All right, thank you for your great participation in the singing. We can go ahead and set our hymnals to the side and take up our Bibles again. And if you remember that page number in the Black Bibles, I think it was 1233. And then in our Bibles, if you've got your own Bible, 1 Timothy chapter three and verses 14 through 16 is what we read, but verse 16 is our text. This morning we'll let the little ones escape to the creche with Mrs. Shore. And then we're ready to go. One last one. All right. Some of you know that since I turned 40 this past year, I started running again. I don't know if it's a midlife crisis or what it is, but get back in shape a little bit. I've noticed since January there's more people it seems, maybe New Year's resolution, you know, out there running that sort of thing. And exercise is good, and you might exercise yourself, and that's good. But the Bible says that there's something, an exercise that is more important to us than a physical exercise. It's a spiritual exercise. And Paul speaks about it in 1 Timothy chapter 4, which is just the next chapter from our text, in verse 7. At the end of that, he says to Timothy, exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. There is something good about physical discipline that helps us in life. I mean, there's certain strength that we get. I mean, you feel a bit more healthy. You feel a bit more active. You have a bit more energy. It might prolong your life physically. But the Bible says there's something far more important than that, and that is to be spiritually exercised. to have something in our soul that would benefit us, not just in this life, because there is a benefit in this life to being a godly person, somebody that has godliness that is imputed godliness, that God has done something in their life. That is beneficial in this life, but it's definitely beneficial in eternity. And so Paul points that out, saying that's the most important thing, achieving that godliness in your life. We've all heard the saying, I think, cleanliness is next to godliness. It's a phrase that we've heard. Of course, there's benefit to that. I think parents would like kids to think that is a completely true statement. But if you think about it, cleanliness has really nothing to do with godliness. In fact, if that were true, Jesus would have complimented the Pharisees for their cleanliness, but he didn't. He criticized them for it. As he said in Luke 11, 39, you Pharisees may clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. I mean, they had it down on the outside. People look at them and say, you know, that is a spiritual man. That man, he is a religious man. He does all these things and gives his money and everything about on the outward, people look at that and say that is a godly person. But the Lord said cleanliness on the outside isn't godliness. You may clean the outside, but there's a problem on the inside. In fact, he said to them, In Matthew 23, 27, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you liken to whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. And as I was in Israel just a little over a week ago, as you stand at the Temple Mount, what you see is maybe what the Lord saw as he said that. Because there are tombs down there that date to the time of Christ, and some of them very large and very beautiful, and they would have been whitewashed, and they would have been clean on the outside, but inside they're full of dead man's bones. And so what does not matter today to God is external religiousness, what matters to God is an internal righteousness, a true godliness is what matters. And we can't get to the inside through the outside. There's nothing you or I could do today to make ourselves godly of ourselves. The Bible says in the Old Testament, Jeremiah 2.22, He's saying to them, look, you can clean up the outside all you want and scrub as hard as you want, scrub as you will, you cannot clean the inside. And what I want us to consider today and what the Lord, I believe, would have us look at today, is no matter how much you try on the outside, you can't change it, but there's only one answer to the need, and it's called the mystery of godliness in our text. See, there's people that have tried a lot of outward things. Benjamin Franklin, I have his old biography in my library, and it's a good read. I enjoy very much reading about him. But he's a man that became a moral man. He never became a godly man. He heard George Whitefield preach, a great man of God, that God used in a mighty way, even over here in Scotland, as he preached in canvas-laying to crowds of up to 20,000 people, a man that preached mightily. And he went to hear him preach, he put money in the offering, but it didn't really change his life. He decided that he would try to be a moral person. So he'd discipline himself and get certain virtues in his life. And then as he mastered those, he thought, well, then I'll add more virtues to my life. And every time he started to add, he would lose some of what he'd gained. He could never do it. He could never achieve godliness by his own effort. When I was in Israel, what you find in Israel is a land of limestone, and there's a lot of caves. And as we walked up into the park in Getty, the guide, I heard him saying, he said, you know what? There used to be a place where I would guide, and there was a man that lived in those caves like a hermit. And they would lower food down to him. You know, that's how he got his food. He stayed there in that cave on the cliff face. There's no way in. He had to be lowered himself into that cave. But he lived there. Why? Because he was seeking to be godly. Hudson Taylor speaks about, I think it's Hudson Taylor's biography that speaks about in China meeting, going into this dark cavern into this place and them showing them their holy man. And their holy man just, I mean, he was bricked in into this room. He just had a little slot where they would slide food into this man. He was entombed. So he's seeking to obtain godliness. But it can't because it's not through anything that we can physically do. And certainly in a lot of countries, people have tried different things. And we don't do that in Britain today. We don't have people that are that extreme, perhaps seeking after godliness. But there is this thought, if I go to church, if I'm baptized, if I do certain things, surely that is the answer to my need for godliness. But the answer to godliness is found in our text this morning, and it's one word, and actually it's one person. And so our text says this morning, 1 Timothy 3, 16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. It's not saying it's a great mystery, it's saying it's a great answer. The answer is great to this mystery of godliness, this passion that people have to find purity within, purity that God accepts. And the answer, and you'll see it in our text this morning, is one person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Christ is the answer. to man's need for godliness. And that's, it's one thought this morning that we're gonna look at. We're gonna answer it from the text, but you'll see it again and again, the answer is Jesus. Let's pray and ask God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, I'm thankful for the word of God this morning. Father, we have the ability to open up a mystery this morning. And to examine what the Word of God says is the answer. And the answer, Father, is not going to be religion. It's not going to be baptism. It's not going to be good works. It's not going to be self-punishment. But the answer is going to be Jesus Christ. And Father, I pray that we wouldn't miss it this morning. It's likely that there's some that would listen to this message that would think that they're righteous because of something they've done or something they've achieved, or maybe they're still working at it and burdened about it and trying to find godliness in human effort. But Father, I pray this morning that they'd find that godliness is in Christ, that they put their trust in Jesus Christ today, and that they'd receive the gift of godliness. And Father, I pray that as believers we'd understand what a precious gift we have, what a treasure we have, what a truth we possess. And Father, I pray that it would be life-changing in our lives to realize again that godliness is not found in human effort, it is found in Christ and abiding in Christ. And so I pray, may the Spirit of God speak to every heart. I pray that you'd help me as I preach. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Okay, so it's a mystery. Paul says, great is the mystery of godliness. And then he answers the mystery of godliness with kind of, without saying the word, revealing truth about who Christ is. It's kind of like the commentaries have said, it's kind of like that hymn that we sing that's entitled One Day, which says, living, he loved me. Question, who? Jesus. Dying, he saved me. Who? Jesus. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Again, who? Jesus. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day, he's coming. O glorious day. Because as we look at our text this morning in verse 16, every phrase, that is in the text, the answer to who is it speaking about, the answer is Jesus. And so let's examine that this morning. The mystery of godliness, the answer is Jesus. So the first statement was, God was manifest in the flesh. So our question is, who was manifest in the flesh? God was manifest in the flesh. Who's it speaking of? Obviously, it's speaking about Jesus. Manifest means to show. There's a lot of religions that don't believe God was manifest in the flesh, even though the Bible says it right there, and it says it in other texts as well. That God became a man, as the Bible said, unto us a son is born, unto us a child is given, and spoke about Him being the everlasting Father, that God, Emmanuel, which is God with us. And so God was manifest in the flesh. You know, the incarnation, which is the taking on of flesh by God, is what allowed us as mankind to know God in a personal way. The Bible tells us in Exodus 33 verse 20, God said to Moses, thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. Our flesh can't handle it. We can't handle the revealed glory of God and who God is. We can't. but God in the flesh we can handle. John 1.18, Jesus said, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 5.37, and the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. So nobody here today could say, I've seen God. except for the people that live back in the day of Christ that could say, I saw the God man. I saw God in flesh. I saw Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in flesh. He's incarnate. John 1 14 says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ became a man. You can ask the question, why did God do that? Why would God take on flesh? And the answer is found in a very simple verse, probably one of the most famous verses in the Bible, John 3, 16. It says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ became a man so that we could have imputed godliness. Jesus is the answer to man's need for godliness. Everlasting life, that ability to live with God for all eternity, is found in Christ. And for that to take place, Jesus Christ had to become a man. He went from the form of God to the form of man, Philippians 2, in verses 5 through 7. says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. He was in the form of God. Let me ask you, who was he? He was God. He was made into the form of man. What did he become? He became man. God became a man. You think about Jesus Christ lived in eternity. He lived in heaven. He lived in a completely sinless environment. He is deity. He is God. He had all the power, all the authority of God, and yet he allowed himself to become a man. Again, the question is why? And the answer is because we had a need in our life for godliness that we couldn't have in any other way than Christ becoming a man. And so the importance this morning of the Incarnation and He who gave up everything for us. Where I mentioned in Sunday school that we've enjoyed our family devotions at night, listening to audio books about our biographies about great Christians of the past. And we just listened to the biography of Mary Schleser. Mary Slessor, living in the interior of the Calabar, modern day Cameroon, she had nothing, but she was satisfied with that. She had a lady offer her 50 pounds for herself. Back then, I don't know what that would translate to today, but 50 pounds back then, that's a lot of money. And said, just use it on yourself. She wrote back to the lady and said, I have nothing that I could desire of myself. I've got every need supplied by God. And she just wasn't living for things. In a sense, Mary Schlester is a great example of what Christ did in just giving up everything. Christ gave everything up for Mary Schlester. Mary Schlester gave up everything for Christ and lived free of things. So Jesus became a man and lived in the flesh. And secondly, who was justified in the Spirit. That's the second part of our verse there. It says justified in the Spirit. Did the Spirit of God ever say in the Word of God that Jesus Christ is the Messiah? Let's think about verses that identified him as the one that man should look at. In John the Baptist, you remember, when he was waiting for the Messiah to be identified. It says in John 1.32 through verse 34, And John bare record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. In Israel, they took us to the place, and I don't know how they identified this, but they took us to the place on the Jordan River that is the place where they believe Jesus was baptized by John. It's also the place where the children of Israel, they say, crossed over into Israel the second time. and crossed the Jordan River there. And so we saw that place, but you think of John the Baptist, he's the cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's growing up with Jesus in the womb. Remember the spirit of God, and I didn't put this in my notes, I should have, but the spirit of God identified Jesus before John ever got out of the womb, as he's in the womb of Elizabeth, and he leaped for joy when he came into the presence of Mary, the mother of Christ, right? Remember that story? But here, John's grown up knowing about Jesus, their close proximity to one another. But it's not until the Spirit of God descends like a dove upon Jesus that John goes, that is the Messiah. And so, justified in the Spirit. Peter pointed out that God's Spirit justified Jesus through the miracles. He says this, Acts 2.22 at Pentecost, as he says, you men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. And he's preaching to those that had crucified Christ, and he's saying, stop, look, and listen. This is the Messiah. How come this is the Messiah? Because the Spirit of God bore witness through the miracles that he did. As he said in Acts 10.38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. God was with him. God who? God the Spirit. He anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with power. So everything that Jesus Christ did in his earthly ministry, enabled by the Spirit of God, testified to the fact that Jesus Christ is the answer for man's need for godliness. The mystery of godliness, how is it solved? Because Christ was justified in the spirit. Jesus even used this, as he would later say to John the Baptist, I don't fully understand why John in prison was doubting who Christ was, but he sent his disciples and said, ask him again who he is. And Jesus responded in Matthew chapter 11, verse 2, and following. They came and asked him, Art thou he that should come or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you do here and see. The blind receive their sight in the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. How? By God's Spirit miraculously using the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, let's go back to the beginning. The mystery of godliness. How do we know? Well, he was manifest in the flesh. Who was Jesus? He was declared justified by the Spirit. Who was Jesus? And then our third thing, he was seen of angels. Who was seen of angels? Answer, again, Jesus. And stop and think about the stories that we have in the Word of God that have angels associated with the Lord Jesus Christ. Probably the first one you think of is at his birth. It says in Luke chapter 2, and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And there shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God. and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And I, again, I wish I could have taken you with me to Israel. It's incredible to me how many places that we got to stand where you read something in scripture and go, I've been there. And so I stood on the shepherd's hills, I overlooked Bethlehem, and to think in that place that God revealed who Jesus was, how? By the angels. And we might look at it today and go, we know who Jesus is, but they didn't know who Jesus was. They're waiting for the Messiah that's coming. And the mystery of godliness is the answer to man's need. We need godliness. We can't achieve it through religion. We can't achieve it any other way. It's in who? Christ. How do we know? Because he was seen of angels. And the angels declared, even at his birth, who he was, but also at his temptation. Mark 1.13 says, he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beast, and the angels ministered unto him. And where this takes place is, you've got the Jordan River and the Jordan Valley, and then you have some lower hills, and then you have some cliffs, and it's desert land. And you have the city of Jericho. If you read the Bible story about Jericho, it's right there. But right by that is the place where they believe Jesus Christ entered into the temptation. It's a barren wilderness. But who ministered to Jesus in that place? Who saw Jesus in that place, identifying him as the answer to godliness? It was the angels that saw him in that place. At his resurrection, Matthew 28, verse 2, it says, Behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven. and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the woman, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And I left out, didn't I, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel coming to Joseph, the angel coming to Mary. But it's interesting how involved the angels are in everything that's taking place, all these key moments in the life of Christ and saying, look, he is who he said he is. He's not here. He's not in the tomb. But then at his ascension as well, Acts 1. Beginning in verse 9, it says, When he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Man of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner. as you have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, the Mount of Olives, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey." And remember, he could also have called a thousand angels or thousands of angels at his death, but he didn't. But the angels were there giving witness to the fact that this was no ordinary person. This is the answer to the mystery of godliness. And the answer is who? It's Jesus. He was seen of angels. And so we come to our next phrase. It says he was preached unto the Gentiles. And again, we ask the question, who was preached unto the Gentiles? And the answer is Jesus. He's preached unto the Gentiles. Paul magnifies his office here because obviously Jesus came to who first? Came to the Jew first. But Paul here, doesn't emphasize the fact that Jesus was preached unto the Jews. He's preached unto the Gentiles. The message that went out from Jerusalem and into Judea, Samaria, and into uttermost parts of the world could be summarized in one word. The answer is Jesus. That's what they preached. They preached Jesus. Acts 5.42, it says, And daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Acts 8.12, But when they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Remember the Ethiopian eunuch out in the desert, he's reading the Isaiah scroll, and he's puzzled about who this man is speaking about. Is he speaking about himself, or is he speaking about somebody else that should come? And Philip gets up and says, it's somebody that should come, and he came. His name is Jesus. And the Bible says in Acts 8.35, Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. Acts 9.27, but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Acts 10.36, the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. Acts 11.20, and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. Acts 17.3, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and arisen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ, is Messiah. Acts 17 verse 18. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some said, what will this babbler say? Others some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. Acts 18, verse 5. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ, Messiah. Acts 19, 10. And this continued by the space of two years, so that all that they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Acts 28, 31. This is Paul in house prison in Rome. preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Okay, what was her message? Christ, Messiah. Who's the Messiah? Jesus. Now, when we're doing evangelism, a lot of times, especially in our day and age, knock on a door, it takes us a long time to get to Christ. We'll talk about evolution and creation. We'll talk about apologetics, reasons why we believe there is a God and there is a God. And I'm not saying today that those things are unimportant. I think they have their place, but if we summarize the message that these guys preach, they preach what? Jesus. You know, in our evangelism, we need the Holy Spirit to remind us in everything that we say to somebody, we need to get to Christ. Because what they need is not a church family. What they need is not a belief that there is a God. What they need is Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior so that they can have godliness. Because without godliness, they're not gonna see God. They can't have a relationship with God outside of godliness. Godliness is found in Christ and Christ alone. And so their message was Jesus Christ. Our next statement. He was what? Believed on? In the? You have it in your text if you got it in front of you. He was believed on in the world. Believed on in the world. Who was Jesus? Remember that story? Peter, Paul, I'm gonna get the names wrong. Paul and Silas are in stocks in prison. Remember that? They've already been whipped. They've been put in their innermost part of the prison. The jailer's been charged to keep them safe. If I asked you in that situation, say we were to examine that prison, we see that situation as it is, this jailer hates these guys, who are these stupid preachers I've got to watch over? They're seen in prison, all the prisoners hear them. And I asked you, what do you think the chances of this man believing on Jesus Christ are? You know what you say? No. No chance. But what takes place, there's an earthquake. The prison doors are open. The bonds fall off. And if the prisoners escape, the Philippian jailer loses his life. He's a dead man. Because if your prisoner got away, that was you finished. Your life for their life. So he's going to fall on his sword. Remember, Paul cries out, sir, do thyself no harm. We're all here. And he saves his life. Then he's brought out of the prison. Paul and Silas are brought out of the prison by this man. And he says to them, sirs. What must I do to be saved? And they said what? It's one of the best summaries of the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's very simple, isn't it? Question, does it say to be godly, you've got to go to church, you've got to be religious, you've got to be christened, you've got to be a part of a certain church, you've got to be moral, you've got to do good works, no. It's Christ. Christ is the answer to godliness. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. It's very simple, isn't it? That's how simple the message of the gospel is. How do I know this morning that this guy and his family got saved? Well, the Bible goes on to say, they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house, they all heard about who? Jesus. We know that. And he took them the same hour of the night, and he washed their stripes. He cleaned them up, the jailer did, and he was baptized, he in all his straight way. They obeyed the Lord and believers' baptism. By the way, whose name are you baptized in? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He identified with Christ in Christian baptism because he had believed on who? Jesus Christ. You know, that's the answer to godliness. That's what people need to hear when we're speaking to them. They don't need to hear anything about philosophy or modern anything. They need to hear Jesus Christ is the answer. He is the one that is the mystery. The mystery of godliness is solved in Christ. Believe on Jesus Christ. The Bible says, Romans 10, 9 and 10, that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." If you were to summarize the one reason somebody can't go to heaven, what would it be? Sin. God can't let sin into heaven. We could also call sin ungodliness, right? Ungodliness. Godliness is imputed righteousness, right? Godliness, true godliness is something, and I'm not talking about godliness in the sense that, oh, that looks godly, not anything like that. It's true godliness. Godliness is something that God has to give me. So how do I get it? Well, what's that verse say, Romans 10, 9, 10? That thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and what? Believe in thine heart. Okay, it's hypocrisy for me today to say, I believe something if I don't. So if I got somebody to, hey, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Say these words, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not from their heart. It's not what they really believe. Does it do anything? No. But if they truly believe in their heart about Jesus Christ, that he died for them, paid the price for their sin and rose again from the dead. Here's what the verse says again. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Can God lie? No. But when I get saved, what happens? Here's what happens according to the next verse. The next verse says, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. See, before I got saved, I'm ungodly. Before I believed in Jesus, I'm ungodly, but when I get saved, God makes me godly. God makes me righteous. Christ is the answer. So it's not something I achieve. Godliness is not something I do. Godliness is something I receive when I put my trust in Jesus. The fact is, the Philippian jailer and Paul are testimony to the fact that Jesus Christ is the answer to man's need for godliness. Why? Because they put their trust in him. Any of us that have accepted Christ as our savior, we become a testimony to the fact that Jesus Christ is the answer for godliness because we believed on him just like this passage says. Who has been believed on in the world? Jesus. The last thing, The last part of the phrase, it was, he was received up, what? Into glory. He was received up into glory. Who was? Jesus. Again, I stood at the Mount of Olives. It's where Christ ascended and it's where he's gonna come back when the Mount of Olives is gonna rip in two and the water's gonna flow out of the Temple Mount, the water of life. The Bible speaks about Jesus Christ gonna reign for a thousand years in Jerusalem. He's coming back. Where he left from is the Mount of Olives. Who ascended up into glory? Jesus. Who saw it? The apostles. He's received up into glory. It testifies to the fact He is who He said He is. He is the Messiah. He is the answer to man's need for godliness. You know, as a believer, one of the greatest things that encourages our heart is there's coming a day when Jesus Christ is gonna come back. When He comes back, the Bible says that those that are saved are gonna go meet the Lord in the air. That's what the word of God says. And we which are alive aren't gonna prevent them which are asleep, those that are dead. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4.16, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first up into the air. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Why? Because we've received imputed godliness. The mystery to godliness is really important. If you're here today and you don't understand that Jesus Christ is the answer for man's need for godliness, you're in a very difficult position because without Christ, you can't be saved. You can't be forgiven, and without Christ, you're ungodly. But when somebody gets Jesus Christ, in their life, that is the answer to the mystery. Then you've got it, then you're on your way to heaven, then you have everlasting life, and then that's the right thing. See, it's not about religiousness. I'm glad you're here today, but going to church doesn't save anybody. Being a part of a church all your life doesn't save anybody. Being a religious person that believes in God doesn't save anybody. Only Christ saves. See, I can have a lot of information, I can have a lot of experience, but if I don't have Christ, I don't have godliness. And so what's the answer? Get Christ. Let God solve the mystery in your life, where you realize, look, I've tried all these things, but the answer I know from Scripture is one person. We've looked at it, and I'm sorry if you feel like, boy, Pastor, that was a really repetitive message. Every question you asked us was answered with Jesus, but that's what the Word of God does. It goes point after point after point after point saying, see, the Messiah is Christ, it's Christ, it's Christ, it's Christ, Jesus is the answer. And so today, Let me just ask you, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Are you godly today? Not because of something you've done, not because of something you're doing, but because you've received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Again, I would warn you, without Christ, you don't have everlasting life. but with Christ you do. He is the answer to this mystery. Praise God. Aren't you glad that I'm not up here today saying, you know, there's a mystery and the mystery is godliness. And it's a mystery and we'll never know how to achieve godliness. Praise God. We can stand up here today and say, there's a mystery to a lot of people about godliness, but God's given us the answer. The answer is Jesus Christ. And I hope you know that personally today. Let's pray. Father, may the Spirit of God speak this truth deep into the heart of everybody that's here this morning and those that would listen in online. Father, it's very likely that somebody would hear this message that would not have experienced the joy of having godliness given to them through Christ. Father, they've never put their trust in Jesus. They've tried to achieve godliness through works or through religion or through doing something, christening, but never through Christ. And so I pray today, Lord, that they'd find the joy of trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And Father, those of us that are saved, help us to realize Christ is the answer. Father, help us to defend the doctrine of Christ tooth and nail. Satan seeks to undermine him. He seeks to tell people he's not God, he's not the Savior, he's not the answer, he's not the only way. And Lord, there's so many ways the doctrine of Christ is attacked. Give us grace to stand up and fight because Jesus Christ is the answer to man's greatest need. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Let's stand please and sing, take time to be holy. Spend time with your Lord. 422, he's the answer to godliness, Jesus says, so let's spend time with him. Let's stand please as we sing 422.