Christ, the Center of All God’s Truth

Transcript

GR 1270
4/18/2004
Christ, the Center of All God’s Truth
1 Timothy 3:16
Gil Rugh


I want to direct you in your Bibles to I Timothy 3. I must say when we came to Easter I thought for the first time in my ministry, I believe, we came to the exact passage that just fit that day. In fact for some time I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could plan my sermons so that we would get to I Timothy 3:16, and we did. And I didn’t preach it. But we’re going to cover it today. Great simple truths, and yet truths of great depth that summarize what the church’s ministry of truth is all about.

Paul has been writing to Timothy about what is the appropriate conduct for the people of God. I Timothy 3:15, writing so that believers might know how they should conduct themselves, how they should behave, how they should live as members of God’s family, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. The letter about our conduct as God’s people, not only within the confines of what we call the church building, not only dealing with what takes place in church meetings, so to speak, but how we live as the body of Christ. We are God’s family wherever we are, wherever we go. We are part of the body of Christ in all that we do. So there is appropriate behavior and conduct and there is inappropriate behavior, as God addresses these issues for His family.

He has said that the Church, His family, is the pillar and support of the truth. The Church is about the truth. We must expect that because God Himself is truth. In fact Paul wrote to Titus in a letter similar to what he is writing to Timothy, and in Titus 1:2 he referred to the God who cannot lie. God can only tell the truth, everything He says is true and settled and sure. The Church is the pillar and support of the truth because the Church belongs to God. It’s a manifestation of his character, His purposes. Now all truth revealed in scripture centers in the person and work of Jesus Christ. That’s why John wrote in his gospel in John 1:17, the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. That does not mean that there wasn’t truth before Jesus Christ came to the earth. It doesn’t mean there wasn’t grace before Jesus Christ came to the earth. But the full manifestation of truth, the fullest display of God’s grace, center in Jesus Christ.

Turn over to the book of Hebrews in your Bible. You’re in Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, Philemon and you’ll run right into Hebrews. And the writer to the Hebrews is going to demonstrate through this extensive letter the superiority of Jesus Christ to everything associated with Judaism and particularly the Old Testament law, the Mosaic law, or the Mosaic covenant. Note how the letter begins. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets, in many portions, in many ways. So in past history God had spoken using the prophets as His mouthpiece. In these last days He has spoken to us in a Son, a vastly superior form of revelation. The prophets indeed were God’s spokesmen, but now God speaks through the one who is His very Son. And so you understand the vast difference between the Son and the prophets. He is the One whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. He is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature. And He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Keep that in mind. That will come up in our passage in Timothy. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He is enthroned in glory, and He’s much better than the angels, he goes on to say in verse 4. The superiority of Jesus Christ--because He is God’s Son and all the truth of Scripture finds its focus in Jesus Christ. All the truths revealed from Genesis through Revelation find their center in Jesus Christ, His person and His work.

Come back to I Timothy. This is the heart of the truth that the Church has to proclaim—we proclaim Christ, who He is and what He has done. Paul has already referred to this in this letter. In I Timothy 1:15 Paul wrote, it is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Look in chapter 2 verse 3, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all. The testimony to be born at the proper time.

So the Church is the pillar and support of the truth, according to I Timothy 3:15. And the heart of the truth, the foundation for all other truth that God reveals is the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. What Paul is going to do now is give a concise summary in six simple statements of the truth concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is something that everyone who is a member of God’s family, who is part of the church of the living God must agree to and confess. These aren’t complicated things, they’re overwhelming in their simplicity. And yet looked at in another way, they are inexhaustible in their expanse. I’m amazed as I walk through the truths presented in verse 16 how simple they are, how clearly and concisely they’re stated, and yet we could spend an endless amount of time plumbing the depths of them.

In reality, all of scripture expands the summary we have in verse 16. So we want to be sure we have this clear—this is what the Church stands for. You say oh well, then, we just have verse 16, we could leave the rest. No, remember the rest of scripture expands and explains and goes into detail on the marvelous truth that we have condensed here. The rest of scripture would be empty, if you will, if it were not for verse 16. There would be no salvation without these truths.

Look at verse 16, by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. By common confession. Here is something we all agree on. When he says by common confession, he means by common confession among all those who are part of God’s family, all of those who are part of the Church of the living God. Not all of those who attend church, but remember the true church of the living God is comprised of those who are really part of His family. You become part of His family by being born into His family through faith in His Son. We are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, scripture tells us. And everyone who is truly part of God’s family must agree on these truths. If you don’t agree to these things, you are not saved, you are not a member of God’s family; you are not a member of the Church of the living God. No matter what church you belong to, you don’t belong to the Church of the living God if you don’t give assent and agree with this truth.

By common confession great is the mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of godliness. He talks about this is not a great mystery that’s hard to understand, it’s great in the sense it is magnificent, it is wonderful; it is sublime; it is of tremendous importance. Great is the mystery of godliness. The word mystery means something that could not be understood apart from revelation from God. It remains hidden until God makes it known. He’s talking about the mystery of godliness. He talks about the mystery of the faith in verse 9--look up at verse 9. Talking about deacons and their qualifications, they must be men holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. The mystery of the faith was the truth that God had revealed concerning His Son, which we must believe. It’s the same as the mystery of godliness in verse 16. The mystery of godliness is the truth that God has revealed concerning His Son that produces the character of God in the life of the one who believes in His Son. When we are born again, we become partakers of the divine nature, as Peter wrote. That does not mean we become God, but we become partakers of God’s character, His holiness, His righteousness, and so on. They become part of our lives, we are born into His family, just like human children born to human parents, partake of their character, their nature, their being. So we see God producing His character in us. That’s why I John 3 says, you can tell the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. The children of the devil practice sin; the children of God practice righteousness. John says it’s not so difficult; it’s rather obvious. The children of God and the children of the devil are obvious.

So the mystery of godliness is the revelation God has given concerning His salvation, which when a life is changed by the power of God, produces the character of God. So it is the mystery of godliness. By common confession great is the mystery of godliness. What is the content of that mystery?

That’s the rest of verse 16. Six lines. Most commentators take it to be an old hymn or a fragment of a hymn, because it has a rhythmic character about it; there is a balance in the expression. There are not simply just six simple statements, but there are statements that have order; they have rhythm; there is balance to them. I want to read you how they sound in Greek. And I want you to listen for the repetition of they—thay. It’s like our “they,” which is a soft “th,” but we want to make it hard like “thick.” They. You’ll hear all six verbs, the six verbs in verse 16—revealed, vindicated, seen, proclaimed, believed, taken—all end with the sound thay. Five of the six have the preposition on. You’ll hear it, we would bring it over into English—en. It means in or by. So listen to the sound, you get the idea why they say that this is probably a hymn. It has a poetic nature about it. And you could follow. The first will start with revealed in. The next verb in Greek has that same sound, as do the others. You see that repetition of thay? Each of these verbs with the preposition. And so this truth has been put in this rhythmic pattern.

There is also contrast drawn. You’ll note each of these six lines seems to contrast with pairs. He was revealed in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit—the contrast with flesh and Spirit. Seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations. The contrast with the angels and the nations. Believed on in the world, taken up in glory. The contrast with the realm of the world and the realm of glory. And whether Paul put this together or others had, the truth concerning Christ had been put together in this concise summary. Remember when they got done meeting together and being taught the Word of God, every believer didn’t have the privilege of taking a Bible home with him. They would come and meet together and they would have a copy of Paul’s letter and someone would be reading it to them; they’d be elaborating on it. And so here you have a nice, concise way with a rhythm and form in it that would help fix these basic truths in people’s minds, give them anchors to which the rest of the things that are being taught can be tied.

There are different ways people look at these lines. I’ve mentioned the three contrasting pairs. Some look at them differently, I won’t go into the different views. I’ll just give you the one I hold, and we assume it’s correct. But if you look at commentaries on this, they’ll give you some variations. Some think just six lines, don’t see the contrast that I’ve mentioned. Some divide it into two stanzas, the first three lines—revealed in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels—that was the earthly pattern of Christ’s life culminating with seen by angels. Then the second part, the result of the work of Christ— proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. So He was revealed in the flesh; He was proclaimed among the nations, vindicated in the Spirit, believed in the world, seen by angels, taken up in glory. They see a parallel there. And of course I think there is truth in that parallel. Whichever way you like to divide it up, you’re going to come to the same basic position on the truths that are revealed here. And that’s what I want to walk through with you.

We need to be clear on this because the Church is the pillar and support of these truths. And you’ll note the context, why Paul brings it in here. When we move into chapter 4 you know what the Holy Spirit has to say? The Church is going to begin to depart from these truths, they’re going to begin to follow the teachings of men. And it’s important as we’ll see in I Timothy 4:6 that the people of God be nourished on the words of the faith and sound doctrine, and look out, avoid, the fables created by people’s thinking.

This line begins rather abruptly. He who was revealed in the flesh. It really flows out of, we’re talking about the mystery of godliness which refers to the Church being the pillar and support of the truth. We’re talking about Jesus Christ. All of these verbs are in the aorist tense, which simply states that something happened. Often this tense is used for past events. But the aorist tense just states the facts of something happening, and then you have the preposition “on.” We have it translated in, or among, when it says proclaimed. But it denotes the sphere in which something took place, the realm in which something occurred. So we’re referring to Christ, He’s the antecedent here, the reference of He who. The word can begin just abruptly, who was revealed in the flesh, referring clearly to the incarnation of Christ. He was revealed, manifested in the flesh. It doesn’t just refer to His birth at Bethlehem, that’s when His humanity began. But when it says
He was revealed in the flesh, that would encompass all of His earthly life. He was manifested in the flesh. It had its beginning, obviously, with His birth at Bethlehem. He didn’t begin at Bethlehem, but is being manifested among humanity and is part of humanity, had its beginning at Bethlehem. But it encompasses His whole earthly life.
He was manifested in the flesh.

This same verb translated revealed, manifested, appeared, is used of Christ a number of times in the New Testament, and it connects with His becoming human and the purpose of His work. Listen to Hebrews 9:26, now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested. There’s our verb. He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He has been manifested, and that word implies His prior existence. Robert Thomas, some of you are familiar with Robert Thomas, says that this looks at His unveiling of a previous existence. This verb used in the passive voice as we have in all of these verbs always implies that. So here He was manifested. He existed always, but He has become manifested. John 1:1 says, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. So when you get to the beginning, the Word already was, Jesus Christ was already in existence. Then John 1:14 says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Same idea. I Peter 1:20 uses this word, He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared. There’s our word. Has been revealed in these last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God.

Turn to the back of your New Testament to I John 3, just before the book of Revelation at the end of your New Testament. And the two references I want to note with you in I John 3 use the same verb we’re talking about in I Timothy 3:16. In fact, they use it in the same form, in the same voice—aorist passive. I John 3:5, you know that He appeared. There’s our verb. He was revealed in order to take away sin. Why did the Son of God step from glory and become humanity? He appeared to take away sin. Look at verse 8, the middle of the verse, the Son of God appeared, was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Keep that in mind—destroy the works of the devil. We’ll find in the summary we have, he appeared to angels, and that will include the fallen angels as well. So you see that emphasis on He appeared, and He appeared for a specific purpose—to be the Redeemer.

Come back to I Timothy 3. You have a very concise statement here that is elaborated in the rest of scripture. He was revealed in the flesh. You say we have to explain He was revealed. That carries the concept of His prior existence as the Son of God who came to earth. Why? Well He was revealed to deal with sin, He was revealed to deal with the devil. But here we have just the concise statement—He was revealed in the flesh. Foundation to everything. There would be no salvation if it were not for the fact that Jesus Christ had become a man. This will be developed as we move along.

The second line—He was vindicated in the Spirit. The word vindicated, declared righteous, manifested to be surely who and what He claimed to be—the Son of God. He was vindicated in the Spirit. You see the contrast. He was manifested in the realm of the flesh, in the realm of humanity. He became a human being. But He was vindicated in the realm of the Spirit. There is some discussion whether this refers to Christ’s own divine Spirit or the work of the Holy Spirit. Both are true. I take it the work of the Holy Spirit in vindicating Him which focuses on His resurrection from the dead, was also at the same time a vindication that He was who He claimed to be—the Son of God, God in the flesh. So we come to the same point.

Back up to Romans 1. There are many references that could be connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a demonstration of who Christ is. That’s the capstone, if you will, of His person and His work. Paul begins this letter saying in verse 1, he had been set apart for the gospel of God. This is the gospel that had been promised by the prophets in the Old Testament scriptures. It concerns His Son who was a descendant of David according to the flesh. Physically, humanly, Jesus Christ was of the line of David. But note then verse 4, He was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see the work of the Spirit in bringing Jesus Christ alive from the dead demonstrated Him to be, declared Him to be, the Son of God. So He had come in the flesh as humanity, as a descendant of David, to be the Savior by suffering and dying on the cross. And He was declared to be the Son of God, with power, by the resurrection from the dead, brought about by the Spirit of holiness, the Holy Spirit. So you see both His divine Spirit is vindicated as the Son of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit is involved in that. So the contrast between the realm of the flesh and humanity and the realm of the Spirit tie together the resurrection. Absolutely essential. He was vindicated, shown to be righteous, shown to be who He claimed to be by the work of the Spirit in raising Him from the dead.

While you’re in Romans come to chapter 8 verse 11. I just selected these two verses out of Romans, so we don’t take time going many places. Romans 8:11, but it’s the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead that 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. So you see that sovereign work of God. Accomplished through the ministry of the Spirit in the life of Christ will also be accomplished in us as a result of our identification with Christ. For the salvation we receive in Him includes the glorification of these bodies, accomplished by the Spirit. So He was vindicated in the Spirit and in the realm of the Spirit and the Spirit’s work. There is no doubt Who it is. So we start out by talking about what? The incarnation and then the next line has His exaltation, His resurrection in glory. You say, well that’s a really concise summary. But as we saw we talked about His being manifested in the flesh. That brings the fact that He existed prior to this, but now is being manifest for a purpose in the flesh, to take away sins. And He’s vindicated in the realm of the Spirit, and the resurrection demonstrates that His work of redemption was complete and final. The end of Romans 4 tells us, He was raised because of our justification, Romans 4:25. The seal on His person and His work declares He is the Son of God. It declares the work of redemption is done. These first two lines bring great truths, bring us the gospel in summary, if you will.

Come back to I Timothy 3. We’re then told He was seen by angels. I think it’s important we see the contrast between He was seen by angels and the next line—He was proclaimed among the nations. He was seen by angels. I take it this follows the order of His earthly ministry, His resurrection, He was beheld by the angels. Go back to Ephesians. Remember Timothy is at Ephesus, the church at Ephesus, when Paul wrote the letter called I Timothy. Prior to that Paul had written to the Ephesians directly, and that’s what we have in the letter to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 1, we have to break into a long sentence here. Verse 19 talks about the working of the strength of His might, God’s strength and might. Verse 20--which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies. Keep that in mind, we’re going to get that included here in a moment. Note this now, for above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but in the one to come. That includes all angelic beings. So when He was raised from the dead, all the angelic host beheld Him, whether they were fallen angels or not.

Turn to Colossians—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Colossians 2:13, when you were dead in your transgressions, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven all our transgressions. How did He do this? Verse 14, by dying on the cross.
And the sins for which I was held accountable and guilty before a holy God, were the very ones nailed to His cross. Remember Pilate? Nailed to the cross of Christ, King of the Jews. That’s why he as the representative of the Roman Empire was crucifying Jesus. He claimed to be the King of the Jews. But why was Christ hanging on the cross? Here we’re told, verse 14, all that was against us, which was hostile to us, He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to His cross, the end of verse 14. Why was Christ dying? There are the sins of Gil Rugh nailed there. He’s taking my place, paying my penalty. Look at verse 15, when He had disarmed the rulers and authorities He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. That’s referring to fallen angels, Satan and his hosts experienced defeat. Remember we read in I John 3:5, He was manifested to take away sins. I John 3:8, He was manifested to do away with the works of the devil. That’s why in John 12 as Jesus concludes His earthly ministry, John 13 moves us to the last night of Christ with His disciples. In John 12 Jesus says, now the prince of this world is judged. His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection would bring Satan and his work to judgment. So He was seen by angels. As a result of His resurrection, the holy angels beheld His victory. The fallen angels saw their crushing defeat, that redemption was provided for sinful humanity.

Come back to I Timothy 3. I think the contrast is clear. He was seen by angels, but He was proclaimed among the nations. The angels witnessed His victory over sin, over Satan, over the world, but there was no provision for angels to enter into His victory. So they beheld Him, but the message of redemption was not proclaimed for them. He was proclaimed among the nations. His death on the cross was a provision for humanity. Hebrews 2:14-18 said that Christ became a human being to be the Savior of humanity. And it makes a very important point there. He did not take upon Himself the nature of angels so that He could be a Savior of angels. When the angels rebelled against God and followed Satan, their doom for eternity was settled. There is no provision for an angel who sinned against God to be redeemed and forgiven. The only provision for fallen angels is eternal hell. For you see a holy God is not obligated to provide salvation for sinful beings, He is only obligated to deal with them according to His holiness, His righteousness, and His justice. God is not obligated to save you and me, not obligated to provide salvation for sinful human beings. That’s why it’s by mercy and grace that salvation has been provided. Why did He send His Son to become a human being and not an angel? Because as the sovereign God He determined to do that. There is no other answer. He counseled with Himself and did it.

And so the message of salvation was proclaimed among the nations. Remember in Matthew 28 Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all the people, all the nations, people everywhere. There is only one Savior. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, Acts 4 tells us. But it’s Jesus Christ; it’s for each person, whatever their nationality, wherever they live, whoever they are. There is a Savior for humanity, but only one. But that’s all that’s needed.

Look back in Luke 24, the end of the gospel of Luke. Jesus is meeting with His disciples following His resurrection, and He’s explaining the Old Testament scriptures to them, according to Luke 24:45. Verse 46, He said to them, thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day. Then what? That repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning with Jerusalem. Proclaimed to all the nations; that includes the nation Israel. That’s where it will start, but it’s going out from there to all the nations. You’ll note repentance for forgiveness of sins is not proclaimed to the angels, because there is no provision for repentance and forgiveness of sins for angels. But it is proclaimed among all the nations. The angels beheld Him, His resurrection in glory. The demonic beings experience the impact of His victory, the sealing of their doom, and the provision of salvation from their grasp. But the proclamation of salvation is for the nations and the salvation of the world.

Come back to I Timothy 3. In I Timothy 2 we read where God had made this provision. I Timothy 2:4, God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So what did He do? He made a provision of a mediator. There is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all. See that’s what a sinner needs for salvation—a ransom, someone to pay his price, the penalty for sin, to take his place. You’ll note what Paul says in I Timothy 2:7, for this I was appointed a preacher, a herald. This is what is proclaimed or heralded among the nations, and I’m one of those heralds, I’m one of those proclaimers, Paul said. I was appointed one to proclaim this truth among the Gentiles. So we say He was proclaimed among the nations, it is the proclamation of His finished work, the proclamation of His person; it’s a proclamation of His work.

What is the impact? Believed on in the world, believed on in the world. Paul has already given his own testimony regarding this. We read it in I Timothy 1:15, it’s a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. I believed in Him and He saved me. He was believed on in the world. Listen to I Corinthians 1:21, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message proclaimed to save those who believe. God was well pleased through the foolishness (as the world looks at it, this is foolishness), believing that a man who suffered and died on the cross, paid the penalty for our sins, stupidity, moronic. But God was well pleased. The message that the world looks at as foolishness is to save the people who believe that message when it is proclaimed.

That’s God’s plan of salvation. He’s believed on in the world, He’s taken up in glory. You say wait a minute, now we’re out of sequence. Taken up in glory and that verb is translated taken up usually when it’s referring to Christ, it’s referring to His ascension in Acts 1. And I think that’s the beginning here. But just like we started out, He was revealed in the flesh. That wasn’t limited just to His birth at Bethlehem. That encompasses His whole life on earth. So He was taken up in glory. Well the beginning of that is Acts 1, but where is He today? Is He not seated at the right hand of the Father in glory?

Turn to John 17. We read Ephesians 1:20-23 where Christ had been raised up and exalted in glory. Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that God has given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In John 17, this is the conclusion of Jesus’ time with His disciples. In John 18 He will be betrayed by Judas. John 17--Jesus prays to His Father--lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father the hour is come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you gave Me to do. Now Father, glorify Me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. You see He was taken up in glory, and that’s where He is today; that’s the realm of His existence today, while He is being proclaimed in the world. And He was proclaimed in the world, but that proclamation continues today. You and I are saved today, why? We heard the proclamation, and we believed on Him in the world. So when it says they believed on Him in the world, that wasn’t limited to just that past time. That is stating a fact, and that is ongoing. What is going on in the world today? People are believing in Him. But the contrast here, this is what is going on in the world and He is enthroned in glory. And there is a completion.

We started out in the first line, He was manifested in the flesh, and we conclude, He is taken up in glory, returned to the glory that was His before He was manifested in the flesh. Restore to Me the glory which I had with you before the world was. A tremendous truth, summarized so concisely, the truth entrusted to the church, elaborated in great detail from Genesis to Revelation, but here concisely presented. The Son of God became a man, became part of humanity to be the Savior of humanity. He is demonstrated to be the Son of God who would accomplish the work of salvation by His resurrection from the dead. It happened in the realm of the work of the Holy Spirit and the demonstration of His divine character.

He was beheld by angels, but the message of salvation was proclaimed among the nations. We ought to be eternally grateful. Why would God provide salvation for us, and not provide it for the angels? What a tragedy that people would reject the salvation that this eternal God provided for them at such great cost. He was proclaimed among the nations. That proclamation continues right down to today as we proclaim that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sin and He was raised in victory. He was believed on in the world. Right down to this very moment people who believe on Him experience His salvation. This is what’s going on in the realm of the world today. This is the day of salvation. You understand there are no second chances after this life. People like to write fantasies, they like to create their own ideas, their own religions, their own gods. The one true and living God tells us how it is. He can be believed on in the world. There will be no salvation after this life. Praise God He is being believed on. The multitude of people reject Him, but by God’s grace there are some who believe, and they continue right down to this day; some believe the message proclaimed. And we do this serving a Savior who dwells in the realm of glory, seated at the right hand of His Father, making intercession for us. Each of these lines, we could go on and do a study that would extend indefinitely. The work of Christ in glory, presently representing us, presently preparing a place for us, presently preparing to come again and so on.

He dwells in glory. That’s the truth the Church is entrusted with. How sad that our next study will have to focus on the fact that the Spirit clearly speaks to the fact that the Church will abandon this truth in the latter days. The Church will give up the truth that God has revealed to follow the fables and myths of men. How tragic, how sad. Two things we need to be sure as a Church, we are anchored and settled in the truth. You need to be sure as an individual that your faith is in the truth that God has revealed. There is no salvation in attending this church, there is no salvation in having godly parents. There is only salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. This is a truth this Church must stand for, must defend, must preach. It’s the truth entrusted to our care.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the glorious truth concerning your Son. Thank you for the simplicity and clarity of this truth. And yet, Lord, we spend our whole lives plumbing the depths of this truth. We are in awe of the love, the mercy, the grace that you have manifested to fallen, sinful human beings. We are in awe of the greatness, the wonder, the beauty, how sublime this mystery of godliness is. Thank you, Lord, that we as the Church of Jesus Christ are entrusted with this truth to be faithful to it, to proclaim it, to live it because we have believed it. I pray this truth will grip each heart here today, that they might know the wonder of your salvation and bask in the greatness of your grace. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.