Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today, Stuart Briscoe brings a message from 1 Timothy 3. He's calling "The Mystery of Godliness." Today's culture is a revolving door of ever-shifting views and beliefs. That's why it's so important to test new ideas against the timeless truth of Scripture. It's the best defense against the world's confusion.

We want to help ground you in the foundations of your faith by sending you Stuart Briscoe's six-message series on the book of Second Peter, "Six Things We Must Never Forget." The "Six Things We Must Never Forget" series is our thanks for your gift to help keep Telling the Truth going strong, sharing life-giving teaching from Stuart and Jill with more people all over the world.

So request your copy when you give today and get help staying grounded in truth in today's shifting culture. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart with his message, "The Mystery of Godliness."

Stuart Briscoe: Have you noticed that there's some discussion and debate going on in church circles about music? Have you noticed that there are some people who like contemporary music and some people who like traditional music, and never the two shall meet? It is an interesting phenomenon.

The word contemporary doesn't mean anything. The word contemporary simply means "time with." And so, contemporary music is music that's time with. I think the significance of the term is that it means that contemporary music is music that is in tune with what's popular at that particular time.

Then there is traditional music. The thing to remember about traditional music is this: when it was written, it was contemporary. And the difference between traditional music and contemporary music is traditional music is contemporary music that survived.

Now, some contemporary music could conceivably survive, and much of it, mercifully, will disappear. But if it survives, it will become traditional music and so on and on it goes. But the key is whether something has such value in it that a generation following the generation in which it was contemporary says, "There's value in this thing, and let's maintain it."

The reason I'm mentioning it to you, of course, is that the passage of Scripture we're going to look into today contains a fragment of a piece of Christian hymnology that is 2,000 years old. Now, if we accept this basic idea that traditional music is contemporary music that stood the test of time and succeeding generations found value in it, what can we say about something that is still relevant 2,000 years later?

I think we would have to say, "Wow, that must be a very interesting and a very significant piece of literature." Now, in order that we might see it in its proper context, I'd like to read to you from Paul's first letter to Timothy, the third chapter, reading from verse 14.

This is what Paul says: "Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. Beyond all question, great is the mystery of godliness."

And then that sparks in Paul's mind a piece of Christian hymnology that he then quotes. It's a fragment. This is what he said: "Beyond all question, great is the mystery of godliness: Who appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory."

Now, you say, "That does not make an awful lot of sense to me." Well, my job is to see if we can find out what this is all about. And in order to do that, we look at it in its context. You will notice this great statement that introduces the quotation: "Great is the mystery of godliness."

Now, Paul was writing to Timothy. Timothy was a young pastor in the great city of Ephesus. He was ministering to the church there. In Ephesus, one of the great wonders of the world was built, and that was the temple of Diana.

The people who worshipped at the temple of Diana were very proud of their religion; they were fiercely devoted to it. In fact, when the Apostle Paul was in Ephesus at the beginning of his ministry in that city, the people who were worshipping Diana and the people who were engaged in industry surrounding the worship of Diana got very worried about the impact of the gospel.

And they started a riot. And you remember what happened in this great riot as all the people rushed to the great arena in the city of Ephesus. It's still there to this day; I've been there on many occasions. It still seats 25,000 people.

They were shouting and screaming at the top of their voices as they walked through the streets of Ephesus, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" And I think Paul echoes this when he says, "No, great is the mystery of godliness." That is what we need to focus on.

So our theme today, obviously, is the mystery of godliness. When you say mystery, that rather suggests that it's all a bit confusing. And whilst the meaning of mystery in the New Testament has nothing to do with confusion, let me just pick up on that idea of confusion about godliness first of all.

There is no question that Paul felt it necessary to make this statement, "Great is the mystery of godliness," because there was a lot of wrong thinking about godliness or spirituality in the church at Ephesus at that time. The reason for that wrong thinking was there was some wrong teaching.

There were some people who had either infiltrated the church or had grown up in the church and had gotten away from the truth of the gospel. These people were teaching things that were flatly contradictory to what the Apostle Paul had taught.

Let me just refresh your memory about where these people were coming from. These people were fundamentally what we would call dualists. That means they looked at this world as if there were two sources of everything in the world.

They acknowledged that there were some things that were good and some things that were evil. They said, "Now, if you've got good things and you've got evil things, it's obvious that you have two sources: you've got a good source and you've got an evil source."

As a result of that, they went a little further, and they said, "Emanating from that evil source is everything that is material, all that is made up of matter. Therefore, everything that is material, everything that is made up of matter, is evil."

"But that which emanates from the good source, which is spirit, is good. So everything that is spiritual is good, and everything that is material is evil." Now, they said, "If you want to be a spiritual person, or to use our word, if you want to live a life characterized by godliness, this is how you do it."

"You recognize that there are things about you that are material, like your body. Because material is evil and your body is evil, so your body is evil. Now then, if your body is evil but you want to be spiritual and good, the thing you've got to do is to negate the impact of your body."

So they taught, and Paul says this quite specifically in 1 Timothy chapter four, they forbade people to marry, for instance. And they ordered them to abstain from certain foods. In other words, what they were saying was this: the only way that you can be spiritual is to negate that which is material, because that which is material is evil.

Now then, your body is fundamentally evil, so you have not got to marry, they would say. "If you marry," they said, "you'll probably engage in sexual activity. Because material is evil, the body is material, the body is evil, therefore sexual activity is evil."

"If you're going to be spiritual, you must be celibate. You must deny marriage, you must have nothing to do with sexuality." In addition to that, food is material. Therefore, some of the foods that you're eating are fundamentally wrong.

All you should be eating is that which is necessary for you barely to survive. And so asceticism was born. And the whole approach was you negate that which is physical and material in order that you might live that which is spiritual. You get rid of that which is evil in order that you might live that which is good.

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There, you can listen, read, and watch powerful teaching from Stuart and Jill on relevant topics like the sovereignty of God, the importance of the church, and how to grow closer with Jesus Christ. You can also request this month's featured resource as thanks for your gift of support to help share the abundant life Jesus offers with more people around the world.

Visit us online or download the app today and experience life with Telling the Truth. Now let's rejoin the program as Stuart continues his message, "The Mystery of Godliness."

Stuart Briscoe: And the whole approach was you negate that which is physical and material in order that you might live that which is spiritual. You get rid of that which is evil in order that you might live that which is good.

Now, there was one thing that was a conclusion of this thinking, and it was very, very serious indeed. We right now might not think it's very serious, but let me assure you it was and it is. And this was the serious thing.

What they were effectively doing was separating God the Creator from aspects of His creation. The Bible says that God is the one who created all things and that when He created all things, He pronounced them good.

God did not say spirit is good and material and physical is evil. God said, "I made all of them, and I made all of them good." Now, if people come along and say that that which is physical and material is evil, that not only contradicts what God says, but it also separates God's creation from the Creator Himself.

And that was the fundamental error, and that led to all kinds of other invidious things that were going on in the church at that time. So the Apostle Paul is countering these things. Now, you may say, "Well, okay, that's vaguely interesting, but why don't you say something that is relevant to us today?"

All right, I will. I would suggest to you that not only was there a lot of confusion in the ancient world concerning godliness, but I submit that there is a lot of confusion in the modern world concerning godliness as well.

And some of it, you may be surprised to discover, is not dissimilar to the confusion of the ancient world. But before I tell you about that, let me give you two or three different ways in which I believe the modern world is confused about godliness.

First of all, there are those who would say godliness or holiness or anything of that nature is fundamentally restrictive and basically unattractive. "And it doesn't interest me at all. I shy away from it. I'm rather nervous about it. I don't really want anything to do with it."

Now, this kind of attitude is not uncommon, believe it or not, in the church. Now, the church, you see, is part to blame for this. Because sometimes in our anxiety—legitimate anxiety—to reach people with the message of the gospel, we proclaim to people, "God is a God of grace, God is a God of love, God is a God of mercy."

He has sent Jesus into the world in order that He might save us from our sins, and He wants to give us the gift of eternal life. He wants you to know the peace that passes understanding. And people say, "Gee, I could use some peace that passes understanding. I've got a lot of anxiety that I thoroughly understand, and I'd like to trade that for peace that passes understanding."

"And what's this about joy unspeakable? Wow, that sounds great, because I'm pretty miserable. You mean to tell me that God will give me joy unspeakable?" Yes. "And He'll give me peace that passes understanding?" Yes.

"Anything else He'll give me?" Oh sure, He'll give you the forgiveness of sins. "Wow. Anything else?" Oh yeah, He'll give you the gift of eternal life. "Well, that's an offer I can't refuse." And so we present this wonderful message to people, and they go for it like salmons go for flies.

And they say, "That's great. Nothing to lose, is there? I've tried everything else; let's try God." And that is why it is not difficult in America at the present time to fill a church with people and to get them to come and listen to this presentation of the gospel.

Now, all that I've said is true. It is all true, but unfortunately, it's only part of the truth. For you see, when we come into an experience of God's grace, it is normative for us then to be drawn into a relationship with God where we want to express our gratitude for grace.

And gratitude for grace then begins to be interested in saying, "God, You've done all this for me. Why in the world would You do all this for me?" And the answer would come loud and clear: "In order that I might draw you to myself and bring out of your life that which will fulfill my purposes for you in the first place."

Well, what are these purposes? And the answer will come: "That you live a life that glorifies God." You say, "Well, what does that mean?" God will say, "Well, it means that you stop living a life that's just glorifying you. And that you begin to recognize that the world does not revolve around you, but the world revolves around God."

"And that the right approach to life is not to say, 'This is what I will do with my life,' but the right approach to life is to say, 'God created me and God redeemed me. I am not my own; I've been bought with a price. Therefore, I will glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God's.'"

And now I begin to find an entirely different orientation as far as my life is concerned. Now my overriding concern is twofold: how might I so live my life that I'll bring delight to God, and how may I avoid those things that cause Him pain?

If I then now begin to live my life that way, there's one word that describes it. Do you know what the word is? Godliness. For godliness is an attitude that produces a lifestyle, an attitude that is based on a sense of the awesome wonder of God that is overwhelmed with gratitude and manifests the gratitude by saying, "What can I do that will bring You pleasure, and what can I stop doing that causes You pain?"

Now, here's the problem. To move from this basically self-oriented response to the gospel that is basically interested in "What is there in God for me?" to the attitude of "What is there in me that can bring glory to God?" involves challenge, it involves cost, it involves transformation, it involves a thoroughgoing conversion of heart and mind and aspiration and longing and lifestyle and principle.

And sad to say, there are many people who would say, "Oh gee, I don't know that I want to get into all the business of living a godly life. What I want is the blessings that God will give me so that I will be fundamentally free to do what I want with my life."

And this is a fundamental error. There are two areas in which we live our lives: in the community of believers and outside the community of believers. And you know what's supposed to characterize our behavior in the community of believers? Godliness. And you know what's supposed to characterize our life outside the community of believers? Godliness.

Guest (Female): Stuart, can you explain again what you mean by "the mystery of godliness"?

Stuart Briscoe: The mystery of godliness is a statement that may cause some puzzled brows, some scratching of the head. First of all, godliness is another word for God-likeness. Mystery is not something that is confusing, but something that was hidden that is now no longer hidden; it has been revealed.

So you put mystery of godliness together, and it is a revelation that was previously hid of what God is really like. And the verse of Scripture in which the term is used then goes on to explain it: that great is the mystery of godliness, great is the revelation of what God is like, in that God was manifest in the flesh, God was demonstrated in human form.

Put all that together and the mystery of godliness, the revelation of what God is like, is what we saw of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He is the mystery of godliness.

Guest (Male): What benefits have you seen, Stuart, of striving for godliness in your own life?

Stuart Briscoe: When I think in terms of seeking to live a life of godliness, I don't think primarily of the benefits that accrue to me, but clearly there are benefits that accrue. When I think in terms of seeking to live a life of godliness, I simply think in terms of I am seeking to live the kind of life that God created me to live in the first place.

And therefore, if I am seeking to live the kind of life for which I was created to live, I have a deep-rooted sense of purpose, I have a deep-rooted sense of fulfillment to the extent that God is enabling me to fulfill my noblest aspirations.

When I think of seeking to live a life of godliness, I realize that this is the life that brings God pleasure. And I have a deep-rooted sense of delight in my own heart to think that it is actually possible for me, who by nature would cause him grave displeasure, I have the great intense delight of knowing it's just possible that I'm putting a smile on the face of God. These are the benefits that accrue to me.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to Telling the Truth today. We're so glad you've joined us and we pray this message has helped you experience more of the abundant life Jesus promises.

Today's culture is a revolving door of ever-shifting views and beliefs. That's why it's so important to test new ideas against the timeless truth of Scripture. It's the best defense against the world's confusion.

We want to help ground you in the foundations of your faith by sending you Stuart Briscoe's six-message series on the book of Second Peter, "Six Things We Must Never Forget." This series will anchor you in six time-tested truths from God's Word so you can stand strong in your beliefs as you remember the deep spiritual truths that are foundational to your faith.

The "Six Things We Must Never Forget" series is our thanks for your gift to help keep Telling the Truth going strong, sharing life-giving teaching from Stuart and Jill with more people all over the world. So request your copy when you give today and get help staying grounded in truth in today's shifting culture.

Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Next time on Telling the Truth, more help from Stuart and Jill Briscoe about how to experience life in Christ in all its fullness. We hope you'll be listening then.