God Manifested In the Flesh

Q: What does the Bible say about the mystery of godliness?

The Bible teaches that the mystery of godliness centers on the incarnation of Christ, as seen in 1 Timothy 3:16. The mystery of godliness is articulated in 1 Timothy 3:16, stating, 'Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.' This phrase encapsulates the essence of Christian theology, highlighting that God became man to reveal Himself fully to humanity. Paul emphasizes that this mystery involves not just the incarnation but also the justification by the Spirit, the witnessing from angels, and the preaching of this truth to the Gentiles. The understanding of this mystery transcends mere intellectual acceptance; it demands spiritual insight and revelation from God. Those who grasp this mystery recognize it as the fulcrum of their faith, connecting divine revelation with human redemption.

Q: How do we know the incarnation of Christ is true?

The incarnation is affirmed through Scripture, especially in 1 Timothy 3:16 and the witness of the Holy Spirit. The truth of the incarnation of Christ rests on the foundation laid out in Scripture, particularly in 1 Timothy 3:16, where it states that 'God was manifest in the flesh.' This not only denotes the miraculous event of God incarnating as man but is further substantiated by the justification through the Holy Spirit and the manifestations to angels. The biblical narrative supports this assertion by recounting various events in Jesus's life, including His miraculous birth, His baptism where the Spirit descended upon Him, and the angelic proclamations surrounding His ministry. The convincing truths about Christ's identity and mission are revealed through the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, affirming that belief in the incarnation is indeed a divine gift.

Q: Why is faith important for Christians?

Faith is crucial for Christians as it is a gift from God that enables salvation and understanding of the gospel. Faith holds paramount importance in the life of a Christian, as made clear in Ephesians 2:8-9, which states that 'by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.' This underscores that faith is not an independent human achievement but a divine grant that allows us to embrace Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. Moreover, as Pastor Henry Mahan reflects, faith transforms mere acknowledgment of truth into deep personal conviction that connects the believer to God's saving grace. It's through God’s gift of faith that individuals are not just mentally agreeing with the tenets of Christianity but are spiritually transformed and united with Christ, resulting in new life and redemption.

Q: What does it mean that God was manifest in the flesh?

It means that God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ, allowing us to see God's glory. The phrase 'God was manifest in the flesh' highlights the incarnation, which signifies that the eternal God took on human nature in the person of Jesus Christ. This profound mystery reveals how God chose to relate to mankind, making Himself known through a life lived among us. As noted in the sermon, this is a revelation of God's character and plan of redemption for humanity. When Christ walked the earth, He demonstrated God's love, mercy, and righteous justice, ultimately culminating in His sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. This understanding deepens the believer's worship and relationship with God, encouraging a heartfelt response to His amazing grace and the invitation to know Him deeply.

And I cannot think of a more
fearful, fearful, fearful prospect than the, as we have, all of
the comforts of this world, and the comforts of, not only
for the body, but for the mind in information and education. And comforts, though they be
faults of religion, and miss Christ. I cannot think, I tremble,
I tremble, lest we hear him say in that day, I never knew you. And I believe these people that
said, we preached in your name and cast out devils and have
done many wonderful works, said that in the deepest sincerity,
that they had missed the Redeemer. I want you to turn to 1 Timothy
chapter 3. And I'll be perfectly honest
with you. I know that pastors are supposed
to have teaching ministries, and I'm trying. And I know there
are a lot of other things in the Word of God besides seek ye the Lord. But I am motivated by one driving ambition, and that is
that I may know Christ and that you may know him. That's the
thing that motivates me and that's the thing that is uppermost in
my mind. Actually, though, there's nothing
else to preach but Christ and him crucified. That's what Paul
said. I feel like that old minister of the gospel, I forget his name,
who preached the meeting. Every night he preached, ye must
be born again, ye must be born again. After about the fifth
or sixth night, a man came to him and said, don't you know
any other scripture? Can't you preach any other sermon?
Then you must be born again. The old man replied, well, no
use going to anything else till you're born again. And so I guess
that's where we ought to hang around at the cross until Some
of us get a good look at Christ and him crucified. Tonight, 1
Timothy 3, verse 16. Now, someone has called this
verse the summary of true religion. That's a tall order, isn't it?
The summary of true religion. And I'll say this, this verse
doesn't deal with trivial matters. It deals with the highest themes
of thought. Let's look at it without controversy,
without argument or debate. No room for debate here. Great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. This is incarnation. What a thought,
what a theme. God manifested in the flesh. justified in the Spirit. This
is the message of the Spirit. I read it to you a while ago.
He shall not speak of himself, but he shall glorify me. This
is the witness of the Spirit. What a thing! What's the Holy
Spirit got to say? Why did he come? What's his message? Thirdly, he was seen of the angels,
the ministry of angels. Not much that we do attracts
the ministry of angels. But our Lord Jesus Christ was
the object of the angels' ministry. Number four, preach to the Gentiles
the revelation of our Lord to all nations. I'll tell you this,
you and I ought to give thanks tonight that we have the privilege
of sitting here and hearing this gospel preached. Salvation is
of the Jews. That's what Scripture says, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. You shall be my witnesses
in Jerusalem. in Judea, Samaria, and, thank
God, by his grace, to the uttermost parts of the world. Great is
the mystery of godliness he's preached to the Gentiles. And
you look at the next point, the faith of God's elect, believed
on in this world. Now they tell me that faith's
an easy thing. Faith is impossible. Faith is
the gift of God. They're not a person in this
building tonight who can believe this mystery, understand it,
see it, enter into it, or believe it, without the aid, without
the unction, without the power, without the life-giving, regenerating
work of God's Holy Spirit. You may mentally agree with it,
but you won't believe it. You may mentally accept it, but
you won't believe it. That's right. Believe, it's a
miracle. The fact that God was manifest in the flesh is a miracle,
and the fact that you believe the gospel is a miracle. There
are many who profess to believe it. David preached on that this
morning. But Christ didn't commit himself to them. He said, you
follow me because of the loaves and fishes. You follow me because
of the miracle. You profess to believe, but you
don't know what faith is. Faith is a gift of God. David
Brainerd. Perhaps one of the greatest preachers
God ever let live. He died when he was 29 years
old, finished his ministry. Jonathan Edwards said, any system
of religion that produces a David Brainerd ought to be looked into
by all men. David Brainerd said four things
made him mad, made him furious when he found out the truth of
it. Number one, God Almighty gave his law and demanded it
be kept, and he said, I couldn't Point number two, he said, God
Almighty demanded faith, and I couldn't produce it. And I'll
tell you, when you come to that point, if you ever do, realize
that you cannot believe like the Roman centurion, Lord, help
my unbelief, like the disciples, Lord, increase our faith. If
you ever come to the point where you can't believe, God will give
you faith. It's the gift of God. That's the third thing that made
David Brainerd angry. He found out that God demanded
faith and he couldn't produce it, but God could give it. It
was in the hands of God. It was a spiritual gift just
like any other gift. And the fourth thing that caused
him great agony and distress, he realized that salvation is
of the Lord. And God had every right in the
world to damn him to separate him from his presence forever,
for God had the right through Jesus Christ and his righteousness
to save him. God could save him or damn him.
You may not believe that, but it's so. And then the next thing,
he was received up in the glory. You see, that's the reason Paul
starts this verse. No argument here and no debate
here. What we're dealing with is great.
There's no room for indifference here. Without controversy, great,
great is this mystery. You say, I know all about it.
That proves you don't know anything. Any man that claims he understands
God is worshiping an idol. Any man that claims he can take
the Bible and read it and understand it knows nothing about God's
Word. That's what Scripture says, he
that thinks he knows, knows not as he ought to know. Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness they shall
be filled. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall
find. Knock, and it shall be opened,
not without asking, seeking, and knocking. If any man lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth wisdom." Do you think
you understand God? You're worshiping an idol. You
don't know God. You've got a false God. This is a mystery. You take
your concordance and read a little bit, you'll find out that over
and over again the gospel is called a mystery. Paul said in
2 Corinthians 4, our gospel is hid. It's hid to them that are
lost, whom the God of this world hath blinded, lest the glorious
light of the gospel of Jesus Christ should shine unto them
and they should be saved. They are blinded, deceived by Satan. That's right. Our Lord Jesus Christ, one day
the disciple said, why do you preach to the multitude in parables? He said, because they've got
eyes and can't see. They've got ears and can't hear.
They've got hearts, but they can't understand. Blessed are
your eyes. Anointed eyes. Blessed are your
ears. Your eyes see and your ears hear.
Blessed are you. God's blessed you. God done something
for you he hadn't been pleased to do for the rest of them. He said, whom do you say that
I am? Peter said, you're the Christ, the Son of the living
God. He said, Peter, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you.
You didn't learn that sitting around a circle arguing doctrine.
You didn't learn that going through the ceremonies and rituals of
humanized religion. My Father taught you that. My
Father taught you that. Our Lord said, ìNo man can come
to me except my Father draw him, and they shall be taught of God. He that hath learned of the Father,
he comes to me.î This is either the most amazing
revelation or the most astounding deception that has ever been
put over on this human race. Great is the mystery. God became a man. This is either
the most amazing revelation or this is the most astonishing
deception that can be considered. There's no middle ground here. This is either the power of God
to you or foolishness, that's what Paul said. To those who
are being saved, this is the power of God. To those who are
being, to those who are perishing, it's foolishness! And nobody
really believes this, that God became a man. Nobody really believes
this but a Christian or an imbecile. No man can afford to be undecided
on this issue or indifferent, right or wrong. This is great. Right or wrong, this demands
investigation. Right or wrong, this demands
consideration. Without debate, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God became a man. God was manifest in flesh. Nothing in the world so opposite
of these two words, God and flesh. Nothing in the world so far apart
as God and flesh. And yet I'm saying, and Paul
is saying, and I believe the Holy Ghost is saying, God was
manifest in the flesh. Do you believe that? Do you believe because somebody
told you that? Or do you believe because God showed it to you? Is this mystery great? Because
if there is a God, this is the way that he's seen fit to reveal
himself. And this is the only way. God's not in those little old
idols and statues that they have lining the walls of these cathedrals
and tabernacles and temples. That's not the God of creation. If there's a God, in heaven,
this is the way that he's seen fit to reveal himself. Our Lord
said, no man has seen God, no man has seen God at any time
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. You
hadn't seen God, you hadn't heard God, and what's more, you're
not going to hear from God until you stand in his presence. Here's
God's revelation right here. If you've heard a voice, you've
heard an evil spirit. If you've seen a vision, Satan
has deceived you. Christ said, No sign shall be
given but the word. That rich man in hell said, Send
Lazarus back from the dead, that he may warn my brothers. And our Lord said, Abraham replied,
They've got the word of God. They've got Moses and the prophets.
Oh, but Lord, if one rose from the dead, He said, If they believe
not the word, they will not believe, though one rose from the dead.
That's right. And if there's a God, this is
the way that God has seen fit to reveal himself. Show us the
Father, they said! Show us the Father! He said,
Philip, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. That's
right. I'll tell you this, this is great
without debate, without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. We're dealing tonight with a
great theme. We're dealing with a great theme.
Great because if man has an immortal soul, if I've got an immortal
soul, this is the way God has seen fit to redeem me. That's
why it's great. What shall it profit a man, that's
what Jack was singing about, if he gains the whole world and
loses that soul? Huh? You climb to the highest
pinnacle of success in this world, and one day you're going to grow
old and die and stand before God, lost. You climb to the pinnacle
of accomplishment, fame and glory. You take care of this old body
and make it live 85 or 90 years, eat your health food and drink
your milk and get plenty of sleep and keep this body alive for
90 years and spend 10 million years in hell. Think about it. Lost. It's great, great, because
if there's a heaven, this is the way. Great, because if there's
a hell, this is the way of deliverance. This is Christology. You can
talk about eschatology and ecclesiology and all the other ologies. This
is Christology. That's Paul's gospel, Christology. No rattling of the change of
denominationalism here. The mystery of godliness is not
ceremonies. Go through all of the rigmarole
and the hocus-pocus throw drops of water everywhere and wear
uniforms and play soft music and burn candles and bow and
bend and scrape and dip and all these things. This is not the
mystery of godliness. It's not ceremonies. It's not
drops of water. It's not monstrous organizations. It's not baptisms and rules and
laws of conduct. It's God in human flesh. That's the mystery. Great, without
doubt, without argument, great is the mystery of godliness.
What is it? It's our great denomination with
28,000 churches and 2,547,000 members growing 10,000 every
year. That's not it. The mystery of
godliness is one day by his sovereign pleasure One day according to
his eternal will, one day in the fullness of time, one day
for the glory of his name, one day to redeem his people, one
day he came down here and walked this earth. That's what it's
all about. No sensationalism of prophecy
here, no efforts to predict what's going to happen. But a bold declaration
of what did happen. God manifested in the flesh. I never will forget one time,
like I said to them yesterday up in West Virginia, we have
a lot of low points in our lives, but I have some high points.
And one day I heard a preacher, my favorite preacher. You know,
most of the time we get up to preach, old Brother Mews said
we ought to just house the anchor and head for shore. But I heard
this man preach one day, and the Holy Spirit was in him and
upon him, and he took one verse of Scripture, and he stayed there,
he camped there, he got some liberty, and he pitched his tent
there, and he talked about he made this world. He was in this
world. He who made the world one day
was actually in this world. The Word was made flesh and we
beheld His glory. No dry exhibition of mere creed
or doctrine here. No proof of Calvinism or Arminianism
or Pelagianism or Antinomianism or any other ism. This is living
truth. This message is alive. Christology. Salvation! Salvation! O melodious
sound! Salvation to wretched dying men! Salvation that from God proceeds
and leads back to God again. Rescued from sin's eternal gloom,
from doubt and fear and chains, raised to a paradise of bliss
where Christ triumphantly reigns. My Savior God, no voice but Thine. These dying hopes can raise,
speak that salvation to my soul and turn my groans to praise. I want us to look tonight at
these six articles of faith called the Mystery of Godliness. Oh,
that the Lord would anoint his preacher. You know, you ought
to pray for the Lord's anointing to be upon his preacher, because
when his anointing is upon his preacher, you get the blessing. God has seen fit to leave in
this world prophets and evangelists, pastors and teachers. for the perfecting of the Saints,
for the maturity of the Saints, that they might come to a knowledge
of Christ and his salvation, his glory, or that the Spirit of the living
God would get us out of doctrinitis, get us into Christology. I want to look at six articles
of faith here. Without doubt, without argument,
great is this mystery. And the princes of this world
didn't see it or they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory. And the leaders of religion didn't
see it or they wouldn't have cried for his death. And the disciples didn't see
it or they wouldn't have discouraged his trip to Calvary. And most
people today don't see it or they'd preach it. They'd rejoice
in it. The mystery of godliness. What
is it? Six things. God was manifested
in the flesh. Now, if you'll just consider
what I've just read, it becomes the most extraordinary fact that's
ever been declared from human lips and human language. We get
all uptight about men on the moon. I'll have to admit that
sometimes I go out at night and look at that wonderful ball up
there that God hung in the heavens, it's hard for me to imagine that
somebody walked up there. But I'll tell you, that's nothing.
That's nothing when I think that he who made that moon and who
made this earth walked down here. That's the most extraordinary
fact that a man can utter. God became a man. God Almighty
took on himself the form, the likeness of human flesh. That
manger in Bethlehem is the holy bed of God Almighty. Well might
the angel stand on the Judean hillsides and say to the shepherds,
Behold, look with We bring you good tidings of great joy unto
you as born this day in the city of David a Messiah, a Deliverer,
a Redeemer, a Savior. You know who it is? It's none other than Christ the
Lord. There was one fellow that held
that child in his arms, one among many. And he looked at Christ and he
raised his eyes to heaven and he said, I'll die now, Lord,
if you please. I'll die now. I've seen thy salvation. I can't help but believe that
this is the reason Paul said, I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ. He'd seen God's salvation. I can't help but believe that
Paul, when he longed for death and yearned for death, It wasn't
just to get away from the problems of life, like the suicide attempts
to do, but he said, for me to be absent from this body is to
be present with the Lord. I've seen the Lord. I've seen
the Lord. Simeon saw the Lord. I'll go
now, Lord, if you please. I've seen all I want to see.
I've seen thy glory. I've seen Christ Jesus. I've
seen the Savior. That carpenter shop in Nazareth
is occupied by the God who made this world. See Him there standing
at that carpenter's bench working with a tool, working with a plane,
planing off that piece of wood. People walk by the door and they
don't even look in. Oh, if you knew, if you knew,
think about it. Think of the people throughout
eternity who were in the pits of hell. Say, I saw him, and
I didn't look. I heard him, and I didn't listen. I lived next door to him and
paid no attention. I walked by his shop and didn't
ask him a question. But I'll tell you, there will
be a lot of folks I believe from Ashland, Kentucky, who will say,
I could have heard the gospel. I could have heard the gospel.
There was a fellow preaching it that wasn't interested in
how many baptisms he could report. There was a place down there
that had a pulpit that wasn't courting and trying to win the
favor of people. There were somebodies trying
to deal honestly with my soul. And I'd rather go to somebody
and hear him tickle my ears and brag on my flesh and preach the
traditional ceremonial hogwash that I wanted to hear. I wouldn't
listen. I wouldn't listen. That carpenter
shop in Nazareth is occupied by the Savior, but nobody paid
attention. We know him. He's the carpenter. We know his mama. We know his
daddy. We know his brothers, Judy, Josie. We know his sister.
Who's he? He's nobody. Why are you listening
to him? Do you know anybody that is anybody
that's paying attention to him? No, I don't. Well, why would
you pay attention to him? I'll tell you, he speak like
no other man's pay. He speaks as one with authority.
I got sense enough to know he's talking my language. I got sense
enough to know he's talking about things that the Bible deals with. That's why I listen. Why go sit
and listen to a man who tells you how wicked you are? Because
I'm wicked, that's why. Why go listen to a man who tells
you how insufficient and unable you are? Because that's the way
I am. Why go listen to a man talk about salvation being a
miracle? Because it is! The cross of Calvary bears the
body of the Son of God. No wonder the sun refused to
shine. No wonder the rocks rent and
trembled and the graves opened and the dead walked out. God
died on that cross. Now, the people of this world
didn't know him, but the devils knew him. They said to him, we
know who you are. We know who you are. You're the
Son of God. We know who you are. The disciples
knew him. Thou art the Son of God. The
thief on the cross knew him. Lord, when you come into your
kingdom, remember me." Thomas finally knew him. Thomas walked
with him and talked with him and ate with him and slept with
him and looked upon him for three and a half years. And one day
God revealed himself to him. And he fell on his face and he
said, My Lord and my God. What a day! Oh, what a day! Oh,
what a day! when God is pleased to open a
man's eyes and let him see who Jesus Christ really is. I say,
Pat, a person can go the mission field, sacrifice, preach, teach,
and still not know who Christ is. I say a man can pastor a
church for 25 years and preach for 30 years or 31 years every
day practically and still not know who Christ is. I say people
can sit in a congregation and listen to all the rhetoric of
religion, they can teach classes, they can be deacons and elders
and still not know who he is! Oh, that I may know him. Are
you afraid to say that? Paul wasn't. No, sir. He said, I was born of the tribe
of Benjamin. You can't get much higher than
that. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. You pick out your highest pharisee
and I exceeded him! You come to me with your laws
and rules and regulations," he said, I'm blameless. I've got
a life that will put you to shame. That's what he said. I fast twice
a week and give tithes of all I possess. But he didn't know
him. And he said, I count all these
things but dumb. that I may win Christ and be
found in him, O, O, O, that I may know him." God was manifest in the flesh. Who is he? I tell you, I never get tired of
preaching that. I may preach the same thing, but I'm going
to keep preaching it because I believe I've seen the Lord
justified in the Spirit. without controversy. Great, great
is the mystery of Godliness. He was justified in the Spirit.
What's this talking about? This is the Holy Spirit, Cecil,
the Holy Spirit. All his claims were justified
by the Holy Spirit. That's right. Christ said in
John 5.21, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not
true. But I want you to turn, if you
will, to John 1. Now, John 1, verse 32, Christ
said, If I bear witness myself, my witness is not true. You've
got no right to believe me, no reason to believe me, if my word
is all you've got. But I'll tell you this, while
you're finding John 1, verse 32, the angel came to Mary and
said, You're going to have a son. And Mary said, That can't be.
I don't have a husband, and I don't know a man. And the angel said,
Watch it, the Holy Ghost will come upon you. The power of the
highest shall overshadow you. And that holy thing, the angel
couldn't even find a name for him, that holy thing, the God-man,
that holy thing, that holy miracle, what do you call this incarnation? How do you refer to it? He's
man, but he's more than man. He's God, but he's also man.
So the angel said, that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God. And the scripture tells us old
Simeon waited for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the
Lord's Christ. The Holy Ghost told him that.
When they walked through that door with that child Jesus, the
Holy Ghost said, There he is. And then when he was baptized,
John 1 verse 32. John's talking about Christ and
he said, I didn't know him, but that he should be made manifest
to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water. And John by record saying, I
saw the Spirit. descending from heaven like a
dove, and it abode on him, verse 33, and I knew him not, but he
that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, upon
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him,
the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. That's who
he is. That's who he is. He was raised
from the dead by the Holy Spirit. The disciples were filled with
the Holy Spirit after he ascended to heaven. He said, you stay
right here. You tarry in Jerusalem, don't you leave, till you be
endued with power. For the Holy Ghost shall come
upon you, and the power of the highest shall overshadow you,
and you shall be my witnesses wherever you go. And he came,
cloven tongues of fire. Thirdly, 1 Timothy 3, God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, and seen of the
angels. Name me any event. The Pope came
to Yankee Stadium, but I didn't see any angels hanging around
up there. The Southern Baptist Convention
meets, but I don't see any angels hanging around the door. I'm
not making fun. Now at Salt Lake City they can
gather in that big tabernacle by the hordes, by the thousands. I don't see any angels making
any to-do over it. We can have our Bible conferences,
but I don't see any angels hanging around. Name any event in the
religion of men that has commanded the attention of God's angels.
Anything! You can't name anything. But
our Lord was constantly attended by the angels. It was an angel
that announced his birth, both to Mary, to Joseph, to the shepherds. Angels saw the heaven-born child
in human flesh arrayed, the Son of God, the Son of Man, in a
manger laid. They cried, Praise God, pray
peace on earth, yet they stood amazed at such a birth. When he went yonder into the
wilderness to be tempted of Satan, turn to Mark chapter 1. You'll
want to read this. Mark chapter 1 verse 13. When
he went yonder for forty days into the wilderness to be tempted
by Satan, who was it that came and ministered to him? Mark 1
verse 13. And he was there in the wilderness
forty days, tempted of Satan, and was with a wild beast. and
the angels of God came and ministered to him. Turn to Luke 22.43, our Lord
on his way to the cross, his human nature rebelling, so rebelling
that he sweat great drops of blood, facing the passion, the
agony, the humiliation, the wrath of God of Calvary. He cried out
My God, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me. My soul
is sorrowful even unto death. Look at Luke 22, 43. And there
appeared an angel from heaven strengthening him. Around that bloody tree I know
they pressed with strong desire. That wondrous sight to see the
Lord of glory expired. And could their eyes have known
a tear and sad surprise, they'd have dropped it there. And throughout
eternity, turn to Revelation 5. The angels are going to sing
his praises. In Revelation 5, verse 12, Verse
11, I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round the
throne, about the throne, and the beasts and the elders, and
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands
of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy, worthy is the
Lamb that was slain. to receive power, and riches,
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing,
and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them, heard I say, in blessing, and honor, and glory,
and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne unto the Lamb,
worthy is the Lamb." People, preachers, religionists
can talk religion. They can talk doctrine. They
can argue theology. They can argue law. They can
argue what's right and wrong. But so seldom do we ever hear
anybody talking about worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. This is the language of heaven.
Everybody that's there. Who are these and which came
they? Why, you know, these are they that have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And throughout eternity
their song was worthy is the Lamb. That's the song of angels. If
we want to be in tune with heaven, and nothing I know that's more
miserable than to hear an instrument play in one tune and somebody
sing in another. And if we want to be in tune
with heaven, we're going to have to learn how to praise the Lord
Jesus Christ. If we're going to be in tune
with the Holy Spirit, if we're going to be in tune with the
angels of God, if we're going to be in tune with the redeemed
of all ages, we're going to have to learn to pray Christ! That's
right. I know you know how to say Shibboleth,
but do you know how to say Christ Jesus the Lord? The fourth thing, 1 Timothy 3,
it says here, great is this mystery. God was manifest in the flesh,
witnessed to by the Spirit, seen of the angels, preached to the
Gentiles. Now we're proud creatures. We're
full of pride. We're proud of our face and place
and grace and race and everything else. We're proud creatures,
and God hates pride. And we may find this a little
difficult to believe that the gospel of God's grace and the
gospel of God's redemption being preached to an Irishman is a
miracle. I know you think you deserve
it, but you don't. This gospel of God's grace being
preached to an Italian or to a German or to an Englishman
or to what we call an American, this is a mystery of godliness.
The disciples didn't understand it. The nearest thing to God
were the angels, and they knew the farthest thing away from
God was a Gentile dog. You read your Bible. Turn to Ephesians 2 verse 11,
that's right. That woman came to our Lord,
that Canaanite woman came to our Lord, and she said, have
mercy on me, and he didn't even answer. She said, Lord, have mercy on
me. He said, I didn't come except to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. You're not an Israelite, you're Canaanite. She said, Lord, have mercy on
me. He said, it's not right to give the children's bread to
dogs. That wasn't a fanatical Baptist
preacher, that was the Lord who said that. When our Lord sat
on the well talking to that Samaritan woman, the disciples came back
and were amazed that he'd talked to her. Why, she said herself,
you're a Jew, I'm a Samaritan, how come you're talking to me?
Don't you know the Jews don't have anything to do with the
Samaritan? And that wasn't just custom,
that was orders from God. Isn't that right? Leave them
alone. Don't you marry those Gentiles,
God said. Don't you have anything to do with those Gentile dogs?
Salvation is of the Jew. We better quit preaching and
believe in what we think and go to preach and believe in what
God says. Ephesians 2, verse, look at it, verse 11. Remember,
wherefore remember that you being in times past Gentiles in the
flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called a circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. At that time you were without
Christ. You were aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. You were strangers from the covenant
of promise. You had no hope. You were without
God in this world. Huh? That's what it says. The only way that a Gentile had
a slight possibility of being acknowledged by God was to become
a Jew. That's the reason the disciples
had so much trouble. That's the reason Peter didn't
want to preach to Cornelius. That's the reason when he came
back, they got all over him. Turn with me to the book of Acts
chapter 11. Let me show you. These godly men up in Jerusalem,
when Peter came back from preaching to Cornelius on direct orders
from God, when he came back to Jerusalem, they reprimanded him
and would have churched him. Why, they said, Acts chapter
11, verse 1, the apostles and the brethren, that were in Jerusalem
in Judea heard that the Gentiles had received the word of God,
and when Peter was come to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision
contended with him, and they said, What in the world have
you done? You mean you went in to men uncircumcised
and ate with them? Peter, what's wrong with you? That's what our Lord said to
John. He had to teach John the whole outfit, that he had a people
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto him.
John said he didn't die for our sins only, he died for the sins
of the world. What a revelation, what a miracle. John said he didn't die for the
Jew only, he died for men in all the world. What a miracle! 1 Timothy, once
more time. In 1 Timothy 3, great is the
mystery. No argument here. This is so. This is the greatest revelation
that God could send your way. He came down here in the flesh.
He was witnessed. His appearance, his work, witnessed
by the Holy Ghost himself. And seen of the angels! and preach
to the Gentiles. I got the authority to tell you
this good news because God said go to the Gentiles too. Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I got
my orders from Him that anybody that'll listen, anybody that'll
listen. That's how I get people to listen.
Their ears are stopped up with tradition, stopped up with human
thought and human reasoning. They're stopped up with all kinds
of things, you know. They won't listen. And too big
a hurry to go to hell to stop long enough to listen. Their
mouths have got to keep going. They can't shut their mouths
and open their ears. They're not willing to listen. But somewhere
you'll find somebody who will listen. And you tell him that
you've got the authority to preach. All authority is given to me,
Christ said, and I give it to you. In heaven and earth. So
you go. and you preach the gospel. And
he that believeth and is baptized will be saved. And he that won't
believe you, I'll damn him." That's what he said, wasn't it?
He that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you,
despiseth him that sent me. Look at this next miracle, believed
on in the world. Now, I have to acknowledge, when
I looked at this verse, I had to ask myself, why did Paul write
that? that for a man to believe the
gospel is a mystery. I'll tell you why. Because the natural man will
see that not the things of God. He's not going to hear you. Our
Lord said to the prophet, you go, you go, I'm sending you to
these people, and you tell them what I said. They're not going
to believe you, but you go anyway. They won't hear you. But you
go anyway. The natural man receives it,
not the things of God. The preaching of the cross is
to them that are perishing foolishness, because natural men love darkness
rather than light. And here, listen to this in John,
at least John 6, this is the most convicting, condemning,
terrible charge that can be brought against the sons of Adam in John
5, verse 43. John 5.43, I am come in my Father's
name, and you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. That makes me want to cry. Whitefield said if you want to
cry, I'll cry for you. I came in my Father's name, seeking
his glory in your good, telling you the truth, and you wouldn't
hear me, you wouldn't receive me. Another came making merchandise
of your soul, greedy, a filthy lucre, preaching himself, his
own name, and you followed him, you followed him like sheep to
the slaughter, blind leading the blind. That's the reason
it's a miracle when somebody believes this gospel. By grace
are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. It's given unto us not only to
believe on him but to suffer for him. I believe that God became
a man. I believe that God Almighty walked
this earth in human flesh. It's not an article of faith. It's a principle in my soul.
I believe that God Almighty, in human flesh, obeyed the law
perfectly. He was tried in all points as
my representative, yet without sin. That's not a point of theology
I memorize. That's an experience of grace
God revealed. I believe it. I believe He took
my sins in His body on the tree that awesome, awful day when
heaven clouded up in the blackness. And God Almighty spit his wrath
upon the body of his Son. He was wounded for my transgressions,
and he didn't fail. What he went there to accomplish,
he accomplished. And when he finished that work
God gave him to do, he cried, It's finished! And that cry resounded
throughout the courts of heaven, and made the angels rejoice,
and it resounded throughout the pits of hell, and made the devils
tremble. It's finished! He arose from the dead and he
sits at the right hand of God. I believe it more than I believe
anything in the world. I want to believe you, but I
do believe God. I give my life. I believe in
all that I possess, in things that I've never possessed, that
I possibly could possess, that I might possess Him. I'd give my life for one I've
never seen. To believe that is a miracle.
And for that to take place in the human heart, that's not something
a man walks down the aisle and professes. That's something that
the Holy Ghost enables him to possess. You won't hear him making
a lot of noise about it. because even he himself finds
it difficult to understand. I believe him. And then last
of all, the miracle of godliness, the mystery of godliness, he
was received up in the glory. Now you think about this a minute.
He came down here and was numbered with the transgressors. He became a man. He was born
from a woman's womb, just like you are. He laid in a baby's
crib, just like you did. He was nourished on a woman's
breast, just like you were. He was rocked, just like you
were. He walked, and worked, and sweated, and plowed, and
harvested, and cried, and felt pain, and hungered, and thirsted,
and died. a man, a federal head, a representative,
a whole race in him, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven. But
the Lord left heaven and came down here and identified himself
with me. I in him and he in me. And after
he died on that cross under my guilt and filth and under God's
wrath and laid in a tomb, one day Holy Spirit brought him out,
and he ascended to heaven. And up yonder, up yonder, the welcome mat was rolled out,
and the Heavenly Father received him. come in, my son." Now, wait
a minute. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord of Hosts! He is the King of Glory! Lift
up your head, O ye gates, and welcome Him! He's come home! What's so marvelous about that
picture? You don't know? He had me with him. I tried. He had old Ed Ballard with him. He had old Don Fitzer with him. And the Father let us in, say
so. That's right, I'm seated up there right now. That's the
mystery of godliness. God became a man, and the Holy
Ghost said he's the Lamb, and the angel said he's the Lamb,
and they preached him to Gentile dogs, and these dogs believed
him, and he wasn't ashamed to call them brethren. And he died
for Him, and was buried. I died in Him. It's my cross,
it's His cross. And His cross is my cross. I'm
crucified with Christ. I'm buried with Christ. And when
the Father received Him into glory, He took me with Him. You believe that? Turn to the
book of Ephesians. That's what's so amazing about
it. You can't get excited about that
if you've got a dead soul. Verse 4, 5, 4 of Ephesians 2,
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, quickened us to Christ,
with Christ by grace, who you say, and raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. That's where
I am right now, glorified. he received him. And I'll tell
you this, he couldn't receive him unless he took me too. Because
I'm chosen in him, I'm accepted in him, I'm redeemed in him,
I have an inheritance in him, everything. I and my sons, my
brethren, that's the reason it's a miracle. And we're going on
about this little nothingness called religion today,
and all this noise, and nobody knows what it's all about. Some
people do. Simeon said, I know, I'll die
now, Lord. I know, I've seen the Lord. I've had a revelation
from the King. Our Father in heaven, bring us in the company of those
who do business in deep waters. Bring us with those who, like
Mary, sit at the feet of the Lord, our mouths shut and our
hearts open to hear him speak. Bring us to the feet of Christ
like the Apostle Peter, crying, Lord save me or I'll perish.
us with the Apostle Paul, numbered among those who can say, I count
everything but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having righteousness of my own which is of the law, but
the righteousness of God which is in Christ Jesus. Let us be
numbered with those who have their robes washed and
made white in the blood of the Lamb, who are able in glory to
sing, Worthy is the Lamb, because we learn the tune right here
on this earth. Speak to our heart. Minister
to us for his glory. In his name we pray. Amen.

God Manifested In the Flesh

What does the Bible say about the mystery of godliness?

How do we know the incarnation of Christ is true?

Why is faith important for Christians?

What does it mean that God was manifest in the flesh?

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God Manifested In the Flesh

What does the Bible say about the mystery of godliness?

How do we know the incarnation of Christ is true?

Why is faith important for Christians?

What does it mean that God was manifest in the flesh?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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