Sunday’s Sermons

Text: 1^st Timothy 3:16                                                     2/17/08 AM

Thesis: The mystery of godliness is the truth of Jesus Christ.

 

Intro: When we think about the truth that defines us as a church, the truth of Christ, we should be amazed.

One author said, “The mystery has been made known, yet how incomprehensible we discover it to be” (D. Guthrie, 101).

Last week we saw that the church must hold fast to the truth. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true and demands our lives in their entirety.

Today we will see that the gospel is amazing, stunning, awesome, glorious, brilliant, majestic, radiant, and a host of other words that can never fully grasp the grandeur of Jesus Christ.

It is not by mistake that our part of godliness, which is faith, is absent from this verse.

What this passage is meant to do is explain to us that the foundation for all of life and godliness is not found in us, in what we do, or even in our faith.

The foundation for godliness, the source of hope and joy, is the God-man Jesus Christ.

The person and work of Jesus Christ is the mystery of godliness.

 

Read 1^st Timothy 3:14-16

 

I) The truth we uphold is the truth of godliness through faith in Christ Jesus

a)      Christianity has been and must always be confessional.

i)        Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness.

ii)      The truth of Christ is beyond questioning, if a person does not personally believe these facts then he/she is not a Christian. We’re looking at the way to godliness.

iii)    If a church denies these things then it is not a Christian church. It’s a religious club possibly full of people but certainly void of saving faith.

iv)    Know this, the work and person of Christ are not open to change. In response, our confession of faith must be robust and biblical.

v)      This confession we’re about to look is held without controversy in the church that lives as the pillar and buttress of the truth.

vi)    So, if we are going to grow as a biblical church we must not hesitate to demand that every member understands and holds these things dear and necessary:

vii)  The virgin birth, the physical incarnation of Christ who has always existed as God, the bodily resurrection of Christ, the testimony of eye-witnesses, the worldwide necessity of hearing and trusting in the gospel, and the infinite glory of Christ.

viii)            To be a Christian, to be a member of this church, means you affirm these things as true and crucial for godliness:

ix)    The eternal God became a man, he died and rose again, even angels saw Him, there is salvation in no one else, and Jesus is awesome.

x)      Call it a creed, call it a confession, call it a statement of faith, I don’t care what you call it as long as you believe it.

xi)    Because it is the believer who knows it is Jesus who makes us Christians so it is Jesus who makes us godly.

b)      The mystery of godliness is the truth of Jesus Christ

i)        This is a mega-mystery. The word mega actually appears in verse 16.

ii)      The person and work of Christ Jesus are colossal.

iii)    If the gospel only effects what you do on Sundays then you don’t understand the gospel.

iv)    The truth of Jesus Christ is all encompassing; it is mega-truth.

v)      If you found out you had terminal cancer it would effect every aspect of your life. That is a mega-truth that reshapes the way you live.

vi)    Terminal cancer is a negative mega-truth. Godliness is a positive mega-truth.

vii)  Because of Christ Jesus I am a godly man. Because of Christ Jesus you are a godly man, woman, young adult, boy, or girl.

viii)            Because of Christ Jesus I am a godly employee, employer, spouse, friend, family member, neighbor, driver, consumer, giver, and every other “er” that we are.

ix)    The true gospel is not a compartmental one-aspect gospel.  The true gospel is a mega gospel.

x)      That the work of Christ should happen the way it did and that a bunch of sinners should benefit from it is a great mystery.

xi)    Remember, a mystery is not something unknowable. A mystery is something that must be revealed to us.

xii)  God reveals to us the mystery of godliness through Jesus Christ and this is for our good.

II) It gives us joy when we cling to the truth of Jesus Christ

For some, splitting hairs and being very specific is redundant, monotonous, and worthless.

But for the Christian, when we talk about the truth of Jesus Christ there should be joy and deep commitment.

Let’s look at the details.

a)      Jesus was manifested in the flesh

i)        Jesus is God and man; two natures in their entirety combined in one person.

ii)      This Jesus who came in the flesh is not half man and half God. He is 100% God and 100% man.

iii)    People have stumbled throughout history with the idea of Jesus being both God and man.

iv)    Some have said that he could not be both so they’ve either argued that Jesus was fully God who only appeared to be a human in the flesh.

v)      Or, they’ve said Jesus was fully man who only appeared to be God.

vi)    In the first century, at the very beginnings of Christianity there were already problems getting this.

vii)  The Docetists claimed that Jesus, who was fully God, only appeared to be human.

viii)            The Ebionites claimed that Jesus was just a really good man; unusual but not God.

ix)    And these difficulties continue. The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that it was the arch-angel Michael who took on flesh in the person of Jesus.

x)      If we are going to be a church standing together as a pillar and protector of truth it is essential that we proclaim the fact that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.

xi)    The Son who has existed eternally as the exact imprint of the Father’s nature humbled himself and took on flesh in order to bring us to God.

xii)  Why would God do such a thing? Great indeed is the mystery but we have been given the answer.

xiii)            For God so loved the world that he gave, or sent, His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.

xiv)            Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came in the flesh so that he could live a godly life for me and pay my sin debt of death for me.

xv)  Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh in order to make me godly.

b)      Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit

i)        As Jesus hung on the cross the people said, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One” (Luke 23:35).

ii)      The soldiers made fun of him and said “if you are the king of the Jews save yourself!” (Luke 23:38).

iii)    One of the criminals that hung beside him hurled these venomous words at Jesus, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39)

iv)    The people, the soldiers, and the criminal are saying, “He’s not the Messiah. He’s not the Christ. If he was he wouldn’t be dying. We can’t have a dead Messiah.”

v)      They were wrong about Jesus not being the Messiah but they were right about not being able to have a dead Savior.

vi)    A dead Savior is no savior at all.

vii)  This is why Romans 1:4 says God’s Son “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

viii)            On Easter Sunday Jesus Christ bursts from the tomb and proclaims a message, “Who’s the God-man? I’m the God-man.”

ix)    Jesus laid down his life for sinners and through the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus picked his life back up again.

x)      Jesus Christ has power over sin and death. Our sin could not and did not defeat Him.

xi)    The power of death could not hold Him.

xii)  The Holy Spirit vindicated Christ by raising Him from the grave. Jesus isn’t dead; He’s alive.

xiii)            Government couldn’t stop Him. False religion couldn’t tame Him. Sin couldn’t beat Him and death couldn’t hold Him.

xiv)            He’s alive. He’s the Christ. Do not mock the ruler of heaven and earth. Rejoice because He’s the Christ sent to save us from our sins.

xv)  We are the church of the living God because the Father is alive, the Son is not in a tomb, and the Spirit brings us to new life through Christ.

xvi)            Celebrate the fact that the crucified Christ has been vindicated.

c)      Jesus was seen by angels

i)        Luke 24:31 and Matthew 28:5-7 make this clear.

ii)      It was the angels who were there to tell the women that Jesus was alive.

iii)    We are told no where that any human saw the resurrection actually take place.

iv)    But the angels saw it and testified to it.

v)      At the ascension, when Jesus was taken up into heaven, it was two angels who appeared and told the people that Jesus would return in the same way that he left (Act 1:9-11)

vi)    1 Peter 1:12 tells us that Christ’s work of redemption is a work into which angels long to look. They know the value and power of the Son of God so they longed to see him work.

vii)  Godliness purchased by Christ was not just a this-world event. Even the angels are witnesses to this great work.

viii)            The angels saw Christ work and they testified to Christ’s work.

ix)    Keep in mind that the heavens saw this work and the earth heard about this work

d)     Jesus was proclaimed among the nations

i)        This Jesus is not a wimpy ethnic god. He is truly the Lord of heaven and earth.

ii)      The word ‘nations’ is often translated as ‘Gentiles’. It means everyone who is not a Jew.

iii)    The call on the church is explained in two places. Matthew 28:18-20 tells every one of us, young or old, to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ.

iv)    Acts 1:8 commands us to be witnesses for Christ to the ends of the earth.

v)      Pam Glenn is answering God’s call to go and proclaim Christ among the nations.

vi)    As her pastor, I couldn’t be prouder. We must support her with our prayers and by helping her proclaim Christ as effectively as possible.

vii)  Glenn Wilson is working on a mission trip for this summer.

viii)            Our GROW outreach ministry sends out 6 to 8 people every other Sunday to proclaim Christ.

ix)    For a church our size, believe me I talk to guys who pastor churches our size, we are rocking in the areas of proclaiming the gospel to the nations and our immediate neighborhood.

x)      We are a church who values the truth of the gospel and it shows.  We must always proclaim Jesus to everyone everywhere. We must keep going.

xi)    Here’s what is exciting

e)      Jesus was believed on in the world

i)        People are going to get saved.  This awesome Jesus full of power and glory saved people in the 1^st century and He saves people in the 21^st century.

ii)      We’re not through.

iii)    Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

iv)    We’re not done proclaiming Christ. The full number of believers has not been gathered in.

v)      How do we know? Christ has not returned.

vi)    Go to your neighbors and go to the nations knowing that there will be people who believe.

vii)  They may be hard to find or you may find them in abundance but go knowing when you proclaim Christ there will be people saved out of this world.

viii)            The church that understands the gospel is a church that proclaims the gospel to everyone.

ix)    We do believe that people will be saved. We go wherever he leads us because we understand this mega-mystery. We’re a gospel believing church.

x)      People in Granbury and Guam are going to be saved and they are going to see the glory of Christ.

xi)    People in Glen Rose and Great Britain will be saved.

f)       And finally, Jesus was taken up in glory

i)        The glory that Jesus longed for and prayed for in the garden of Gethsemane. The glory he had with the Father before the creation of the world has been restored to Christ Jesus.

ii)      Can you imagine what it would have been like to see Jesus on that hill outside of Jerusalem get taken up into glory?

iii)    Acts 1:9 puts it this way, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

iv)    That sounds anticlimactic until you read it along side 1^st Timothy 3:16.

v)      The means or the way in which he was taken up out of their sight was glorious and it was into glory.

vi)    They would have stood there just staring, not confused about his disappearance, but amazed by his splendor.

vii)  The one we crucified has been clothed with infinite glory. His power and authority have been perfectly revealed.

viii)            It would have been amazing to see and it will be amazing to see because he will return in the same way.

ix)    In that day he will be glorified in his saints and marveled at by all who believe.

x)      This Christ is truly beautiful beyond description and more marvelous than words.

III) So we ask, why do these things matter?

a)      With so much spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, financial, and racial problems why are we spending so much time on this?

b)      These things matter because they are the foundation for godliness. Christ is the foundation for godliness.

c)      It is in accordance with these truths about Christ that we engage spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, financial, and racial problems.

d)     If we blow it at the foundation level we will have big problems when we start to build the house.

e)      It is crucial that we get these things right.

f)       If we get these things about Christ wrong we’ll get everything else wrong.

g)      These truths are the checks by which we sight in the scopes of our lives.

h)      It doesn’t matter if you have the cross hairs perfectly on target. If your scope is off you will miss.

i)        And remember, a miniscule deviation at 100 yards is a monstrous deviation at 1000 yards.

j)        If you are a little wrong today and do not change course you will be terribly wrong in eternity.

k)      Do some inventory on your faith. Do you believe these things about Christ? Are they important to you?

l)        Is the biblical standard of Christ the final authority for every aspect of your life?

m)    I want you to experience true godliness so it is necessary that you hold to Christ.

n)      It is necessary that I preach to you God’s deep soul stirring truth.

o)      This Jesus that we’ve looked at today is the only Jesus. Do you know Him? Do you trust this Jesus for your forgiveness and eternity?

p)      Today is the day to let go of excuses and wrong ideas. Today is the day to come to know the forgiveness and hope that are in Christ Jesus.

q)      Today is the day to trust this Jesus, the only Jesus, the Jesus who saves and makes us godly.

r)       The church is truly a great thing because the head of the church is truly great. If you want to know and serve this Jesus then I want to invite you to join this church.

s)       Experience his greatness with us.

   

IV) Opening prayer

a)      May we be amazed today at the mystery of Godliness.

b)      It should be our prayer as a truth believing church that we:

c)      Boldly proclaim that God has taken on flesh for us.

d)     Rejoice because the Spirit has shown the world that Jesus is the Savior by raising Him from the grave.

e)      Celebrate the fact that Jesus has been seen by angels, proclaimed to the nations, and the world believes on Him.

f)       This Jesus is full of glory. Don’t let us focus on some Jesus of our imaginations that is comfortable to us.

g)      Show us the fullness of the glory of Christ in this very moment so that we can worship Him.