showed them all his purpose of grace. How do you know? Because they were created by
God and sent forth from eternity. to be ministering spirits, to
minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation. So that
the angels of God encamp around God's people and protect them,
even in their rebellion and ungodliness. Watch the angels of God following
that particle sword. and watched it. It'll be good for him to fall.
It'll be good for him to lose everything. It'll be good for
him to waste his substance and righteous living. It'll be good
for him to get over that hole and pee in. It'll be good for
him! But don't let him die. Okay, we'll keep him. We'll keep
him. And the angels of God watch over God's soul. and to the appointed
hour they shall be called. And then the angels of God see
him. Those angels who saw him rise
from the dead, ascend into glory, and take his seat at the right
hand of the majesty on high, see him as he comes in grace
to save the sinner. and sets up his throne in the
hearts of men. And the angels of God see him
as he rejoices in heaven over every sinner who repents. The
angels of God see him and they come to the house of God and
visit with us as we meet together and worship him. Here they are today. Listen to
this preacher. Listen to these songs of praise.
Listen to these intercessions. And the angels of God are watching.
They're listening with anxious, bated breath. The angels, Bobby,
who have no interest in redemption. The angels who never fail. The angels who've never been
redeemed. The angels who know nothing about
blood atonement. They listen. and observe to learn
from us what it is to be sinners, redeemed by blood, saved by grace. The angels of God never cease
to look at Him, the sacrifice. I saw it portrayed in the tabernacle. You see them looking down on
the mercy seat, on the Ark of the Covenant, watching the Lord
Jesus in the accomplishment of redemption. And they watch him
with delight. I can't help but to wonder how
astonished the angels must be. when they observe us so unmoved, so disinterested, so calloused, so indifferent
to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. So disinclined to set our hearts
on him. So disinclined to hear his word. And then the apostle adds he
was preached to the Gentiles. Preached to the Gentiles. He who is God, who came into
this world as a man, who died under the penalty of sin as our
substitute, who was raised from the dead, seen of angels, is
the theme of all true preaching. He was preached to the Gentiles.
There's a great mystery in that fact. Before he came into this
world, nothing was preached to the Gentiles. Nothing was preached
to them. The Jews looked upon the Gentiles
as dogs. And yet God chose to send saved
Jews to be the first preachers of the gospel to the Gentiles.
And now the children of the desolate are more than the children of
the married wife. And the Lord God has multiplied Abraham's
seed among the Gentiles. And he has cut off the physical
seed of Abraham. And today the Gentiles who were
barbarians, immoral, idolatrous people, the Gentiles. That's
our ancestry. That's our ancestry. You read
about the tribesmen in New Guinea and the tribesmen in the remote
corners of Africa and the barbaric things of our own Native American
Indians And days go by and you think, oh, how could people do
such things? How could it be so cruel? How
could it be like that? Those are our ancestors. That's
where it came from. That's where it came from. That's
what Gentiles are. And now the Gentiles, called
by God's grace, out of witchcraft and cruelty and superstition
and decadence, are the messengers of God by which Christ is preached
in all the world. This is God's method for saving
sinners. Preaching. Not just any preaching,
gospel preaching. The preaching of Jesus Christ
and him crucified. This is the mightiest weapon
of God's church. This is the battering ram by
which we assault the gates of hell, nothing else, nothing else. We make no effort in any way
to build the church, get folks to come to church, get folks
to be attracted to the church except, Joe, I'll tell you what, buddy. I've found a place where there's
a man who speaks for God and God speaks by him. And if you
want to know God, come with me Sunday morning and you'll hear
about him. That's all. That's all. Well, Brother Don,
if we just had something else to offer folks, if that's what
you want, go somewhere else. There's plenty to be offered
elsewhere. We preach Christ crucified. This is the singular means by
which God saves sinners. This is the singular means by
which God reveals himself to men. This is the singular means
by which God instructs and guides his people. Celestia sang to
us a little bit ago, the steps of a good man are ordered by
the Lord. And he orders those steps. by
his providence, by his decree, by his spirit, through the preaching
of his word. You wanna know how to live? Come
listen. You wanna know how to minister
to folks? Come listen. You wanna know how
to know God? Come listen. You wanna know how
to handle a situation? Come listen. to the hearing of
the Word of God, and God will give you direction through Christ
Jesus and Him crucified. He was preached unto the Gentiles,
and then the Scriptures tell us that our Lord Jesus was believed
on in the world. They carried the gospel. Isn't
it a wonderful thing? They went preaching, and everywhere
they went preaching, go through the book of Acts, everywhere
they went preaching, Sometimes they were scattered by persecution
and they, just a little band here, a little band there. Everywhere
they went preaching, folks believed. Folks believed. Folks believed. I go out and preach the gospel,
God's grace. Use every means God puts in my
hands to the best of my ability as God enables me. And I do so
with a blessed anticipation. as many as are ordained to eternal
life will believe. I'll tell you who will believe
this message today. I'll tell you who among you will
go out those doors believing God as many as were ordained
to eternal life. And the Lord God will cause you
to believe by the power of his spirit, taking his word and planting
life in your heart, springing forth with faith in his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he was received up to glory. Having finished his work, the
Lord Jesus took his seat at the right hand of the majesty on
high because justice was satisfied. Sin was put away. God's elect
were redeemed. And there he takes the reigns
of the universe. And as the sovereign king of
glory, he rules the universe for the saving of his redeemed,
for the salvation of his elect. He intercedes for his people,
their names inscribed upon his heart and upon his hands, making
intercession. What does he pray? Father, forgive
them. Don't let that ransom sinner
die. Here is the price of his ransom. And every sinner for whom he
intercedes, for whom he died, the Lord God Almighty saves by
his grace. The Lord Jesus is seated in heaven,
the accepted sacrifice, the accepted ransom price, the accepted righteousness
of his people. That one in whom God is well
pleased. So the Lord God looks on his
son, and he looks on all who are in his son. He looks at you. And he looks at me. And it's
a sweet smelling savor to him. Oh, God says, I'm so pleased
with this one who is the Christ and all that he's done. And let
me tell you one more thing about this one who is the Christ. He shall not fail. Isaiah 42, verse four. He shall
not fail. All he came here to do, he has
done. All he came here to redeem, he
has redeemed. All he came here to save, he
will save. All for whom he intercedes in
glory, he will bring with him into heaven's glory at last. Oh God, Spirit of God. Make him precious to our souls.
Enflame our hearts with love for him who loved us and gave
himself for us. Spirit of God, will you reveal
Christ to sinners here this hour? Give them life and faith. Cause these dead to live. Cause them to believe. calls
them to go home justified and rejoicing in Christ our Lord. Amen.