Great is the Mystery

Intro

Great morning of worship.

What is the purpose of the church. We as believers are to worship God, disciple, and reach the loss.

We are called to serve together, but what does that mean for us.

This letter from Paul answers just this.

1 Timothy 3:14–16 ESV

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Why is Paul Writing?

Paul addresses the purpose of the letter.

Structure of the church and the reason to it.

Possibility of delay

Household of God

How we ought to behave in the household of God

Within the body. Both within the house and the family of God

The Church of the Living God

This is the assembly of the living God

The church, the assembly, the set apart

which is the church of the living God

Christ is living from the dead.

The assembly of those that follow the God who is alive

True God vs false god

The Purpose of the Gathered

The church is to protect the truth. This is our calling in our culture. The job of the church of the living God is to protect the faith.

a pillar and buttress of the truth.

pillar -

an upright pillar, typically cylindrical and made of stone or concrete, supporting an entablature, arch, or other structure or standing alone as a monument.

buttress

a projecting support of stone or brick built against a wall.

a source of defense or support.

Paul then confesses the great mystery of godliness.

We work together toward this end.

It is no ONE persons job.

This is all of us together

Even though this may be led by the Overseers and Deacons, it is part of all of our duty.

Protect from false teachers

Mystery of Godliness

There are mystery of the faith, but this is the mystery of godliness; that of the devout.

In PE mystery means

It refers to redemptive truths formerly concealed but now revealed in Christ’s coming.

Robert W. Yarbrough, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, ed. D. A. Carson, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; London: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2018), 220.

In this declaration Paul there are 6 clauses about the glory of Christ. This is in a hymnic structure, a statement of praise

They are in the aorist tense which simply means they were at a fixed point in the past

The truth here is that :

Christ was born, he was God in the flesh

Referring to Christs earthly ministry

Both the incarnation and resurrection

He was declared righteous by the spirit.

vindicated- prove to be right, demonstrate to be morally right

Spirit coming down

No man before Christ was righteous

Declared to be the son of God in the power of the resurrection from the dead.

Tie between the vindication of the spirit and the resurrection.

Appeared before the angels

Pointing to the angels testimony

Witnessed the proclamation of his coming

witnessed the resurrecting

Worship him in his throne

Proclaimed among the nations

proclaimed or preached

evangelism and church planting

the spread of the gospel

believed on in the world

paired with the previous

taken up, ascended up into glory

Jesus ascension

The completion of the former age

Entering into the already not yet

This is our future

Let us Share the Mystery of Godliness

This is the truth of Christ we are called to protect. It is important to study this within the church, within the seminaries, within the SS classroom. But as we protect it let us not keep it to ourselves. As the church we are protecting the truth, but now let us go share the truth among the nations.