Thank you, Lord. Alright, brethren,
let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Our subject tonight is the hidden
wisdom. The hidden wisdom. Let's read
verses 7 and verse 8. But we speak, that is we preach,
the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory which none of
the princes of this world knew for had they known they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory now he says we He's speaking
here of true God-born, God-redeemed, God-sent, God-blessed preachers. And he says, we preach the wisdom
of God. The wisdom of God is the gospel
we preach. We preach the wisdom of God.
That's our message, the wisdom of God. God's wisdom in making
His glory known, in bringing His people to glory in Him alone, and not glorying in our flesh.
That's wisdom. We preach the wisdom of God to
give His Son all the glory, all the preeminence in all things.
That's God's wisdom. And that's the wisdom we preach.
We preach the wisdom of God to save A chosen people from this
fallen sea of humanity who are totally helpless to save ourselves
from beginning to end. And we preach the wisdom of God
to save and not lose one. Our message is the wisdom of
God. That's what we're preaching,
the wisdom of God. Now this message we preach, the
wisdom of God, it's the only wisdom that's truly needed. The only wisdom that's truly
needed. And this is the only wisdom that
will eternally benefit a sinner. Now, that being the case, it
would seem like everybody above everything else in their lives
would be seeking to know the wisdom of God. This would be
something valuable, more valuable than silver and gold, more valuable
than any earthly education, more valuable than lands and houses
and all of those things. This would be the most cherished
thing that could be sought after is the wisdom of God. But how
come so very few are interested in this wisdom? How is it that so many hear the
preaching of the gospel, and to them it's just drudgery? It's just, oh, I just, I hate
to go there, and I hate to have to sit through this, and it's
just, oh, there's so much more I'd like to be doing. Why is
this not wisdom? to you. Well, the reason that
so few cherish the wisdom of God which we preach is because
it takes God to reveal this wisdom in the heart. And only when God
has revealed it will we truly treasure this wisdom. It takes
God to reveal it. And only when God reveals it
will we treasure this wisdom. Now here's the first thing I
want us to see. Until God reveals Christ in us,
the gospel, the wisdom of God, is a mystery. A hidden mystery. Look here in verse 7. We speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom. which
God ordained before the world unto our glory." Now what did
the scriptures mean when the scriptures speak of the gospel
being a mystery? He says here, we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom. What do the scriptures
mean by that? Well, turn over to Ephesians
chapter 3. We're going to look at quite a bit of scripture tonight.
I think it's needful. Let's begin in Ephesians 1. Go
back there. In Ephesians 1, Paul spoke about
God choosing His people. He spoke about God predestinating
His people. And look what he says in verse
7. He says, In Christ we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God's grace,
wherein, in choosing Christ, in choosing His people in Christ,
in sending Christ to redeem His people, and in revealing this
to us, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and all
prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will. according to His good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself." The mystery of God's will. That's
what we preach. And this is what we do not know
until God reveals this to us. The mystery of God's will. What
is the mystery of God's will? The next verse, He says in verse
10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, when
the time's done, He is going to gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth, even in Him." Now this is the mystery of His will that
He's revealed to us. Now look at Ephesians 3 and let's
look at verse 1. This is kind of a lengthy passage,
but Paul's dealing with this now. He says, "...For this cause
I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If you've
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, the word dispensation
means stewardship. We're called, preachers are called
stewards of the mysteries of God. We're stewards of the mysteries
of God. And he says here, and he gave
this to me for you, to give to you. He's talking to Gentiles.
He says, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. You remember Paul? Brother Eric's
been showing us in Philippians how Paul was putting all this
confidence in his flesh, and how he was circumcised the eighth
day, and what family he was of, what tribe he was of, all the
works he had done in religion. And he says here, but by revelation
he made known unto me the mystery. Christ met him. And Christ made
him know the mystery. It had to be revealed. It's by
divine revelation that he made him know the mystery of the gospel.
And he says, as I wrote afore in few words. He means all those
chapters, the first two chapters there. showing how God chose
His people, sent Christ to redeem them, predestinated them to the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself, how He quickens
us together with Christ and raises us up together with Christ, how
He broke down that middle wall of partition when He fulfilled
the law for His people. All these mysteries that are
hidden to us when we're in our natural born state. We don't
know these things. And I don't mean just knowing
them with your intellect. I mean having them made known
to you so that you love this gospel and you see that this
gospel is your only hope and your only salvation. You see
it in a person. That's what we're talking about.
And he says, I wrote this in few words, verse 4, whereby when
you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ." Now he's not boasting of any knowledge in him, he just
said, only way I got this was by revelation. But when God reveals
the mystery of the gospel to you, you're going to have knowledge.
It's going to be the knowledge of the Son of God. And he's going
to grow his child from that day forward in the grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus. We don't start with Christ and
then move on to other things. We start with Christ and we learn
more and more and more of Christ. He's the milk and He's the strong
meat. Now look, He says, Verse 5, but
this mystery in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit. The first thing we saw about
this mystery is here, He says it's got to be revealed. God's
got to reveal it to you and me personally like He did to Paul.
But then now He says here too, He says that in ages past, The
gospel of Christ was revealed to His saints, and it was revealed
by the Holy Spirit, but it was not revealed to His elect to
the degree that it's revealed now that Christ has come. That's
another thing this word mystery means. It's revealed to us in
a greater light. And when you think about it,
when you start out in Christ and God teaches you more and
more, the path of the just is as a shining light. It shines
more and more into that day. The light's Christ that's shining. And we see more and more of Christ.
Just like the Old Testament saints didn't see as much of Christ,
but then the New Testament saints saw more of Christ. Well, you
take an individual believer. He didn't start out seeing as
much as he sees as he goes on, because God teaches him. Here
a little, there a little, and he grows him in the knowledge
of Christ just like he did over time. with his people from the
Old Testament to the New. And here's what that mystery
was that they didn't see then that we see now. Verse 6, that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body, takers
of His promise in Christ by the Gospel. Man, there's a lot in
that verse. He said Christ has taken down
the middle wall that divided Jew and Gentile when He came
and fulfilled the law. He took it out of the way. Out
of the way. And He made His people one in
Him. There's no more Jew and Gentile,
we're one in Christ. That's the mystery of God's will. He's going to make His people
one in Christ. We're not divided by race, or
place, or faith, or even grace. It's God alone, in Christ alone,
through faith alone, by what God has done alone, that makes
us one. We're not separating ourselves
by anything that we've done or have known or found out by our
seeking. It's all God that made us one. And then he says, and now more
clearly we see that God's Israel is his elect, called from Jews
and Gentiles into the same body, into the same family, partakers
of one gospel in one Christ. And he says here, and this salvation
is by God's promise. It's by God's covenant promise.
God makes, he made a covenant promise with himself and he comes
and reveals this covenant promise in our hearts and makes this
covenant promise to us. I will and you shall. And this gospel, this promise
is made to us, and this salvation is revealed in us, he says here,
by the gospel. Now, it's not by works, and it's
not through some system of works. It's revealed through the gospel. God reveals it. God must reveal
it. Verse 7, whereof I was made a
minister. This is why I was made a preacher,
Paul said, according to the gift of God, of the grace of God given
unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am
the less and the least of all saints, is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches
of Christ." There's what this mystery is. It's Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ
is the mystery we preach. and to make all see what is the
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world
had been hid in God." Remember he said, we preach wisdom, even
the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world. This mystery
was hidden, God's the only one that knew it. His mind and His
purpose, but He called some his ministers and he taught them
this mystery and he sent them forth with this mystery as stewards
of the mysteries of Christ to preach this gospel. And he says,
this God who created all things by Jesus Christ. You know what
that means? Everything that God ordained
before the world was made Because He ordained it all and gave it
all into the hands of His Son to accomplish, right then in
the ordination of God, the purpose of God, He created everything
by Jesus Christ. Everything that He would accomplish
throughout all time and space, it was all created in Christ
right then because Christ would not fail to do it. Remember the,
I just thought of the revelation. of Jesus Christ. And John looked
and he saw the book that was sealed. That's the book of God's
ordained purpose. Everything God would accomplish
to glorify himself, to give his son preeminence, to save his
people, there was this book sealed within and without. And John
said, and I wept because there was no man that could take that
book and loose those seals. And he looked again and there
was the lamb as one that had been slain in the midst of the
throne. And Christ took the book out of the hand of God. And everybody
bowed down and began to cry out, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to loose the seals thereof, for Thou was slain and has redeemed
us to God out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue
under heaven and has made us under our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. In the very next chapter, I believe,
he says, and I looked and I saw him going forth on a white stallion
with a crown on his head and a bow in his hand to conquering
and to conquer. And that's what's been happening
from the time God ordained everything that would come to pass in this
mystery of His will that we're learning about. He gave it into
Christ's hands. He created it all by Christ right
then when Christ entered covenant with Him. And Christ has been
going forth from before the foundation of the world, conquering and
to conquer, fulfilling the whole purpose of God. Christ has been
doing it. Look now over to Romans 16. Romans 16. Look at verse 25. Just trying
to show you that this mystery, it's called a mystery because
it's got to be revealed by God. It was concealed before. We didn't
see it. We didn't know it. It has to
be revealed by God. Look, Romans 16, 25. Now to Him
that is of power to establish you according to my gospel. That's the message we preach.
You know what I'm preaching to you right now? That God's the
only one that can establish you. He's the only one that can reveal
this mystery in you. He says, now to Him that is of
power to establish you exactly according to what I've preached
to you. He says, and the preaching of Jesus Christ. That's how He's
going to establish you. The preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery. The revelation is
God revealing. We preach the gospel and I'm
not ashamed of it, Paul said, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. This mystery has got to be revealed
in our heart. And this mystery, he says, was
kept secret since the world began. But now it's made manifest. God knew it. Paul's going to
say later in 1 Corinthians, and who knows the mind of God but
God? Just like no man knows what you're thinking but you. And
he says, and so no man knew what God was thinking. This thing
was kept secret from the world before the world began. But He
makes it manifest to us through His Spirit into our hearts. Makes us behold Christ in whom
we see it all unfold. Look at this, verse 26, "...and
by the Scriptures of the prophets." Paul began Romans 1 saying, I
preach in the gospel which God spoke before in all the prophets.
And it's according to the commandment of the everlasting God. God commands
this to be revealed and to be brought to His people. And He
commanded it be made to all nations, to all His people scattered in
all nations for the obedience of faith. And you know what this
mystery is? I won't have you turn there.
Paul repeats the exact same thing he said here and he said in Ephesians.
He repeats it in Colossians 1. But then he tells us what this
mystery is. He says this, "...to whom God would make known the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory." It's Christ who came into the
midst of His church when He came into this world. And it's Christ,
and He worked out the redemption of His people for us by His works
when He walked this earth. And it's Christ in you, in your
heart, the work He does in us by His grace. That's the hope
of glory. What He's done for us and what
He's done in us. That's the mystery that has to
be revealed. The first thing we see here is
the Scriptures when it talks about a mystery. It's talking
about that which was before hidden. Hidden because of our sin. Hidden
because it was in the mind and purpose of God. Hidden because
God brought it to pass. You remember that Scripture in
Isaiah where He said, I'm bringing this to pass today? Which was
not... You didn't see this yesterday
or anything. I'm bringing it to pass today so that you can't
say, I knew it. So you have to bow to God and
say, God did this. And it's new in our heart, revealed
in our heart by God. This is what it means by new.
There's an old saying, and you've probably heard this. Men will
say, if it's new, it's not true. And that's an okay saying. I've
said it. Other men have said it. I've
heard faithful men say it. It means the gospel that we preach
is not new. It's as old as God. It's an eternal
gospel. But when God reveals His truth
in our hearts, though it's as old as eternity, it's new to
us. It's new to us. So don't let
a man-made saying keep you from receiving God's eternal truth
simply because it's newly revealed to you. I had somebody tell me
one time they heard the truth preached, and they said, well,
I can't believe that because if it's new, it ain't true. Well,
it ain't new to me, and it ain't new to God. It's been there ever
since the beginning with God. It's just new to you. Don't let
a man made saint keep you from being taught and keep you...
You see what I'm saying? Alright, let's move on. And here's
something else the Scripture means. 1 Timothy 3.6. I Timothy
3.16. Here's something else this thing
mystery means. And I want you that have not
believed on Christ, I want you to hear this especially. This word mystery also means
that which cannot be explained It cannot be figured out with
your natural intellect. It can only be received and must
be received by faith alone. Just believe God. Because God's
too big for you. He's too big for me. I'll give
you a look here. 1 Timothy 3.16. 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. Is there anything there that
you can explain? No. It's too big for me and it's
too big for you. God came in human flesh, but
we're called to believe. We believe God. Faith is the
evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance. Look,
I won't have you turn here, but in Ephesians 5.30, he says we're
members of Christ's body, of His flesh, and of His bones. Now that's God declaring what
His people are with Christ. We're members of His body, of
His flesh, and of His bones. And it's for this cause that
a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined
unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. That marriage was
patterned after Christ and His bride. One body, one flesh, and
one with His bones. And Paul says, that's a great
mystery. But I'm speaking concerning Christ
in the church. Are you going to be able to explain
how we're members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones?
I can't dissect that and tell you. But I can believe God. Believe God. There's mysteries
in the Gospel that you're not going to be able to explain them.
You just believe Him. We worship one God, but He's
revealed in three persons. God in three persons, the Trinity.
Any man that tries to explain the Trinity is a dummy. You can't even begin to explain
the Trinity. You believe. That's what faith
is. God made flesh, the God-man.
It's a mystery. Christ who knew no sin made sin
for us. While at the same time, through
the eternal Spirit, He offered Himself without spot to God.
These are things you can't explain.
Christ raised from the dead. We've never done that. We can't explain that. Science
can't tell you how that could have happened. Christ in a human
body ascended up into the air. They watched Him go out of sight.
And now, somewhere called the third heaven, Christ lives in
a body and He's ruling and reigning. Everything is happening in this
earth right now, from the least to the greatest. You see what I'm saying? You believe. Believe. You and
I, sinful. You see your sin, I see my sin.
We mourn our sin. We hate our sin. We long for
the day when we'll be free from this body of death. Yet God says,
your body of sins is dead. He says this to the believer.
And you're alive, risen with Christ, seated at the right hand
of God. It's already finished. Faith says, hallelujah. I believe
Him. I trust Him. Thank God He gave
me the faith to trust Him and believe Him. Help me, Lord, for
not believing you as I ought to. To explain these things? A man says, I won't believe until
I... You can explain these things to me. You won't believe. Do
you want a God that can be explained? Who by searching can find out
God? Is that the kind of God you want?
If that's the kind of God you want, just look in the mirror. He's your God. You're the God.
You're over Him. You can explain Him. I want a
God that's bigger than me, don't you? Alright, let's... I'll tell you
something before we move on. I found this interesting. The
root word of the Greek word that's translated in our text, mystery. The root word means to shut the
mouth. That's what the root word means.
And that's what this mystery of the gospel is about. When
he reveals the mystery in his child, he shuts our mouth. All our rebuttals, all our vain
reasoning, all our, you know, gotta figure it out, gotta be
Mr. Wise and prudent, all that stuff, we shut our mouths and
believe God. Alright, now secondly, notice
the gospel's a mystery which is hidden. to some, and then
it's revealed to others. And that's according to God's
eternal purpose. Our text says, 1 Corinthians 2, 7, We speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. Now what does
that mean, that He ordained before the world unto our glory? Well,
the Gospel is a mystery. which must be revealed by God
because God ordained it to be so. God ordained that it's going
to have to be revealed by God. He ordained that. And God ordained
that He would be the revealer of it. And He did this unto our
glory, Paul says, for speaking on behalf of you and I who believe
by His grace. Now what does that mean? Well,
number one, it means God ordained how the gospel would be revealed
and to whom it would be revealed so that we would surely be saved. This gospel would surely be revealed
to us and we would surely be saved. to glory, unto glory with
God. He said in another place, it's
a faith that it might be but grace, to the end the promise
might be sure to all to see. So God ordained this wisdom before
the world began and ordained how it would be revealed, to
whom it would be revealed, and who would do the revealing so
that this thing would be sure and certain for all his elect. It was unto our glorification
by God, our salvation by God. That's why he did it. And number
two, God ordained how the gospel would be revealed so that our
glory would not be in our flesh, but in the Lord. He did this
so that He would get all the glory. That's how He ordained
it this way. So the reason that some believe
the wisdom of God is because God ordained them to believe. You know, in Acts it said, when
Paul preached, it said, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life, believe. That's who's going to believe.
Those who God ordained to eternal life. But God also ordained this. Now listen carefully. He ordained
that the Gospel would be hidden from the wise and the prudent.
Now who are the wise and the prudent? The wise and the prudent
in Scripture are those who claim to know God and believe God,
but they glory that it's by their will and by their wisdom. By
their wisdom, by their prudence, they came to know God. That's
who the wise and the prudent are in scripture. God hides the
gospel from men like that because in reality they've closed their
eyes, they've closed their ears, they've hardened their heart,
and they don't believe the gospel at all because they deny this
very article of our faith that God must reveal it. They think
they see, and they think they hear, and they think they know,
so they won't come to God, bowed down, asking Christ for life,
that He might be the only one they can glory in. You won't
ever know Christ if you put any confidence or any trust in the
pride of your wisdom. Folks will come to me, and they'll
tell me, you know, I want to be baptized, and they tell me
about how much I know. and how much I learned and how
I know the doctrine of election and I know the doctrine of predestination
and I've learned this and I've learned that. Let's just wait
a little while. I don't want to know what you've
learned. I want to know who you've learned. Have you learned Christ?
Do you know Christ? That's the key. Do you know Him?
But from eternity, by His grace, God ordained that some He would
regenerate, and some He would make believe, and some He would
reveal this Gospel to. Let's go to Luke 10, and we'll
read some Scripture. Luke 10. I'm sorry, go to Matthew
11. We'll go there first. Matthew 11, verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father. He thanked God for this. Lord
of heaven and earth. That means He can do this if
He wants to. It's His will. Because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes." What's a babe? It's somebody God's given a contrite
and a humble heart and made them willing, like a little child,
to be taught of God and have this revealed to them by God.
He's revealed this to babes, but He's hidden it from those
wise and cocky know-it-alls. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." Now here's the purpose of God in this ordination.
All things are delivered unto me of my Father, Christ said. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. That's why God
does it this way, so that Christ gets all the glory. God's eternal
purpose in making this gospel have to be revealed to us is
so that He gets the glory for revealing it. And so that it's
sure to everyone He's going to save, and so that it abases every
proud sinner. That's the three reasons. To give Him the glory, to make
it sure to His elect, and to abase every proud sinner. Look over at Matthew 13, verse
10. The disciples came and they said
to him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto
them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven. It is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is
not given. For whosoever hath, that is,
by God's wisdom, By God's grace, by God's power, whoever has,
to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance, but
whosoever hath not." Who is it that has not? It's the man who
boasts that he knows God and trusts God and loves Jesus all
by his will and his works and his wisdom. He doesn't have anything. Claims he does, thinks he does,
but he doesn't. And it says, and from him shall
be taken away even that he hath. See, any kind of wisdom that's
of you, it's going to perish one day. Only the eternal wisdom
given by God is going to last forever. Now look, therefore
I speak to them in parables because they seeing, see not. And hearing, they hear not. Neither
do they understand, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah, which said, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not
understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.
Now watch, it's their own fault though. This people's heart is
waxed gross. Their ears are dull of hearing.
Their eyes, they have closed. Lest they should see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed
are your eyes, For they see in your ears, for they hear." Now,
understand with that, don't ever attempt to see and to hear and
to understand by your fleshly senses, by your natural reason
and all that. Don't ever try to come to God
in that. You'll never know Him. And the worst thing that could
happen is you end up thinking you do know Him and it all be
by your natural fleshly intellect. You don't want that. You want
to be taught of God. You want to have this revealed
to you of God. Christ has got to give you a new heart and new
eyes and new ears and new everything. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Old things are passed away. All
things have become new. Alright, now let me get to this
last thing here real quick. In our text, knowing and believing
the wisdom of God has nothing to do with our flesh. He says
there, it doesn't have anything to do with any fleshly power,
any fleshly advantages. Look at verse 8. None of the
princes of this world knew. For had they known, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. The princes were the highest,
most powerful rulers of the world. the civil and the religious rulers
of the world. They had every advantage over
everybody else. They had the most advantages
for education. They had the most advantages
for learning over everybody. They even had the most advantage
to go to the temple and have the scriptures and everything.
They had every advantage in every way over everybody. And yet none
of the princes of this world knew Christ. If they would have,
it said, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
If Christ had spoken affectionately into their hearts and Christ
had revealed Himself in them and taught them that He's the
wisdom and power of God unto them which are called. Jew or
Gentile, it don't matter who they are, if they're a pauper
or they're the prince of this world, unto them who are called,
Christ is the power and wisdom of God, they would have bowed
and believed and not crucified Him if He had revealed Himself
in them. But He didn't. And if He doesn't reveal Himself
in you, you'll do exactly what they did. They crucified the
Lord of glory. You say, well, how can I crucify
the Lord of Glory? By not believing Him, rejecting
Him, calling this gospel false and scorning. But what does that
mean? Christ is the power of God and
the wisdom of God. You see, Paul was one of these
rulers once. He was top of his class in all
religious things, everything religious. He was a ruler. He held the coat of those men
while they stoned Stephen. And he knew what he was talking
about when he said, had they known Christ, they would not
have crucified the Lord of Glory. Because he was one of those rulers,
and he was crucifying the Lord of Glory, and the Lord of Glory
met him on the road to Damascus and stopped him. And he didn't
do it anymore. He knew what he was talking about.
Christ made Himself known to him. Turn to Galatians 2 and
I'll show you what it is and we'll end with this. What is
it to know the mystery of the Gospel? What is that? What is
that? What is it for Christ to be made
wisdom and power unto you? The wisdom of the mystery of
God. Here's what it is. Number one, concerning God's
justice. Concerning God's justice. Christ
is the one in whom God honored and satisfied His justice. In Christ on the cross, God slew
every one of His people when He slew Christ. That's number
one, that's what it is to have Christ made wisdom and power
unto you. The way, the only way God's justice
can be settled. And I die is by Christ. In Galatians 2.20, Paul said,
I'm crucified with Christ. That's what Paul learned, number
one. Alright, number two, concerning the justification of his people,
concerning my personal justification. How can I die under justice and
yet be justified? Well, whenever Christ laid down
His life on that cross, He justified every one of His people and raised
us to newness of life. Now look at Galatians 2.20, Paul
said, I'm crucified with Christ, there's God's justice. But number
two, nevertheless I live, I'm justified. I'm justified. That's what it is to have Christ
make wisdom and power unto you. Alright, number three, concerning
being regenerated to life and having this gospel revealed to
me, Christ is not only the way to God, which is what we saw
in those first two things, He's the life of that new heart, and
He's the truth that reveals the truth and the wisdom of that
new heart. That's the first thing to know.
I died. Justice was poured out on me
in Christ. Number two, I was justified in
Christ. Number three, Christ is my life
and my wisdom who makes me to know these things and have life
and know these things. Look at the next thing Paul said.
Yep, not I. It's not I that live. It's not
by my will and my works and my wisdom, but Christ liveth in
me. There's a work He did for us.
There's a work He does in us. And here's the fourth thing concerning
our obedience from that day forward. Our obedience to the faith. Our
ceasing to crucify the Lord of glory. When of God Christ is
made unto us wisdom. That's when the sinner will cease
crucifying the Lord of glory. That's when we'll bow in faith
and live the rest of our days unto God. Oh, there's something
I'd pat myself on the back for. No. Because the only way I keep
believing is by the faith of Christ. And the only way that
I'm constrained to keep believing Him, and keep following Him,
and not looking away from Him, and not looking at my works or
my wills or anything else, is by the faith of Christ working
in me, keeping me. Look at the last thing He says.
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faithfulness
of the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself
for me. That's what makes a man live
by faith, constrained by his love. The faithfulness of Christ
working in you. Now whenever you've been made
to see, God's justice was poured out in full on me. When? When He poured it out on Christ.
And I was justified. When? When Christ justified me
and raised me to newness of life. And now I have life. Why? Because Christ is He's the way
and the life. And now I know the truth. Why?
Christ is the truth in me. He's revealed the truth in me.
And now I live by faith constrained by love. How? By the faith and
love of Christ that keeps me. Now when you've been made to
know this, God's made Christ your wisdom and your power. And
you just stay right there. You know the mystery now. You
know the mystery. You know the hidden mystery.
It's been revealed. That's the only way we can help.