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Read: 1 Timothy 3:1-16 Text v16 [Series 12]

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.

Words/text are thought to constitute the words of an early Christian hymn as its uniformity, rhythm and parallelism indicate
If this is so, then we can picture the early Christians meeting and singing these great truths in their gathering
Such a hymn (if hymn it be) would serve 2 main purposes

[i] It would, first/foremost, serve as a hymn of praise unto God
Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me (Psalm 50:23)
Nothing that God delights in more than this, that the name of His Son with all His attributes and deeds be the object of praise
To a Unitarian/other denier of the Deity/Christ, this sounds blasphemous, but here is a text that should dispel their fears
The Lord Jesus said: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:23)
It pleases God to hear songs offered in praise that make much of Jesus Christ – such as we are pleased to sing in this church

[ii] It also serves to impress fundamental truth upon the singers and listeners and make it able to remember and meditate upon
No small advantage especially in a day like ours when so many voices are bombarding you seeking to grab/hold your attention
Later on, we are urged to meditate upon these Biblical things that our profiting may appear unto all (4:15) and the blending of these truths into a hymn is the ideal way of ensuring such is done

As a sub set of this last thought, you can also see the value of such a hymn in evangelism when the unsaved are gathered with us
Although we are not commanded to “sing the gospel” yet who can dispute the value of early chorus’s/hymns learnt in childhood?
Before we take the main body of the hymn phrase/phrase, we must briefly comment on the 2 fold thought that precede them

[i] These things are without qualified controversy
Not without any controversy at all
Even the Greek text itself is controversial
Deity/Christ is the great battleground with the cults etc.,
But it is without controversy as far as God and Evangelical Christians are concerned
Let those who deny the Deity be aware of how futile their war is

[ii] For us who do not fight God on this matter:
Let us not think that we can plumb the depths on this matter
These things are mysterious – at least in their origin
If God did not reveal these truths, we could not think them up:
2 Peter 1:21 tells us: No prophecy/private interpretation
Not that we must be totally ignorant – but we must not think that we are ever going to plumb the depths
Let us look at each phrase which constitutes such great mystery:

1) GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH:

A/ Will only mention the textual controversy here
Inferior texts do not have “God” (theos) but “Who”
Vast majority/texts have “God” but all agree that God is meant
Tying in with John 1:14 we can see that the Word (who was God: John 1:1) became flesh and dwelt among us
IOW: Jesus Christ is both perfect God and perfect man
The S/C articulates: Q. 21. Who is the redeemer of God's elect?
A. The only redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.
He is not half God and half man but truly God and truly man

B/ Such was necessary for our salvation
We need One who had a foot in both camps
Anything less than God and He cannot negotiate/the Almighty
Anything less than man and He cannot feel our weaknesses
So He is the Perfect One to be the Mediator

C/ It is important that we make the distinction when it is necessary to do so and not impinge on either nature
When we read of Christ’s apparent weaknesses or inferiority to the Father i.e. that He was tired/hungry/sorrowful etc., - that it is because He became man
His Father was greater than Him (John 14:28) because He took the place of a servant in order to be our Mediator
President McAleese is greater than me because of her office
Stripped/office, she is just another punter like me in the street
Likewise the Father and the Word are co-equal, but the Word took upon Himself human flesh and became a servant
All kinds of mischief follow where this is not acknowledged
You end up with the total hash that the JW’s make of things

D/ Away back in the very shadowy days/OT, King Solomon asked:
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! (2 Chronicles 6:18)
Solomon marvelled at the great mystery of God’s presence being located in a specific place on earth i.e. the temple he built
But how much more: God should take human flesh/walk among us

2) JESUS CHRIST WAS JUSTIFIED IN THE SPIRIT:

A/ Our AV capitalises the word “Spirit” and so introduces the 3rd Person of the Trinity into the thought
Original does not capitalise any ref. to the Holy Spirit so it may be read either to the Holy Spirit or Christ’s own spirit within
B/ Both truths are taught in the Bible with the same results:

[i] He was justified (i.e. vindicated) by the Holy Spirit
His mother conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20)
The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
The Spirit/God vindicated Him at His baptism (Luke 3:17)
The Spirit/God filled Him without measure (John 3:35)
The Spirit/God led Him into the place/battle (Luke 4:1)
Offered Himself through the Spirit unto God/Calvary (Hebrews 9:14)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1;4)

All these point to a vindication of Christ by the Spirit/God
Spirit would not so associate with any who could not be vindicated
To do despite unto Christ is to do despite to the Spirit/God who was so publicly identified with Him
Such would both grieve and quench the Spirit which is forbidden

[ii] If indeed justified in his own spirit i.e. within himself
Indicates His own happiness with what He was sent to do
He never doubted His divine mission nor wavered from it
He faced down every foe who stood in His way and set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem to die for sinners
He confronted the Pharisees who hated him/deadly hatred:
Which one of you convinceth me of sin? (John 8:46)
Either words of a brazen fool or the words one who was justified or vindicated in His own spirit – and it is the latter

C/ Incidentally, (whichever way we take it) here is proof that justify does not mean make righteous since our Lord Jesus could not be made righteous – He never sinned to be made righteous

3) HE WAS SEEN OF ANGELS:

A/ He was not the first to be seen of angels in His ministry
We remember how the angels attended to Jacob as he lay on his stony pillow on the road at Bethel
Daniel had several dealings with Gabriel/Michael in his ministry
So it means more than a mere observance

B/ I think the answer to the meaning lies in 1 Peter 1:12
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into
The angels were aware that salvation was to be brought about
It seems that they did not know the hows/wherefores until the moment of the Incarnation and they marvelled

C/ If the angels of God see fit to marvel – then so should we
A million times more so in that we are the redeemed ones
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how He could love me – a sinner condemned, unclean
Let us not think because we can hold our own in debates with those who in varying degrees take something away from the gospel that we have plumbed either its depths
I said that in the introduction when I was thinking there of the truth of the gospel – the fact that we cannot grasp its every detail
Any exhaustive work on a theological subject is only so man ward
All we have found is an individual who can scratch the surface more than any of the others
But now I am thinking of the wonder of it all
It will take eternity itself to marvel at what Christ did for us

4) HE WAS PREACHED UNTO THE GENTILES:

A/ Here is another marvel, especially for the Jewish Christians
We cannot begin to grasp what it meant for a 1st Century Jew to come to recognise the universal aspect of the gospel
Remember: this truth caused lots/trouble for early Christians

[i] Caused trouble in Antioch with the Pharisaic crowd (Acts 15:2)
Attempt to modify the idea/Gentiles would be brought/the fold
The heartache was switched to the Gentile Christians for a while

[ii] When Paul addressed the crowd in Acts 22, he commanded great silence until he mentioned preaching to the Gentiles
And then all hell broke lose and he nearly lost his life
Reminds us of when the Lord Jesus in Luke 4 preached in His own synagogue and spoke of Elijah being sent to none save the Gentile widow and Elisha to none save Naaman the Syrian – what anger!

[iii] So when the Lord Jesus left instructions that the gospel was to be preached to every creature under Heaven – it was hard
Seems that in the early days, little attention was paid to it
Until persecution drove them everywhere preaching the word
Then it took a special vision followed by a bit of soul searching and minor rebellion to get Peter to go to the Gentiles
And a lot of explaining when he got home with reports/converts

B/ But it is a marvel and none the less for us that the gospel has come to the islands of the sea so that we could be saved
Even as Paul wrote these words, that work was going on
Look at the wee endnote of where the epistle was being penned
Paul didn’t out of his hotel window to see the temple/Jerusalem
He was sitting in an Asian (Gentile) city called Laodicea
Christ was being preached unto the Gentiles
Allied to this thought is our 5th point:

5) HE WAS BELIEVED ON IN THE WORLD:

A/ One thing for Christ to be preached unto the Gentiles
God had been preaching to the Gentiles ever since time began
I refer to His natural messengers in the Heavens: Psalm 19 relates to their preaching itinerary (quoted in Romans 10)
But natural religion cannot bring a man to salvation (Romans 10)

B/ But when Christ is preached – it is enough to bring a man into salvation i.e. he needs but to believe the message for himself

C/ This was happening again even as Paul wrote
Laodicea had a NT Church (or would have) as Paul wrote
(Let us not think that the words/condemnation in Revelation 3 are all that we should think about this particular church
No reason not to think they were once a spiritual people)

D/ The Bible declares: Between Jew/Gentile: No difference (Romans 3:23) but the Gentile really was a wicked person
The Jews sank to the level of the Gentiles
God put a wall of separation up between the two
Part of the reason why Peter needed the vision

E/ But such is the marvellous converting grace/God that many of the wicked Gentiles have believed on Him
(Not least, again. Ourselves 2,000 years on)
And so now there is no wall of separation along ethnical lines
Paul could write to the Ephesian (Gentile( Christians:
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (2:12-14)
Again: No Jew nor Greek…ye are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)

F/ This thought ought to encourage us in the ongoing work/evangelism seeing that we labour among our Gentile people
Especially when we think about supporting foreign missionaries
We see these words every day being fulfilled and will do until the last of God’s elect will be gathered in:
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:13)

6) HE WAS RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY:

A/ Which is another proof that God is satisfied with His work
Jews were busy denouncing Him as an apostate from His God
But Stephen saw Him standing at God’s right
Saul/Tarsus heard His voice from that august spot
Paul writing by inspiration mentions this on a number/occasions:
Philippians 2:6-11 (Another hymn?) Hebrews 1:2

B/ having gone to glory, He will not rest content until He has us in glory also: John 14:3

So this was the hymn, as we think, that the early Christians sung
It was full of good meat as good hymns should be
Do not object to subjective hymns (many/Psalms are so)
But we need to have good objective and Christ centred and doctrinal hymns as well

These are the deep truths which the church is called upon to uphold (v15) and for which she must be prepared to live/die
May these things ever be without controversy among us
Where they become controversial within the church, then there is evidence of departure from those truths that are central/NT
Let us worship God today that these teachings are undoubtedly true and rejoice in the salvation that hinges upon them

THE END

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