 That's our text this morning 1st Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 to 6 through 16 And our sermon title is conduct worthy of king and cause and we are in part 4 of this series Walking through this paragraph in 1st Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 through 16 Looking at the reasons that Paul gives here for his instruction and correction in this letter to Timothy And it's all summed up in these verses here and he gives us glorious reasons to be motivated to obey this motivated to respond rightly and then motivated to live fervently for the Lord as The house of God as the church of the living God the pillar and ground of truth And let's take a look at this passage together as we get into these final verses here today Begins in verse 14 these things Paul says I write to you though I hope to come to you shortly But if I am delayed I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God Which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth and without controversy Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifested in the flesh Justified in the spirit seen by angels preached among the Gentiles Believed on in the world and received up in glory Now all of Paul's correction all of Paul's instruction in 1st Timothy 3 here in 1st Timothy is described in these Verses as an exhortation to write conduct write conduct because we are the house of God We are the family of God together. We are his people and we are his dwelling place We're exhorted to write conduct because we are the called out assembly of the saints the saints of the living God We are his testimony to a lost world. We are his salt his light in this world all right conduct because we are the pillar and the basis on which he has set up and displays his life changing eternal saving truth and displays that to a lost world that is heading rushing headlong into judgment all of this truth demands as we've seen in weeks past Demands a right response were to respond correctly to Correction and that response is with right conduct our king is worthy His cause is worthy and therefore we must respond with right conduct We know that judgment is coming. Jesus Christ is coming Jesus Christ will either deliver or he will destroy And that judgment should impelled us compel us to write conduct Paul certainly supports this exhortation to write response the right conduct with good reasons with great motivators And we've looked at those in past weeks. We are God's household that is to manifest his truth We are to be set apart and live out that truth as the people of God We are the church and as the church we are the Structure on which God displays and holds up his truth to the world We are the pillar and basis for truth and these reasons then Become the motivator become the basis on which we conform our lives Conform our conduct to God's truth of that truth in one sense You could say that well in the scripture God says it and so that settles it and that's enough right? But it just doesn't stop there. These aren't just simply rules for the sake of rules These aren't exhortations and corrections simply for the sake of obedience to exhortations and corrections Not rules for rules sake. There is something that is far greater at stake here You and I are a part of something that is far greater than simply a bunch of rules following There's reasons behind this. There is something at stake behind it. God's name is to be hallowed in us Before the eyes of the Gentiles because God is zealous for his name and they are to hallow his name The kingdom of God must be advanced on the earth. We're talking about heaven and hell a Lifetime in eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell people's souls hanging the balance The gospel must go out and the gospel in today's day and age the gospel must cut through The filth of this world and oftentimes the filth that has been peddled by the professing church It has to cut through and Christ must receive the full reward of his suffering That phrase there full reward of his suffering is from a story. It's a story about a distant people who were enslaved and two men Being convicted that the gospel could not penetrate that environment their slave masters wouldn't allow it and the gospel wasn't getting in And slaves were dying and dropping into hell two men became so convicted by the word of God and Being burdened for those lost people took it upon themselves to sell Themselves into a lifetime of slavery and certain death in order to get the gospel into that community They took their responsibility seriously They took their responsibility as pillars and grounds of truth to get the gospel into that environment to see God work They left their loved ones sold themselves into slavery and as the boat was pulling out into the harbor One of the men is reported to have turned to his family and said this That Christ Must receive the full reward of his suffering. We're a part of something greater This means far more than just following rules There's something at stake that is far greater something of which you are a part that is far greater than you that demands That compels our effort it compels our lives It's the gospel of Jesus Christ We're to be the pillar and ground of this truth the gospel In many ways today is being swamped out in the hearing of many Because of the wicked lies of this world By oftentimes the wicked lies or deceptive have truths of a modern so-called professing church that is forsaken the book and We those with the truth that stand as the pillar and ground of the truth are to hold up to display to Herald to proclaim that gospel in a way that cuts through that deafening swamp of filth and error You can imagine being in Britain during the war When the bombing was coming listen there is a judgment coming. There's a judgment coming but when the bombing was coming Air raid sirens would shriek through whatever you were doing whatever chatter was going on in such a way that it Arrested your attention. It compelled you to take cover. It compelled you to flee danger The gospel of Jesus Christ must be displayed must be proclaimed must be heralded in such a way that even in the midst of this Wicked and perverse generation that teaches lies It is to be proclaimed in such a way that it is as an air raid siren to a lost world. It needs to duck and cover Because judgment is coming Must cut through the shallow and wicked doctrines of this world He gives us right reasons, but thirdly The right response and right conduct these great reasons lead to By inference doesn't it that we have great responsibility in this We see the right response. We see the reasons for response, but also in these verses We see a great responsibility by virtue of our identity our nature and our function as the church That we've described over the last several weeks. We have great responsibility We have great responsibility seen in verse 15 and 16 to live the truth that we proclaim To live the truth that has been delivered to us We have great responsibility to uphold that truth to proclaim that truth to evangelize with that truth And we have a great responsibility to worship the source the embodiment of that truth the Lord Jesus Christ We're not to think of membership in the church in terms of rights We are to think of membership in the church in terms of responsibility We have great responsibility Luke 1248 says for everyone to whom much is given Have you been given much in Christ? Amen We've been given an infinite gift an immeasurable gift an unspeakable gift. We've been given much Much so much that we can't grasp it in our own feeble attempts. We can't grasp it with our own minds We've been given much for everyone to whom much is given from him much will be required And to whom much has been committed of him. They will ask the more We have great responsibility one well-known seminary Communicates their responsibility this way for the truth for the church for the world for the glory of God I like that. It's a good way of expressing that where to be for the truth That's for the mutual edification of saints in Christ for the church that is for the evangelization of the loss It's for the world all ultimately for the glory of God Where do you fail in that? Are you failing and upholding the truth? believing some deceptive false gospel some deceptive lie Are you failing your responsibility to the church to edify the saints to equip the saints for the work of the ministry to build up your Brother and sister in the faith until we all attain to a perfect measure a perfect man in Christ Are you failing in your responsibility to the world to share the gospel to get the gospel out to see the Lord work through His gospel to save souls All of that we fail to uphold the glory of God and the work that he's given us to do Out of 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 14 through 16 flows a great responsibility for how we are to live How we are to live the truth of God? Obviously, we respond with right conduct for our own personal holiness our own individual personal spiritual well-being Lord says be holy for I am holy without holiness No one will see the Lord you have your individual responsibility to that But here in the context of chapter 3 verses 14 to 16 we see that intimately connected to the local church to our Part in the local church our responsibility to the local church You have that responsibility to live a holy life for yourself But you also have the responsibility to live a holy life for the church Which is to be represented in the world as the house of God the church of the living God a pillar a display of the truth We have responsibility because we are collectively the church together, and that's the context here There is a relationship Between us and the church the church of the living God is to embody the truth of God and to display That truth in the way that they live the church then is called to Manifest the truth in its conduct we are to conform to that truth and then to proclaim it This is great responsibility, and it's our personal discipline as it relates to the larger context Let me give you an example just a couple of pages to the right sir turn to 2nd Timothy chapter 2 Here the Bible speaks of this personal responsibility But also puts it in the context again of the church look at beginning at verse 14. This is 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 14 Here Paul says remind them. This is the same author the same context the same church. Okay remind them of these things Charge them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit to the ruin of the hearers The only profit is in God's truth The only profit is in God's truth if we fail to speak those things Fail to uphold that then it is no gain to us. It is to the ruin of the hearers Many churches today do not uphold the whole counsel of God Do not uphold the truth of God preach a half gospel of all grace and no repentance They're not giving the bad news with the good news and so the good news has no context has no meaning has no import They do that to the ruin of the hearers We have to preach the whole counsel of God verse 15 It says be diligent to present yourself approve the God a worker who does not need to be ashamed Rightly dividing the word of truth in order for us to be a pillar and ground of the truth You need to be a person of the truth You need to rightly handle the word of God in order to rightly handle the word of God You have to know the word of God study the word of God invest yourself in the word of God I can't tell you how many conversations we've had with someone who Does not know the word does not invest themselves in the word does not understand scripture Can't find their way around scripture anymore They can find their way around a paper bag and yet begin to come to this point and say They're rightly dividing the word of truth Or that I understand the word of truth or I can correctly apply the word of truth in my life You have to invest yourself in the word of truth in order to know the word of truth in order to rightly divide the word of truth It's imperative if we're to be collectively the pillar and ground of the truth It's a necessity for us collectively, but we collectively are you individually We must do that look at verse 16 Exorts them to shun profane and idle babblings for they will increase to more ungodliness again, there's that trending toward error that produces ungodliness Great is the mystery of godliness the scripture says that which accords with the truth Is that which will eventuate in godly living? If your life isn't godly then you're not in the truth If you claim to be a christian and your life isn't godly It's one of two things either you're not investing yourself in this truth and you're not a part of this truth Or you're outside this truth all together and you have believed a lie and you are lost Now this truth authors Godliness and it authors godliness by the spirit of god in the life of a genuine believer Impossible apart from that impossible apart from christ But in power of the spirit in the power of his might this mystery this gospel this truth produces godliness Verse 17 their message will spread like cancer hymenace and phyletus are of this sort That's why we've got to dig that cancer out when it crops up Who have strayed concerning the truth saying that the resurrection has already passed and they overthrow the faith of some now listen to this That truth despite the fact that many don't believe it Despite that in their sin many reject it Despite the fact that in this wicked world there are lies told about it that it is twisted That it is distorted that it is corrupted that it is hoarded and never proclaimed The truth still stands and will not be thwarted look at verse 19 nevertheless The solid foundation of god stands having this seal the lord knows those who are his And let everyone who names the name of christ depart from iniquity in other words This truth Is sealed and held proclaimed displayed by those who say they have the truth And yet they live the truth and proclaim the truth live the truth in the sense that they depart from iniquity That's our identity. That's our essence our nature as a church Those called out people of god that live holy lives as a testimony to the world of christ Of the truth of god and then display it Those who proclaim it those who herald it let everyone who names the name of christ depart from iniquity We are to be different from the world and different in a way that is observably evident to them Have you ever noticed That a genuine christian can Be a walking rebuke Or bring conviction simply by walking into a room Ever walked into a room of ungodly people when they know you're a christian and all of a sudden the talking stops Or everything becomes a little quieter or maybe they roll their eyes A genuine christian can be a rebuke just by virtue of walking into a room A genuine christian gives testimony by their life to the life changing power of the gospel 2nd corinthians chapter 2 verse 15 says this for we are to god The fragrance of christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death And to the other the aroma of life leading to life You are to be light and salt in the world You are to be a testimony to christ And in the midst of a hard-hearted wicked and perverse generation You are to be an open rebuke To those that are perishing just by virtue of your holy life This responsibility involves a personal spiritual commitment on your part and a discipline to be holy And that impacts our stance our standing as the church together First Timothy here in context is Connected to the local church and our personal conduct reflects our identity reflects our nature our function as a church together You are a part of something that is greater than yourself Greater than yourself and in that you have responsibility the disciplines here the commitment the conduct of the individual Impacts the whole it impacts what we are together as the church. We are individuals who make up a Larger body That has a testimony that has a work that has a function We see that in first Corinthians 12 don't we? One is an eye one is a hand one is an ear Collectively we are the body of christ and we're to function as the body of christ. What if the hand? Is not a person of the book What if the hand is not a person who prays What if the hand who is not availing himself of the means of grace the body suffers there's an old story That I think has an example for us here It talks about a battle that took place And it says for the loss of a nail the shoe was lost For the loss of the shoe the horse was lost For the loss of the horse the rider was lost For the loss of the rider The battle was lost For the loss of the battle the war was lost and all because of the loss of a horseshoe nail The part makes up the whole we have great responsibility to do our part For the sake of the whole when the lord exhorts us that we are to be the pillar and ground of the truth That means you individually that means me individually. We have a part to play Whether you're a hand an ear an eye a foot a leg a hair You're you have a part to play in the body of christ We have to collectively be responsible to uphold that now. Let me give you the example of one way that we are to uphold that and we must uphold it Think of this the lord gathers his people As faith comes by hearing and hearing by what? By the word of god The lord gathers his people as faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of god That then results in a gathered out people Who are gathered together around what? The word of god and christ he gathers the people to himself By the word of god through the power of his spirit collectively gathered around by the word of god We are to be then collectively the people of the book the pillar and ground of the truth In acts chapter 20 verse 32 the bible says so now brethren I commend you to god and to the word of his grace Which is able to build you up and give you an an inheritance among all those who are Sanctified it's the word of his grace that we are commended to to build us up and give us an inheritance We are to be a people of the book in that sense We're to know the bible and we are to live the bible we're to know what it says and do what it says It's just that simple And now therefore Collectively if that's what we are then you personally in your connection to the church are to individually be a person of the book We're to be collectively the body of people of the book and you're to be a person of the book It is your responsibility as an eye as a hand as a foot to the whole I love this passage in joshua chapter one. We don't have time to go there But listen to what the words here in verses seven through nine The lord says to joshua only be strong and very courageous That you may observe to do according to all the law which moses my servant commanded you listen christian When you are ready to take action and you know you know that that action is In accord with god's word upheld by god's word. It is the right thing to do And according to your conscience Does that embolden you to be strong and courageous in taking that action? Yeah, because it's in accord with the word of god if the word of god says it It is true and we can live it we can trust it. It is the word of god. It is infallible inerrant It's the inspired word of god So we are to live it we're to be strong and courageous when we have the word of god on our side Do not turn it goes on to say to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth But you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it There are several purpose statements in there One you're to meditate in a day and night That in order that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it If you're not meditating in a day and night in other words Every opportunity you get I mean like american express don't leave home without it This should be in your briefcase in your back pocket in your backpack This is the word of god and we're to live by this in living by this truth. It is a truth that produces godliness You're having difficulty overcoming sin. How's your meditation day and night in the word of god Very having difficulty with how to apply the word of god to certain circumstances in your life your marriage your parenting How are your meditations and the word of god going? You're to give yourself to the word of god so that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it For then it says you will make your way prosperous. Then you will have good success Verses also true. Don't do it. You will not be prosperous. You will not have you may have Temporal success. How many lost people do you know that enjoy temporal successes? Well, what matters is eternal success What matters is success defined god's way Verse nine says have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage Do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go Jim hamilton has said that the bible is to believers What universities movies sitcoms and the media are to godless culture? I like that Additionally the bible forms our community together then as a church You individually being a person of the book collectively we become cultivated a people of the book and then the book Commands our attention it commands our obedience commands our identity together In doing that it determines our responses it determines our Community together as a church it provides our common basis with one another it commands Holiness of life or right conduct commitment to the truth defines who we are It defines who we are on the basis of who we represent Therefore you are to be a person of intense commitment to the word of god There's so many distractions to that and churches give them left and right It's just grace No need to obey the lord no need to follow scripture what you're getting all strung out about doctrine for Doctrine divides that's right. It divides truth from error divides the sheep from the goats You know have this experience a spiritual experience Speak in tongues You know you hear words you have dreams or visions That is a distraction From that which is made more sure our perfect guide the scripture Where to be people of the book and people today in their flesh do everything they can to avoid being a people of the book What's your bible study like how devoted are you to the word of god? How habitually and practically do you apply the scripture to your life? It's not a sunday to sunday thing. It's an everyday 24 7 365 thing Where to be people of the book? The best thing that you can do For the local church is to be a person of the book The best thing that you can do for your personal spiritual benefit Is to be a part of a community of the book A church that upholds the book that faithfully Precisely handles the book That preaches the book that teaches the book that lives the book In each of us becoming a person of the book we become a community a people of the book You see the symbiotic relationship here between the individual and the church. That's as the lord designed it Jim hamilton goes on to say that studying and living the scripture is for the purpose of knowing god Being conformed to the image of christ Results from seeing christ in the scriptures Let's tie that with daniel 11 verse 32 which says the people who know their god Shall be strong and carry out great exploits I like that. I want our church to be described that way The people of the book are strong and in christ we carry out great exploits We have a great exploit to carry out amen We have the gospel and we are to be heralds of the gospel And I praise the lord for the faithfulness to evangelism in this church. It is a blessing from god We have an important task in that Those people who know god are those who are able to take a stand for his truth Um and knowing that truth in his kingdom to them Become more important than their own lives More important than image more important than wealth more important in the approval of man More important than leisure more important than convenience In that together we become the pillar and ground of the truth That is living the truth, but also in this passage we have great responsibility here obviously to proclaim this truth If we are the pillar and ground of the truth, we must proclaim it. We must evangelize Display it and of course this all ties together We must be a people of the truth because the world and professing religion tells lies This world is full of lies. It is under the sway of the original liar And so we have to do our work to proclaim the truth The word of truth is necessary To counteract the poison that is in this world this wicked world through lies It is cut through the noise of error the noise of deception. We must evangelize Evangelism here is the function if you will of the pillar and basis of the truth John 17 verse 14 Christ says to the father. I have given them your word That is the great legacy of the church Jesus christ has given to the church stewardship of his word He has entrusted to the church the gospel of jesus christ to be taken to a lost world to gather in god's elect We are a pillar and ground of the truth luke 24 verse 46 says this Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at jesus It's pretty clear, right In acts 19 verse 20 we see the truth of god in the hands And on the lips of god's faithful here in emphasis in this letter Where it says so the word of the lord grew mightily and prevailed There's much wickedness. There's much that assaults itself against the knowledge of god but in the hands of a In evangelist and the hands of a christian who is a testimony of christ on the lips of that person The word of god grows mightily and prevails It is when the church and that means not the church nebulously that means you individually me individually When the church fails to proclaim fails to herald that truth The word of god doesn't grow mightily And the word of god in the hearing of those lost souls doesn't prevail We must carry the truth This is so important in our world today Consider our context the truth is not being taught It is insidious half truths lap Wrapped in a full lie That gets taught the whole council of god Is rejected is denied even in the pulpits of many of those places that call themselves churches It's the gospel if you will of felt needs. We'll just massage your felt needs It's the gospel of give them what they want to hear whatever it takes to build the church whatever it takes to grow the numbers Whatever it takes to give people what they want to hear so they'll come and then continue giving them what they want to hear So they'll stay It is the preaching of good news without the context of bad news And as such that simply produces cheap grace in the hearers It produces a salvation with no respect for sin no respect for the wrath and judgment of god that is coming In other words, if you don't know you're sick, how can you see your need for a physician? We have to preach the whole council of god You have to preach the judgment of god the wrath of god the justice of god Otherwise there will be no sense for mercy the need for mercy the need for a savior that truth must be displayed Grace gets preached by itself without the bad news and without repentance from sin and so you Factory produce So-called converts that say they believe in christ and yet never forsake their sin It produces A preaching that is entirely wrapped around the kindness of god with absolutely no mention of the necessity to mention God's severity And it is a worthless So-called gospel It's as if it costs them nothing and it's as if it cost christ nothing As a result the professing church today is ignorant The professing church is ignorant. They are undiscerning They don't precisely handle the word of god and as such the proclamation of the truth which is desperately needed is quenched We need to be faithful to the truth precise with the truth and bold with the truth anymore The professing church cannot be characterized as the church of people of the book. There are people of truth and error That in and of itself now think about it christian gives us even greater responsibility The truth has to go out You have the truth You know the truth If you are genuinely in christ, you are living the truth and gives you greater responsibility in the midst of so much error so many like 2 000 years of just factory produced Wickedness and confusion by satan That we have to with the truth cut through to get the gospel through to the ears of the loss that need to hear it greater responsibility I am sick of easy believe ism Sick of it. I'm sick of cheap grace I'm sick of just sickened by so-called carnal christianity. Aren't you? Sickened by health wealth and prosperity teachers That will go into slums and try to preach that gospel Sickened by the seeker movement Sickened by felt needs Where is the truth of god? Aren't you sickened by the onslaught of all these deceits all these deceptions all these while people are dropping into hell listening to that filth The truth must go out the people of god must proclaim The truth of god and how many how many do you see out witnessing? They're out there with you swinging the sword of truth very few Remember to hear the truth In the church is you personally is me personally It's interesting in glaceons chapter 2 paul calls James and john and seifas pillars in the truth pillars in the church That means they were men of respect. They were leaders. They were examples to follow They were men of importance in the church uh at jerusalem God calls the church the pillar and ground of the church pillar and ground of the truth What if james and john and seifas supposed pillars in the church? What if they crumbled? What if those pillars failed to uphold the truth of god Uphold the proclamation of the gospel the true gospel. We'd have a works righteousness throughout the church today What if pillars you pillar me pillar? What if we failed to uphold and display the truth of god? We have great responsibility in this we can't fail in our duty And we don't want to if you're a christian that you want nothing more than to please god in this We've got to battle to proclaim this truth. We're to be a faithful basis and a faithful pillar These are great responsibilities. Do you ever feel? Completely under the weight of all this The weight of obeying the lord and all these things the weight of Maybe all these commands the weight of your responsibility the weight of lost friends family loved ones Um the weight of your stewardship over your husband your wife your kids your household the weight under the The stewardship the entrustment of your finances of your example on the job your example in school your example to the lost people that you see This is a great responsibility great weight, right? Let me encourage you You are a failure That encourage you i'm a failure Listen when you feel the weight of all that It shouldn't be that that causes despair or causes concern or causes doubt Or causes cowardice Or causes retreat Or causes discontentment or discouragement or despair It shouldn't cause any that listen None of that is possible in your strength. You will never do it. You will never do it It is in your weakness that god christ is made strong It is in the power of his might that you prevail you can do nothing apart from the work of christ You can do nothing outside the past present and future work of christ on your behalf You can never do anything or be anything that is pleasing in god's sight apart from christ You are powerless against it. You are powerless to this work You are powerless under the weight of this responsibility You can do nothing apart from faith in christ what this should do is drive you to the saver saver and we are more than conquerors through Him christ who loved us That's a glorious blessing a glorious truth and in this you conquer in this you are victorious It is like the song that we sing faith is the victory that overcomes the world Faith is the victory So to to strive away your own efforts your own even worse to strive away thinking it's something that how that earns pleasure with god Or earns favor with with god You're not earning his pleasure We're to live by faith in christ It's for him and through him and to him that are all things This is all fulfilled in christ. It's left for you then but to walk in faith To live by faith to obey him in faith and to put the deeds of the death the deeds of the body by the spirit Very quickly and we are out of time lastly It is our great responsibility to worship the source of that truth the embodiment of that truth If you remember the picture of the temple in emphasis that we talked about last week If you left that wicked pagan temple, maybe you walked down a street Maybe you start heading into a quieter part of town Maybe if you duck down a side street or a little alley you might have heard at that time singing Maybe you heard the faint Sound of singing couldn't quite make out the words as you just pressed on until you came to Little house and the words become a little bit clearer to you God was manifested in the flesh verse 16 Justified in the spirit seen by angels preached among the Gentiles believed on in the world and received up in glory Verse 16 begins with a statement without controversy great is the mystery of godliness that word controversy there without controversy Could be translated Confessedly or undeniably by confession in other words This little verse in verse 16 was very likely a hymn That early Christians sang together celebrating the Lord or a confession a statement that they established that they would recite together The great truths that they believed Great is the mystery of this godliness this truth that we're talking about is not just a litany of facts This truth produces godliness if it is facts alone It is nothing more than moralism Dead orthodoxy. What do you get? When you have facts Without christ you get moralism You get dead orthodoxy. It is the facts. It is the truth with christ If you are in the truth by faith, it is the truth that will lead to godliness by faith It goes on to say that god was manifested in the flesh Speaking of the incarnation of jesus christ in mica chapter 5 verse 2 about 735 years Before christ the bible says but you bethlehem effrata though you are little among the thousands of juda Yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in israel Who's going forth are from old from everlasting John 114 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory is of the only begotten father full of grace and Truth the truth of god and this is a great proof text here for the deity of christ Some of your translations say he There's a one mark difference between the word for he in the greek and the word an abbreviated word for theos or god in greek Many manuscripts say god the he still refers to the prior antecedent, which is god This is god manifested in the flesh, which means that jesus christ is god in the flesh It goes on to say that he was justified in the spirit better translation here to avoid confusion with our justification and salvation Is the word vindicated this word means vindicated christ made many claims Claimed to be the son of god the son of man claimed to be god in the flesh He was sinless and yet despite his claims. He was called lyre a blasphemer an imposter A friend of sinners a wine-biver a glutton He was in he was called many things Jesus christ was vindicated in the spirit Romans 1 verse 2 It says that the gospel of god is that which he promised before Through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son jesus christ our lord Who was born of the seed of david according to the flesh and declared to be the son of god with power According to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead Jesus christ was vindicated in the spirit. He was seen by angels According to colossians 1 16 angels were created by him in colossians 2 10 in first peter 3 22 They are subject to him according to hebrus 1 6. They worship him in revelation 5 They shout worthy is the lamb in luke 2 they praised god at his birth in matthew 4 They ministered to him in the wilderness in matthew 1341 they execute his judgment in luke 24 They announce his resurrection from the dead in acts 111 they announce his return in matthew 25 verse 34 31 they will attend his coming in glory In first peter 112 they delight. They're fascinated by his gospel. These things are things that angels desire to look into He was preached among the Gentiles Goes without saying that preached necessitates that words are used Were to preach were to herald the gospel He was believed on in the world Believed on in the world completely and totally by the mercy and grace of god. Have you believed on him today? That's because god in his power made you alive together in christ so that you could hear So that you have eyes to see so that you have a heart and mind to understand the gospel Considering your depraved nature the depraved nature of men It is a miracle that anyone in the world believes on christ It is a miracle a testimony of his grace and mercy to us You admit your depraved nature You admit your condition outside of christ You admit your guilt Before a holy and just god Will you believe many many many have turned and believed on christ? Why not you? What sin are you that enraptured by that you won't turn from it to believe on christ your creator your judge Turn to christ turn from your sin follow him put your hope faith trust reliance in christ alone This christ is the one who lastly is received up in glory all praise Honor and glory be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb He'll either be your deliverer or he'll be your destroyer Will you turn from sin church? Will you serve him? It is a cause that is worthy. He is a king who is worthy We're to serve him in this cause together as a Pillar and ground of the truth as the household of god the church of the living god Will you serve him amen? Let's pray together Father in heaven Thank you lord for this time together. Thank you for this this beautiful passage Of scripture that we've spent several weeks in now and lord. Thank you for all that we've learned all that you've taught us Lord, thank you for the power The efficacy lord of your salvation in christ. Thank you for the work of your spirit within us Thank you god that it's not by our own strength Thank you god that it's not in our own effort Thank you lord that in my wicked flesh. I don't do anything kid Do anything lord to merit salvation to earn your favor Thank you that that has been done. It has been finished. It has been completed in christ Thank you lord for his shed blood his sacrifice Thank you lord for the empowerment the enablement that you give for us to be pleasing to you in this christian life For us to have victory for us to do faithfully the work in your vineyard that you've given us to do for your glory Lord, we hollow your name here We want you to be made famous among the Gentiles find us faithful in your spirit By the finished work in person of jesus christ alone to be faithful in the work that you've given us to do For your eternal worship in jesus name. Amen