"Great Is the Mystery of Godliness" (I Timothy 3:16)

"Great Is the Mystery of Godliness" from I Timothy 3:16 was preached by Dr. Mark McElreath at the City Baptist Church of Atlanta on July 6, 2025.

Find out more about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta at www.citybaptistchurch.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the City Pulpit. Bible messages from the pulpit ministry of the City Baptist Church in Atlanta. Well, 1 Timothy chapter 3, let's begin reading in verse number 14. The Bible says, These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself 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 manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Now, if you mark this phrase with me in verse number 16, we'll take it for the theme of the Bible message this morning. This phrase, great is the mystery of godliness. And what this verse is doing here is it's telling us what our message is as the church. I wonder if people heard us talk. Maybe they heard us talk at school or heard us talk on the job or heard us talk in our neighborhood. Would they know what message we have? What are we? When I stand to preach, there's really only one message I'm preaching. And here's the message: it is the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way: Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 23, he said, We preach Christ. Now, if you go out and look at our sign, you'll see it's City Baptist Church. And I'm a Baptist, and I make no qualms about that. I know why I'm a Baptist. But I don't preach the message of being a Baptist. I preach Christ. I'm thankful I'm an American today. We celebrated July 4th just a couple of days ago. And I am thankful to the Lord allowing me to be American. I'm thankful for the liberty and the freedoms we have in this country. But I don't preach ultimately the message of being an American. I preach Christ. And this church is going to preach one message. This church, as it goes house to house, it's street by street, and neighborhood by neighborhood, we preach one thing. What is that? Christ. And if ever this church stops preaching the message of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray the doors close and it shuts down. If ever we stray from preaching what the Lord has given us to preach Christ, then I pray the work here ends and God gives it to someone else. Because there's one thing we're going to preach, and it is the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says here in verse number 16, this is Paul writing, he's the human penman. And as the book tells us, it's the book of 1 Timothy, that means the first letter to Timothy. He's writing to his son in the faith. And there's something Paul wants to make sure, as he's passing this on to the next generation, he's saying, There's one thing I want to make sure you preach, Timothy. Now you teach about the church and you preach about holy living, absolutely, and you preach, there's lots of doctrine that we need to make sure we have right. But there is one thing you cannot leave, you cannot stray from. It is the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in verse number 16 here, and without controversy. I think what he means there is preaching on Christ should not be a controversial thing. If there is one thing we can agree on, it is the preaching and teaching on the Lord Jesus Christ. He also says here, great is the mystery of godliness. A mystery is very simply something that was once veiled, something unknown that is now known. In the Old Testament, the Old Testament saints they were looking for the Messiah, they were looking for the promised one. They knew that the great sacrifice for our sin is going to come. And that which was a mystery, that which was veiled, that which was in shadow, is now in full form found in Jesus Christ. That which was seen through the sacrifices and through the priesthood and through the tabernacle and then the temple, now it's all seen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That which was in part is done away, and now that which is whole and that which is complete has come. It's the person of Jesus Christ. And there are some things here that Paul gives us in verse number 16 that spells out what this message is. You know, Charles Spurgeon said this, the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in the late 1800s, he said, the preaching of Christ is the whip that flogs the devil. The preaching of Christ is the thunderbolt, the sound that makes all hell tremble. I think about we were shooting off fireworks over the last few days. There were still people shooting off fireworks last night. Late last night. But every time, yes, I hear some amens on that. But every time I heard one of those firecrackers, or I'm hoping they were fireworks, I'm hoping it wasn't something else being fired. But every time we heard that, you know what it was? It was the sound of patriotism and people remembering July 4th and all those things. You know what happens every time a preacher stands and preaches Christ? It reminds the devil of his ultimate demise. Every time you take a gospel track and you speak to someone you know about the Lord Jesus Christ and you give the gospel, every time you go preaching Christ, you don't have to just preach Christ from a pulpit. You can preach Christ in your everyday life. Every time you do that, it reminds the devil that he's lost and Jesus won. And we've got to be faithful to preach Christ. John said in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 2, he said, Hereby know we the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. You say, How am I going to know? How am I going to know if a certain religion, maybe you've heard someone else talking about certain religions or certain teaching? How are we going to know that that religion and that teaching is truly of God? John tells us right here. The litmus test of true religion is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do they say about Christ? What do they say about his finished work upon the cross? Then that will tell us exactly what we need to know. So let us make note of some of these things that Paul gives us here in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 16. If you're writing notes down, would you mark these things? Or maybe you even mark them in your Bible. It says this, first of all, number one, God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. Would you hold your place here with me, please, and go to the book of John? Go with me to the book of John, chapter 1. John the Apostle writing here in John chapter 1, and it says here, God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. Now you say, Pastor, that doesn't make any sense. How can you be 100% God and 100% man? In God's math, it makes perfect sense. In God's math, Jesus Christ, he is God the Son, co-equal, co-eternal, coexistent with God. And he comes in the flesh, he takes on a body. John puts it this way, he says in John 1 and verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. If we go down to verse 14, here's what he says. And the word, you see the capital W there? That speaks of Christ. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. I'm thankful the Lord Jesus Christ took on flesh and dwelt among us. You know, that's unique from every other religion. We speak to people, and we have friends that are of other religions, and we're seeking to preach Christ to them. But they serve gods who are distant. They serve gods who cannot be touched. You know, one of the things we have friends that worship other religions, and they're astounded that at any moment we can bow our head and pray to our God. They're blown away by that because they have specific times they have to go, they have specific places they have to be at where they can pray. But we prayed with them before, and they they can't believe it that we can go to God, that he is accessible. Now the question is, are we taking advantage of the access? But we can go to him. You know why? Because he made a way. And he made a way by coming to this earth, putting on flesh, living a perfect life. Jesus Christ, he came as a babe. Can you imagine? The very Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, fully God. And he humbles himself and he becomes a baby. And I don't understand all the ins and outs, but he he learns to walk, he has to learn to eat, he has to learn to talk. That's we call that the humiliation of Christ. He humbles himself and takes all that on himself. Why? So that he could become a man. Paul said that we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. In all points tempted like as we are, but he knew no sin. He lived a perfect life, never giving in a temptation, never sinning, never knowing that corruption in his body, and yet he took all of that in himself. You realize when Christ went to the cross, he felt everything on the cross. He knew the thirst that came from facing crucifixion, he felt the crown of thorns on his head, he felt the beating on his back. All of that in his flesh, and he took it all on for us. Colossians chapter 2, verse 9 says, In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14 says, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. I like that last part. I want to read it again. It says, That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. He had to take on flesh. He had to become a man so that he could die. So that he could face death and rule over death, we find that he dies, he's buried, and then 1 Corinthians chapter 15 says, and he rose again according to the scriptures. He faced death and he won. And now he holds the key to death, hell, and the grave. If you're thankful for that, would you say amen? Amen. And because he won over the grave, we can win over the grave. This whole body's going to die sometime. It's already, I don't feel like I'm that old, but it's already breaking down. It's terrible. And it's going to die one day. But my spirit, because I put my faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, my spirit will go on and will live with God for eternity. Why? Because Jesus Christ won over the grave in his body. Would you make note of a second thing back in our passage, 1 Timothy chapter 3, it says first God was manifest in the flesh. Secondly, it says he was justified in the spirit. Manifest in the flesh, it's kind of juxtaposed against this justification in the spirit. The word justified means to declare righteous. Now, Christ was already righteous. But the Spirit here, the Holy Spirit, I believe, just confirms what is already true, that he is the perfect Son of God. Philippians chapter 2, verse 6 says this about Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not Roberty to be equal with God. Matthew 3.16 says, And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight away out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And God the Father says, This is my son, in whom I am well pleased. He was justified in the Spirit, meaning he was righteous, he was whole, and he was our perfect sacrifice for our sin. It says in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. It says here in 1 Peter that Christ suffered once for sins. That's very important. Because there are some religions that still have Christ on the cross. You may see depictions of him and you may see pictures of him and he's still hanging there. He's not on the cross anymore. He went to the cross and he died and he was buried and he rose again. He's faced death, he has won, and now he sits at the right hand of the Father, ever making intercession for us. Look, we're either working for salvation or we're working from salvation. And according to the Bible, we're working from salvation. He's already paid the debt, he's already taken care of it. We don't have to work for it on our own. If we're working for salvation on our own, we're working against God's work and we're working against the Bible. He has completed it once and for all. But you make note of a third thing. It says he's manifesting the flesh, he's justified in the spirit. What else does it say about this message of Christ? Look at this third thing. Mark it here. He is seen of angels. He's seen of angels. You know, there's a there's somewhat of an affinity for angels today. Sometimes I find it seems like people have put angels at a higher place, even above the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. They almost elevate them to a holy place themselves. Now, there's no doubt through Scripture God has used angels. We were studying in the Sunday school time about how God used an angel to bring a message to Abram. He's used angels. They are ministering spirits, it says. In fact, it says in verse Hebrews 1:14 that are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? They're even subject to us. But what does it mean that he's seen of angels? You know, Christ is attended to by angels. In the wilderness in Mark 1, it says that he was there in the wilderness 40 days, tempted of Satan, and was with wild beasts, and angels ministered unto him. Go with me to Matthew 28. Would you go with me there, please? Hold your place, 1 Timothy 3. Matthew chapter 28, we find that angels attend to the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 28 in verse number 2. Matthew 28 and verse number 2, the Lord Jesus Christ has gone to the cross. He's died for our sins. He goes into the grave. Matthew 28 and verse 2 says this. And behold, there was a great earthquake. For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. So the angels come, they scare the guards half to death, they roll the stone back, Jesus rises again, he leaves the grave. And these angels wait for the women who come. This is Mary and the women that come with her to the grave. And here's the message they have in verse 6. He is not here, for he is what? Risen. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. They're ministering spirits. They're but messengers. We do not worship angels. In fact, now when we go to the account in the book of Revelation, we find the angels are bowing before the throne and they are giving praise and worship to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're worshiping Him. Christ is far superior to angels. It says in Hebrews chapter 1, let all the angels of God worship him. Now, I've had people tell me, you know, when you're a pastor, people tell you lots of things. And look, you come to me, you can tell me whatever you want. I've had people tell me they've heard messages from angels, and angels have spoken to them, and they've had dreams and visions and all these things. There's no doubt God used angels in his word. But we now have the completed word of God. There was a time where the Bible was not complete. Now we have it. We've got the 66 books God wants for us. We can go to his word. He speaks to us through his word. He doesn't speak through angels today, doesn't speak through visions today, doesn't speak through dreams. If you have a dream, you take it and you put it up against the word of God because it's the standard. And if that dream doesn't stand up to the standard, I'm going to hold to the Bible, I'm not going to hold your dream. You tell me an angel came and spoke to you at the foot of your bed. I've had people tell me that, and they've told me crazy things. They don't line up with the Bible. We're going to go back to the Bible, alright? But the angels here worship Christ. He is superior to them. Luke chapter 2, verse 13, it says, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. We should point our gaze the same direction as the angels, and that's toward Christ. But look, I like this next part. Go back with me. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16. He's manifest in the flesh, he's justified in the spirit, he's seen of angels, and he's preached unto the Gentiles. He's preached unto the Gentiles. You know who got the gospel first? The Jews got the gospel first. But you know, I'm thankful it didn't stop with the Jews. The Gentiles also got it. I'm glad he's preached unto the Gentiles because I'm a Gentile. And there was a day where the gospel made it to me. And there was a day when the gospel made it to you. Jesus Christ came as the Messiah to the Jews, but sadly, as a people, they rejected him. But he did not just come for the Jews. Go with me, please, to John chapter 4. Hold your place in 1 Timothy 1. Go with me, please, to John chapter 4. I love this account that's given in John chapter 4. The Lord Jesus Christ is in his earthly life and ministry. And he says in John chapter 4, verse number 4, he says, He must needs go through Samaria. Now, up to this point, the gospel and mainly the work had been done to the Jews. The gospel is going to the Jews. Christ is working in Jewish areas. But in John 4, he says he must needs go through Samaria. Now, why is that important? Because in Samaria, they weren't Jews. They were half Jews. They were somewhat of a half-breed that was mixed with Jews. And because of the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities, Jews had intermarried with other people, and the Jews didn't have anything to do with them. It says in verse 5, then he cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sikar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And we continue reading, we find there's a woman there. She's a Samaritan woman. And she says in verse number 9, the end of verse 9, as Jesus is talking to her, she says, the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. You know what that woman is saying in John chapter 4 to Jesus? She's saying, according to culture, you and I shouldn't get along. And you know what culture often says? Sometimes culture says, well, if you look like this and you look like this, you shouldn't get along. Or if you came from here and you came from here, you shouldn't get along. Or if this has happened, or whatever it is, culture says, you have no dealings together. You shouldn't have anything to do with one another. And yet Jesus says, we've got to get the gospel out. We've got to go to the Samaria's. He said in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, he said, You shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and unto Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Now it's going to take, it's going to take the disciples a little while to get to Samaria. Sometimes it takes the followers a little while to follow in the steps of Jesus. But he understands this is not for one group of people. You realize sometimes we can think that we're the we're the R4 and no more, right? Our little group, we've got to get together and we just got to hold on until Jesus comes. Oh, no, no, no. We've got to get this gospel seed out of the barn. Why do we go to Vine City and Bankhead and English Avenue and Moseley Park and Atlantic Station and Loring Heights? Why do we do that? Because Christ was preached unto the Gentiles. It went far beyond Jerusalem and Judea. It went to the uttermost parts of the earth. We've got to get the gospel out. Go with me to the book of Romans. I know we're turning to a number of passages. I realize that. But please turn with me to Romans chapter 1. Paul says this in verse 14. He says, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Bible. Both to the wise and to the unwise. He says in verse 15, so as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Paul's a Jew. Paul's not just a Jew. Paul was someone who could hold his own. Among the Jews, he could hold his own. He was really a Jew of the Jews. Just an absolutely intellect. And yet he says, I'm not just going to preach to my people. He says, I want to preach to the Greeks. I want to preach to the barbarians. I'm going to preach to the wise and to the unwise. Sometimes we might look at people and we may say, yeah, I'd let go to the Greeks. Those are the intellectual ones. I want to go to the ones they're going to hear what I say and I'm going to be able to debate with them. But I don't know about those barbarians. I don't know about those pagans. No. Paul says, I'm going to go to the wise and the unwise. I'm going to go to those who seem like they'll accept it, and maybe those who seem like they won't accept it. Sometimes I find the people, and look, I do this and you do this, we all do it. God nudges us and says, you need to give that person a track. Or God nudges us and says, you need to speak to that person about me. And we think, well, Lord, they're not going to listen. They're not ready to hear. Sometimes we can talk ourselves out of a gospel presentation. Because we think they're not going to listen. I find sometimes the people I think are the most un are going to be the most unwilling to listen are ready. They have questions. They want to hear. And Paul says, look what he says on in verse 15. I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Look at verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. I ask you this morning, are you ready, as Paul said, to preach the gospel? Well, Pastor, I'm not a preacher. That's okay. You don't have to preach the gospel behind a pulpit. In your everyday life, I read something recently called them informal missionaries. Wherever you are, will you be a missionary there? Will you take the gospel wherever you're at and preach it there? Not just are you ready to preach the gospel, I ask you this morning, have you truly received the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you heard the message and truly trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? You know, Paul's going to go on to the book of Romans and he's really going to spell out what that gospel message is. He says in Romans chapter 3, just a couple pages over, verse 23, he says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He's saying, you know where we begin? We begin with where everyone is. Jew or Greek, barbarian, Roman, whoever they are, we're all sinners. We've all tried to keep God's law, and we can't keep it. You know, God gave us Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. And some people say, well, I know the Ten Commandments, and I've never killed anybody, and I've I, you know, I've never stolen and I haven't coveted and all these things. You know what Jesus did? Jesus took the Ten Commandments and He raised them to another level. Jesus said, You say you haven't committed adultery, but if you've lusted after a woman in your own heart, you've committed adultery with her already in your heart. He said, You say you haven't killed anybody, but if you hate your brother, you've already taken his life in your own heart, and you've broken that commandment. Jesus said, Look, that's just two commandments. You still got eight of them pointing back at you. We've all come short of his perfection. Paul goes on to say in the book of Romans, chapter 6, he says, the wages of that sin, the price of that sin is death. Because we are sinners, we owe a debt. And that debt's a debt we can't pay. That debt is actually death. The wage or the price of sin is death. And that is a spiritual death in separation from God for eternity in a place of eternal punishment called hell. Now that's a place that God created for the devil and his angels. He did not create it for men and women to go there. But if you turn from Christ and you reject his message of salvation in this life, then that's where you are going to spend eternity. Separated from him, in eternal punishment, in a lake of fire. I don't want you to go there. Christ doesn't want you to go there. Why would Jesus come to this earth, humble himself, go to the cross and die a gruesome death upon the cross, bear the weight of all our sin. God the Father Himself turned his back on him because he cannot look on sin. To pay the debt for our sin. To put his righteousness on our account. Romans chapter 5, verse 8 says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners, while we were running from him in our sin, he died for us. He died for Mark, and he died for Katie, and he died for Monique and He died for Teresa. He paid our debt. And the best part of that is when I think about, he's preached unto the Gentiles, he says in Romans chapter 10 and verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You may say, Pastor, I've gone too far. No, you haven't. No one's ever run too far where the gospel cannot reach them. No one's ever sinned too much that the gospel cannot save them. No one's ever done, well, I've just done such evil things. Oh no. God's grace is sufficient to meet that sin and to reach deep enough to pull you out of the pit of your bondage and your sin. That's him being preached unto the Gentiles. That's his message going to the worst of sinners. Realize if you were to talk to Paul, Paul would say, Oh, you should have seen me before I came to know Christ. Paul would have told you, look, I was an intellectual. I knew everything I needed to know about the Old Testament, about Judaism, but he was running people down and throwing them into prison for being Christians. And yet he says, God found me on the road to Damascus. I was doing everything I could to run against him and to fight against him and to kick against him. And yet God was after him. You may be here this morning, and you may be kicking against God and fighting against God, and you say, I want nothing to do with him. And yet you know what he's doing? While you're kicking and screaming and fighting him? His hand is stretched out. His nail-pierced hands are stretched out to you, saying, I am giving you an opportunity to accept my free gift of salvation. To not be in bondage any longer to your sin. He's preached unto the Gentiles. Look what he says in 1 Timothy chapter 3. He says, He's manifest in the flesh. He's justified in the spirit. He's seen of angels. He's preached unto the Gentiles. This fifth thing it says here in 1 Timothy 3.16, it says he's believed on in the world. You realize people have come to God the same way in every age, by grace and through faith. How did people come to know the Lord in the New Testament? How did people get saved in the Old Testament? I realized there was a sacrificial system. I realized all that. But you know what they were doing? They were putting their faith and trust in God alone for their soul's salvation. Acts chapter 2, verse number 46 says this. It says, and they continued daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, and they did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Verse 47 says, Praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Could you imagine if in this place there were people daily being saved? Every day someone else is reached with the gospel, they accept Christ, and they're added to the church. It says he's believed on in the world. We may get the idea, and I've talked to people, and they have the idea that the world's just gotten too bad, the city's just gotten too sinful, and just nobody's getting saved anymore. Nobody's being reached anymore, nobody's believing in Christ anymore. We have testimonies of that today that God is still at work. He's still being believed on in the world. He's still, people are still being reached with the gospel. You know, I wonder that the greatest miracle is not necessarily that Christ came to save sinners, but rather that sinners have a desire for Christ to save them. That's one of the most wonderful things, one of the most amazing things. Look at this last part. Here's what he says in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16. He's manifest in the flesh, he's justified in the spirit, he's seen of angels, he's preached unto the Gentiles, he's believed on the world, and then it says he's received up into glory. We find when the Lord Jesus Christ goes to the cross and he dies, he's buried, he spends 40 days with his disciples after he rises from the dead. And after those 40 days, he ascends back up into heaven. And it says in Acts chapter 1, we're given a picture of this account in Acts chapter 1, with his disciples talking to him. In Acts chapter 1, we'll look at verse number 10. It says, And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. These are two angels. And they said, You men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? I mean, can you imagine you're there with the disciples? They're talking with Christ, and Christ raises his hands, he blesses them, and then he rises up and he goes back up into heaven. I mean, you'd be standing there looking too. And two angels come and they say, Why stand ye gazing up in heaven? They're like, Did you just see that? But look what he says in verse 11. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up in heaven? This same Jesus. Which Jesus? That Jesus that just ascended, the same Jesus that went to the cross, died for our sin, was buried, rose again, and now 40 days later has ascended. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. You know what that means? He's risen and he's coming again. He is coming back. And here's the question: are you and I ready when he comes back? When's he coming, Pastor? I don't know. But I know that the day of his coming is 2,000 years closer than it was in Acts chapter 1 and verse number 11. There is nothing holding him back from coming today. His coming, there's a word that's used to talk about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is the imminence of Christ's coming. The iminence doesn't mean he's coming immediately, but it means that he could come at any moment. And you know what that does for us as Christians? It gives us a sense of urgency. That if he has risen again and he's coming back, we've got to be ready. What are we doing to prepare for his coming? Let me ask you, do you know that if you died today or that if he returned today, do you know for sure that you'd go to heaven? Do you know that you have been born again, as Jesus says in John chapter 3? Christian, let me ask you this. Are you ready to meet him with what you've done with your life? Maybe you say, well, look, I'm saved. I know if I died today, I'd go to heaven, all right? Are you living the kind of life that is pleasing him? Because look, once he comes, the last period of our life is written, and that book is closed. Nothing to be added, nothing to be detracted. Are we okay with that account? Are we okay with what's been given? The story of our life, how we've lived for Christ? Are we ready to meet him with that? Is it gold and silver and precious stones, as Paul said, or is it nothing but wood, hay, and stubble that's all going to burn up? We have nothing to show him. For all that Christ has done for us, have we done anything for him in this life? He's coming again. Are you and I ready to meet him? This is the message Paul gives us in 1 Timothy 3.16. This is the message that we are preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. A perfect, immaculate birth, a perfect life, a saving death, risen again and now ascended, and coming back to get us. Are we ready to meet him? And if we are not, I beg you today, if you say, I'm not ready to meet him, I don't have my soul salvation settled, I beg you today, come and be saved. Come and accept Christ as your personal Savior today. Christian, if you're here and you say, I've not lived a life that's pleasing the Lord, then come today, do business with the Lord, get it right, and say, and from today on, I'm drawing a line in the sand. I'm gonna be ready to meet him with my life. Don't go another day without knowing that we are ready to meet the Lord. Thank you for listening to the City Pulpit. For more information about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta, please visit www.mycitybaptist.com.