This morning I call your attention
to two verses of Scripture. Our first passage of Scripture
this morning is in 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. 1st Timothy 3 and verse 16. Every preacher in the world, I suppose, sooner
or later, as preached from this passage of scripture. The Apostle
Paul says, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1st Timothy 3 and verse 16. Now if you'll turn with me to
a second portion of the Word of God and that is Colossians
1 verse 27 Colossians 1 and verse 27 where the Apostle Paul again
says I to whom God would make known what is the richest of
his glory of his mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ
in you the hope glory Colossians 1 verse 27 each one of these
verses speaks about a subject and it's about the great mystery
the great mystery that we have in the Word of God the mystery
that is upon this land today in Christendom and throughout
the entire world is not a mystery to those who know the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because the great mystery that
Paul speaks of is the enlightenment, the enlightenment of the Word
of God to the hearts of all those who believe. To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory. This glory that
Paul speaks of is this great enlightenment. When we begin
to talk about the mysteries of the Word of God and the mysteries
of the Scriptures, to the natural mind it is beyond them to understand. This morning we're going to talk
about those mysteries that are introduced in the Word of God. These scriptures is an introduction
to my message this morning. The gospel is the mystery of
mysteries. Christ is himself the great mystery
of redemption. It is the majestic secret of
God with us. It is the glorious manifestation
of God dealing with mankind. The Holy Spirit takes the revealed
Word of God and illuminates us individually. We are made gloriously
wealthy by this mystery. Without controversy, the Apostle
Paul says. Without controversy, that great
mysteries of godliness. What is he speaking about? He's
speaking about God was made flesh. God was made flesh. Even the child of God has looked
upon this subject and asked himself, How is it so? How is it possible
that a Christ holy God could become man and partake of the
things of a human? But this is the real problem
in our minds and hearts throughout the land today. Without the help
of God, without the spirit of God, we will never understand
this subject, this subject of the unity of the God man, God
and man being brought together for our own benefit. The Lord
Jesus Christ is crowned with glory as the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth. He is the brightness of
the Father's glory. We have unsearchable riches. Christ because Paul said in him
dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily When we look at
our faith this morning, we look to only one person. We look to
only one person for every answer for our heart, and that is in
the person of Jesus Christ. Without the enlightenment of
the Spirit of God opening up the heart and revealing this
precious truth to us, we are as baffled as the natural man
is this morning. When we come to know the things
of God and desire to know those precious secrets of our Heavenly
Father, the only way that we will know those things is to
bow our head, bow our knee, and trust God through the reading
of His Word concerning His Son. Within Christ, we have all of
the answers this morning. As Spurgeon noted, Oh, the riches
of the grace of God, which is has been placed the father to
impart unto us in Christ Jesus. Christ is the mystery, the riches
and the glory. He is all this. He is all among
us poor Gentiles. And we are made the heirs of
God. All things are ours in Christ
our Lord. Let's go back 2,000 years. Let's go into the temple and
let us talk to the scribes and the Pharisees. As a Gentile,
you would never make your way that far. But if it was possible
for a Gentile to go into that special court of the temple and
ask the scribes and the Pharisees, what is it about these things? And you talk to them about Christ
and being made equal and to be as a Gentile being being partakers
of this great spirit and knowledge of God they would say out out
you have no right you have no pedigree to know the things of
God because you are not of Abraham you're not of the blood of Abraham
you are not a Jew therefore you cannot know but we can know As
a Gentile, we can know God. We can know the grace of God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, and He is our secret. He is the key that opens the
heart of belief and causes us to see God fresh in the very
face of Almighty God. This morning, it is my intentions
to speak on the mysteries of Christ. Every child of God has
a hope. It is the confidence that God
has placed in our heart. It's something that doesn't come
through the natural means or education, but it is placed by
the Spirit of God. It's the light that guides us
through the darkness of this world and the loneliness in serving
our Lord. Yes. even the child of God will
become lonely in this world and his strength will come from only
one place and that is the fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and
him alone. Paul is speaking in his writings
in the book of Timothy and Colossians His letter is going out to those
who believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in a church this
morning, an organized church. This is a Baptist church, and
I'm happy to be called a Baptist because of the historical faith
that Baptists had believed. But my faith this morning is
outside of being a Baptist, my faith is outside of this sanctuary
this morning. And if I might say, and I ask
your indulgence this morning, My faith is apart from the fellowship
even of you here this morning. And the fellowship that you enjoy
this morning is the fellowship that you have between you and
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Never think for a moment that
we can receive from the Lord Jesus Christ anything from this
world other than from Christ. himself it has dawned on me recently
about my hope the faith that is within myself and what a comfort
it is that regardless of how dark the days may become and
we look at our past and we think i'm sure glad that one is over
We never know what tomorrow is going to bring, but the faith
that has secured us and brought us through the past will be the
same faith that will secure our walk and pilgrimage to the very
end. Our faith accompanies us. And it's our faith is what we
lean upon in this life. And it will be the same faith
that will lead you and take you to the very end of that hour
in which we will, our eyes will close and we will depart from
this life. Hallelujah, when we see the very
face of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a wonderful experience
it will be to close our eyes in this darkness of this light
and to open them and see the very face of God in Jesus Christ. Though that's not today, though
that's not this moment, but yet we can enjoy and partake of such
joy and peace even before we reach that point of leaving this
life and being in presence with our Lord Jesus Christ. That is
the message this morning, partaking of the riches and the glory of
Almighty God in this life, in believing and trusting, relying
upon our faith in Jesus Christ. knowing that he has gone all
the way for me and that regardless of what I've done and what shall
happen in my life, he has bore my sins. He has carried my load. He has delivered me before God. And that was so upon the cross. But I can never forget. I can
never forget the fact that he has done so before the foundation
of the world. We have a great, wonderful subject
called eternal justification. There is a truth in the word
of God that before the foundation of the world that we were justified
because of the coming work and satisfaction of Jesus Christ. upon the cross. But there is
a day, there is a wonderful day that all that Christ has done
in this life will continue on throughout all eternity. The
glory of God is about us. The glory of God is in us in
this hour because we possess the very spirit of Christ. We
possess the very knowledge of God in Christ Jesus within our
heart that lifts us up and causes us to believe and trust His holy
word. The first mystery that I call
your attention to this morning is the incarnation. of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our pastor spoke on the Incarnation
not long ago. The Incarnation of Christ is
a deep mystery. It was born in the unsearchable
wise mind of God. The idea of Emmanuel escapes
us. God with us. God being within
a man. God with us. When Jesus walked
He walked as Almighty God upon the shores. As He spoke and as
He preached, Almighty God spoke in His own person. God with us
was conceived in the omnipotent and omniscient mind of God. Every
regenerate mind delights in this vital union with God and man. This is wonderful. This is glorious. It's glorious to know that the
one that we serve is not dead. One that we serve is alive and
shall be for all times. He is truly the God-man who lived
and served us and died for our sins. The Apostle Paul tells
us this mystery. Our Lord is still God and man,
still He can sympathize with us and He bore our sins. He is bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, and yet He can help us without limits, seeing
He is equal with God. This is the great truth. This
is a wonderful, wonderful truth. I suppose that we could preach
forever on the incarnation of our Lord because the incarnation,
and this is the Christmas season. This is the time that we think
of the Christ child coming into the world. But the world doesn't
see the Christ child as a living Lord, as a living God among us. The second great mystery that
I would like for you to think about this morning is the death
of Christ. This is truly a great mystery. Since the incarnation, it is
a great mystery. We are ever reminded of the great
mysteries of his death too. When we start thinking about
the Lord Jesus Christ dying for our sins, he is the only one
that has ever died for his people. Mohammed did not die for his
people. And all of the false prophets
who sprang up other religions, none of them ever died for their
people. And also, they never rose from
the dead that we will get into in just a moment. Paul said,
He humbled himself and became a servant and died as a substitute
on the cross. He bore our terrible load of
sin on the cross that we might never bear the Father's righteous
wrath. He took the cup of wrath that
we ought to have drank. He drank it. And one commentator
said that he drank all of it. He drank all of the wrath of
God that was due us, and as we are made free because of it. He bore our punishment in his
death. Peter said we, by his stripes,
we are healed. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made curse for us. Moreover, he was made
everything right and safe for us with God the Father. by making an end of sin and an
everlasting righteousness on the behalf of the Father. He
finished work of Christ. The finished work of Jesus Christ
is the grand mystery. Jesus Christ is all our righteousness. He is all our salvation and all
of our desire. The child of God has a different
frame of mind this morning than those outside of our Lord. Our minds and hearts are centered
constantly upon His finished work. The world looks upon the
death of Christ as something as in history that happened,
but it doesn't benefit them in any way. It is only in a way
of reference, but as a child of God, it takes part It takes
hope to our life and our soul. The third mystery that I want
you to speak of this morning is the resurrection and the ascension
of Christ as the great mystery. On the other hand, since he is
the second person of the Godhead, the son of God, the eternal word
of God, should we be at least surprised that he should rise
from the dead? No other man has rose from the
dead like our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our satisfaction today
that our Lord died and rose again. He rose again for the satisfaction
of all those that he died for. As sure as our Lord rose from
the tomb, so we shall rise again from our graves and be united
with him in heaven. This is the promise of Christianity. This is a promise of what our
Lord teaches us today. As he is dead, Paul said, as
he is ahead of the body, the church, who is the beginning
of the firstborn among the dead, that in all things he might have
preeminence. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
head of all of our faith that we are. He's the head of our
church. We speak of the church. Sometimes
our minds are brought to the building, to the brick and the
mortar, the organization of the church. But as the scripture
speaks of the church, it generally speaks of the body of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Those who have been called, those
who have been saved, those who have been brought to a saving
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He overcame death and passed
to a sovereign throne at the right hand of the Father. heaven
where he reigns as a living Lord he has overcome death he is alive
it's not enough that our Lord would die for us it's not enough
that our Lord would be raised for us it is that our Lord died
and rose and he liveth ever liveth as Paul said in 725 in Hebrews
that he ever liveth to make intercession for
us. This is a great, wonderful story. It's a great mystery that is
known of the people of Almighty God. Every believer has stamped
on him these words, made in Christ. Every child of God the image
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have taken upon ourselves
the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not have the power
of Almighty God, but we take upon the Spirit and the likeness
of our Heavenly Father, and therefore this is a wonderful thing. But
the greatest miracle this morning, the greatest miracle that I know
of is that Christ is in you. Christ is in you. This is the
greatest mystery. The world looks upon the incarnation
and they say it's impossible. We look upon the virgin birth
and they say this is impossible. They look upon the death of Christ
and they say it's irrelevant. It's not of any great of importance. and they look upon the resurrection,
don't believe that either. But there's one thing that the
world looks upon and they are astonished. And that is the life
of the child of God. The life of the child of God
is different. And regardless of what they may
say about us, and what they may say about you, That is something
that is distinguishable in the minds of the lost. This week,
there was a picture that came out of a man who would not deny
the Lord and would not accept Muhammad. He would not deny his
faith and accept being a Muslim. And what they were going to do,
they were going to hang him And there he was with his hands strapped
to his side. And there was a sense of peace
upon his face. There was a smile upon his face. For in that moment, he found
the greatest strength of all time at the time of his death. Because his faith was in Christ
and Christ alone. And this world had nothing to
give him at that point. But Christ had everything for
him. Christ had everything for him. and he willingly went to his
death knowing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you
that story this morning. I don't know this man. I don't
know his name. I don't know what city he lived
in, but I only saw the picture and I relate this story to you
to reflect what I'm trying to say. Our life about Christ our
life is about our faith in God and that faith in God is the
light of the world that is within each of you this morning regardless
of what happens to us in the future it is all about our Lord
Jesus Christ this faith that you enjoy today is a great wonderful
mystery. But it's only a mystery to those
that believe not. So today, in this Christmas season,
I ask you to think, to think for a moment about your faith
and the hope that is within you this morning. That hope and that
faith is a sustaining element within your life and in your
soul. May God bless you this morning.