Let us turn again to God's Word
as we continue in Ephesians chapter 6, considering this spiritual
armor for His warfare that God has supplied for all His children. And turning tonight to verses
18, 19 and 20, Ephesians chapter 6, And I'll read verses 18, 19,
and 20. Praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints, and for me that
utterance may be given unto me. that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an
ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak." It is, of course, in the previous verses that we
have the particular parts of that spiritual armour. The loins girt about with truth. the breastplates of righteousness,
feet shod, with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield
of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. But then, in these following
verses, we read a prayer and the hymn writer says concerning
the armour, put on the Gospel armour, each piece put on with
prayer and last Lord's Day evening we were considering in particular
what he said here in verse 18 concerning prayer praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints." William Gurnall,
in that great work of his on the believer's armour, says of
prayer that it is the silver trumpet by the sound of which
the believer is to alarm heaven and call God to his aid and succor. It is that silver trumpet. And remember how we said last
time the trumpet is spoken of there in Numbers chapter 10,
and it would appear that it was this particular verse that the
old Puritan was thinking of. in Numbers 10 and verse 9, if
you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you,
then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets and you shall
be remembered before the Lord your God and you shall be saved
from your enemies. Now with prayer then the alarm
is sounded even there in the high courts of heaven. And then
of course we have that remarkable example of the benefit of prayer
in that great battle between the Hebrews and the Amalekites
in Exodus chapter 17 where Moses is standing with his arms outstretched
and all the time his arms are outstretched so there is success
on Israel's side but when he grows weary in prayer it's then
that the Amalekites begin to prevail. There in the 17th chapter
of the book of Exodus you can read it from verse 8 and the
following verse is verse 11 it came to pass when Moses held
up his hand that Israel prevailed when he let down his hand Amalek
prevailed Moses hands were heavy and they took a stone put it
under him and he sat there on and Aaron and her stayed up his
hands the one on the one side the other on the other side and
his hands were steady until the going down of the sun and Joshua
discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. How it was through prayer, through
the prayer of Moses as he blew that silver trumpet in the high
courts of heaven it was heard and God granted success to Israel. So, last time we were considering
the significance of this 18th verse in connection with the
believers' spiritual warfare. And I just remind you of how
we, on that occasion, considered those four Auls that are spoken
of in the verse. We have all prayer mentioned. The weapon of all prayer, all
sorts of prayer. Are there not different sorts
of prayer? We are bidden to be careful for
nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgivings, we are to make our requests known unto God. There are all sorts of prayers.
Prayers and supplications, mentioned here in this 18th verse, requests,
giving of thanks. Oh, there are all types of prayer.
Interjectory prayer, sometimes when we're in a situation and
we can but turn our faces for a moment to heaven to look to
God for His gracious aid as we see was the case in Nehemiah
when he was before the emperor. and he was afraid, his confidence
was sad and when the Emperor observed it he was fearful that
he would be called to account for being sad in the presence
of such an austere man as the Emperor. But he prayed to God
in heaven. And then there are of course,
as I said, times of prayer. There's the morning, the evening
sacrifice that we read of in scripture. There are those times
when God's people are together together. We have our stated
times for the prayer meeting. It's all prayer. Isn't the believer's
life really in that sense made up of prayers? And not only all
prayer, but what do we read also? Always. Praying always. with
all prayer. We are to pray, says the Apostle,
without ceasing. When Paul comes to give those
exhortations at the end of his various epistles, time and again
he reminds those infant churches of the need for prayer, continuing
prayer and watching the same with thanksgiving, he says at
the beginnings of Colossians chapter 4. always pray. Long as they live should Christians
pray for only while they pray they live. It is the Christian's
native breath, is it not? That of prayer. Praying always. And then we have mentioned also
here in verse 18 of all perseverance. All perseverance. How we must
persevere for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness. in high places. We're told there in verse 12,
we're wrestling against all the forces of darkness. And as we
would wrestle against them, so we must also know something of
what it is to wrestle with God in prayer, if we would prevail
against our enemies. And we have the example of Jacob,
do we not? Where Jacob the supplanter became
Israel, a prince with God. The record is there in Genesis
32. You remember how that man at
the end of that 32nd chapter we read of the man who comes
and the man is wrestling with Jacob. It's one of those theophanies,
it's an appearance really of the Lord Jesus Christ before
His incarnation. An anticipation as it were, of
the fullness of the time when God would send forth His Son.
Made of a woman, made under the law. And there in Genesis 32
we see how the man wrestles with Jacob. and the day begins to
dawn. And Jacob's perseverance, he
would not let that man go except he bless him. Oh, we ought to
be persevering then in prayer. The Lord Jesus spake a parable
to this end, did he not, that men ought always to pray and
not to faint. As we're praying, we're not to
be fainting. We're to be persevering, enduring,
pressing on in prayers, if we would wrestle against those principalities
and powers and the rulers of the darkness of the world, the
spiritual wickedness in high places, do we not need to know
God is on our side? We must pray to Him and wrestle
in prayer. And then the fourth of those
all's that we were considering last time It is supplication
for all saints. All saints. We're to pray one
for the other. But we remarked our prayer for
all saints reminds us that we're not alone. We believe in the
communion of saints. Is it not one of those statements
that we find in the Creed, the Apostles Creed? I believe. in the communion of saints. Oh, we're not alone. Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try
you as though some strange thing happened unto you. It's not so. You might feel sometimes to be
a sparrow alone. But that's not the case, is it?
There is such a thing as the communion of saints. I remember
some years ago, I think it was probably at the Banner of Truth
conference, I can't remember exactly who it was, I think it
was that man Ernest Reisinger saying on one occasion how with
regards to the communion of saints there were those times when he'd
be sitting in his own study and he'd look at the books on the
shelves and he said, you know I really believe in the communion
of saints because I could take those books down and I could
have communion with the reformers and with the Puritans. Those
who've gone before, those who've gone to heaven. was an encouragement. Well, we don't pray for the saints,
we don't pray to the saints, but we benefit from reading their
writings and we do, I trust, benefit from seeing one another's
faces and we find that the very act of corporate worship is itself
a real means of grace. Oh, there is such a thing then
as the communion of saints, the guiding of the language of the
Apostle, having spoken of all those fightful ones from the
Old Testament in Hebrews chapter 11. Then we come over to the
beginning of chapter 12, and what does he say? Wherefore,
seeing we also are comforted by it, we so grieve the cloud
of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Oh yes, we believe in the communion
of saints, we are to pray for one another, but we are all those
who are looking, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. And all our prayers, of course,
we make in His name, we implore His name. It's the only way of
entrance into God's presence that we can ever enjoy. He only
is the mediator. The way, the truth and the life,
no man, he says, cometh unto the Father, but by me. But then see how Paul here continues
in verses 19 and 20, where he really desires prayer for himself. He wants him to pray for him
personally. Now do we recognize the importance of our friends
praying for us? How we to pray for one another,
and for me, he says, and for me. That utterance may be given
unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that
therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. But what is
he speaking of in principle here in these two verses. He's speaking
of prayer in relation to preaching. Prayer in relation to preaching. And that's the theme that I really
want to take up as we come to consider these two verses and
bring this little short series of sermons as it were to a conclusion
tonight. Prayer and preaching then here
in verses 19 and 20 of Ephesians chapter 6. First of all, we consider
the manner of Paul's preaching. He desires their prayers for
a particular reason. He's concerned about the manner
of his preaching, that I may open my mouth Boldly, he says
in verse 19, and then again in verse 20, that therein I may
speak boldly. He uses this word then twice
in these verses, the word boldly, he wants to be bold. But what
is the significance of the word? Well, it's a word that really is a
combination of two words. In the Greek, it's the word for
all. and the word for speech and the
two words as it were wedded together. He wants to be able to speak
with all speech or all words. He wants freedom in his ministry. He wants to have confidence as
he proclaims the gospel. He wants to go forward without
any fear. Now it is the same word that
we have at the end of Hebrews chapter 4 with regards to the
matter of our praying. There in Hebrews we're told we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities but was tempted in all points like as we are
yet without sin let us therefore come boldly. There's the word
you see. He speaks there in verse 15 of
Hebrews 4 of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest, the
one who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who understands
us, who himself was a man here upon the earth, though he were
a son, the eternal Son of God, yet learned the obedience by
the things that he suffered, he's able to sympathize with
us. Or we have such a high priest who has now accomplished his
work here upon the earth, made a great sacrifice for sins, and
has entered into that within the veil, risen from the dead,
ascended on high, and now seated at the Father's right hand, entering
into his glorious session there in heaven where he is the head
over all things to the church. And so Paul, on the basis of
what Christ is, what Christ has done, where Christ has now ascended,
he says, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time
of need. boldly. And it means, as I said,
all speech, all speech, we are to take with us words and we
are to turn to the Lord and we are to say, take away all iniquity
and receive us graciously. Well, that's prayer. we can be
bold in our prayers when we come by and through the mediation
of the Lord Jesus Christ but here Paul is speaking of his
ministry and he wants to know that by their prayers he might
be greatly emboldened that he might know real freedom as he
proclaims the gospel that I may open my mouth boldly, that therein
I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." Now see how Paul gives
instruction and direction to Timothy. We have in the Scripture
these pastoral epistles to Timothy and to Titus. Two epistles to
Timothy and then the epistle also to Titus and there in 2
Timothy chapter 4 Here is Paul giving charge to
Timothy concerning his ministry. What does he say? Verse 2 of
chapter 4. Preach the words, be instant,
in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own loss they
shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables. But watch thou in all things,
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof
of thy ministry." That's Paul giving direction to Timothy. Now, as he writes these words,
that was how he himself sought to exercise his ministry. When
he writes of the Philippians, he can speak of those things
that you have heard and seen in me do. Paul was not a man
who says something to someone else but doesn't do it himself.
No, what he preached, he practiced. And he would seek to be preaching
the Word in such a fashion as he speaks of to Timothy. Instant,
in season, out of season. Reproving, rebuking, exhorting. With all longsuffering and darkness.
All he needed then, the prayers. He needed the prayers of the
people if he was to exercise such a faithful ministry as that. And now we have to take account
of this very basic fact that the preacher, of course, is in
the very front line of the battle. And that was certainly the case
with this man, Paul the Apostle. Where was he when he wrote this
epistle? It's one of the prison epistles. And he speaks of his
ministry and his desire that they pray for him in that ministry.
Verse 20, for which he says, I am an ambassador in violence. Oh, he was suffering, you see.
Why? Because he had sought to be so
faithful in that spiritual conflict. that is, not only the lot of
the preacher, but the lot of all those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Why was the Apostle there in
Rome? Because of those events that
we read of at the end of the Acts. Those false accusations
that were laid against him. by the Jews, how he was hated
and despised. But we knew what it was, you
see, to need the whole armour of God to be able to withstand
in the evil day and having done all to stand. And it's amazing
how we see this time and again in the writings of Paul, we discover
something of the character of the man. When he writes to Timothy in
that first Epistle in the Old Good Chapter, does he not speak
of himself as a pattern to them that should hereafter believe?
And so in his epistles, as I've said on previous occasions, we
not only have doctrine and practice, we certainly have that. You're
familiar with the structure in general of Paul's epistles. The
doctrine or matter is normally in the former part of the epistle
and then the practical outworking at the end of the epistle. but
he weaves in also so much of his experience, not that he has
some desire to project himself, he's no egoist, this man. He's
writing, of course, under the blessed inspiration of the Holy
Spirit and there are those occasions when he has the right of himself
and certainly that's the case when he comes to write to the
church at Corinth in those two epistles because there were those
false teachers who had crept in and stolen the hearts of the
people and turned their hearts against Paul and they despised
him and so he has to speak of himself and he has to speak of the manner
of his ministry look for example at what he says in 2 Corinthians
chapter 7 and verse 4 he says, great is my
boldness of speech towards you great is my glorying of you I
am filled with comfort I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation
for when we were coming to Macedonia our flesh had no rest but we
were troubled on every side without were fighting within were fierce.
Oh, he's telling them, you see, of his ministry, what it cost
him. What it cost him. Oh, they might despise him, but
he was a man, you see, whose great burden was the glory of
Christ and the good of souls. He would preach that gospel.
that gospel of the grace of God, that gospel that centers in the
person and the work of the Lord Jesus. He says to those Corinthians,
I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. There is the sum and substance
of the message, not himself, the person of Christ and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ! That's His person. And Him crucified. That's His work. And that's what the Apostle is
preaching. That's really the content of
all these epistles. These various epistles written
by the Apostle Paul, I know there's a great variety of truths that
we find in them but can we not recognize that ultimately it
all comes to this Christ? Well that's his determination
to preach Christ and Him crucified. And so he's asking here for their
prayers and for me that utterance may be given unto me. Now the word utterance is an
interesting word. We've said something with regards
to the word boldly that we have in both verse 19 and verse 20. What of this word utterance?
And for me, wasn't to pray for him that utterance may be given
unto me. Well it is really simply the
word logos. the Greek word that means worked,
that word that is used in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ in John's
Gospel. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Lord Jesus
is that great Logos, of course, He is that One in and through
whom God has revealed Himself. He is the Word of God. No man
hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." He's the
Word. He's the Word made flesh. And Paul, you see, uses the same
word. He's using it. It's rightly rendered
here. Utterance. It's his own speech that he's
concerned with. That he might have those words
that are adequate to proclaim this great message of salvation.
And again, see how he writes to Timothy concerning these things
in the manner of his own ministry in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 15, he says, Study to show
thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. rightly dividing the Word
that is the Logos of Truth. Isn't that the preacher's task
then, to open up the Word? And to expound the Word of God. And to make it plain that it
is God who is speaking here in His Word. And so the preacher
in that sense can say, thus and thus saith the Lord. It's not
what the preacher is saying, it's what the Word of God says. If he is heeding that instruction
and direction that the Apostle gives to Timothy, studying to
show himself approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word, rightly
dividing the Word, opening the Word up, expounding the Word,
And what Paul desires, you see, is that he might so minister
these things concerning Christ, who is everywhere in the Word
of God, search the Scriptures, he says to the Jews, in them
ye think that ye have eternal life, these are they that testify
of mercy. The Scriptures and the Lord,
they are one tremendous name, the written and incarnate Word
in all things, are the same. or to rightly open up the Word
is to preach Christ. And this is what Paul wants utterance
to do. And he wants them to pray that
that ministry, that message is not bound. He says again to Timothy
there in that chapter, that second chapter of the second epistle,
the Word of God is not bound. How does God Himself speak of
His Word? Remember those words that we
have back in the 55th chapter in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 55, 11, So shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto
me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. all Paul can say to
those Corinthians who is sufficient for these things who is sufficient
for these things he wants that God's word should be so proclaimed
not bound in any sense and it will come then as a saver a saver
of life unto life to some a saver of death unto death to others
shall not return void it's a separating word How the Apostle recognizes
the great need then of the prayers, the prayers of these believers
in Ephesus. His concern then for the manner,
the manner of his preaching, that he might have utterance,
that he might open his mouth boldly, that he might be fearless
in the proclamation of this message. But then in the second place,
let us also consider something of the matter. We've spoken of
the manner in which he wanted to preach. What of the matter
of the message that he was proclaiming? What he says, he wants to make
known the mystery of the Gospel. That's what it's all about, the
mystery of the Gospel. Again, writing to Timothy in
the first epistle of the third chapter, he speaks of the officers
of the church. He speaks of the elders and of
the deacons. And it's interesting there in
1 Timothy 3.9, with regards to the deacons, he speaks of them
holding the mystery of the faith. The mystery of the gospel is
the same as the mystery of the faith. What is that mystery of
the faith that he speaks of there in that third chapter of 1st
Timothy? Well, it's not the grace of faith,
it's not the believing that must come into the experience of all
those who are the election of grace. They will believe, but
it's not that grace of faith. The mystery of the faith there
has reference to the whole body of truth. the gospel reader,
and those officers, be they the deacons, be they the elders,
they have to hold that mystery, that mystery of the faith in
a pure conscience. The ministers, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 4, in the opening verse, he refers to them as ministers
of Christ and stewards of the mystery of God. stewards of the
mystery of God, the mystery of the faith, the mystery of Christ,
the mystery of God. And it's interesting to see the
language that the Apostle employs when he comes to the end of the
epistle to the Romans and he concludes there as it is wont
in all his epistles with a word of benediction really. And look
at the language that he uses at the end of Romans. Romans
16.25, "...now to him that is of power to establish you according to
my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the
revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world
began but now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the
prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known
to all nations for the obedience of faith. To God only wise be
glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. What a benediction. What a benediction! But look
at the language. Observe the language that he
uses there. He speaks in verse 25 of my gospel. And my gospel, he says, is the
preaching of Jesus Christ. And then he says the preaching
of Jesus Christ is the revelation of the mystery. Oh, this is what
the gospel is, is it not? It's a revelation. And it is
a revelation of the mystery. Now, we could spend a deal of
time speaking on what this mystery is, but I want to mention just
briefly six aspects to the mystery, to make known the mystery of
the gospel. And first of all, of course,
we must begin with God. Because the Bible and the gospel
of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the very apex of that revelation
that God has given to us here in His Word. And what is the
Bible? It's a revelation of God. It's
God's Word, is it not? And so what we have in the Bible
is first of all the mystery of God. That is the mystery of the
Trinity. In Colossians 2 and verse 2 we
have the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father
and of Christ. When we come to the benediction
at the end of 2nd Corinthians, remember the familiar benediction
that we more often than any other I suppose use in the service
of corporate worship, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all." Sometimes when we have reference to the Trinity, it
might be the Father who is referred to as God, but there you see
when the Apostle writes in Colossians 2.2, he speaks of the mystery
of God in terms of the Holy Spirit, and of the Father, and of Christ,
but it is a mystery. Or canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven. What canst
thou do deeper than hell? What canst thou know? The measure
thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the sea, says
Job. God is incomprehensible. we cannot begin to understand
this first and greatest of all missions but the language of
the hymn writer says where reason fails with all her powers there
faith prevails and love adores all we cannot begin to understand
but all that we might submit to it the God is revealed to
us here as one God and yet the one God is three distinct persons. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these
three are one, says John. There is the mystery of God.
There is also the mystery of man. And I'm speaking here of
the mystery of man in terms of his fall into sin and his complete
and utter impotence. Isn't that the consequence of
the fall? The fall was total. It affected
man in every aspect of his being. His will is not free. Free will is a foolish notion. will is subject to what the man
himself is, and he's dead in trespasses and in sins, and so
Paul tells us the carnal mind, that is, the mind of the flesh,
the natural mind, is enmity against God, is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. We sang just now that verse in
Joseph Hart's hymn, did we not? That we are unholy needs no proof
We sorely feel the fall, but Christ has holiness enough to
sanctify us all. That's the provision that God
has made. But are we those who sorely feel the fall? What do
we know of the mystery of iniquity? We might read in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 where we have mention of that mystery of iniquity which
does already work. And we know prophetically what
Paul is writing of there, he's speaking of Romanism, Popery. That's the great mystery of iniquity.
But it's easy, is it not, for us to throw stones at Rome? But doesn't God's Word come closer
home than that? How about ourselves? Good John
Newton says he dreaded many evil Popes. But the worst Pope John
Newton knew anything of with Pope Salve. Pope Salve. We were reminded this afternoon
at Hedge End how Bunyan speaks of Joy and Salve. Oh, there's
the mystery of iniquity, is it not? What we are, left to ourselves,
and we can do nothing. Paul says, concerning himself
and those that he's writing to at Corinth, not that we are sufficient
to think anything as of ourselves. We're not sufficient to think
anything. You, I, we can never of ourselves
think one good thought, left to ourselves. Or the mystery,
you say. The mystery of man's fall, and
that this is all part of the great purpose of God and yet
God is not the author of sin and the mystery now of man's
complete and utter inability is impotent, he can do nothing
to help himself nothing to save himself this is that Paul wants
to be preaching boldly, to make known the mystery the mystery
of the gospel, it concerns God, yes it concerns God but it also
concerns man And then, thirdly, there is that mystery, that mystery
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't just ask these
Ephesians to pray for him, he also asks the Colossians to pray
for him. Colossians chapter 4 and verse
2, he wants them to pray that you might have a door of utterance
to speak the mystery of Christ. Here, to the Ephesians, he calls
it the mystery of the gospel, but when he writes to the Colossians,
he speaks of the mystery of Christ. And isn't this a great mystery?
If the mystery of God, the Trinity, is the first and greatest of
all mysteries, here is a mystery like unto it. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Oh, what a mystery is this. That
that little guy that was born in Bethlehem was never anything
less than true Almighty God. That little guy, so dependent,
like all babes, dependent utterly upon his mother, and yet never
anything less than God, and God's Incarnate. Our God contracted
to us man, incomprehensibly made man, all the mystery. In that one person, the Lord Jesus Christ,
there were those two natures, two distinct natures, God and
man. No mixing or mingling of the
natures, He is God and He is man, and yet He is one person.
It's a mystery. Just as the doctrine of the Trinity
is a mystery because God is one of three persons in Christ, we
have one person, but we have two natures. Isaac Watts says, I love the
incarnate mystery. And there I put my trust. Oh friends, do we love it? Do
we say that here is one who can stand between heaven and earth,
one who comes between God and men? This is the Deisman that
Job desires, who can put his hand upon us both, because he's
God and he's man. And as we've said, he's touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. Oh, what a mystery! The mystery
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, there's
the mystery of the sufficiency of the Atonement. And friends,
there is a blessed sufficiency in the Atonement. Let us not
lose sight of that. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. There's the sufficiency. And
it's an actual cleansing, is it not? because He has not just
made salvation a possibility or even a probability, He has
made salvation a certainty by the shedding of His precious
blood. And who has He made that great atoning sacrifice for,
even as many as God was pleased to give Him in the eternal covenant? Oh, that's our comfort, is it
not? dear dying lamb thy precious blood shall never lose its power
till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more
and even in a day like our day and it's a sad day but even today
the Lord God is saving sinners and saving as many as he intended
to save from all eternity oh that's our comfort There is such
a glorious efficiency in that atoning gift. The Lord Jesus
has paid the price for all the sins of all His people. His blood
cleanses from every sin. That fountain opens for sin and
uncleanness. Or do you desire to be plunged
in that precious fountain to be cleansed? Or the mystery of
it? the mystery of it, that this
man could pay the price of such a multitude of sinners that they
would have been paying for an ever-ending eternity. Ah, but
you see, the person who made the sacrifice is not just a man,
he's God. He's the God-man. And he has
satisfied all the divine justice of God when he made that one
offering for sins forever. And then there is also the mystery of the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of these, you see, are great
gospel truths, gospel doctrines, are they not? And this is Paul's
desire, as I have said, he wants them to pray that he might be
enabled to make known this mystery, the mystery of the gospel. And
it includes this, the imputed righteousness. Paul says in Romans
5 and verse 19, as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. It's the obedience of Christ.
He has not only come to die, to shed His precious blood, to
pour out His soul unto death, in making that great sin-atoning
sacrifice, He came to live, and He lived a life of obedience
to all the commandments of God. He is the end of the law for
righteousness, to all that believe, all that righteousness. We spoke
of it this morning, dealing with Those words in Habakkuk 2.4,
the just shall live by his faith, was our text, remember. And so
we have to speak of the just. Who are the just? That's a justified
man. That's a justified man. How is
he justified? God, thankfully, justifies the
ungodly. He's ungodly in himself. Ah,
but when Christ's righteousness is imputed, when that righteousness
of Christ is reckoned to a man's account, he's righteous before
God, he's acquitted in the high courts of heaven, he's accounted
now not only an innocent man but a righteous man. Some might
disdainfully refer to it as imputed nonsense. But what a wicked blasphemy
it is to call that righteousness of Christ by such a name as nonsense. It is the believer's great hope,
is it not? It is the mark of that blessed
man. Remember how David speaks of the blessed man, and as we
saw this morning, the apostle takes it up there in that fourth
chapter of Romans, To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Verse 6 of Romans 4, Even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness, without work, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin. No sin is reckoned
to his account. All his sins were reckoned to
Christ. That's the blessed exchange. Christ has taken his sins, and
in exchange given his righteousness. Oh, the mystery of imputed righteousness. And then, finally, in the sixth
place, the mystery of the new birth. The mystery of the new
birth. And you know, It spelt out, is
it not, so clearly for us there in that third chapter of the Gospel according to John,
that interview between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus. Here we have the great doctrine
of regeneration. Verse 3, Jesus answered and said
unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto
him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Oh, there's a mystery
here. And even this man Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews, couldn't understand it. How can a man
be born again? Has he got to climb back into
his mother's womb? He's speaking and thinking in
natural terms. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking of a spiritual birth, you see. Or John the Baptist
goes on to say later in that same chapter, verse 27, a man
can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. From
whence does the new birth come? Well, we see in the margin, you
see, that when Christ speaks of a man being born again, the
margin says he's speaking of a man being born from heaven!
From heaven! They're born not of man, nor
of the will of the flesh. They're born altogether of God.
It's God's great work, is it not? And he comes from heaven. And so with regards to all this
ministry, this preaching of which the Apostle is speaking in these
verses, our text tonight, in all of this we have to recognize
that the Holy Spirit Himself must come and He must take the
word that is preached and He must apply the word. Grace must
be conveyed in some way. Now God has appointed preaching.
Look at what The Apostle says, in that portion that we read,
in chapter 3, in that portion, the opening part of chapter 3,
he's speaking, of course, of the mystery of the calling of
the Gentiles. And he was the Apostle to the
Gentiles. And so he tells them, he is Paul, the prisoner of Jesus
Christ, for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God, which he's given me, to you would." What
does he mean when he speaks of the dispensation of the grace
of God? Well, the word that he uses has
this idea of the administration, or the distribution of the grace
of God, which is given me to you would. And he goes on at
verse 9 to say, "...and to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery." And there is the idea there with fellowship,
that again, it's the idea of the dispensation. the distribution,
to make all men see what is the distribution of the mystery which
from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God who created
all things by Jesus Christ." How does God dispense His grace?
Well, God is sovereign, of course, and we cannot dictate to the
Almighty, but God himself has certainly appointed preaching. We read it there in Romans 10
verse 17, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This is the way in which God
is pleased in the mind to convey his grace to the sinner. He owns
the ministry of his word, and as I said before, that's why
we would make much of the ministry, the preaching of the word. That's
why the pulpit is so central in the chapel, and it's the opening
up of the word, is it not? And it's a great truth that was
very much rediscovered at the time of the Protestant Reformation.
Remember Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, martyr, great preacher,
and he says this concerning preaching, it is the only office that God
hath ordained to save us by. Let us maintain this. Let us
maintain this. The preaching of the Word. What was the Reformation? It
was a great preaching movement, the Proclamation. We see it throughout
Europe, not only here in England with a man like Bishop Latimer,
but we see it with men like Luther and Calvin of Geneva. What are
Calvin's commentaries? They were all preached in the
course of his ministry there in Geneva. And here is the apostle, you
see, how he recognizes the importance of the preaching. And for me,
he says, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open
my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for
which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly,
as I ought to speak. O God be pleasing. to own the
ministry of His Word even in this our day and our generation
that we might yet see those blessed signs following that was the
case in a previous day which was a better day. May the Lord
bless His Word to us.