I hope you have brought a Bible. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16. It's going to be our text this morning. You've heard of John 3.16. This is 1 Timothy 3.16. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful text of Scripture, and I pray that as I preach this morning, that Christ will be exalted and lifted up, and that our hearts will be drawn to Him thanksgiving and worship, and we pray and ask this in Jesus' name, amen. They said that Jesus was just a man. The leaders of Israel even said that Jesus was a blasphemer and deserved to die. They said that he claimed to be a rival king to Caesar. And when they finally succeeded in killing him on a cross, they were more confident that they were right. But were they? The answer is found in this brief text of Scripture this morning. It's quite evident that the apostle Paul quotes from an early Christian hymn in verse 16. It exalts Christ by stating some of the great and glorious truths about Jesus. The six parts of this hymn are balanced and rhythmic. Each line begins with a passive verb. It's passive indicating that He tells what God and others have done in reference to Jesus Christ. Each line begins with that verb and each line, being in the passive voice, ends with the same sound in the Greek language. Clearly, the author is drawing attention to the verbs in this Christian hymn. I wish I could have heard how this hymn sounded as early Christians sang it. Well, Paul introduces the hymn by saying, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. Now, please understand that the word mystery refers to God's redemptive plan, which was previously hidden, but now has been revealed. And the redemptive plan of God focuses and centers upon the Savior, Jesus Christ. This hymn is essentially a story of salvation. And so this morning, we're going to see what Paul says about this hymn, but he introduces it by saying a few truths about the truths of this hymn. First of all, he says, without controversy. And when he says that, he literally means these are truths that are confessed by all true Christians. Furthermore, he declares that these truths are great. And I'm so glad that I have the privilege of preaching such a great and wonderful gospel. It begins with the lowly birth of Jesus and it culminates with the ascension and glorification of Jesus. And so let's go through this brief hymn fragment together by pointing out, first of all, that God was manifest in flesh. Actually, our best and oldest Greek texts do not have the word God, but begins with the word who. Again, emphasizing this is probably just a fragment of a hymn. We know, according to Jesus, that God is spirit. He is not seen, because He's spirit, unless He manifests His glory. And yet the good news is that the invisible, unseen God was manifested in human flesh. You know, Idle worshipers would mock the Jews because they worshiped a God they could not even see. Yet the day came when the unseen God, the invisible God, was manifested in human flesh that could be seen by men. Paul elsewhere taught that Jesus was the pre-incarnate Son of God. who was with the heavenly Father in the eternity past, but was manifested in flesh. In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 7, Paul says that Christ Jesus was made in the likeness of men. Likewise, John wrote, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 1 John 1 says that which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, which our hands have handled concerning the word of life. Jesus took on a physical human body that could be touched. It could be handled. It was not just an apparition. Only on few occasions was His Glory, which was normally veiled by flesh, openly revealed. For example, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Now, why was He manifested in such a way? Well, Jesus said in John 14, 9, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can we know what God is like? You can't even see Him. He's invisible. And so God took on human flesh so that when we look upon Jesus, when we see what Jesus did, when we heard His teachings, we would know what God is like. He took on human flesh to reveal God to us in a form that we could understand. And God was manifested with a mission. 2 Corinthians 5.19 says, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing our trespasses to us. 1 John 3.5 says, and you know that he was manifested to take away the sins of the world. 1 John 3 says, for this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. You know, Jesus indicated in John 10 10 that the devil kills, steals and destroys. But God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, to reverse the works of the devil. And I'm so glad that He came to do that very thing. Oh, He's working on it, but that job won't be complete until He returns someday. So if you want to know God and His saving purpose, study the life of Jesus, study the teachings of Jesus, and you can know what God is like. Yes, God was manifested in flesh, but secondly, He was vindicated by the Spirit. Not everyone saw or perceived His glory, which was hidden by human flesh. His claims were denied. by his enemies. They said he was no more than a man. For example, in John 6, 42, they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I have come down from heaven? Later is a Enemies even accused Him of blasphemy. He was condemned to death by the Jews and the Romans and suffered and died on a cross. However, He was vindicated or declared righteous by the Holy Spirit. And how did the Holy Spirit demonstrate and vindicate who Jesus really is? Well, first of all, at His baptism. Matthew 3, 16-17 says, Behold, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. It was by the Spirit of God that he did mighty miracles and cast out demons. In Matthew 12, 28, Jesus said, If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. But it was especially by means of His resurrection and ascension that He was vindicated by the Holy Spirit and declared to be the Son of God, just like Romans 1, 4 says. Also, Romans 8, 11 affirms that Jesus was raised by the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that indwells us. In 1 Peter 3, verse 18, it says, Christ also suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit demonstrated that though condemned by man, there was no stain of sin upon him and he proved it by reversing the sentence of death by raising him from the dead. Even within this hymn, we have the additional vindication of Jesus. As we shall see, he was vindicated by his ascension and glorification. He was vindicated by the success of his mission to the Gentiles. He was not only declared thus king of the Jews, but king of all nations. And the ultimate vindication of Jesus is yet to come. According to Revelation 1 in verse 7, it says, Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him, even so. Amen. Oh, this world can deny Jesus. They can say He was just a man, but the day is coming when His glory will be revealed from heaven and every eye shall see Him and they will know that He is indeed the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And so, though He was rejected and condemned by men, He was vindicated by God. He clearly demonstrated that Jesus was righteous, that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. But the question is, do you affirm that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you affirm that He is the Savior that God has sent? Yes, He was manifested in flesh, vindicated by the Holy Spirit, and thirdly, He was seen by angels. Now, when was he seen by angels? Well, the hymn writer could be thinking, first of all, about the fact that angels were present to announce his birth according to the Gospel of Luke. Don't you think those angels got a chance to peek over and see Jesus in that manger that evening? He was seen of angels. And then, After Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and was famished, He was ministered to in the flesh by angels. When Jesus had agony in Gethsemane and prayed that prayer in Gethsemane, not my will but Yours be done, we are told by Luke that He was ministered to by an angel. However, based on the context, It's primarily in connection with the resurrection and ascension that he was seen by angels. Angels were involved in rolling that stone away. Angels were involved in making the announcement to the women and the disciples that Jesus is not here but risen from the dead. Surely. They saw Jesus that resurrection morning. Surely the angels were able to go back to heaven and announce that Jesus is risen. Jesus is risen. Some believe that this expression of Paul is likely a reference to the worship of Jesus by the angels when he ascended to heaven. Oh, he was seen by the angels then when the gates of heaven opened up and Jesus returned to heaven. And oh, how the angels must have worshipped Jesus as he completed his saving mission and returned to heaven. Oh, yes, he was seen of angels. But you know what? In the plan of God, it's not the angels that are to declare the gospel to the world, but only redeemed believers. And so the next line of the hymn says that he was preached among the nation. Following his resurrection, Jesus gave his great commission to go preach the gospel, make disciples of all nations. And that's exactly what began to happen in the first century. The apostles and even ordinary Christians went to the nations proclaiming Jesus Christ who died for our sins that we might be saved. Just read the book of Acts and read the missionary writings of Paul and you will see how indeed he was preached to the nations even in the first century. And we have a responsibility to continue to preach the gospel to the nations. Paul said in Romans 10, 14, How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they hear without a missionary to go and tell them? In just a few months, we'll be collecting our latimun offering for international missions, I encourage you. to give generously, to pray for our missionaries that we may complete the mission of preaching Jesus to the nations. The fifth line is that He was believed on in the world. Now think of how amazing this is. Jesus was despised and rejected of men, declared to be a criminal, and even crucified. Who would have ever believed that this same Jesus would not only be proclaimed as Savior to all nations, but also believed in? Yet as a result of the gospel going out, and because Jesus truly is the Son of God and Savior of the world, He was believed on in the world. There we have, in that simple phrase, the amazing expansion of the church. An expansion which, on human grounds, is incredible. The Jews were a despised race in that day, and they are despised by many today. And yet, Jews going to the nations, proclaiming a Jew as the savior of the world, how could it ever be imagined that that mission would be successful? that many would end up believing in Jesus, but that is exactly what happened. And the hymn writer emphasizes the universality of the gospel of Jesus Christ in that statement that he was believed on in the nation. He's not just the savior of Jews, he is the savior of the world. And for 2,000 years now, the gospel has been going forth to the nation, and many, many have believed in Jesus. In fact, I did a quick search this morning. You realize that Christianity, those who claim to believe in Jesus, form the largest religion in the world. 2.4 billion people say they believe in Jesus? In 157 countries, he was believed on in the world indeed. And the question is, do you believe in Jesus? Though many others reject Him and have believed lies about Him, we have seen evidence just in this text of Scripture that indeed God was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Holy Spirit, that our God was proclaimed among the nations and believed on in the nations, vindicated by the Holy Spirit. And so we reach the climax of this hymn. This hymn is not exactly in chronological order because I believe he wanted this to be the climax of the hymn. He was taken up in glory. That word taken up is used elsewhere of the ascension of Jesus Christ. In Mark chapter 16, verse 19, it says, so then after the Lord has spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. In Acts chapter one, verse 11, it says, men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you shall come again as you have seen him go. Oh, the echo of crucify him, crucify him had hardly diminished before Jesus ascended into heaven to be received by the redeemed in heaven, the angels in heaven, the redeemed singing that song, perhaps worthy is the lamb. Oh yes, he was taken up in glory. Indeed, he was ascended in glory. We know that the Shekinah glory cloud of God received the ascended Jesus out of the sight of the disciples that day. And then he was gloriously seated at the right hand of God himself. The seat of all authority. Jesus rules His church from that throne in heaven. Oh, the hymn writer is bringing us to a point of high praise for the Lord Jesus Christ. And I hope it's our heart's desire to give praise and glory to Jesus for what He has done to save us and for the hope that He gives us. If you and I die, before Jesus returns. Think of what it will be like as you're escorted through the gates of heaven to be brought into the presence of Jesus, who still bears the scars of His suffering in His hands and perhaps on His brow, and to be able to worship Him the exalted one at the right hand of God who gave his life that we may have life eternal in heaven. What a privilege it will be to worship Jesus in heaven. So though men denied that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of God incarnate in human flesh, he was vindicated by the Holy Spirit upon His baptism, by His mighty miracles, by His resurrection, by His ascension, by the millions that have believed upon Him in almost every nation. What about you this morning? Will you stand among those who are unbelievers in Jesus, or will you stand among those who are believers in Jesus? by your very presence this morning. I hope that indicates that I'm going to stand with God's people. I'm going to worship Jesus because He is the Savior. He is Lord. Let us worship the Lord Jesus. But what about you? If you have not believed in Jesus, why not believe today? God vindicated Jesus. He is who He claimed to be. He is the Savior. He is the Lord. When we sing this invitation, if you're ready to be saved today, you come and give your heart to Jesus. And as we sing this song, Fairest Lord Jesus, may we sing it with worship in our hearts for the one who saved us.