Let us look in our Bibles this
evening to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3, reading verses
14 through 16. These things write unto thee,
hoping to come unto thee shortly. But 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, the pillar and
ground of the truth. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. We have seen how that the Apostle
Paul besought Timothy to remain in Ephesus, that he might instruct
the church in Ephesus. In Paul's absence, he writes
to Timothy that he might know how to behave himself, if you
notice in verse 15, how thou oughtest to behave thyself in
the house of God, and then Paul, or Timothy rather, would teach
others. He would instruct the church
at Ephesus. Remember in Revelation chapters
2 and 3, the seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor, the
first church that was addressed was the church at Ephesus. And
the one thing that we see that the Lord rebuked them for was
that they had left their first love. They had left their first
love. In chapter one, the apostle Paul,
here in 1 Timothy, in chapter one, we looked at this. He charged
Timothy that those who taught, that they teach no other doctrine,
and the doctrine that he charged him to make sure that those who
taught was the glorious gospel of the blessed God. I cannot
help but think of what Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia when
he begins that letter saying, I marvel, I marvel that you are
so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel. And then we remember that he
quickly added that there is no other gospel. There's only one
gospel. But he marveled that these churches
so soon removed from the gospel, from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel. And it just reminds me,
and I've remind all of us here tonight, it's truly amazing how
quickly the truth, the truth may be lost. The truth as it
is in Christ Jesus, because Satan continuously tries to undermine
and so error among the people of God. How quickly the truth,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, may be lost. Every generation, you know, we
talk about the great Protestant Reformation of the 15th century,
but every generation must fight to maintain the truth of the
gospel. We're all charged with this responsibility
to receive the gospel, hold the gospel, prize the gospel, and
pass the gospel on to the next generation. We're all charged
with this. So Paul told Timothy, charge
them that they teach no other doctrine. The only doctrine that
is to be taught is the glorious gospel of the blessed God. And then in this chapter three,
when he gave the requirements of those who were to serve as
deacons, he said that they must be men who hold the mystery of
the faith in a pure conscience. And the mystery of the faith
is, once again, the gospel. That is the mystery of the faith. We must hold the gospel, not
just the deacons. Preachers must preach the gospel. Deacons, to be a deacon, they
must hold to the gospel, but that's a responsibility that
all of God's children, we all have. When we see the word mystery,
You know, sometimes we automatically think, well, a mystery means
a whodunit. We want to read a mystery book
and whodunit. You don't find out to the end
of the book. Now that's not the way Paul uses
the word mystery. And we see this in his epistles
several times. Matthew Henry, he explained a
mystery like this, and I quote, a mystery that could not have
been found out by reason. In other words, it's a truth
that could not have been found out by man's reasoning power. A mystery that could not have
been found out by reason or the light of nature. It's not something
a person will learn from the light of nature and which cannot
be comprehended by reason because It is above our reason, though
not contrary to reason, a mystery. And in verse 16, that we read
just a few minutes ago, we have a summary of the mystery, the
mystery of godliness, the mystery, the truth, which the churches
and ministers who are pillars and grounds of the truth that
they are to hold forth. Now two things are crystal clear
in verse 16. Two things are crystal clear.
No one can miss this. There's one subject. There's
one subject in verse 16, and that subject is Christ. There's six verbs or predicates,
but they all refer back to this one subject, that is Christ. The great mystery of godliness
is the gospel and it concerns a person. It's not a plan, it's
not so many steps, but it is rather the person and the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we look at these six
things that are mentioned here, I pray that God will bless the
things that we've recognized and heard messages on this text
probably many times, but yet it is the truth, the grounds,
the pillar that the church is to hold forth. First, Christ
was manifest in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. I recently read through Charles
Hodges' book, one of his books of theology on the person of
Christ, and once again was reminded that the eras, the attacks that
have been made on Christianity have mainly concerned the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many attacks, many errors, many
false views have been brought in to the church to undermine
the truth of this statement right here. God was manifest in the
flesh. You know, some Bible translations,
they use the word he. He was manifest in the flesh. To me, that almost sounds like
how else would he be manifested, you know? A man. We're just talking
about a man. How else could a man be manifest
other than in the flesh? But no. God. God was manifest in the flesh. That's the mystery of godliness.
In 1 John chapter 3 and verse 8, the apostle John wrote this. For this purpose, for this purpose
the Son of God was manifested. This is the reason, John said,
this is it. This is the reason that God was
manifest in the flesh. Why, John? To destroy the works
of the devil. That's what he said. For this
purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil. God told Satan, we go all the
way back to Genesis chapter 3, after Adam disobeyed God and
sinned, God told Satan, Eve, her seed will bruise your head. Her seed, in other words, the
seed of the woman is going to bruise the head of Satan. To destroy the works of the devil
would be the work of one who would be in the same nature That
is, of man, the same nature as the one who disobeyed God, who
sinned in the beginning. But how, think about this, how
could one, if he was merely a man, even a holy man, how could he
destroy the works of the devil? How would that be possible? The
devil is not omnipotent, but he is a great being, a powerful
being, no doubt. So how could a mere man, even
a holy man, if that's all he is, that would be wonderful,
right? To be a holy man without sin.
But if we were just a man, how could a man destroy the works
of the devil? Would not be possible. Satan
is too great a foe. He must be one who is equal to
God to satisfy God. But how, how or when will this
take place? When there is a being who is
both God, so that he might satisfy God, and man, that he might satisfy
God in the nature that had offended God. Well, you know the scripture
in Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5, Paul says, so when the fullness
of the time was come, God had it all planned, didn't he? You
know, sometimes we think that God's behind, or no, God's always
right on time. He's never a minute early or
a minute late. He's always on time. And all
through the Old Testament, God had been preparing the scene
for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the fullness
of the time came, God sent forth His Son, His Son, one who was
one with Him. In the Godhead, we know there
are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. Isn't that a wonderful truth? That God sent his son into this
world to destroy the works of the devil, to redeem us who were
under the law, the law which required perfect, absolute obedience. under that law, not the law that
God made with the nation of Israel. We're Gentiles. But there's always
been a law that demanded that man love God with all his heart,
all his soul, and all his being, and love his neighbor as himself. We were under that law, and it
was a broken law. And yet God sent forth his son,
made of a woman, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. that we, you and I, those of
us who trust in him as our Lord and as our Savior, those of us
who know him, that we might receive, we don't earn it, we certainly
don't merit it, that we might receive the adoption of sons,
that we might be made a child of God, an heir and a joint heir
with the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 1 in verse 14,
we're told that the Word, there in verse 1, in the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then in verse 14, and the
Word, that same Word of verse 1, the eternal Son of God, the
Word was made flesh. How was He made flesh? Well,
the Son of God, He took into union with His person, with His
person, the body and soul that God had prepared Him. God, the
Holy Spirit, had prepared Him of the Virgin. He is one person. He's not two persons. He has
two natures, but He's one person. He's God. That's one nature. He's man. That's one nature,
but he's one person. And this is a great mystery.
People say, well, you're a fool to believe that. That God, who
is pure spirit, that he came into this world, that he was
made flesh, that he had a body like our bodies? Well, John said
this about him. And he walked with him for several
years. He said this, which we have heard
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled." You know, that was one of the errors
that was brought into the church. Well, he just appeared to be
a man. He really wasn't a man, because all substance is evil. That's what the Greeks believed.
There's no way he could be a man. Oh, yes. John said, we saw him. We heard him, we looked on him,
and we handled him. Our hands have handled him. John
lay on his breast, didn't he? That night at the Last Supper. John, the one who's writing this,
he said, you might convince somebody, but not me. Not me. No, he was a real man, but at
the same time, absolutely God. He is man and he is God. In him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, that's
a mystery. And it's revealed unto us, those
of us who know him today, and we see the necessity, don't we? We see it couldn't have been
any other way. It could not have been any other
way for us to be saved other than for him who is equal because
he is God, with God, and yet equal with us as a man, that
he might suffer. God can't suffer, but the God-man
suffered. God can't die, but the God-man
died. God can't believe, but the God-man
bled and purchased his church with the blood of God. That's
what the scripture says. I believe it, don't you? Revealed. Mystery. Now the second thing
we see, this is a summary. Christ was justified in the Spirit. And you notice that the word,
the name Spirit is begun with a capital letter. And I believe,
rightly so, this is the Holy Spirit. Justified in or by the
Holy Spirit. Remember the Baptist, John the
Baptist, he testified that at our Lord's baptism, he beheld
the Spirit of God descend upon him in the form of a dove. And John tells us something that's
very important, the Gospel of John, that we don't see in the
other Gospels that speak about his baptism. The Spirit of God remained upon
him. remained upon him. The Spirit
of God remained upon the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that
all that he did, he did in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was maligned. He was accused
of being a blasphemer. They said, well, we don't We
don't stone you because you feed and do good works, but rather
it is because you being a man make yourself equal with God.
You're guilty of blasphemy. They accused him of blasphemy.
They accused him, the religious leaders of Israel, they accused
him of casting out devils by the prince of the devils. And
yet he said this, if I cast out devils by the spirit of God,
How do your sons cast them out? Does anyone, does anyone believe
that the Holy Spirit would have been given to someone, the Holy
Spirit would have given the power to someone to work the miracles,
to cast out demons, if that person was not who he confessed to be? He confessed to be the Son of
God. And he confessed that we know
over and over in the Gospel of John when he said, I am. The
Jews recognized immediately what he was saying, that he was God. The same God who had appeared
to Moses and told Moses, you tell the Israelites when they
asked you who sent you, I am, that I am have sent you. That's
my name. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
confessed, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall
be saved and go in and out. I am the bread of life. All of
those I am passages, the Lord Jesus Christ is confessing himself
to be God. Does anyone believe that God
the Holy Spirit would have given him the power to work the miracles
which he wrought if If he was a sinner? If he was a liar and
confessing to be God? Of course not. He was justified
by the Spirit. And it was especially, look back
to Romans just a moment. Romans chapter 1. I love these first few verses
so much here in Romans chapter 1 because it tells us The Gospel, Romans 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated, now notice, unto the gospel of
God. Now, skip over verse 2. That's in parentheses. And it
is true that God had promised the gospel by the prophets in
the Old Testament. But just skip over that. Separated
under the gospel of God concerning His Son. This is the gospel. Concerns His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, which, now notice, He was made, He was made, what
do we say, flesh? He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh, but he wasn't made the Son of God. He's
always been the Son of God. He was declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead. And also in Romans 4 and verse
25, we are told, who was delivered for our offenses,
our sins, our iniquities, and he was raised again for our justification. He was raised justified, even
though when he died, he died carrying the sins of his people.
But he was justified in the Spirit. On the third day when he came
out of that grave, the Spirit testified, the debt has been
paid, justice is satisfied. It's satisfied. All right, here's
the third thing that we read in our text. Christ was seen
of angels. Now, we know from the Gospels,
all of us here tonight are familiar enough with the Gospels, that
we know that on many occasions the angels had an interest in
what is recorded about our Lord. At His birth, at His birth, angels
sang glory to God in the highest. After the 40 days and the temptation
in the wilderness when Satan tempted him by those three temptations,
you know, if you be the son of God, make these stones into bread
and so forth and so on. Angels, and this is a text here
that of all of these texts concerning angels is the most amazing to
me. that in the garden, and only
Luke tells us this, that night when his soul was exceedingly
sorrowful, even unto death, when he was sweating, as it were,
great drops of blood, when he prayed, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me, we're told there appeared an angel
unto him from heaven, strengthening him. Now, that shows him to be
man, right? Strengthening him. You can't
strengthen God. God is almighty, strengthening
him. But this here, this here in our
text, I believe that this refers especially to his resurrection. On that third day, all that we know about his disciples
is that they were exceedingly sorrowful. They thought Christ
was gone. He had died, been buried, he
was gone. And even those women who went
out to the grave site on the first day of the week, they didn't
go out there to welcome Christ. You know what they went out there
to do? They went out there to anoint his body, fully believing
that they would find his body. And when at first the sepulchre
was opened, they thought someone had stolen away. The angels in every one of the gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they all tell us that angels
saw him. that angels attended his resurrection. All of them do. And I think that's
what this is saying here. Seen of angels. Yes, he was seen
of angels at his birth, at his temptation, but he was seen of
angels that day when he came out of that tomb. They saw him. They rolled the stone away and
he came forth. And they rolled the stone away
for the disciples to get in, right? To say that it was empty,
not for the Lord Jesus to come out. Now the fourth thing, Christ was preached unto the
Gentiles. Now it was before the Lord ascended
that he gave his disciples their marching orders, what has been
called the Great Commission. You remember that woman who came
to our Lord, it's recorded in Matthew chapter 15. He told her,
I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And he sent his disciples out, telling them not to go in the
way of the Gentiles, to remain and to preach only to the Jews. But after his resurrection, He
commanded his church to go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. In other words, Gentiles as well. Preached unto the Gentiles. And you remember in the book
of Acts, Peter, how prejudiced he was against preaching to Gentiles. The Lord in a vision showed him
that sheet let down from heaven three times. And Peter was saying,
no, Lord, I've never eaten anything unclean. God said, don't call
what I've cleansed unclean. There's going to be some men
outside the house here in just a moment, and you go with them. And Peter went, didn't he? He
went to Cornelius' house. But he went there only because
the Lord moved him in a special way. And when he got there, he
testified that he realized that God is not a respecter of persons. He's not a respecter of persons.
He doesn't respect anyone because he's a Jew or because he's a
Greek or because he's a Polish, whatever, you know. He's not
a respecter of persons. He sets his love upon whom he
will love. He's not a respecter of persons.
You know, men, We're so guilty of pride that we become pride
of race and pride of face and pride of grace if we're not careful.
But God is not a respecter of persons. The fact that Paul is
writing this to Timothy, think of what Paul probably would have
said when he was Saul of Tarsus concerning the Gentiles. A bunch
of dogs, a bunch of heathen dogs, You send me to them? No, no. But by the grace of God, he magnified
his office, he said, which was that he was the apostle to the
Gentiles, preached unto the Gentiles. And fifth, Christ was believed
on in the world. This is truly amazing. It's truly
amazing. When these men went out preaching,
that a man who died a felon's death outside the walls of Jerusalem,
that that man who was hanging on that cross is God in flesh,
that he's the Savior, that he suffered and paid for our sins,
and men believed that. Along with the message, we know
that God sent power to convert, convict and convert, and men
from every nation When John, in Revelation chapter five, when
he saw in heaven that great multitude, they were peoples from every
nation under heaven that Christ had redeemed by his blood. And
the last thing, Christ was received up into glory. He was, think
about this, he was received to glory That's where he was received,
to glory, where God is, where God's throne is, I should say.
God's everywhere. But where God's throne is, he
was received to glory and he was received in glory. This God-man was received up
and seated on the throne of God. There's a man in glory tonight. a man that had a body that looked
just like your body and my body, the God man. And he received
up into glory. He was received up into glory
as the glorious head of his body, the church. He was received up
into glory as the captain of our salvation who routed vanquished
all our enemies, all of them, none of them were left standing. He has made an end of sin and
brought in everlasting righteousness. And remember the angel said to
the disciples, this same Jesus. This same Jesus which is taken
up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go in to heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again, as the angel said, and as he promised, he would come
again and receive us unto himself. What a summary, right, of the
gospel, that we are to be a pillar, we're to hold forth to the world.
God was manifest in the flesh. Let's sing a hymn before we're
dismissed.