Please open your Bibles with me this morning to 1 Timothy in chapter 3. 1 Timothy in chapter 3. I would encourage you to do what I've done in my Bible up here this morning as well and find a place marker or a ribbon that you can drop into the epistle of Ephesians as well. We'll be traveling back and forth between the two for obvious reasons. 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 14. I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long. But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. By common confession, Great is the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. Father, we pray right now that your spirit would open the eyes of our heart to hear and see your mind in this text. May the Spirit glorify Christ in our midst, and in the face of Christ, may we see your full glory, Father. In Jesus' name, amen. It was just a couple weeks ago, my wife and I took our annual commitment at the Wilds Christian Camp in North Carolina speak for two weeks there and share the load of an intensive discipleship time with about 60, 70 teenagers. And it is intense, not just with the teaching, but also with the planning and the required counseling for two weeks. So you can imagine, after we get to that first week, the first week ended on July 4. which is a Friday, and we got clearance from the camp to jump in our car after our obligations were done and to drive an hour and 40 minutes to near Spartanburg, South Carolina, where my son and his family live. My son and his wife. My son and, even more importantly, our two grandchildren. And that, our southern ones, I should say, in the Carolinas. And one of them's fairly new, just a few months it would seem. And we got to spend the weekend with Jared, and Anna, and Luca, and Ella. And we spent Friday evening with them. We spent Saturday, and we worshiped with them on Sunday morning before returning back to the camp, which started back up again Sunday afternoon with our obligations. But it was really cool. After getting through that first week, and we were truly and genuinely fatigued in a good way. We weren't tired of the work. We were just tired in the work at the camp. But we looked forward to the weekend to see family. And when we pulled in after an hour and 40 minute drive to Jared's house, on the front porch was Anna. Jared had gone to pick up the food. And on the front porch was Anna and our two grandkids. And they had made signs to welcome us. And they were standing there with big smiles. Jared got there at the same time that we did. And smiles and hugs and giggles aplenty. You know, a smile and a giggle from a grandkid totally heals like everything in life. And that was a nice welcome. We enjoyed that. We enjoyed that entrance into their presence. But you know, as we as a church family have pulled up to 1 Timothy, this letter that we call 1 Timothy, we see Paul introducing himself or making entrance to this church that he knew very well. He had already written the epistle of the Ephesians to them. Paul was instrumental in planting this church and in discipling this church in the deepest way. Just read Ephesians and you see the doctrinal level this church was conversant in. But as Paul opens this epistle to Timothy, who Paul had left in Ephesus to fix it, there weren't giggles and smiles and a welcome sign on the front porch as Paul says, hello. He didn't have a warm waving. He starts this letter with a very focused, urgent pointing. He's pointing at something that is significantly wrong in the church at Ephesus. Something's wrong, something's off, not just a little, not just on a periphery. Something is wrong in a big way at the very core of that local church. Something was missing. You say, what was missing? Well, I want you to help me discover that. You see, sometimes when you want to know what an apostle is writing about, what an author of a New Testament book is writing about, look for repetition of words and concepts. I want to see if you pick up on what is missing in this church that had already received the letter of Ephesians. And just a few years later is receiving this epistle through their pastor, Timothy. What's emphasized? Well, look at chapter 2, verse 2. Let's see if we can pick up on what is missing. Chapter 2, verse 2. He says, verse 1, I want you to pray. I want all of you to pray as a church with entreaties and prayers. Verse 1, petitions and thanksgivings on behalf of all men, Jew and Gentile, For kings and all who are in authority, why? So that we, believers, may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all, and what's the next word? Say it. Godliness. You see it there in chapter 2, verse 2. Stay in chapter 2 and look at verse 10. Let's go back to verse 9. I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments. Watch this. But rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to what? Say the word. Godliness. Go with me to chapter 4, 1 Timothy chapter 4, and look at verses 7 and 8. Have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Go with me to chapter 6. This is all through this epistle. Chapter 6, verse 1, all who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren. but they must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles. In verse three, if anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, Keep that phrase together in your mind as we move on. Just go down to verse 5. Paul writes about there's consistent friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Stay there in chapter 6 and look at verse 11. Flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness. You say, is this just something that's an emphasis here in 1 Timothy? No, because Timothy, who's still in Ephesus, and when he receives 2 Timothy, has this in chapter 3, verse 5 of 2 Timothy, that he says, Timothy, there are some who hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these. Something's missing in Ephesus. Something's missing. Can you take a guess as to what it is? Godliness. It's a phrase he keeps coming back to over and over again. He says, godliness used to be there. Now it's gone. It's slipping away. A church, again, I remind you, that had received from the apostle the rich epistle of Ephesians. This isn't the way it's supposed to go after you write a letter like that. So we need to define godliness. Eusebia. What does this mean? Every time it shows up in scripture, there are consistent tones to this word. It deals with reverential, but not just in an abstract way. It's reverential attitudes that produce reverential action. You're so taken in by God that you want excised from your life anything that's ungodly and you want put on in your life by God's grace things that reflect his character. That's a response to the doctrine you know. Some even discern correctly that within this one Greek word that we translate godliness is the whole atmosphere of worship. Worship with the life. And godliness, more and more, was MIA in the church at Ephesus. As we've seen already in this epistle, as we've studied up to this point every word, every phrase, and as we will do with the remaining three chapters, there was ungodliness in the form of a lack of evangelism, a lack of concern for the Gentiles, There was a lack of godliness in the men who were not leading in the church and with the women who were not flourishing because they were trying to fill vacuums left by male leadership lacks. And perhaps also these ladies were echoing the values of the idolatry and the idolatrous systems of the city of Ephesus. or even worse, reacting against anything that would say that they are less than flourishing if they live according to God's structure. There was a lack of godliness in this church because of the lack of corporate prayer. There was a lack of godliness in this church because there wasn't clarity on the God-ordained leadership. Some men, even named at the end of chapter one, had been disciplined from the position of elder. It was so bad that Paul says, we just need to reboot here and be clear. And he gives clear qualifications for elders and deacons in chapter 3 because, well, the thing was crumbling. And he's going to come back to this in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and say, if there are others that need to be disciplined, do it on the basis of two witnesses. There was ungodliness at Ephesus because they were disregarding benevolent needs. And there was ungodliness in Ephesus, a growing ungodliness because of materialism that was the fruit of the false doctrine that was being tolerated. Write this down somewhere. You know this, but it's a good place to remind yourself. Right doctrine yields right living, right? Now turn that coin over because there's another phrase you need to write down. Bad doctrine will always yield bad living. It's true. Wherever you find yourself in these six chapters of what we are saying is 1st Timothy, but in reality it's 2nd Ephesians, you will at any point, whatever finger you put your verse on, you're going to be putting it down on one of three R words. Either godliness was removed. In other words, something that should be in place is not. The second word that could be used in a circular way to outline this epistle is this, godliness recovered. This is where we realize what went wrong. And then the third point that you'll see come back over and over in this epistle. You have godliness removed, godliness recovered, and godliness restored with very specific commands. Our paragraph we're looking at this morning, verses 14 through 16, is that second point exclusively. Godliness recovered. By recovering, I mean we have to know, in churches at Ephesus or in Ypsilanti, when ungodliness is creeping in, we have to identify at what point did our godliness start to go away? What was the point? At what juncture did that start to happen? Because that's where we start the recovery. What we're talking about in chapter 3, verses 14 through 16, is indeed the center of this epistle. And not just on paper and ink, though it happens to fall there, but this is the very center of what Paul has been moving towards, and it's the very center from which after he states it, he's going to refer back to. It's these three verses. We've gotten to that point. These three verses are the core, not only of the epistle, but of the local church. These three verses are the pinnacle of this letter. They are the turning point. And here's what I want you to grapple with this morning as we interpret these three verses. In order to fix what you're missing, you have to change what you're believing, period. In order to fix what you're missing, you have to change what you're believing. You say, well, how do we do that in a local church, either in Ephesus or in Ypsilanti? And that's my simple outline for you this morning. You need to commit afresh to three foundational realities. This is the core of our church. And if we are seeing a lack of evangelism, not just corporately but privately, If Calvary Baptist Church is seeing a struggle with men leading in the creative order as we should, and women flourishing in the creative order as they should, and all of us praying corporately as we should, if getting clarity on leadership is something we're struggling with, if we're not being very benevolent with our own, If we are getting sucked into the vacuum cleaner of materialism, then it's right here, it's gonna change. We need to commit afresh to three foundational realities. If these three realities can fix Ephesus, they can fix Calvary of Ypsilanti and any local church. What are these three foundational realities? Number one, he says to them, your level of engagement is to be all in. Your level of engagement is to be all in. Talking about grandkids, I like, whether it's Selah, my granddaughter here, or my grandkids in Georgia or South Carolina, I love chasing them around, tickling them, laughing, being big and loud, and then act like I'm afraid of them and running away. And you know what the grandkids do when I'm running away, acting afraid, they chase me. they think they have the advantage on me and I'll act just terrified and scream and fake cry and they'll be chasing me down and I'll run into a bedroom or something and I'll press on the door so they'll try to open it and I'll act like they're getting it and then I'll close it again, making sure little fingers aren't in the way and finally I let them in after they leaned in with all their weight, giggling. That's the life of a grandpa. Paul's leaning and pushing with all his weight on this church at Ephesus. But it's not punctured with giggles. It's punctured with urgency. Look at verse 14 in the first part of verse 15. I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long, but In case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God. I see here a very clear call that your level of engagement is to be all in. Paul is leaning in with great urgency. Why? How can you tell? Well, I can tell by his persistence. I see in these verses, in verse 14, the first part of verse 15, he's saying, it's so important, I must address this. I want to make sure, Paul says, that this message is not undelivered to you. I've written to you before. And as much as in that letter I wrote to the Ephesus church, Ephesians, I need you to hear what I have to say to you right now. And I'll go to any length to make sure you get this message. He says, I'm writing right now. He says, it's not just writing, though. I wanted to visit. And the tense here in the Greek is I was really hoping to visit you. He says, since I can't visit you, I'm going to put this in writing because it is urgent. It can't wait for my visit and my convenience. And then he says, it's very, very time sensitive. He says at the end of verse 14, I wanted this to happen before long. So you have his desire to visit immediately, and he can't. He doesn't want any more time to pass, so he says, I'm going to write. And then fourthly, he has deployed, of course, his protege Timothy in the church to personally read this letter that bears his name, but to read it to the whole church. There's such a persistence here. Why? Because there was such a big problem at Ephesus. A false message had been embraced by the church at Ephesus. that was producing an ungodliness that was spreading like gangrene in that church. The church that had received previously the book, the letter Ephesians. One commentator correctly states, we have no record, we're not sure that Paul was ever able to visit this Ephesus church again in his life. We have no record of him. there again. So, this letter is going to have to do all the work. Not only there, but here in Ypsilanti. There's a good chance we'll never see Paul in church here in Southeast Michigan. This letter, listen, will have to do the work. I not only see his persistence here, but I see his clarity in verses 14 and 15. You see, you say, well, what's the message? You can whittle it down to one thought. You don't have to do a seminar on it. You don't have to create PowerPoint. It's not a series. It's not a dissertation. And it's not a blog rant. It's two words in your English translation, one Greek word. And it's right here in verse 15. I want you to know how one ought to, and here it is, conduct himself in the household of God. This is a Greek word that's not in the passive meaning. I just need to show up and someone else will make this work for me. This is in the middle voice which says, you have to conduct yourself. You have to insert yourself. You have to leave it all on the field yourself when it comes to the truth and the practice and the godliness of the local church. That's the clarity. That's the message. You say, well, who is he writing to? He's really addressing all the groups of chapters 1 through 3. Who have we seen in chapters 1 through 3? Of course, the leader, Timothy, his agent there, but also the entire congregation. We saw them called to action at the beginning of chapter 2. And all the men in their God-ordained roles, all the women in their God-ordained roles, all the elders, and all the deacons, all of these are receiving this conduct yourself. In other words, there's no part of the church left out. Don't isolate this just to Timothy. He's reading this to the entire church as we keep reminding ourselves in chapter six, verse 21. Your conduct matters. Why? Because conduct is more than just a footprint in the church. Someone being able to say, yeah, I think they were here last week. It's more than a footprint in the church. It's more than taking up space on a chair. It's more than even just active membership. It's more than to sit on a committee, or to have a star on the history wall, or merely to have fond memories of the glory days. Church is more than a hobby, and it's more than a filler in your week. It's something that Paul's saying, this is where things started getting loose. a decentralization of the local church which produces lack of consistency in one voice of doctrine and practice. The author of Hebrews agrees, Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. Dr. R. Kent Hughes refers to ecclesiastical hitchhikers in his book, Disciplines of a Godly Man. Guys, if you haven't read that book, you need to own it. If you have read that book, you need to read it again. So do I. Disciplines of a Godly Man. Kent Hughes writes these words about ecclesiastical hitchhikers. Listen. Church attendance is infected with a malaise of conditional loyalty which has produced an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers. The hitchhiker's thumb says, you buy the car, pay for the repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas, and I'll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own, I'll probably sue. That's a normal hitchhiker. But an ecclesiastical hitchhiker has this credo Quote, you go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills, and I'll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I'll complain and probably bail out. My thumb is always out for a better ride. End quote. Don't be that ecclesiastical hitchhiker. because it has the stench of death on it for a local church, whether in Ephesus or in 2025 in southeast Michigan. You gotta wonder, don't you? Why is Paul typing with all caps? Why is he all worked up? Why is he using different colored highlighters at this point? And why is he pressing down so hard with his pen and hurrying? Why is he doing that? Because of the second reality. foundational reality, you need to commit to afresh at Ephesus and Ypsi. And number two is this, your point of view is to be clear-headed. Your point of view is to be clear-headed. I'll never forget my first and only trip to Israel. It was meaningful to me, because I know I bring it up often. But you have to understand, I was in my early 30s when I'm finally on the plane, the last leg of the trip over the Mediterranean. And I'm flying to the land of the Old Testament and New Testament that I had only read about and seen slides about, right, growing up for three decades. I was just on the edge of my seat by the window, literally. And then suddenly over the horizon I saw an end of the sea and the beginning of a shoreline and my heart leaped. Because that was Israel. And once we got over the shoreline I saw miles in all directions of white buildings. I saw in the distance not only mountains but also desert. The pilot pointed out for us the Sea of Galilee in the distance, and it was like, welcome to the land of the Bible. That was awesome. But there's something even more awesome than that. What's more awesome than that, and what's more sobering than that, is to walk into the church. You say, this church, the local church? Yes. And it has nothing to do with bricks and mortar, as Don Rowe, one of our previous pastors, made sure we never forgot. And I have to add, because of technology, the church, the local church, Calvary Baptist Church, the church at Ephesus, was not about not only bricks and mortar, but it was also not about a website and livestream. You say, what do you mean by that? Well, look at verse 15. In case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in, and he gives three pictures that Paul wants tattooed to your mind regarding the local church you are all in. He says, I want you to know how to conduct himself in the household of God, that's number one, which is the, number two, church of the living God, Number three, the pillar and the support of the truth. Your point of view of your local church is to be clear-headed. What are these three? Well, first of all, the household of God. You know what this speaks of? This speaks of relationship. It's the household of God. He's not saying this is the house of God. God lives near the stage somewhere when you're not here on Monday. This isn't a sanctuary. It's not a holy of holies. This is real estate with brick and mortar and carpet. But when we are together as representing a local expression of the body of Christ, this, you, are the household of God, the family of God. It speaks of relationship. And the focus here, you can summarize the focus with this. There's one father and one family. That's it. That's what a household of God, that's the weight that that title carries. There's no such thing. in the family of God as an outlier. Spiritually speaking, there's one father, one family, no room for individualism. You say, well, if this is God's family, that makes him our father, right? Right. Well, what does a father do? What do we expect? What can we expect with great joy from a good father in our family? Well, a father creates the family. A father sets the standard. A father makes the rules. A good father provides for needs. A good father polices the relationships within that family. A good father disciplines when needed, and a good father protects from enemies. Would you agree with me on that? Great. That's the Lord's Prayer. Our Father in heaven, holy be your name. He sets the standard. Your kingdom come, you rule. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, he provides. Help us to forgive as we've been forgiven, he polices relationships. Do not lead us into testing, he corrects us when needed. But deliver us from the evil one, he protects from our enemies. Paul had already written to the same church. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, get this, and are of God's household. He'd already used this language with them. What's the ungodly antithesis to this? This household of God, this thing of relationships, the ungodly antithesis is someone who says, this is my church. This is my church. And if I'm not happy, I'm not going to let anyone else be happy until everyone realizes that my opinion is the greatest and my influence is the strongest. No, it's a family. And whatever you say, if you're in the part of the body that's not the hedge, you're not in charge. It's not your church. It's the household of God. And I just have to give a loving pastor a warning here. to all of us. Families, since that's what we are, don't break up easily because of boredom. We don't break up easily because of ambition for the spotlight, or competition with other churches, or differences that exist between us as family members, or tiffs that come up between us. Families don't break up for that kind of stuff. It's a household of God. But the second part of this, he calls the church, the gathered church, the church of the living God. Did you see that in verse 15? The church of the living God. If the household of God is focused on relationship, this one's focused on lordship. It's his church. The one he purchased with the blood of his own, Acts chapter 20. If the household of God speaks of one father and one family, the church of the living God focuses on one creator and one king. This is a God who is not inactive in our midst as a church when we're gathered to worship and when we're scattered into the community. He is still at work in us. I've only been back in town one week. Here's what's happened backstage at our church since I got back in the office this past Tuesday. There have been two deaths affecting people in our church. Both have had their unique challenges. There have been two pregnancy procedures. There have been four surgical procedures. There has been already a lot of biblical counseling, individual cases. There has been one of our widows in a significant crisis. There is a family still crawling out from the aftermath of a house fire where more than just things were lost. There have been some that have faced cancer tests since Tuesday. There have been no less than eight marriages actively seeking to strengthen themselves through counseling or small group since Tuesday. Eight. There has been the ramping up for a major evangelism effort. There has been a large group of ladies in our church orchestrating a way to be a blessing to one of our missionary wives. And that's just since Tuesday. I got a little nervous when the phone rang by Friday. But every time I texted someone, every time I got on the phone with someone, or in some cases did a visit, you know what I found out? That since Tuesday, you had already gone into action. Without someone waiting for a program to be announced. This church family had already been there. And I push my chair back from the desk every once in a while and say, God, you are living and you are here. This is your body and the work's getting done. And I just have to say again, it's awesome to be able to be backstage and watch this. This is indeed the church of the living God. Paul had already said this to the believers at Ephesus in Ephesus chapter 4 verse 16. Remember these words? From whom, Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. You want to know what the ungodly antithesis is to this? The ungodly antithesis to this lordship is to say it's my will that's important. The house of God becomes something that can be infected with people that say it's my church. The church of the living God can become infected with people that insist it's my will. And number three, it's called the pillar and the support of the truth. We have to have the right point of view here. The pillar and support of the truth. You see that? That one speaks of discipleship. Discipleship. Or you could summarize the focus for this one as there's one message and one mission. We have the truth in scripture, and our mission is to post it, which they would often do on pillars in the architecture of that day, public pillars. We have the unquestionable truth of the living God in our Bible, in this church, and in the body of Christ. If you have to look anywhere, and the created cosmos, I saw, I get astronomy, they're evolutionary usually, but I get astronomy emails, because I like the pictures. And one of the lead articles that I read this morning, the headline was, oh, the cosmos are much bigger than we ever anticipated. They're saying that in 2025, in July. I'm like, duh. You should see the creator who's above creation. But if you have to look anywhere in the created cosmos for the fully revealed truth of God that man must know, you'll find it in the treasure chest of the church. Expository preaching, biblical counseling, systematic theology. The church is a steward of this. These are the foundations we have to recommit to, commit afresh to, if we need to fix ungodliness. But there's a third one. Your focus on Christology. Christology, the doctrine of Christ. Your focus on Christology is to be unflinching. Absolutely unflinching. Read verse 16 with me. By common confession, Great is the, and this is an interesting phrase, the mystery of godliness. You ever wonder what that meant? And we all know that what's coming up, these six lines, are most likely a part of a creedal hymn that was known at that time by the Ephesians. But what's this phrase, the mystery of godliness? By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. You know what I find in my own experience and talking to other Christians? They have no idea what the mystery of godliness is, why it's coming up here, and why the hymn thing now. Is he done and he's filling up space before he starts chapter four? No, I resubmit to you again that verses 14 to 16 is the core of this epistle. He's been building to every word of this. He's saying, I believe your focus on Christology is to be unflinching if you want to reclaim godliness in your church. It says, by common confession. This is a word in the Greek that just means, as Cleon Rogers says, this is talking about common consent. This is a unanimous conviction. Or, as I just said, this is the core. It's right here. I'm getting ready to announce it, Paul says. Everyone understands this, in essence. Everyone who's of the truth, the pillar in support of the truth, knows what I'm getting ready to say is true. He says, the mystery of godliness. The word mystery here is a truth that was unknown in the Old Testament until it was known in the New Testament. It's important that you take that word mystery and keep it connected to the church at Ephesus. Why? Because Paul had already been talking a lot about mysteries when he wrote Ephesians. He talked of the mystery at Ephesians 1, 9, chapters 3, verses 1 through 9, chapter 5, verse 32, and chapter 6, verse 19. He's dropping mysteries. He's saying, this is what something means that you never realized before. And here he's dropping another one on them, the mystery of godliness. What is the mystery of godliness? Well, what have we been talking about? What needed to be reclaimed in the church at Ephesus? Godliness. And he's saying, you want to know what's behind true godliness? I'm going to reveal that to you right now. And it's a person. Even more, it's a doctrine, a precise doctrine about the person and work of Jesus. That's what's behind the godliness that needs to be reclaimed at your church. The centerpiece is Christ. Our creed explains our conduct, doesn't it? Our doctrine explains our deportment. Our belief explains our behavior. Our centerpiece explains our certainty. What's primary here in godliness is Christ. What's secondary is our Christlikeness as a result of the primary. This verse is truly, I agree with the scholars, they say this is a centerpiece in the sense that it's a creedal hymn. But some authors convincingly argue in my mind that Paul composed this hymn and was reminding them of what he'd already taught them before, or it could be that he is has created it for the purpose of this letter, 2nd Ephesians, because they needed to tighten down the screws on their Christology. Fix that, you fix the church. If this is Paul, by the way, writing this, if he's the author of this creedal hymn, he's practicing what he preaches, isn't he? Because not only did he say in Ephesians 5, 18 through 19, We grow together with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. But he says in the sister letter of Ephesians, which we call Colossians, in Colossians 3.16, you teach through music. Teaching one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Regardless, Paul is putting his finger on six Christ truths that we must white knuckle in the local church. The first one, letter A, is the incarnation of Jesus. He was vindicated in the spirit. He was revealed in the flesh. Excuse me. He was revealed in the flesh. We know that. He is referring to Jesus, but prior to his incarnation as the second person of the Godhead, he was spirit. And he, God, was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ At the incarnation, he was revealed in the flesh. John 14, 9, he who has seen me, Jesus said, has seen the Father. John 1, 14, John writes the word, Jesus became flesh, and he dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, just chock full of grace and truth. And Paul, of course, would say in Colossians 115, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. This starts all Christology statements, the God becoming man, the incarnation of Jesus Christ. But secondly, there's the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It says here in the next line, he was vindicated or justified, if you will, in the spirit, proven that he was God. You say, well, how does that mean? Well, I hold this to be the Spirit of God. Some people take it to mean both the Spirit and just the Spirit of Jesus testifying to Himself that He's God. I take, I leave it capitalized. I'm talking the Holy Spirit here. Because through His entire earthly ministry, He was performing miracles, acts of authority and signs. He would command storms and disease and demons. So much so that the Pharisees said he does the work by Satan himself. When in reality, the Spirit was doing this work through Christ. And ultimately, the ultimate vindication that Jesus was the Christ and is the Christ was in his resurrection. of which the Holy Spirit was centerpiece. In Romans 1, verse 4, he declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 8-11, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. Thirdly, as we continue on with this hymn, we see the affirmation of Jesus Christ. The affirmation of Jesus Christ, it's just that little phrase, seen by angels. You say, well, is that the fallen angels or the elect angels, the holy angels? And the answer is yes. If you read what Paul had already written in Ephesians 3, verse 10, that the excellencies and the victories of Christ seen in his church is on display for all powers and principalities in the heavenly places. That's the holy and the unholy angels. see the triumph of Christ in his church. I believe in 1 Peter 3, verses 20-22, after Christ conquered the grave, he preached to the angels that are incarcerated, that have fallen. But also the holy angels. Again, they're included in Ephesians 3.10. Peter says in 1 Peter 1.12, the holy angels lean in to all these details that are written about Jesus. We see the holy angels in Luke 22 ministering to him in the Garden of Gethsemane. We see the holy angels in chapter 24 verses four through seven of Luke at the resurrection and the empty tomb. We see the angels present in Acts chapter one as Christ ascends bodily into heaven and the angels are there with the disciples. He is Lord. Fourthly, we see in this hymn the proclamation of Jesus. The proclamation of Jesus. It says proclaimed among the nations. That particular word is ethnos. On display here is what Paul had already put on display in the first 10 verses or so of chapter two of first Timothy. The Gentiles are included in this. The false teachers don't like hearing that. But Jesus is to be proclaimed to all nations, including Gentiles, no matter what these Jewish myths are teaching differently. Number five, there's the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. He's believed on in the world. What does that mean? It means exactly what Luke records from Acts chapter four as Peter preaches, there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Paul says, we proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man. Colossians 1. Jew and Gentile alike have only one hope of eternal life, and it's the exclusivity of Jesus Christ, not the law, not a holy person who's popular. We're talking about Jesus, the Son of God. You say, is it working? Well, we know from Revelation 5-9 that at the end, there's gonna be a great crowd. in the presence of the lamb, in the presence of God, from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. The exclusivity, they all had to come through Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. When number six, it says, taken up in glory, what's this? This talks of the exaltation of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter one, verse nine, he's taken into heaven bodily. And Stephen, in Acts chapter seven, verse 56, as he's being stoned, sees him there at the father's right hand, standing. Paul says, in Philippians chapter two, verses eight through 11, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that he is Lord. The exaltation of Christ. That's Christology. Now listen. These six truths are the core of the local church. Everything leads to Christ. In the face of Christ, we see the glory of the Father, and all promises come from Christ. So someone in Ephesus or at Ypsilanti may object at this point and say, well, what do you mean that's the mystery of godliness? You can't explain the church any other way but that there is a God-man, Jesus Christ, He came and died and rose again. And even the unseen realm testifies to this. And it's Him and His sacrifice that is proclaimed to Jew and Gentile alike. And from those who enter exclusively through Christ, He is building His church that will be exalted with Him someday. That's the core of the local church. And someone says, well, I'm still not sure that ungodliness can really be driven out of a church like Ephesus. I struggle that a church like Calvary could get rid of ungodliness and be restored to what they should be. Listen, there is a Christ who gives six reasons why it can be godly and why it must be godly. That's what drives godliness. the correct doctrine of Jesus. So like I said at the beginning, right doctrine yields right living. Wrong doctrine yields wrong living. These three verses are the core of this epistle and the core of the local church, the pinnacle, the turning point. Because in order to fix what you're missing, you have to change what you're believing. You have to commit afresh to these three foundational realities, then and now. Your level of engagement is to be all in. Your point of view is to be clear-headed. Your focus on Christology is to be unflinching. Say, what do I do with this? What do I do with this paragraph? I'll write a prescription for you, for us. This is prescriptions for recovering the core. Number one, an honest inventory. Not for you to judge the church, to set yourself above the church and judge the church. You're part of this church. You judge yourself. Are you part of a growing ungodliness in this church as we saw in Ephesus? Then repent. We repent corporately, we repent privately. You need to conduct an honest inventory, draw a circle around your feet, and start the inventory inside that circle. Number two, not just an honest inventory, but a daily ingestion. A daily ingestion. See, what do you mean by that? I remember I was at a Shepard's conference. This was a while back. It was when R.C. Sproul was still with us. And it was John MacArthur, I believe Piper might have been there for this one, R.C. Sproul. I have to check if it was the same one, but I've heard all three of these men say this at different Shepherds conferences, and they said this. When asked during Q&A times about their favorite part of the scripture to read, they all first joke and tell us we're not supposed to have a favorite part, but they all had the same answer. They got around to the same answer, and it's this. They all said, and I'll put it in my words, I can't read the Gospels enough. I finish reading the Gospels, and I can't wait to start again. And they're nodding with each other and saying, yeah, I mean, we read the whole Bible. We treasure the whole Bible. But the Gospels are calling us back, because we want to know Jesus more. We want to know the person and work of Christ more and more. And as we read the Gospels, then that makes us hungry, as the Old Testament is pointing to this Messiah that we're getting to know, and the rest of the New Testament is explaining him and anticipating his return. I want to know Jesus. I want to build the muscle of my Christology. Read the Gospels. There needs to be a daily ingestion of the Gospels. It'll open up the rest of Scriptures for you. But what else? There's an honest inventory, a daily ingestion, and finally a deeper investment. A deeper investment in the local church. It's a body. Well, one of the visits I was able to conduct this week was at Glacier Hills Rehab. Pastor Michael wanted to go with me. And you know who I was going to visit, Martha Law, who usually sits right over here. Martha's been having a rough outing lately. We love her, but her physical challenges can be significant. So we visited with her. She was eating spaghetti when we walked in and had nothing but glowing reviews for that meal. She preached a sermon to us, it was an impromptu one, and I gotta say, it was pretty good. Exchanged appropriate sugar. And then I said, well, I wanna pray, I'm gonna ask Pastor Michael to pray in a minute, but can I just read to you what I'm gonna read and preach on this coming Sunday at Calvary, and it's these three verses. She says, sure, she closed her eyes, put her head back, and I read these three verses to her. And I no sooner had finished the last line of that creedal hymn, and her head came off the headrest, but her eyes were still closed, and she says, huh, and this is a quote, because I wrote it down outside her room. If you got lost, you just have to look at the map. When it comes to the church, listen to the Puritan Martha Law. If we got lost, we just have to look at the map. Father, thank you for this map and the clarity with which you pursued the church at Ephesus with fervency through a letter, and this letter reaches to us today. Individually and corporately, we want godliness to be fully inflated in our church and supportive of all that we're doing. But it's not just something we put on stoically. It grows out of a rich Christology. A Christology that will be assailed by doctrines in churches like ours in the passing of time. Help us to take false teaching that assails the person of Christ in the gospel. Help us to take those threats seriously. And help us to have a clear-headed view of this church that we say we're part of. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.