Gooding, David: Satisfaction in Serving the Lord

They do, because they have not known the Father nor me. These things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, you may remember them, how that I told you. These things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go unto him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It ex- it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I go, I will send him unto you. And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they believe not on me. Of righteousness because I go to the Father and ye behold me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world has been judged. Two further readings now from the first epistle by Paul to Timothy. The first epistle by Paul to Timothy, beginning in chapter three. Chapter three and verse fourteen: These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory. And then some words from chapter six of this same letter, beginning in verse eleven: But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. I charge thee in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession, that thou keep the commandment without spot, without reproach, unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his own times he shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power eternal. Amen. And one final passage, one Corinthians in chapter four it is, One Corinthians chapter four verses one to five. Beginning in verse one, let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self, for I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified? But he that judgeth me is the Lord. Wherefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsel of the hearts, then shall each man have his praise from God. And may the Lord give us good understanding of his word. Tonight, then, we are to meditate one with another on the topic of the servant's justification. And so that we may get our terms straight, let us think first of all what justification in this sense does not mean. We are not going to consider that glorious basic topic of how each one of us has been justified by faith before God. So let us spend a second or two just reveling in it just once more for the sheer delight of thinking about it. Justification by faith, a cardinal and basic doctrine of our faith, as a result of which the inspired apostles tell us, having therefore been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what magnificent words. Based simply upon our faith in God, but owing to the great and powerful sacrifice of our Lord, we can have both instantaneous and eternal peace with God. On this basis, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And not only peace, oh, how, how gloriously, uh, wealthy are we? Not only peace, but we have access into this grace, we'll see through faith, says Paul. And not only so, but having access to it, we're not wobbling around, we stand in it, says Paul, with great emphasis upon the word stand. It is a firm ground of faith, a veritable rock of ages, and the standing we have in God, as the old theologians used to say, is one of one hundred percent grace. Glorious, isn't it? We have access into this grace wherein we stand, you will see. Our standing before God, as distinct, as the theologians used to say, from our state. You tempt me to go on by the look on your face. Yeah, you'll see, and not only so, you'll see, but we rejoice. Fourth, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. It's not merely that we have been justified. It's not merely that we stand in grace. We are confident. In that sense, boasting, not prideful boasting, of course, but true glorying in God. We may do it because the glorying is not in ourselves, nor in our effort, but in his superlative grace. And because we have been justified, and on those same grounds, we joy in hope, and hope meaning certain expectation of attaining one day the glory of God. You think that's enough for any mortal shoulders to bear for one Sunday night, don't- wouldn't you think? But you can't, you can't stop God there. He has too much riches to dispense, you see. Not only that, we joy in tribulation also. You say, now that's very difficult, that one is. Yes. In my professional life, I had to, um, uh, invigilate, as they call it, many an exam, you know. And for students, exams were tribulation, and they were going to settle, uh, uh, these exams, perhaps whether they got a first, a second, a third, or an allowed pass and things like that, you'll see, too serious to mention. And perhaps their careers are going to be settled. It was a cruel sport, this invigilation business, you see. One would arrive down at the examination hall, and there would be perhaps a hundred, perhaps four hundred students are gathering around, awaiting to be let in, you'll see. I tell you, they were far from rejoicing. Many a bitten fingernail and frown upon the brow and nervous laughter, and then you would turn the key in the door and let them in, and they would settle at their desks and turn over the question paper. Now, there were a few shafts of sunlight upon their brows, do you see? Oh, but there were lots of anxious looks when they actually saw what questions were there, do you see? Because it was uncertain whether they would come through or not. Oh, thank God. You know, if, if it were uncertain how we would come through the tribulation, our brows would be knotted as well, wouldn't they? But listen to the glorious words. Having been justified by faith, we rejoice in tribulation, knowing that. We can know it in advance on the authority of God's word, knowing that the effect of tribulation is to work endurance, the mark of genuine seed that brings forth fruit with endurance. And endurance works approvedness and demonstrates that one is genuine. All my silver-haired brothers and sisters, whose hair is a bit more silvery than mine, and you ha- began by faith in Christ, didn't you? How many long years have you come through storm and wind and rain and sunshine, through prosperity and difficult circumstance, and you've proved the Lord and the record behind you, it is shown your salvation genuine. And you have a double ground for hope, haven't you? Your initial faith in Christ and the fact that tribulation with you has produced approvedness. This is the genuine thing, and approvedness gives ground, therefore, to this second hope, uh, that make us not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. On that basis, you'll see we can be sure that we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. On that basis, we can be sure that we are saved and shall be saved by his life. Oh, it's permitted to you to rejoice again before the Lord in that you have been justified by faith. But it's not that of which I speak tonight. I want to talk about our justification as servants of the Lord, and that's another matter. And so I begin not with us, but once more with our blessed Lord and one of the servant songs, so-called, where he too talks about his being justified. Now, obviously, he was not like us. He was never a sinner. He was never stood a condemned under God's holy law. He needed not justification in that sense. To suppose he did would border on the blasphemous. He never needed to be justified from the claim, from the charge of guilt. He was sinless all his days. And yet, as you heard him through this messianic song, talking, he expresses his confidence. He is near that justifieth me. What does he mean? He is talking as God's appointed and anointed servant, and tells us first in those lovely words of his morning watch. He wakeneth me morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught. He's given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary. My dear brother, my sister, how frequently has the blessed Lord Jesus done that for you in the middle of your life, as father or mother of a family, or elder of a church, or missionary on the field. How often have you known the blessed Lord Jesus come to you in your weariness, with words exactly fitted to your need and to ease the burden? And here, forgive me for using such terms, is where he learned the art. The words I speak unto you, I speak not from myself, said he. I speak the words that my Father has given me. Said he again in his prayer to his Father, explaining how it is his disciples have come to faith and continued in faith. He said, the words that thou hast given me, I have given them. Holy servant of God. We should have thought he needed not to pray or to depend upon his father. Could he not of his own treasury have brought forth words? But here he speaks, morning by morning, awakenest mine ear, the words that the father gave him to speak. And we think in our imaginations of those times that Mark, for instance, records when after a heavy day's work and a brief night's sleep, he went out into a desert park to prayer. And then he tells us that God, having opened his ear, he was not rebellious nor turned away back. And why should he? Well, because of the opposition. He was met with fierce opposition here on Earth, wasn't he? In the form of disgust and ridicule, with, uh, sarcasm interleaved, and positive denunciation, and charges of blasphemy, and eventually charges of being of the very devil himself. And knowing it, knowing the opposition, he says, I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. These remarks have been co- often, uh, referred to his sufferings at the cross, and doubtless they include it. They may more probably be metaphorical terms describing the fierce opposition that our blessed Lord faced as he taught the words of the Father to the crowds around him. Fierce metaphors, aren't they? For spitting and shame and positive beating and, uh, he hairs plucked from his cheek. Read again your gospel and think what our blessed Lord endured. The sarcasm of this man, uh, has gone to be the guest of tax gatherers and prostitutes. That's him. To the devilish suggestion. That sin against the Holy Spirit that charged our blessed Lord in being in league with Beelzebub. You know where it all ended for Christ? For his testimony as a servant of God. It ended in the high priest's court as they slapped him across the mouth for his testimony. It ended with those brutal ignorant soldiers blindfolding him and saying, tell us now who smote thee across the cheek. It ended as he hung upon the cross. And the high priests went by in all their robes and mocked him with his trust in God. Ha, he trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him. Let him come down from the cross. And he could have come down, couldn't he? And he couldn't disobey his father, surely not. And he hung there. And it looked as if the charge had been proved. Imposter he is, do you see? God himself will not have him. How should he be justified? Not a question, you see, of his being a sinner and being saved by grace. That's out of the question completely. It doesn't begin to be a question. It's how, when he's faithful witness for God landed him on a cross, with the charge apparently proved that he was a poster, imposter, and God himself wouldn't have him. Let God have him if he delight in him. There came no voice, and then impenetrable darkness. He cried out of his orphaned soul, my God, why did thou forsake me? Now we come to the very holiest of holies, into the very heart and feelings and thoughts of the Messiah in those terrible hours. What sustained him in his testimony as a servant of God. He tells us, I was not rebellious. I set my face like a flint because the Lord God will help me. Therefore, I have not been confounded, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. What does he mean by not being ashamed? It doesn't mean I, I, I, I, I know I shall never be caught out in the wrong things I did and my cheeks color with shame. Of course, he never did anything wrong. It's a question of the validity of his testimony for God. Will it all come to nothing? And he go down in history as an imposter, and God came not to his relief. And he suffered that kind of shame. No, says the Messiah, let them do what they will. I know I shall not be confounded. I shall not be ashamed before men and angels, because he is near who justifies me, that is, justifies me, vindicates me as the true servant of the Father, as the Son of God incarnate. And how did the justification happen, you say? Well, our Lord himself tells us in the passage that we read in John chapter sixteen, does he not? In John chapter sixteen, we are told in the early verses how our Lord, probably by this time, eh, within the shadows of this, was telling his disciples that he must, they must face a frightening future. They shall be persecuted. They shall be put out of the synagogues. The hour will come indeed when whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. That must have been profoundly disturbing to the disciples, must it not? You think, my dear fellow believers, you who are going to a prospective missionary field, if the Lord stood by your side now and said you'll probably be put out of the synagogues and some people would kill you. But that isn't an impossibility, is it? You have heard, and we've all heard, with profound shock, of our dear brother and his two sons burned to death in India as they slept in their mobile caravan and admired the courage of his wife, determined not to leave, but to carry on her work for God, the which has become a testimony to the whole of India. We have to take the thing seriously. You can imagine what the apostles will be feeling. Why must he go now? If that's going to be our prospect, why does he go now? Why does he not stay with us and do some of his miracles to preserve us? But the answer is bigger than that. He was going, and for his justification, there should come the Holy Spirit. He says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, is it expedient for you that I go away? For if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I go, I will send him unto you. And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Now, I must go slowly over these verses because far better theologians than I ever shall be, and I'm not a theologian at all, but I mean far better preachers and expositors, you'll see, uh, understand these verses in a slightly different way from what I would, and you must bear in mind the great possibility that they're right and I'm wrong, you'll see. They take these verses to be an exposition of the gospel, of that we're all sinners, and uh, therefore the Holy Spirit will convict us all of being sinners. And then they will con- they will convict them of the Christ has obtained for us eternal redemption and righteousness, which he offers us as a gift. But that if you don't, uh, accept it, the alternative is to dwell with the devil and his angels eternally. Maybe therefore. I find it difficult to read them so. I think with each particular thing that the Holy Spirit will convict people of, our Lord says, the reason is given. Of sin. Notice the particular thing, not because they've murdered their mother-in-laws or beat their children to death or gone on drugs and narcotics or anything like that. Not thinking of particular sins, bad as they may be. He is thinking of the cardinal basic sin of sin because they believe not. That is sin, not believing. Some people sin with their eyes shut, and praise God, eyes can be opened to see who Jesus really is. But if the Holy Spirit has illumined people's eyes, and now they know the truth, and says Hebrews, if we sin willingly after having received the knowledge of the truth, that's another thing. This is the cardinal sin. With one's eyes open, having been convinced of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, then deliberately to reject him and trample underfoot his deity and say his blood is common. That leaves nothing but far the expectation of judgment. Holy Spirit's very coming convicts the world, says Christ, of sin because they didn't believe in him. And of righteousness on the other side. Whose righteousness? Why, his righteousness, of course, our Lord's righteousness. Convict the world that he was right and they were wrong. Of righteousness because I go to the Father. They were wrong in refusing to believe him. He was right. How do I know? Because God has raised him from the dead, seated him at his right hand, and it's this Jesus who has poured out the Holy Spirit. That's the context. Here is his justification. He is near that justifies me. Here is his vindication. And, uh, Luke gives us a vivid account of the first task the Holy Spirit took in hand when he came down from heaven and visited our earth. Listen to Peter as he comes to the peroration of his first sermon on the day of Pentecost. You want to know what this is? These people all around here, they're not drunk. This is what Joel prophesied of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. This is the promise of the Father. And why has that happened just now? It has happened now, close following upon the ascension of our blessed Lord. But what has his ascension to do with it? Well, it's not merely that the Holy Spirit came after our Lord ascended. It is the Holy Spirit came because he poured out the Holy Spirit. Says Peter, he, having received the promise of the Father, hath poured out this that you see and hear. It's the Lord Jesus that's done it. Stop a moment, catch your breath. Ask yourself the question, who then must Jesus be? If he has poured out the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit's not so much stuff, is it? Not like a lot of electric current, so our Lord has flicked a heavenly switch and the current has come on. Blasphemous, so to describe it. The Holy Spirit is the blessed third person of the Trinity. Just as the Father sent the Son, so it is also true to say that the Son has poured out the Holy Spirit of God. Tell me now who he is, who pried the chisel and a saw in the shop at Nazareth. Who is he? Who is he on yonder hill, nailed to a cross and abused by all the religious authorities of the day? Who is he? They said he was a blasphemer. They would not believe on him. Foul cardinal sin. Who is he? God has justified him. I shall not be ashamed, says the Lord Jesus, uh, any of the claims I ever made. Oh, lovely Lord, he sits in heaven, glorified and vindicated. He is proven. Oh, listen, listen to Peter sum up his sermon. It is he that has poured out the Holy Spirit, whom you now see and hear. Therefore, let all Israel know that this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ. Oh, shout hallelujah for the sake of your loved Lord. This is what the Holy Spirit came to do, and he gives priority to the main job, vindicate the blessed Lord Jesus. This is our job too, for our blessed Lord put it this way, the Holy Spiritual Witness. That's number one. He is in charge of all the witness, you know that, don't you? It's not us, it's him. And he's been at it for these two thousand years. He has a great deal of experience in witness. Ha ha. And you also shall be witnesses. I like that bit. Do you see? That makes my trembling, nervous heart, uh, uh, take a little bit of courage, you see? If the Lord had said, now I'm going and see to it that you witness my boy. Sort of shook at the knees. Do the best I can, Lord. Not that way round, is it? Uh, we serve a bigger God than that. I'm going, he says. Now, as far as the witness goes, the Holy Spirit will be responsible. He'll witness. Thank the Lord for him. Would you like to do some? Oh, so you may. You can be junior counsel for defense, if you like. He's the senior counsel. Yes, he's the one that witnesses for Christ. He convict the world of sin because they believe not on Christ. Of righteousness because God has, uh, vindicated the Lord Jesus. He sits at God's right hand. And, uh, of judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. Ever since he deluded Adam and Eve in the garden, he's gone on with his story, slandering God and making people think that God is by definition against them. His slander has been answered at the cross. He has been defeated. The death knoll already sounds for him, and one day he shall be cast in the lake of fire. Our Lord's vindication then. And we are required, along, uh, with and in submission to and dependence upon the Holy Spirit as God's servant, to witness to the Lord Jesus. I like the objectivity of the thing, don't you, motto? Do you see? Well, perhaps that's me. I know a lot of people have the blues, and it is our Lord's great ministry to speak words of comfort to them that are weary. We should remember the weary too and pray God to give us a similar tongue that knows how to speak words to them that are weary. But you can take subjectivism too far, can't you? And represent Christ as a how-to gospel of how to overcome moods and how to love your wife if you have one, and how to bring up the children, and how to, uh, recover from the blues when they come upon you, and how to be successful in business, until it's no more than half-baked psychology. Our first task, ladies and gentlemen, as underservants under the Holy Spirit, our first task is to witness to Christ and the glorious historic fact that he is risen from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God in heaven. The opposition will be tough. You don't expect everybody to be con- converted by next Thursday afternoon, surely. And it will test our courage and test our nerves. What about our vindication as servants of God? Well, we already have the work of the Holy Spirit, do we not? Pressing home the word and witness to the heart. It's coming another day of vindication. Marvelously thrilling and encouraging to read of. I charge you, said Paul, writing to Timothy from his jail, I, I charge you in the sight of God. I charge thee in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession, that thou keep the commandment without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his own times he shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and so forth. The coming vindication. That was a tense moment, was it not? When our Lord stood before the high priest's court, and in response to the high priest's question, answered virtually nil. When they questioned him about his teaching, he said, fairly enough, but why do you ask me? Master, he's standing around. They all heard what I said, for which he was slapped on the mouth. Then the high priest asked him about his disciples. He didn't answer. Oh, magnificent Lord, I'll never embarrass you enough. They stood by there a disciple, his name is Peter. When they asked him about his disciples, well, there's one of them here, look. He keeps on saying and swearing that he's not one of mine. He is really, you know. So when they ask him about his disciples, he didn't say anything. Magnificent Lord, isn't he? He will not push you to what you can't bear, you know. He's even more tense when now the high priest put him on oath and said, we charge you. For when he was put on oath by the high priest, the Old Testament itself, Book of Leviticus chapter five, demanded that being put on oath, he should confess what he knew to be true. And in that moment, when they said, art thou the son of, art thou the Christ, the son of God? Knowing that if he said it, he was sealing his doom. He spoke it. Oh, magnificent witness for God. Salvation of the world depended on his willingness to open his mouth and speak. And he spoke, and it sealed his sentence. For Pilate to... I, I, I came into this world that I bear witness to. Truth, said Pilate? What is truth? And what on earth has it got to do with politics? Well, as you will realize, very little, ladies and gentlemen. Uh. And then Pilate questioned him more, and he answered nothing. Now look here, young man, he said, you better start speaking. You prattle there about truth, but I have the power, you know. I have the power to hand you over to the cross or to deliver you. You better start speaking. I charge you before Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession. That I'll keep it without spot, without reproach. It could be easy and full of joy, couldn't it? And seeing multitudes converted. It could be for you another but lesser Calvary. Some of our dear brothers and sisters in the Sudan are being crucified, you know, literally so. How shall we find the courage? Says Paul to Timothy, keep it until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ah, the next indication. That appearing, says Paul, will be staged by God Almighty. Oh, what a spectacle that will be. When God Almighty draws away the veil that hides the unseen world from our seen world. The apocalypse of our Lord, the epiphany of our Lord. God himself will stage it. Oh, I shall see him descend from the sky. They also which pierced him. And to the confusion of the unregenerate world. They shall mourn because of him. He's coming, my brothers. And he who is the blessed and only potentate, Pilate has long sunk into the shadows, the mighty potentate, ruler of the revolving spheres, as the hymn has it, shall stage the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. It'll be nice, won't it, if when he comes and we get our coup, our turn in the coup, I don't know whether you'll have to coup up in heaven. I've never made up my mind on it. They do say, if there's a coup to come and have a word with the Savior, wow, there'll be a few myriads and trillions to, to go in front of me here. But, uh, we can't have less access to him there than we have here, shall we? Lovely to tell the returning Lord, lovely to see you, Lord. And Lord, I didn't do too well, but you know, I did try to witness for you. A little bit embarrassing to say, well, Lord, well, I got too scared, so I shut my mouth and sorry. Gave the impression I wasn't a believer. Be a little embarrassing, wouldn't it? When he's revealed. The blessed and only potentate shall reveal him. I can't read that story without remembering a story in the Old Testament. Let me remind you of it. It happened when King David was old. You remember the story? First Book of Kings in chapter one. Now David was old, and he get no heat, to quote the words of the beloved authorized version. He thought all sorts of funny heating systems to warm him up. You read about them at your leisure. You'll say they weren't successful. So... sunk down a shadow of himself under the bedclothes. Now, there was a prince called Adonijah, and he thought the time had come to strike a blow, and he decided to be king himself, you'll see. So he had words with some of the boys in power, like Joab and one of the high priests and some of those chaps, and invited them to a party, you'll see. And they all went to the party, and they proclaimed Adonijah is king. A word came from Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba that Adonijah was being, uh, uh, uh, crowned as king and fated as king, you see. So Bathsheba went into the king's chamber, and he was very near gone, you know. And she said, my lord, is this of you? What's that? Oh, she said, you know how you promised to me that, uh, my son Solomon would be the one that would reign, you see. And now, uh, Adonijah is becoming himself king. He's what, he said, a poor boy sat brought up right in bed. He's what? Well, Adonijah collected Joab and company and is proclaiming himself king over the other side of the valley. Whew. Well, somehow he found a spark of life in David. He wasn't having that. He would show them who the true king was. So he told them forthwith, you see, to get his, his, uh, kingly mule out. Didn't have Cadillacs in those days. A kingly mule, you see, and uh, sit Solomon upon it, and make a procession and blow the trumpets and say, Solomon is king. So that's what they did. And the other lot were having their party and their drinks, you know, celebrating Adonijah's king, when they heard this uh, noise coming over the valley, uh, getting louder. Wondered what it was. Some out of breath messenger came and told them that they're, they're making Solomon cake. The people turned pale and put down their wine glasses on the table and said they had to go home to see their wives or something. Yeah. Dangerous job that. You'd be found on the wrong side when the king came, not when the true king came. Well, my brothers and sisters, the vindication of God's servants when the Lord comes. God help us that we shall be found faithful to the king in his absence, not yielding to the blandishments of any false king. And therefore, we do well to listen to the principles that governed our Lord's life and to govern ours. And that is why, surely, Paul gives a word to Timothy in chapter three of that epistle as to how we are to behave ourselves in the house of God. It is the church of the living God, pillar and ground of the truth. And in our Lord's absence, we are to know how to comport ourselves and behave ourselves. And here are the principles, verse sixteen: Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Now again, these verses have been given various explanations, and mine not, uh, may not approve itself to you. Others hold different interpretations, and they may well be right. Some are convinced that this is a statement of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. Great is the mystery of godliness, not please, great is the mystery of our religion. No, no, no. Uh, great is the mystery of godliness, all those messages and powers that lead us to a godly life, a life that always looks to what God's will is and seeks to do what God's will is. But if it were meant to be a statement of the fundamental doctrines of the faith, then it's got some noticeable absences, hasn't it? There's nothing about his atoning death, nothing about his resurrection. How can it be a summary of the doctrines of the faith? Nothing about his great sacrifice. Hardly a statement of the faith is it in that sense. What is it then? It's a statement of our Lord's life as the perfect exemplar of what godliness is. It is formed of three couplets. They stand in counterpoint, manifested in the flesh, justified in spirit. First major principle of our blessed Lord's life, and given for us that we may follow his grace. Godliness manifested. Oh, thank God he didn't remain in heaven. The uncreated spirit that he was equal with the Father, and from heaven merely give us a moral code to tell us what godliness is like. Yes, God did that through Moses, but with the coming of our blessed Lord. The law was given by Moses, says John, but that sentence paid by Jesus Christ. Manifest, and manifest in the flesh, if you please. Oh, that's marvelous. That's godliness. Manifest as a child. Manifest in the way he works in Joseph Carpenter's shop. Manifest as he walks and talks and sleeps and breathes. Manifest in the flesh. This is no theory. First basic principle exemplified in the life of Christ of godliness. It has to be manifest in the flesh. With him, it was the wondrous story of the incarnation. But for us who follow on, who godliness is not in theory, merely but in practice. I read the Bible and know I ought, I ought to be kind and not to be sarcastic. That doesn't mean I am kind because I read it in the Bible, does it? What? I know so much about how you have to be kind, I could make up a sermon about it. Well, make me holy, does it in time. The basic principle of godliness is manifesting in the flesh. But being manifested was one thing, being justified was another. And the perfect man that ever lived was not justified here on earth, was he? Hung at last on a criminal cross, justified in and by the Holy Spirit. You've seen it. That could happen to us as well. Our final justification as servants of God awaits the day to come. Secondly, Secondly... willing to honor God, he was seen of angels, preached on in the world. Sometimes that phrase, seen of angels, is interpreted as though it meant he saw angels. That's not what it says. It is true that our Lord saw angels. For instance, an angel appeared to him in Gethsemane. But it's not our Lord seeing angels, it's angels seeing him is the thing to be noted. What a sight that was. Seen of angels. I don't know whether we're all seen, I suppose we are. Well, I do remember the occasion when the sons of God, angels, appeared before God's court, and uh, God said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job recently, Satan? I don't know that God is always in the position to call attention, Satan's attention to the likes of us, at least to me. That might be embarrassing. And what I'm doing and how I'm behaving, I suppose, doesn't it? Have God called the angels attention to you? Oh. And our blessed Lord has seen our angels. Oh, I like to think about it, what a lesson angels learn. We must imagine when Michael and Gabriel saw the blessed Son of God arise from his divine throne and become human. Did Gabriel nudge Michael and say, Michael, the son of the blessed, become less than we are, made lower than us? What flabbergasting wonder was this? What did they say when they saw him nailed to a cross, and God didn't blast the world out of existence in that very moment? How could it be? And then they saw him rise. Oh, what a thing. And they saw this unique event in heaven. There had never been such a thing before. A living man raised above the angels and seated at the right hand of God. Michael hasn't got over it yet. Chain of angels. What a sight that was. God gave him who never left Canaan, maximum publicity, scene of angels preached on among the nations. His name fills the earth as none others has before or since. So, if we follow him faithfully, we shall be given publicity. For in the church, it is said, even now to principalities and powers is being made known the very agape wisdom of God through the church. My brother, that will keep you on your toes. But Gabriel and company are watching you, and God is using you as an object lesson to teach them. He's very engaged with you. And he will give you all the publicity that's good for you. That is for his glory. And the result of it? To lead God in the world and received up in glory. The result of the publicity. Though he died a criminal's death, as the world counted it. That wasn't the end, was it? He has been believed on. Millions have come to believe on him. He was right, they say. Believed on in the world. And so it will be to you if you stand fast by your testimony to the Lord, come what will. There will be those who, who you believe of God in this world, and at last, the length at the end of a life lived in total godliness for God, we see that in glory. Oh, how they welcomed him when at last he arose from earth to heaven. But how shall they welcome you for his sake when your day is done? The justification of the servant then. It doesn't mean, does it, that we can get it into our heads that only we are right, and if anybody happens to disagree with us, he is by definition wrong. Some people, being strong-minded, get that into their heads somehow. They don't say it that way, but they're so convinced they're right that ten thousand brothers and sisters of godly life and reputation, uh, saying that they're mistaken couldn't convince them. They are utterly convinced they are right. My dear brethren, come, come, come. We're made of clay still. Please, praise God, think you could be mistaken now and again. Uh. Justified, says Paul writing to the Corinthians, is quite ensured that he's unfaithful. Yet, of course, it's a very little thing for me to be judged of you, says he to the Corinthians. The Corinthians weren't very bright spiritually. They were, uh, great giants intellectually, or thought they were, but they weren't so hot spiritually, you see. Very little means me to be judged as you, says Paul. I don't even judge myself. What does he mean? Because in the later chapter, he says that we are to judge ourselves, and every time we come to the Lord's supper, we must prepare ourselves, we must judge ourselves, and ask the Lord to show us if there be some wicked way in us and confess our sins, that we might come to the supper and keep it as it should be kept. And if we don't judge ourselves, the Lord will chasten us. So what does Paul now mean when he says, I don't judge myself? Because he's thinking of the ultimate judgment. I don't know anything against myself. I've examined my conscience. I can't find anything that I'm consciously aware of that I'm doing to displease the Lord. I'm not thereby justified. You know. I could be wrong, for sure. I could be doing things that displease him. We must keep a live conscience, but our conscience is not the final judge. So I don't know anything against myself, but I'm not hereby justified, uh, when it's the judgment seat of Christ. There he will bring to light all the secrets of him and the secret motives that I couldn't see, even if my brethren could see. That will be our final justification, won't it? And perhaps it will be when he shows you the secrets of your heart, makes you aware of the real motives that you have in such and such a thing, you find that you actually did better than you thought you did. You thought you weren't much good. You thought it was a stammering message he gave, and he will show what the motives were. And he who looks on the motives will vindicate what you do for him. And perhaps I shall find to what I thought was so wonderful, and how right I was. He will expose my motives. What I wasn't conscious of, but was there, and perhaps others could see it, and I surpised that it was a very poor thing, really. The deed itself not bad, maybe, but the motivation false. Then shall he go. And it is written to my astonish, then shall everyone. It wouldn't astonish me if the others were, but it says everyone, that must include me, I suppose. My astonishment. Then shall everyone have praise of God. Shall we pray? Lord, now take thy holy word. Help it to sink down into our ears and then into our hearts. That in hours and days to come, if it please thee, thy Holy Spirit may be able to show us its deeper meaning and how they apply to our conduct as thy servants. Give us honesty before thee and tender conscience, and give us the courage we do beseech thee to stand as faithful witnesses of the Lord Jesus, that when he comes we may not be ashamed before him. Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to see not only thy great and wondrous works. Thank you, blessed Lord, for opening thy heart to us, showing us thy deep inner thoughts as thou did serve God here on earth. We bless thee, Savior. All our hope is in thee. By thy grace, make us firm and and faithful faithful witnesses. witnesses.