Can the church remain the steadfast pillar of truth in an ever-changing world? Join us as we unpack the profound teachings of 1 Timothy, where Paul underscores the church's critical role in preserving the gospel's pure message. We'll explore Paul's compelling vision of God's salvation plan for all humanity, highlighting the unique mediation of Jesus Christ. Dive into the intricate structure and mission of the church and uncover how an ancient hymn or creed might encapsulate the core doctrines of our faith.
Music isn't just for worship; it's a divine tool for embedding scripture into our hearts. Discover the transformative power of hymns and creeds in teaching and retaining biblical truths. We delve into how rhyme, meter, and melody make hymns unforgettable, drawing from historical giants like Martin Luther and Charles Wesley. This episode emphasizes the enduring tradition of using music to fortify our faith and ensures that key doctrines are passed down through generations.
Understanding salvation through Christ is not about human wisdom but about childlike faith and humility. We emphasize this truth, reflecting on key scriptural passages and the importance of relying on Jesus' finished work. The universality of the gospel message and the Great Commission are highlighted, showing that the good news is for everyone, everywhere. We conclude with a heartfelt plea for humility and reliance on Christ alone for salvation. Don't miss this enriching exploration of gospel truths and their timeless impact on our lives and faith communities.
Can the church remain the steadfast pillar of truth in an ever-changing world? Join us as we unpack the profound teachings of 1 Timothy, where Paul underscores the church's critical role in preserving the gospel's pure message. We'll explore Paul's compelling vision of God's salvation plan for all humanity, highlighting the unique mediation of Jesus Christ. Dive into the intricate structure and mission of the church and uncover how an ancient hymn or creed might encapsulate the core doctrines of our faith.
Music isn't just for worship; it's a divine tool for embedding scripture into our hearts. Discover the transformative power of hymns and creeds in teaching and retaining biblical truths. We delve into how rhyme, meter, and melody make hymns unforgettable, drawing from historical giants like Martin Luther and Charles Wesley. This episode emphasizes the enduring tradition of using music to fortify our faith and ensures that key doctrines are passed down through generations.
Understanding salvation through Christ is not about human wisdom but about childlike faith and humility. We emphasize this truth, reflecting on key scriptural passages and the importance of relying on Jesus' finished work. The universality of the gospel message and the Great Commission are highlighted, showing that the good news is for everyone, everywhere. We conclude with a heartfelt plea for humility and reliance on Christ alone for salvation. Don't miss this enriching exploration of gospel truths and their timeless impact on our lives and faith communities.
Amen. Well, as we return to our study of 1 Timothy, you may remember that already up in chapter 2, verse 4, paul states that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge of the truth, the body of gospel truth. And then there he gives a very brief but helpful summary of the truth, the body of gospel truth. And then there he gives a very brief but helpful summary of the truth that men must know and believe in order to be saved. Verses 5 to 6,. He says for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. And then, after giving us some very detailed instruction in chapter 2, and in chapter 3, leading up to our text today, instruction about how things are to be done in the church, the prayers of the church, the roles of men and women in the church, the offices of the church and the qualifications for those offices, he then ends that section by another reference to the truth, as we saw last week. Here's why he tells us these instructions concerning the church are so important and must be followed. For the church, he says verse 15, is the house of God and it is also the pillar and ground of the truth. And again, paul makes reference to the truth, the body of Christian truth, and he tells us that the church has a peculiar and very important role and function when it comes to the truth. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. It is that entity on earth by which the truth is held forth and supported and proclaimed and taught and defended and passed down intact for future generations. And now this morning, as we come to verse 6, verse 16, once again, much like he did in chapter 2, paul follows a reference to the truth with another very brief but helpful summary of gospel doctrine. If the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, the church needs to know what the truth is, and we have a summary here in verse 16. Now, of course, the truth is as large as the Bible, the whole Bible. Everything in the Bible is as large as the Bible, the whole Bible. Everything in the Bible is God's truth and it's all important. Jesus prayed in his high priestly prayer, you remember, in John 17, 17,. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth, and there are many important doctrines that God's people need to know and to be taught. But here Paul provides us with a summary of essential truths that form the core of the gospel message. Here we have what Spurgeon called the summary of true religion, and this time it's in the form of six distinct statements, all of which focus on some aspect of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And now, to have in our mind a summary of the key truths of the gospel, that's something that can be very helpful for a number of reasons, of course, first for the stability of our own souls, but then also when it comes to witnessing to others. And we see we have such summaries or epitomizing texts in various forms from time to time throughout the New Testament. In fact, paul gives these. He does this often in his own epistles.
Speaker 1:I read a quote from DA Carson, the well-known Bible teacher, and he said I have learned. If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don't learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I'm excited about, the kind of things I emphasize again and again and again. Well, if this is true and I think it is we should all feel challenged by that. Parents should feel challenged by this. Sunday school teachers, and especially pastors like me. In fact, I read that and I wondered if those under my ministry were asked what is it that Pastor Smith gets really excited about and that he emphasizes again and again and again? What would it be? Well, there are many important things in the Bible. Of course, the whole Bible is important, and every pastor is charged with teaching the whole counsel of God to his people, and every parent is charged with doing the same in the teaching of our children. But of all the things that we teach, what is it that should excite us the most and that we should emphasize again and again, and again? Well, I hope we can all agree that it's the message of the gospel itself, the good news of Jesus Christ, who he is, what he has done for the salvation of sinners who look to him in faith, and this was certainly the case with the Apostle Paul.
Speaker 1:Well, with that in mind, let's begin to look at this very interesting text before us. I have three headings First, the literary form of this gospel truth summary. Second, the introduction to this summary. And then, thirdly, I'll try to open up the content of it. So let's consider, first of all, the literary form, what we have here appears to be either a hymn that was sung in by the churches or an early creed or confession of faith. And why do I say that?
Speaker 1:Well, first there's the unusual and symmetrical structure and rhythm of the statements. We could even see this in our English text. In our English text, your English text, probably has this set off from the rest of the text in a little bit different form, indicating that this is something that's written in a more of a poetic nature. And the fact that this is most likely an early hymn or creed is even more clear in the Greek text. All six verbs in this series of short statements begin with the same vowel that has a kind of e sound, and also all six verbs end with the same Greek endings, letters that in English would be translated T-H-E, and they're all in the aorist tense and the passive voice. And also all but one uses the same Greek preposition to link the verb with the noun. And the point is that there is art here in the way this is written. And again, it was probably either a hymn sung in the churches or an early creed.
Speaker 1:Now there are several of these rudimentary confessions or creeds in the New Testament, pithy statements or summaries of Christian truth. In fact, there are several of them just in the pastoral epistles alone. For example, when you're reading the pastoral epistles, think of those faithful sayings, statements. There are five of these succinct statements of truth prefaced by these words or similar words. This is a faithful saying. This is something that is said, something that is confessed by God's people. It's a common saying in the church. Hebert argues that in several instances these words seem definitely to introduce the quotation of some pithy utterance of evangelical truth current in the Christian churches. Remember back in 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 15,. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 2 Timothy 2, 11 to 13,. This is a faithful saying, for if we died with him, we shall live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithful, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. And again, there are five of these faithful sayings in Paul's pastoral epistles and there are also several other succinct, carefully constructed summaries of important.
Speaker 1:Now, of course, a hymn itself is a kind of creed. It's a confession in song of what we believe. It's a confession in song of what we believe. Indeed, one of the purposes of singing in the church is to help us to remember biblical truth. We all know from experience that rhyme and meter and song are very helpful memory devices. For example, this is probably the way most of us learned our ABCs right A, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, j, k, l, m, n, o, p right. It helps you to remember it.
Speaker 1:I know those of you who are involved in classical conversations in the early grammar stage. You do a lot of memorization and some of the memorization you do to music. It's amazing, when one of our boys was doing the memory master thing and all the facts of history that he memorized, it was put into the form of a song, made it easier to remember, and I was just struck by this. Recently I saw something where someone had put something up and it was a reference to an old advertisement and I maybe date myself I made the 70s or 80s, but some of you, as soon as I do this, you're going to remember this. My bologna has a first name it's O-S-C-A-R. My bologna has a second name it's M-E-Y-E-R. I love to eat it every day. And if you ask me why I say Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A.
Speaker 1:I heard that this week and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind all week. And it was timely because, as I was going to be talking about this, it just struck me again how music song helps us to remember things. Probably all of us have had the experience of hearing the music to some song that we haven't heard in a long time, perhaps in a restaurant. You hear the music and suddenly the lyrics of almost the whole song flood into your mind. You haven't heard it for years, but you can still remember the words, and I've had that experience many times. Sadly, sometimes it's words that I wish I could forget. But my point is we all know from experience that words put to song are a powerful aid to memory.
Speaker 1:God has made us that way and this is one of the reasons God wants us to sing biblically informed, biblically shaped songs in our worship. You ever wonder why God wants us to sing in worship. You know we could take these hymns we have or the Psalms, and just stand up and read them. You know we could. Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, all. But hymns help us to engage emotionally. There are affections in the truth that we're singing. They also help us to remember the truth that we are singing.
Speaker 1:In Deuteronomy 31, god commands Moses to write down a song that he gave to him for the children of Israel. That song is recorded in Deuteronomy 32. It's quite a long song if you want to go back and read it later. But why did God want Moses to teach this song to Israel? Well, god tells Moses that one of his purposes is that the truths in the song and the history of God's dealings with Israel recorded in the song that they would be remembered throughout their generations. This is one of the reasons God wants us to sing in public worship.
Speaker 1:Martin Luther understood this. Martin Luther, of course, is a very powerful preacher who put great emphasis upon the importance and the centrality of preaching. But Luther, together with his friend Johann Walter, he also sought to propagate the gospel and Lutheran doctrine through music. Luther wrote at least 36 chorales, or German hymns. He's been called the father of congregational song, and Luther once said music and notes, which are wonderful gifts and creations of God, do help gain a better understanding of the text, especially when sung by a congregation and when sung earnestly, he said we have put this music to the living and holy word of God in order to sing, praise and honor it. We want the beautiful art of music to be properly used to serve her dear creator and his Christians. He is thereby praised and honored, and listen, we are made better and stronger in faith when his holy word is impressed on our hearts by sweet music.
Speaker 1:During the great revival, the evangelical awakening in England in the 18th century, john and Charles Wesley shared the same conviction. According to one source, charles Wesley wrote at least 6,500 hymns. They published 56 hymnals over a period of 53 years, covering virtually every area of Christian doctrine and truth. Why did Charles Wesley do this? Well, certainly one reason is that he wanted the minds and the hearts of the people of England to be saturated with gospel truth, and I like to imagine what it must have been like when huge crowds gathered to sing in the open fields as men like Whitefield and others preached throughout the country. Through hymns, the truths they preached were etched upon the memories of the people and really they've become a part of the collective culture of the English-speaking world today. You may have noticed that many of the great hymns in our hymn book were written during that century.
Speaker 1:We have the hymns of John and Charles Wesley, augustus Toplady, william Cooper, john Newton, the great Welsh Calvinistic hymn writer, william Williams, and many others God's word put to song, by which people are enabled to remember them. So this is one of the reasons God wants us to sing Hymns, and also carefully constructed creeds, catechisms like we have here in our text, are very helpful aids to remembering the key doctrines of our faith. So let us be reminded, then, of the value of creeds and confessions and catechisms and hymns and things of this nature. Not that we would exalt any confession or song that we might adopt or that we might write and wouldn't it be wonderful for there to be 6,500 wonderful hymns written in our day but not that we would embrace them as equal to the Bible. But they can certainly be useful insofar as they are true to what the Bible teaches, just as summaries like we have here were useful to the church in the first century. But, of course, what could be better than a creed or hymn that is in fact inerrant and inspired, and that's what we have here in the text before us. Maybe one of you who's musically inclined can come up with a way to put this to music at some point and we can sing it in the church.
Speaker 1:Well, we've considered the literary form. Now notice with me. Secondly. Secondly, the introduction to this summary. Paul introduces it with these words and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. Without controversy, that translates an adverb that's only found in the New Testament once. Here it could be translated confessedly, undeniably, most certainly. This is not a controversial statement without controversy, by common consent great is the mystery of godliness. Now notice, he refers to the gospel realities that he is about to set before us as the mystery of godliness.
Speaker 1:Now, if you glance back up at verse 9, he referred to the gospel as the mystery of the faith. It is the mystery of the faith because it sets before us what is to be believed and is the object of faith. It's the mystery of godliness because faith, believing it, is what produces true godliness, and this word here speaks of piety, worship and reverence toward God. Think of Psalm 130, verse 4. There is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. Faith in the gospel, by which we are forgiven, also produces godly fear, a heart of worship and devotion to god. Now let's think about this word mystery. For a few moments it was. We were singing about the mystery. Uh, just before the, the, the sermon paul. This is a word paul uses a lot. He uses it, in fact, 11 times, 11 times in his epistles mystery. What does it mean?
Speaker 1:Remember that much of Paul's ministry was conducted in a Greco-Roman world that tended to be enamored with philosophy that put great stock in the abilities of human reason. The Greeks, especially, put great stock in the ability of human reason to search out and to discover the secrets of the universe and the true meaning of life and to make a better world. And they began with certain presuppositions first principles, or principia as they're sometimes called, a supposedly self-evident proposition upon which then you build your reasoning, the house of your reasoning. Of course, the various philosophical systems differed in their opinion, still do differ, about what the first principle is. But from these so-called first principles they created entire structures of fault In which they sought to explain everything by human reason. You had the Epicureans and the Stoics and many others, all of their theories about the meaning of life and how to best live in this world.
Speaker 1:Well, the message of the gospel, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1 to the Greeks was foolishness. It was foolishness to them. Corinthians 1 to the Greeks was foolishness. It was foolishness to them, Well, for one reason it didn't meet up to what they thought was proper and fitting for God. If there is a God, as one writer put it, their God was ultimate reason, meaning whatever we deem reasonable. And the gospel did not meet up to their standards of what is fitting and reasonable. We see the same thing today. If we're going to believe something, it has to meet up to our standards of what is reasonable. It has to be consistent with the standards established perhaps by ancient thought or the latest assumptions of modern thought, or with the methods of naturalistic science.
Speaker 1:But, as Paul reminds us here in our text and in other places, the gospel is a mystery. Now, what does he mean by that? Well, he doesn't use this word to refer to some unsolved secret. Now, he uses it in his epistles to describe something that has been long hidden or only partially revealed, but has now been fully revealed. And it's something we could never know were it not revealed to us. We could never know it unless God had revealed it to us. It's not something that can be arrived at by fallen human reason or even by natural revelation and observation of the world around us. And it's also a mystery in the sense that it can never be fully comprehended by human reason. It's not a philosophical viewpoint, it's not some new system of thought man in his wisdom has discovered, and this is one of the things that makes it offensive to many people. It tells us that we aren't saved by ideas. We're not saved by academic speculations or by science and education. We aren't saved by philosophy or by political ideologies. It's not by noble, lofty ideals of human wisdom. It can only be known by divine revelation.
Speaker 1:Revelation but God has made it known in the historical events and message of the gospel. And as these things are declared to us in his word and by his spirit, we are given faith to believe them. And one reason God has ordained it to be this way is to destroy the arrogant, vaunted wisdom of men in which they trust, to shatter it, to bring it to nothing, to expose its empty pretensions for the folly that it really is. Remember how Paul so pointedly speaks about this in the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians. I would almost say that's the theme of those first three chapters, for example.
Speaker 1:Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1, picking up at verse 19. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 19. Paul says, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the dis? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Speaker 1:You see, the world, and its arrogance and rebellion, seeks to know God, or at least seeks to arrive at ultimate truth and to sort out the problems of the world in its own terms, in accordance with human wisdom. But in the end they never get anywhere. They're still searching, looking for utopia, trying to build a great civilization which is stable and wonderful, but all the world's schemes ultimately end in futility. The various philosophies that men develop, the various religions, education, psychology, political movements, communism, capitalism, socialism, secularism, post-modernism, communism, capitalism, socialism, secularism, post-modernism, moralism, wokeism, they all proved to be dead ends, and perhaps some of them have their place and make life in this world a bit more bearable. But ultimately man is just as much in the dark as he was before. He still doesn't know God and he still must die and face eternity, and he's still lost.
Speaker 1:And when we look at men as individuals, what do we find? Men and women are just as corrupt, defiled, self-centered and self-destructive as they ever were, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, perversion, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, strife, deceit, violence, inventors of evil, things disobedient to parents, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, hypocritical. Just watch the news, just look at yourself and the people around you. Right, notice how Paul mocks and challenges the wise men of this world, the leaders of this age, the so-called experts. Verse 20, where is the wise man, the sophos, the philosopher with his system of thought, claiming to have the answers? What about the scribe? Where is the scribe? The expert in the law, the religion professor of the prestigious liberal university, the ethicists? Or where is the disputer of this age? And these are all ways of describing the professional experts of the world, the great minds, the intellectual elite, holding their conferences, sitting on their panels on Fox News and CNN, making their pronouncements, offering their solutions? Paul is mocking them, god is mocking them here. He's mocking them. They're clueless, they're like cats chasing their tails, never getting anywhere and in spite of all their sophistication and their boasted insights, you look and dig into their lives and they're just as morally and spiritually messed up as everyone else.
Speaker 1:Human wisdom can never find God and it can never deal with the fundamental problems of human sin and corruption. It never has and it never will and notice. This is by God's design. Look at the language of verse 21. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom could not find God, this is God's doing. God, in His wisdom and providence, is so determined and arranged things that he will never be known and the salvation of men will never be attained by means of human wisdom.
Speaker 1:If you would know God and be right with Him and be saved from sin and eternal misery and know the real purpose and meaning of life, you have to humble yourself and you've got to quit talking about your own ideas and your own opinions or making demands about what you think God should do and what you think God should be, and you must, like a little child, humble yourself and listen and believe the message of the gospel About God in the person of his son Becoming man, humbling himself, dying in weakness and shame upon a cross. Believe the message of the gospel about God, in the person of his son, becoming man, humbling himself, dying in weakness and shame upon a cross, bearing our sins, paying the debt that we owe to the justice of God, being raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high and coming again to judge the world in righteousness. And you must look to him and put your trust in him as your only hope. That's what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 11, 25, when he said I thank you, father, lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, father, for so it seemed good in your sight, those who are wise and prudent in their own estimation of themselves are shut out, while salvation is given to those who are babes, the dependent, the trusting, the believing. Or, as Jesus said in Matthew 18, 3, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. You see, god is determined to save sinners in a way that excludes all human boasting, in a way that punctures the inflated balloon of human pride, one of the great causes of all the sin and misery in the world Pride that obscures God's glory exalts itself against Him, to the everlasting misery of mankind. God is determined to destroy it and to expose it for the wicked folly. That it is so as we turn back to 1 Timothy 3.16,. That it is so as we turn back to 1 Timothy 3.16.
Speaker 1:The gospel is described as a mystery, the mystery of godliness, or as he describes it up in verse 9. The mystery of the faith. It is a mystery in the sense that it is something we could never know, something we could never arrive at, something we could have never known at all had God not revealed it to us in the historical events and message of the gospel. And this mystery is essentially the mystery of Christ. It's all about Him, as we see in the words that follow. So we've considered the literary form of this summary of gospel truth, the introduction to it.
Speaker 1:Now let's consider, thirdly, its content. Its content. Now, stylistically speaking, there are basically three ways the structure and the relationship of these six statements to one another have been understood. One is to take them chronologically understood. One is to take them chronologically, each speaking of a distinct event or stage in the history of Christ, in the order in which they occur. That would seem to be the most natural. Another method is to divide them up, and you'll see these in various English translations too, in the way they have them set apart in the text.
Speaker 1:Another method is to divide them into two stanzas, each consisting of a triplet the first triplet referring to the life of Jesus while on earth. He was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels. The second, to his life as the resurrected, exalted Lord. He was preached, believed on and glorified. As the resurrected, exalted Lord, he was preached, believed on and glorified. A third suggestion is to view the hymn as something consisting of three couplets Three couplets I like this Three couplets each involving a deliberate contrast between flesh and spirit, angels and Gentiles, the world and in glory. Now, all of that's very interesting. In fact, I think all of those have validity and it just shows again the art that's in the way this is framed and worded for us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:But for preaching purposes this morning, I think it's most helpful just to consider each of these in the order that they're given, and it's also helpful to keep us from getting hung up on the chronological element of this, to know that each of these verbs are in the aorist tense, these are third-person singular, passive aorists, and moving on. So what? So sometimes a little bit of Greek can be helpful, but so sometimes a little bit of greek can be helpful. That I don't. I'm always. I'm always nervous about referring to the greek because I don't want god's people to think well, I can't understand my bible unless I know greek. Because that's not true. You can understand your bible without knowing greek, because our english translations are very good and very trustworthy and by comparing scripture to scripture you can arrive at the proper interpretation and understanding. But sometimes the greek language does help us to get a sense of something, maybe a little nugget, a piece of something that we may not have been able to pick up in the English language itself. And the aorist tense what's that mean? Well, the Greek aorist tense often speaks of actions considered as a single whole, regardless of the time element involved. It speaks of something that may in fact have occurred or keeps occurring, single whole, regardless of the time element involved. It speaks of something that may in fact have occurred or keeps occurring as one complete whole. So there certainly is a chronological element here, but we shouldn't get too hung up on that. We should consider each stanza with all that can be included in that statement. Okay, so let's look at this wonderful summary, as Spurgeon calls it, of true religion.
Speaker 1:The first article in this inspired Apostles' Creed is that God was manifested in the flesh. Or, as many of the Greek texts have it, who or he was manifested in the flesh. Some texts have the Greek word theos, others have hos. Either way, they're saying the same thing and indeed, of course, this is the teaching of the entirety of Scripture. In the mystery of the incarnation, god himself was manifest in the flesh, conceived in a virgin's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Really, this is really the beginning of the foundation of our faith.
Speaker 1:John 1, in the very beginning, it says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was God. And he writes All things were made through Him and without Him, nothing was made that was made. And then he goes on to say and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten, of the Father, full of grace and truth, in the mystery of the Trinity, the one God in three persons God the Son became man. He became a true and real man, without ceasing to be true and real God.
Speaker 1:And yet one person, the God-man Jesus Christ Quoting from Jeff Thomas, the ancient of days became an infant. He was not spirit, nor a phantom, nor a shadow. He was manifest in flesh and blood. He was not a sham or a show. He did not simply look like a man. He began his humiliation where all of us began as a fertilized egg smaller than a comma. Our measureless Lord was contracted to that span.
Speaker 1:He became a genuine man, with the same chemical constitution as ours, the same anatomy, the identical physiology, the same central nervous system and the same physical limitations that we have. It was not a body of measureless stamina or boundless energy. He was bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. And he wasn't in a glorified body. Paul could say he was made in Romans 8,.
Speaker 1:He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, though he was not sinful. Likeness of sinful flesh. Though he was not sinful, he did dwell in a body that experienced the effects, the outward effects, of the curse upon the human race, upon the human body. He was bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. Indeed, as we read in the Gospels, we find that he became weary, thirsty, sometimes he was exhausted. As the scripture says, he was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin, so that we might know that we have a Savior who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses. But, more importantly, he became man in order that, as a man, he could suffer for men, that he, as the second Adam, might undo what the first Adam did by the fall and that he might suffer and endure the wrath we deserve for our sins. And that, with his suffering, humanity, united with infinite and eternal deity, he might offer up a sacrifice of such sufficient worth as to pay the debt that we owe.
Speaker 1:God was manifested in the flesh. Sinners substitute that all who put their trust in him might be righteously pardoned and free. God was manifested in the flesh. Secondly, he was justified in the Spirit or by the Spirit. Justified or vindicated by the Spirit. The idea is that the Holy Spirit confirmed and proved that Jesus Christ was indeed who he claimed to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Now, the Holy Spirit did this throughout our Lord's earthly ministry. He bore witness to who Jesus was you remember at his baptism, when the Spirit descended upon him like a dove. He vindicated him when, by the Spirit, jesus performed miracles and healed the sick, and especially when he cast out demons, as Jesus said in Matthew 12, 28,. If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. But most of all, the Lord Jesus was justified and vindicated by the Spirit when he was raised from the dead spirit. When he was raised from the dead Romans 1.4,.
Speaker 1:He did not appear to be the son of God. God the son, the second person of the dream, the Messiah, the glorious king that was promised. In his state of humiliation, there was a veil over his glory, why? And we see Him suffering on the cross, a pulverized mass of flesh and the blood running down, suffering in agony as a criminal on the cross, he didn't appear to be the Lord of glory. What happened to the resurrection? He was vindicated, he was justified. The Scripture says Romans 1, 4,. He was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit, by the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection was our Lord's vindication, his justification, proving that he was who he said. He was Not merely another prophet or a great teacher, but the sinless Son of God, the promised Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Speaker 1:Thirdly, the third stanza he was seen by angels. Heavenly beings, principalities and powers in heavenly places observed these things and saw these things. He was no phantom. They could see. They saw God, the Son in human flesh.
Speaker 1:We know from the Gospels that the angels were witnesses of His birth and how they must have marveled the invisible, eternal God become man in time and space. How they sang at His birth. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men. Angels, we read, ministered to him while he was tempted in the wilderness. We read of them coming to strengthen him as he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane and his sweat was as great drops of blood. Also, we read that angels were there at his resurrection Throughout his earthly life. They looked, they saw, they marveled at this great mystery. We find that they witnessed his ascension into heaven. It was an angel who appeared and said to his disciples why do you stand there gazing up to heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. The angels have a great interest in these things. Peter writes which things angels desire to look into 1 Peter 1.2.
Speaker 1:Fourthly, the fourth stanza he is preached among the Gentiles, among the nations, the Gentile peoples of the world. Among the nations, the Gentile peoples of the world. After his resurrection, the Lord Jesus gave to his church the Great Commission. All authority has been given to me. He's been exalted as the promised king, the Messiah, and all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth. And he says go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. Jesus is not just a savior for the Jews, he's a savior for the whole world. And this gospel is to be preachedached. The word here is the standard word for preach, preaching, heralded, proclaimed To be preached among the Gentiles the message of Jesus Christ, who he is, what he has done for sinners and the promises of salvation for all who repent and believe on Him, the promise of a full and free forgiveness and reconciliation with God and of the gift of the Holy Spirit to enable you to live for him in this life and the gift of eternal life in the world to come.
Speaker 1:Brothers and sisters, the Christian religion is a missionary religion. We have great tidings of joy, glad tidings of great joy that are to be proclaimed to all peoples the good news of a Savior who is freely offered to all, that, no matter who you are, no matter what kindred, tribe, nation or tongue you might be of, no matter what you've done, no matter how great your sins may be, the gospel invitation goes out to all and is to be proclaimed to all, and it comes to you've done, no matter how great your sins may be. The gospel invitation goes out to all and is to be proclaimed to all, and it comes to you this morning. Christ is freely offered to you To be your Savior, by whom you can be reconciled to God. No one is excluded. No one is excluded, except those who exclude themselves by refusing to receive this free gift of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, who is extended to us and to you in the gospel by God himself. But not only is he preached among the Gentiles.
Speaker 1:Fifthly, that preaching is not in vain. He is believed on in the world, not by everyone, but God's Word will not return void. From the beginning, there were some left in their pride and in their love of sin and rejected Him, and many still do. But there are others who believed, and this continues to be the case today. He is believed on in the world and he will continue to be believed on in the world until he comes again to receive us to himself. We're not on a fool's errand as we engage in the work of evangelism and the work of missions.
Speaker 1:As Jesus said, he's building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. Christ shall always have a people to the end of the age. He has a people throughout the world who believe upon him, and Christ has a people throughout the world who have yet to believe, given to him in the eternal counsel of redemption in eternity, god's elect and in due time. As Jesus said in John 6, 37, all that the Father gives me shall, it's an absolute certainty, not, I hope, maybe All that the Father gives me shall come to me. Christ and His work is no failure. The gospel will be triumphant in the world. All that the Father has given to him shall, in due time. Come to him, you say. But how can I know if I'm one of those who was given to the Son? Well, it's by coming to him. It's by believing on him in the world, coming to him as your only hope of salvation, trusting Him as your Savior, as God in His love freely extends Him to you.
Speaker 1:In the gospel, for Jesus goes on in that same verse to say All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. Come to Him and he will not cast you out. Come just as you are. Come in all of your sin and all of your filth and all of your wretchedness and helplessness and hell-deservedness. Come with no trust in yourself, no trust in anything you are or anything you've ever done or will ever be able to do. Come as nothing but a sinner and receive this Savior.
Speaker 1:God has provided for sinners. Believe the good news that he is able and willing to save you, to cleanse you from your sins by His blood shed on the cross for sinners, to save you from the guilt and punishment of sin and the eternal damnation that you deserve because of your sins, and to save you from the dominating power of sin over your life and to make you new and to give you a home in glory in the world to come. Do you want that? Do you desire this? Then come to him, trust him, receive him by faith and he will save you, you. He is believed on in the world, for god so loved the world that he gave. It's a gift god has given to us. He's provided for the world a savior. Here is my son, who is sufficient. He's done everything necessary for your salvation. God has provided him as a gift, the Savior of the world in offer, and he's yours by possession, when you lay hold of and receive that gift and take it to yourself. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Speaker 1:God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the gentiles, believed on in the world, and then, sixthly and finally, he was received up in glory. It's probably a reference here to his ascension to the right hand of God, having finished the work the Father gave him to do, having accomplished all that is necessary for our salvation, the salvation of his people, as our great high priest, he has entered into the true holy place, the true holy of holies, on high, there, in the presence of God for us, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9.13. And there he sits, at the right hand of the majesty on high, in his heavenly reign as Lord of lords and king of kings, still as a man, a God man, but no longer in a state of humiliation, in his heavenly reign as Lord of lords and King of kings, still as a man, a God-man, but no longer in a state of humiliation, but in a state of exaltation and glorification. Hebrews 7.25,. Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for us. Well, brothers and sisters, this is the gospel. This is the gospel by which we are saved, the gospel that we preach.
Speaker 1:Notice, it's not a system of ethics, it's not a philosophy. It's not about psychological techniques or political theories. It's not a philosophy. It's not about psychological techniques or political theories. It's not about religious rituals that we must perform in order to somehow bring God to show favor to us, or works that we must do to work our way up to God. No, it's all about God coming down to us in the person of His Son, and it's about a person, jesus Christ, and about historical facts and events concerning this person.
Speaker 1:Who is God manifested in the flesh in order to suffer in the flesh and to die for sinners, who was justified by the spirit, declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, who was seen he was no phantom literally seen by angels, is preached to you today, is believed on in the world and was received into glory. And, my dear friends, he's coming again To be admired in all those who believe and to judge the world in righteousness, when all the wicked and unbelieving will be cut off and cast into the lake of fire forever and the meek shall inherit the earth. And the will of God will be done on the earth as it is done even now in heaven. And this is our message, this is the gospel we preach and by which we are saved. My dear brothers and sisters, we can overly complicate things, can't we? This is the message. May we believe it More confidently. Rest our souls upon these realities with a full assurance of faith.
Speaker 1:You can't believe it too much. God's not going to say that you're believing this too much. You're applying this to yourself with too much assurance, with too much confidence. No, no. God tells us to come to Christ, to believe that he has given this Savior to me to be my Savior, my Lord, to save me from my sins. He gives me warrant, he gives me permission, he gives me right to make use of Him, to take hold of Him, and I cannot do so with too strong a faith. So don't just barely believe it. Believe it with all your heart.
Speaker 1:God commands you to believe. This is God's commandment that we believe upon his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can never obey a command of God too soon. You can never obey a command of God too soon. You can never obey a command of God with too much heartiness about it, joy in it. We are to believe, to lay hold of these things with a full assurance of faith, in application to yourself, to be assured that, having done so, god has saved you and you belong to him. And we are to make it known to those around us, praying, that the spirit will come to open their hearts and to give them faith.
Speaker 1:And if you're outside of christ this morning, may your heart be open to him, even this day, and may you come to this great Savior, trusting him to save you, bowing to him as your king. And may you do it today. Today you say, well, I need to go home and think about it. What is there to think about? Well, I need, you know, I need to kind of clean, get my life in order.
Speaker 1:You haven't understood the gospel. It's not about getting your life in order. You need to see. You'll never get your life in order. There's nothing you can do to save yourself. You're not required to do anything to save yourself.
Speaker 1:Christ has done it all. He's the one who does the saving. You're the one who's lost and a sinner and can do nothing. Christ is the Savior and he is able, he's willing to save you. Come to Him now, trust in Him. Soon it's going to be too late. Hell will be full of procrastinators. It's going to be too late. Hell will be full of procrastinators.
Speaker 1:Men like Felix who said to Paul come again at a convenient season and I will hear you again on these matters. But he never did and he failed to realize that the only season you can be sure of is the one that God has given to you. Now Come, come, come to this great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will save you. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for your word today. We thank you for the great mystery of godliness, the mystery of the faith, the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we know that this is the only way men and women can be saved. We pray that you would help us all to humble ourselves, cast aside our own thoughts and our own ideas and to come as little children, believing what you have declared in your word and staking our whole life and our eternal destiny upon it. Lord, help our unbelief, strengthen our faith, save those who are lost. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.