INTRODUCING THE HYMN
– THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS
(I Tim. 3:16)
OVERVIEW OF I TIMOTHY 1:1 to 3:16
1:1-2 – Overview of Christian Faith based on names for God and the blessings He bestows on His people.
1:3-4a False teaching in Ephesus and how humanistic philosophy effects us today.
1:4b-6 – The goal of the command is love. (Loving God, fellow Christians, the non-Christian world)
1:7-8 – The law is good if used properly. (The law’s deterrent, punitive and educative purposes)
1:8-11 – “Whatever else …” The Gospel Ethic. (Law-Philia University)
1:11 – Our Relationship with “The Blessed God.” (Causing God pain or joy)
1:12-16 Why Paul considered himself the worst of sinners.
1:12-16 Conversion of the apostle Paul.
1:12-16 Paul’s call to ministry.
1:17 Paul’s doxology of praise for his conversion.
1:18-20 How to avoid shipwrecking our faith.
2:1-3 The Christian is to pray for all men.
2:4,6 Comparison of Calvinism & Armenianism.
2:5-6 The man, Christ Jesus, the only mediator.
2:1-7 The vision, the message, the means.
2:8-15 Treatment of women in the ancient world, the early church and the Bible.
2:8-15 Three key hermeneutic principles to follow when studying the Bible.
2:8 Praying Men with Peaceful Hearts
2:9-10 A First-Century Christian Woman’s Dress and Deeds
2:11-12 Does Submission Demand Silence?
2:13-15 Paul’s Logic for Requiring Women to Be Silent in The Ephesian House Churches.
3:1 Why Aspiring to Church Leadership Can Be a Good Thing.
3:2 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder – Teaching
3:2 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder – Hospitality
3:4-5 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder –Leadership
3:2-7 Ethical Demands of the NT and the Ethics Tests for Elders
3:2-7 Ethical Qualities Required of an Ephesian Elder
3:8-13 The Ever Present Danger of Ethical Disconnect in a Christian’s Life
3:8-13 The Ministry of Deacons in the Early Church
3:9 Keeping Hold of the Deep Truths of the Faith
3:11 An Official Deaconesses in the NT Church?
3:14 Results That are Better Than Answered Prayer
3:15 God’s New Community – The Church of the Living God
3:15 God’s New Community – God’s Household
3:15 God’s New Community – The Pillar & Foundation of the Truth
3:16 Introduction to the Hymn – The Mystery of Godliness
3:14 Paul was not able to come to Ephesus as planned. Because of God’s providence in restricting Paul’s travels (through Satan’s intervention) the New Testament letters, a gift to the ages, were written and also Paul developed the strategy of delegating more and more ministry to his trainees.
3:15a God’s “New Community” is called “The Church of the Living God” because God, in a special way lives and dwells in the midst of his believing people as He lived within the OT covenant community.
3:15b The “New Community” is also referred to as “God’s Household” which means God’s family. This engenders Christians to care for each other and pray for each other as they would care and pray for members of their biological family.
3:15c Even though the “New Community” is founded on Christ and the apostles the church, is also the pillar and foundation of the truth in that it is responsible to defend and proclaim the truth.
3:16 The hymn consists of six foundational truths about Christ and thus represent the foundational truths to Christian godliness. Although emotion plays a part in Christian worship Christian faith is built on among others these six foundational truths.
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, the mystery of godliness is great:
He 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.
INTRODUCTION:
The church is to be a bulwark for and pillar for the truth which Paul calls the “Mystery of Godliness” (A cluster of truths that concisely spell out the core beliefs of a Christian) which are conveyed in an ancient Christian hymn.
I. POSSIBLE BACKGROUND OF “GREAT IS THE MYSTERY”
A. The chant of the Ephesians during the riot (Ephesians 19:23-34), “Great is Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians.”
B. We hear Muslims chanting “God is great / Allahhu Akbar” and also getting into a group emotional frenzy.
C. So Paul states, “Great is the Mystery of Godliness” and introduces an ancient Christian hymn.
II. WHY IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS GREAT?
QUESTION: Why do you think the mystery is called great?
A. The mystery is “great” because it includes a cluster of truths that God chose to reveal to us.
B. The mystery is “great” because all of the truths are about Christ.
C. They mystery is “great” because it is about “truth.”
D. The mystery is “great” because the truths promote godliness or piety.
E. The mystery is “great” because it refers to the core beliefs of the “New Community,” the church of the living God.
A Good Prayer: “Father, I see that the secret of piety / godliness is Christ, what He has done. His life, He alone is the key to godliness because He made a way by His life, death, resurrection, proclamation and exaltation. He made a way for me to become a godly person.
III. THE GREEK TEXT OF THE HYMN
Theos phaneroo en sarx (He appeared in the body)
Dikaioo en pneuma (Was vindicated by the spirit)
Optanomai aggelos (Was seen by angels)
Kerusso en ethnos (Was preached among the nations)
Pisteuo en kosmos (Was believed on in the world)
Analambano en doxa. (Was taken up in glory)
QUESTION: What words do you recognize?
QUESTION: What similarities do you see in the grammar in each statement?
A. All the verbs are in the aorist which is not equivalent to our past, present or future.
B. All the verbs are passive.
C. All the verbs are in the indicative mood (The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs or has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.)
D. All end with a noun in the dative. (of, relating to, or being the grammatical case that marks typically the indirect object of a verb, the object of some prepositions, or a possessor)
E. All but one use the preposition “en” to link the verb with the noun.
F. Five begin with a verb that ends with “o” of “oo”
IV. HOW THE SIX STATEMENTS RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER
* There were other very important truths that could have been included here but Paul felt this ancient hymn did a good job of summing up the essence, the key truths relating to Christian godliness and piety.
QUESTION: Do you see any structure in the hymn that will help us to understand it?
A. Chronologically
1. He appeared in the body – incarnation
2. Vindicated by the Spirit – through his miracles
3. Seen by angels – throughout his ministry
4. Preached among the nations – during his lifetime
5. Was believed on in the world – during his lifetime
6. Was taken up into glory – ascension
B. Divide the hymn into two stanzas
1. The first triplet refers to his life on earth.
2. The second triplet refers to the life of the exalted Lord
C. Hymn consists of three couplets each consisting of a deliberate antithesis.
1. The revelation of Christ: Appeared in body, vindicated in spirit
2. The witnesses of Christ: Seen by angels, preach among nations
3. The reception of Christ: Believed on in the world, taken up into glory
D. Style of an ancient Egyptian Coronation hymn
1. Elevation of the king to deity – the incarnation and resurrection.
2. Presentation of the king to the world – seen by angels and preached among the nations.
3. Enthronement: believed on in the world and taken up to glory.
E. The hymn is essentially a missionary statement announcing the inclusion of the nations in consequence of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
V. CONTENT OF NEW TESTAMENT HYMNS
QUESTION: What similarities do you see in all of these hymns?
QUESTION: What is the main difference between the content of the NT hymns and the hymns that are sung in the church today?
How else was the ancient, first century church to communicate And preserve their core teaching and doctrine but by hymns? Many (most) were not literate, few books and so the best way to preserve doctrine was by putting it into hymns and songs.
John Wesley (Charles himself wrote 6,000 hymns) called the hymns “a body of experimental and practical divinity.” They were not only intended for congregational use, they were a compendium of theology and a manual of private devotion; and when the voices of the preachers were stilled the hymns remained for the deepening of the spiritual life of the people, the elevation of their worship, and the development of their character. “It is a great recommendation to the hymns of both Wesleys,” says an Anglican historian, “that, although they are often mystical in tone, and appeal persistently to the feelings, they are thoroughly practical, never losing sight of active Christian morality.”
SO WHAT??
A. All of the statements of the song are in the indicative mood, that is a simple statement of fact.
(The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs or has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.)
B. While emotion / feeling is important in Christian life the foundation / bedrock of our faith is simple, historical fact.
“Christianity is a religion built upon facts. Let us never lose site of this. It came before mankind at first in this shape. The first preachers did not go up and down the world proclaiming an elaborate, artificial system of abstruse doctrines and deep principles. They made it their first business to tell them great, plain facts. They went about telling a sin-laden world that the Son of God had come down to earth and lived for us and died for us and rose again. The Gospel at its first publication was far more simple than many make it now. It was neither more nor less than the History of Christ.” (J.C. Ryle)
C. The six facts all relate to Christ and thus are essential to true Christian godliness and piety and in fact make Christian godliness possible. Trying to live a Christian life apart from holding these great facts about Christ close to our hearts is impossible.
D. Christians and churches should focus on hymns that exalt the person and work of Christ and the attributes of God. This is a key to true Biblical worship.