Sermon #1552 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: “The
Mystery of Godliness”
Text: 1 Timothy
3:16
Subject: The Incarnation, Accomplishments, and Glory of
Christ
Date: Sunday Morning—
Tape # X-94b
Introduction:
The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy
3:15 that the church (this local assembly) is “the house of God.” This
is “the church of the living God.” This is not a social club, an
entertainment center, an amusement park, or a theater.
(1 Tim 3:15) "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."
This is the church of the living God, the
very house of God.
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The place where God meets with his
people.
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The house where the Lord God makes
himself known to his own.
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The place where the Lord God feeds,
instructs, and comforts his people.
He tells Timothy and us plainly that his purpose in writing
this Epistle is that we might know how we ought to behave ourselves 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.
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In Preparation for Worship
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In Attire
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In Attitude
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In Hearing His Word
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In All That is Done Here
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In All That is Preached Here
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.” This is the place where God’s truth is
established, maintained and promoted in this world.
·
The pillar of the house bears
inscriptions honoring the one who built it — Christ the Truth!
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The pillar is that which upholds
the house and gives it stability — Christ the Truth!
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The ground is the basis, the
foundation upon which the house is built and stands —Christ the Truth!
·
The ground, the foundation, is that
which determines the shape and structure of the house — Christ the Truth!
We are not left to guess about these things. We are not left to
form our own opinions about them. In the very next verse the Holy Spirit
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, maintain and declare
in this world.
(1 Tim 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."
I want you to hold your Bibles open right here and follow me
through this rich verse of Holy Scripture. May God the Holy Spirit teach us its
meaning and seal it to our hearts.
"And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.” — Here
is a mystery without controversy in the
“God was manifest in the flesh!” — 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 cannot be explained by laws of nature, any more than that which is
spiritual can be explained by laws of physics. Here is a matter that can only
be received and understood by faith.
When Paul says, “God was manifest in the flesh,” he means
for us to understand that God the Son, the Second Person of the
Holy Trinity, who in the covenant of grace had assumed the responsibility of
saving his people from their sins, became a man so that he might accomplish
that great work (Matt. 1:21; Heb. 10:5-10).
(Mat
(Heb
10:5-10) "Wherefore when he cometh
into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body
hast thou prepared me: (6) In burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (7) Then said
I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will,
O God. (8) Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt
offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure
therein; which are offered by the law; (9) Then said he, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. (10) By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all."
The Son of God assumed mortal, human flesh.
Though he laid aside his manifest glory as God for a time, he never
ceased to be God over all, blessed forever, infinite, eternal,
immutable, and incomprehensible. All the fulness of God dwelt in
him, and still does (Col. 2:9). Yet, he became a real man,
exactly like us, but with one great exception — He had no sin! (John 1:14, 18; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 1:1-3).
(John 1:14) "And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
(John 1:18) "No man hath
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him."
(Heb 4:15) "For we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
(1 John
1:1-3) "That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (2) (For
the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show
unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto
us;) (3) That which we have seen and heard declare we
unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
It was necessary that our Redeemer be a
man. Man has sinned and man must suffer for
sin. But the sufferings of a mere man would have been of no redemptive
value to us. If someone is to redeem and save by the merits of his
sufferings and death, he must be God as well as man.
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Because Jesus Christ is a man, he
was able to suffer for us.
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Because he is God, he was able to
satisfy God’s offended justice for his people.
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The sufferings of the God-man unto
death were vicarious sufferings of infinite, perpetual merit and efficacy.
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Christ’s death as the God-man is of
infinite merit to God for the satisfaction of his justice.
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Because God was manifest in the
flesh and put to death in the flesh, God can now be just and the Justifier of
all who believe.
“Justified in the Spirit”
The Lord Jesus Christ claimed to be God the Son, in all things
equal with the Father (John
(John 15:25-26) "But this
cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their
law, They hated me without a cause. (26) But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of
me:"
(John 16:8-13) "And when he
is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
(9) Of sin, because they believe not on me;
(10) Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
(11) Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. (12) I
have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. (13) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come."
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The Holy Spirit, being given to him
without measure, fully justified all the claims of
the man Christ Jesus that he was indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer,
the Son of God (John 3:33-34).
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When our Lord submitted to baptism
to fulfill all righteousness, the Holy
Spirit confirmed his claim by visibly descending upon him.
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The miracles he performed in
conjunction with the Holy Spirit (Luke
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He who was made to be sin for us
was justified from sin when he was raised from the dead
(Rom. 1:4).
The body of our Savior laid in the tomb
under the sentence of death, in an unjustified state for three days. But on the
third day the Spirit of life came again into his body and he was “justified in
the Spirit”.
In the resurrection, our Savior was justified in the Spirit as the
Surety and Representative of his body, the church. Our sins, which were imputed
to him, he has put away by the sacrifice of himself. When he was raised from
the dead God the Father declared that his work of atonement had effectually
accomplished the everlasting justification of his elect (Rom.
Augustus Toplady
wrote, “When the Sun of Righteousness arose from his sad, but short eclipse, he
rose to set no more.” And there is healing for sinners under the wings of that
risen Sun of Righteousness!
The Holy Spirit continues to justify the
claims of Christ today (1 John 5:6-8).
(1 John 5:6-8) "This is he
that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but
by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is truth. (7) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (8) And
there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the
blood: and these three agree in one."
·
He bears witness to the claims of
Christ in the hearts and lives of chosen sinners,
raising them from death to life in Christ, delivering them from the dominion of
Satan, making them new creatures in Christ, and transforming them into the sons
of God by his almighty grace.
“Seen of angels” — All the elect angels who
were kept by Christ in their holy habitation, whom he made to be ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs of eternal
salvation, saw the Son of God perform the whole work of redemption as our
Mediator.
I do not know when the angels were created, but they appear to be
God’s very first creatures. As soon as they were created by him, they
saw him, loved him, and adored him. To this day they attend the
gatherings of God’s church to learn from redeemed sinners the wonders
of redemption (Eph.
·
The angels of God saw Christ in his
preincarnate glory, not only as God, but also as the
Mediator, as the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world (Isa.
6:1-7; Rev. 4:8-11; 5:8-10).
They were informed of the covenant of grace, made aware of our
Savior’s intentions of grace for his elect, and of the purpose of God in the
creation of the universe (Heb. 1:14).
·
When the blessed Son of God actually
entered into this world he was “seen of angels.”
The angels beheld his miraculous conception. An angel was the
first and the second messenger of the incarnation (Matt. 1:18-21; Lk. 1:26-35).
An angelic host announced the birth of our Savior (Lk. 2:8-14).
What a place
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The angels of God ministered to the
God-man in his times of trouble.
In the wilderness
of temptation, after he had foiled Satan, the angels ministered to him. In
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At last, the angels of God welcomed
the triumphant Savior back to glory (Rev.
12:10-12).
They watched him as he entered in once into the holy place, With his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for
us, and sat down on the throne of God!
(Rev 12:10-12) "And I heard
a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation,
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and
night. (11) And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death. (12) Therefore rejoice, ye heavens,
and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."
“Preached unto the Gentiles” — There is a
great mystery in the fact that Christ was preached unto the Gentiles. Before he
came nothing was preached to the Gentiles. The Jews looked upon Gentiles as
dogs. 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. The Lord multiplied Abraham’s spiritual seed in
the Gentile world, though his physical seed (the nation of
There is also a great mystery in the method God has ordained for
communicating the gospel — preaching! Mark that, my friend, God has ordained
that the gospel be made known to men by preaching (1 Cor.
Our churches need no attraction but Christ
crucified set forth clearly and constantly in the pulpit.
Oh, how we need preachers to set him forth! The most prominent feature of the
early church and the most prominent feature of every true church is the
preaching of the gospel. This is the trumpet of heaven and the battering ram
before which the gates of hell must fall! God’s means of creating life and
faith in the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners is the preaching of the gospel
(James
Another great part of the mystery of godliness is seen in the
men God uses to preach the gospel. The first were poor, unlearned
fishermen. Yet, by these men the gospel was soon carried into every nation of
the world! So it is to this day. A few bright lights in God’s church have been
men of great learning, but most are just ordinary men, saved by grace, gifted
and empowered by God the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel.
“Believed on in the world” — The Lord Jesus
Christ is God “manifest in the flesh.” God the Son came into the world
as a man. He died under the penalty of sin as the Substitute for God’s elect.
He was raised from the dead, thereby being “justified in the Spirit.” In
all this he was seen, watched, and reverently observed by the holy angels. This
Christ is the subject of all true preaching.
In the book of Acts, which records the preaching ministry of the
church during the apostolic era, the words “preach,” “preached,”
and “preaching” are used thirty-seven times. Every time the theme of
preaching is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was and is, by divine appointment,
preached unto the Gentiles…
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Preached
in his twofold character as God and man, the only mediator between God and men (1 Tim.
2:5-6).
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Preached
as the only and all-sufficient Sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:1-14), the only one by whom sin
could be put away and the one who has effectually put away the sins of his
people by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 1:3; 9:26; Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21). As
our sins were imputed to him, so his righteousness has been imputed to us! As
he was made to be sin for us, so we are made the righteousness of God in him.
·
Preached
by all who faithfully preach the gospel (1 Cor. 2:2). All true preachers in every age have preached
Christ crucified. In the Old Testament all the prophets spoke of him. In the
New Testament all the apostles spoke of him. Today all true preachers preach
him constantly. He who preaches the Book of God preaches the Son of God.
“And,” Augustus Toplady wrote, “he will still be preached to the end of time,
as long as there is one elect sinner uncalled, and until all the vessels of
mercy are brought to the saving knowledge and love of himself.”
This blessed Christ who was preached unto the Gentiles, was, and
is, and shall be until the end of time, “believed on in the world.” The
Spirit of God makes the preaching of Christ crucified the means by which
sinners are converted. Christ alone is the Object of
faith, and the preaching of Christ crucified is the means by which faith is
granted to sinners (John
“Received up into glory” — Our Savior, the
incarnate God, was “received up into glory” because his work on earth
was finished (John 17:4;
William Hendrickson
wrote, “While the echo of men’s voices,
‘Crucify, crucify,’ had scarcely died, heaven opened wide its portals, and upon
receiving back its victorious King, resounded with echoes of jubilant anthem,
sung by ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, ‘Worthy is
the Lamb!’”
Since Christ is in glory, we also are in
glory representatively. We are risen
together and seated with him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). That which we
possess with him representatively now, we shall possess with him personally in
the resurrection (Rom.
It is every believer’s great joy to know that Christ our Savior is
the King of glory. The God-man who died to redeem us now sits upon the
throne of God in heaven. There he makes perpetual intercession
for chosen, redeemed sinners (Heb.
This glorious, exalted Christ, who has been “received up into
glory”, cannot fail to accomplish his purpose and do all his will
(Isa. 42:4). Men deny him, but they cannot harm him.
He is exalted! Men mock his people, despise his work, make light of his name,
and belittle his doctrine, but they do him no harm. Christ is exalted! His
purpose and work are sure. All he came to redeem, he has redeemed (Gal.