The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Timothy — Section 78

~way from the strength of the structure, tb11t we preserve the continuity of the OhUJ'Ch's life, that we witness faithfully to what God is and to what he haN done. II. GRANDEUR OF THE TRUTH UPHELD BY THE CHURCH. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness." The truth is here called "the mystery of godliness." A mystery is that which, being concealed for a time, is brought out of concealment by a revelation. It is also something above our comprehension. And that meaning is not exclud_e~ her~. .For it _is the _mystery of godliness_ o_r piety: It is the mystery by which the D1vme hfc 1s nourished m the soul. As rehg1ous bemgs, we need somethincr that stret.ches away into infinitude. We can only breathe freely in an element of mystery. All religions that have e,·er been have sought to provide for the appetite for the wonderful. And where there has not been found real mystery, there have been dark inventions. But confessedly great is the mystery which the Christian religion provides for our nourishment. It is pronounced great by all who are capable of judging. And even those who reject it do so not unfrequently on the ground of its being incredible, or too great to be true. The subject of the mystery is Christ. As set forth in the lan<>uacre which follows it is entirely Christ, or the facts about Christ. And the teaching i~ th~t it is by medi·ating upon these fact~ that we become pious or religious. Of the facts them.selves we can take tangible hold; it is when we try to explain them to ourselves that we rise into the region where our religious feelings are excited and receive their nourishment. The rhythmic way in which the facts are presented has led some to suppose that they are taken from a Christian hymn in existence at the time when Paul wrote. V,T e can believe them to have been written by Paul. In either case they have the stamp of the Holy Ghost: They are to be divided into threes, the first two in each dh·ision pointing to eartMy relations, the third to heavenly. Of the earthly relations, the first in each division is external, the second internal. Facts particularized. "He who was manifested in the flesh." There is good reason for the change from "God" to "He vrho." We are not dependent on the old reading for the proof of our Lord's divinity. The manifestation of Christ implies previous concealment. And the language is more suggestive of the concealment of pre-existence than of the concealment of non-existence. The beginning of the mystery is Christ coming out of that concealment. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." The Creator descended into the conditions, circumstances, of a creature. He was made of the substance of a woman. The almighty Builder of the universe was a helpless infant on a mother's knee. The eternal Son was the infant of days. He descended so low that he had to proceed from weakness to strength, from ignorance to knowledge. That, however, is only part of the mystery. It is said here that he was manifested in the flesh, and that means, not our nature as it came from the hand of God, but our nature as it has suffered from the fall. He descended into our weak, passible, mortal nature, to which the unfallen Adam was a stranger. He was in a state of utter bodily exhaustion from want of food when he was tempted in the wilderness. He sat down wearied with his journey at Jacob's well. He was often worn out with the arduous nature of his work. His compassion brought sorrow to his heart, which found vent in tears and sighs and groans. At last hie flesh succumbed, could not bear any longer the burden laid on it; and hie lifeless body was laid in the tomb. But still. as we consider, the mystery deepens. He died, not as paying the common debt of nature, but under the stroke of the Divine vengeance. "Awake, 0 sword, against my Shepherd, against the Man that is mine equal, saith the Lord of hosts." This is not so much for the understanding as for the inner sanctuary of the heart. It is not so much to be fixed in words as to be pondered and admired and felt. "Justified in the spirit." In th<i flesh he did not appear to be the pre-existent Son of God, and the Sent of God to be the Saviour of the world; but he was this in his spirit or higher nature, and was vindicated as such both in the Divine marks which were put upon him, and in the principle which pervaded his life. There was a mark put upon him at the very first in his being separated from the taint of our nature through the power oi the Holy Ghost. The glimpse we have of him in hie youth shows him right in spirit Loth toward hie Father and that Fatl,er'e earthly representatives. At hie l,a.1,tisrn he received 1wt the Spirit by measure, and there was the attestation of the voict from the excellent glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." At the outset of his vublic career, undEJr extreme temptation, he Bhowed that be was uot u, be turned aside from his mission. His starry pathway of miracles witnessed to OB. m. 1-16.) THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 87