3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;
Verse three shifts in time from the eternal to the temporal.
3 but has in due time [kind of time, season]
“Due time” is God’s time. The word “time” does not mean succession of time. That would be another Greek word. This Greek word means season, or kind of time. Thus, this word “time” means the nature or kind of time rather than the sequence of time. God is a person of punctuality, of exquisite accuracy. In the progress of revelation, He made the gospel clearer in the New Testament than He did in the Old Testament. This passage moves from eternity past to what God did through the apostles. God’s timing is always the best (1 Ti 2:6).
Ro 5: 6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Ga 4: 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
1 Pe 5: 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
“Due time” is an expression of God’s sovereignty in fulfilling His promise of the gospel.
manifested [made known] His word through preaching [the message, not the act of preaching],
God made clear the meaning of the gospel through preaching in a public and visible manner. His “promise” (v. 2) lying hidden from eternity past was now “manifest.” God fulfilled His promises at a definite period in time (aorist indicative).
“His word” is God’s revelation made visible through the content of preaching. The emphasis of the Greek word “preaching” is on the content, and not the act of preaching.
PRINCIPLE:
God makes what He wants known via content.
APPLICATION:
Expository preaching is the only way that the preacher can make known the content of Scripture. Our message does not come from our own intellect, wisdom, or oratory but from the Word of God. There is a spiritual famine in the church today for this kind of preaching.
1 Co 1: 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1 Co 2: 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
