Open your Bible with me, if you
will, to Romans chapter 16, and we'll begin at verse 24. Romans,
the 16th chapter, verses 24 through 27. The title of my message is
My Gospel and the Mystery. My Gospel and the Mystery. Romans 16, 24. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Paul's letter to the church
at Rome has a number of striking things by which it is distinguished
from among all Paul's other inspired letters. And one of those distinctions
is the fact that he closes this epistle with four benedictions. That's very unusual. He completes
the epistle beginning with chapter 15, giving benedictions. And he gives four of them altogether. This one and the one that follows
in verses 25, 26, and 27, and one in verse 20. and then went back here in Romans
chapter 15 in verse 33. Let's look at each of those benedictions
just briefly. Romans 15, 23. Now the God of peace be with
you all. Amen. These benedictions are
not just wishes or desires, they're not even prayers, as we would
commonly speak of those things. I might say these things to you
expressing my desire for you, my prayer to God for you, but
these are promises of grace written by divine inspiration from the
inspired Apostle Paul to the church at Rome and to you who
are gods today. Now, the God of peace be with
you all. Amen, that is it most certainly
shall be. In chapter 15 in verse five,
our God is called the God of patience because he's patient,
long-suffering, forbearing, and good, and because he teaches
us patience. Yes, God, by his grace, through
his providence and tribulation works patience in his people. He's called the God of hope because
our hope is in God, our Savior. The apostle continues these benedictions
in verse 20 of chapter 16. This one who is our God, the
God of patience, the God of hope, the God of peace, who gives peace
to chosen redeemed sinners, makes this second benediction of grace
pronounced by divine inspiration. And it is a benediction, I repeat,
a promise of grace to every believing sinner, a promise of grace to
you and a promise of grace to me. The God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you, amen. Paul assures us that God, our
God, the God of peace, as surely as he crushed the serpent's head
under the feet of our Redeemer at Calvary, shall bruise Satan
under your feet very soon, suddenly, unexpectedly. When you think
Things are just at an utter, utter state of despair. The God of peace will crush Satan
under your feet. When you think the trial will
surely overwhelm you, the God of peace will crush Satan under
your feet. When you think things have just
gone so long, you can't endure it more, the God of peace will
crush Satan under your feet shortly. And our Lord Jesus Christ soon,
suddenly, unexpectedly shall appear in his glory and crush
Satan under your feet. And then in verse 24 of Romans
16, Paul says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
all. Amen. I'm sure you have noticed,
as we've read through this book of Romans a number of times,
that this benediction is exactly the same as what Paul said in
verse 20. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all, amen. Why does he repeat exactly the
same words in just a brief few sentences? Why exactly the same
words? Did he just accidentally do it? Of course not. And they just
put in there for no reason? Of course not. This book is written
by divine inspiration. So why does Paul say here in
verse 20 and in verse 24, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all, amen. Perhaps he is simply saying,
amen, amen, amen, the God of peace. shall brew Satan under
your feet shortly. And he was in just such a place
that I can expect to hear him saying those very words. He's
in just such a place I can expect that. Perhaps he repeats these
words as one often does when describing or even mentioning
that which is indescribably wondrous, great and delightful to him. Certainly, that's the case here.
Paul could never mention with sufficient frequency, or sufficient
enthusiasm, with sufficient excitement, the grace of our God flowing
to us through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Now, look at verses
25, 26, and 27. Here is Paul's fourth benediction
in these two chapters. Here we see the means God has
chosen by which he performs his wonders of grace in his elect. This is God's method of operation
in the souls of chosen redeemed sinners. And he forms this as
a benediction. Now, as we read these words,
listen carefully, as we read these words, bear in mind, this
Paul gives as a benediction, his final word to the saints
at Rome, as he concludes this, perhaps the most important book,
at least theologically, to be found in all the word of God. He gives this benediction, now
to him, that is a power to establish you, 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 is now 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
the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Now, look at these sweet
blessed assurances of grace. Assurances given to every believing
sinner. Assurances wrought for us and
given to us by the God of patience, the God of hope, the God of peace. Assurances by which God would
give us and teach us patience and hope and peace. A word of
assurance by which God would graciously brew Satan under our
feet. Here are seven things stated
that need to be understood, that need to be sounded out loud and
clear in this generation of religious tomfoolery. And yes, we live
in a generation of religious tomfoolery. Today, preachers
in churches everywhere pander to the whims of men, Preachers
prostitute the gospel for a dime or a smile. Preaching has become
passe and gospel preaching is utterly forbidden in most churches. Instead of having preaching,
churches have puppet shows and movies and dramas, specialized
ministries, and family counseling, and financial counseling, and
fellowship suppers, and family centers, and bingo, and recreation. Yeah, you get the idea. Today's religion is It would
be utterly comical if it weren't so sad. In fact, last year, I
don't remember who it was, one of the big churches over in Lexington,
the preacher's putting on a drama, comes like he's got angel's wings. Ah, preach it. It's a joke in
this day. And the church has no place for
it. Preachers don't have time to study and pray and preach.
They're busy chasing ambulances and sipping tea and gossiping
with old women and playing golf and making money. So rather than
worshiping God, preachers everywhere are cutting down the number of
services so families can spend more time together. Let me tell
you something. I wish I could convince everybody
who hears my voice of this. My own family, all people I know
who have sons and daughters growing up in this generation, there
is nothing more important for your family than what we're doing
right now. If I were you, young or old,
if I had children to raise, I would make it my determination never
to allow anything in my family from the worship of God and from
hearing the Gospel of God's grace. You just got married, if you
care for you and that lady and the women, or the children you
raise, seek to their here every service. Just seek to it. We've got things to do. Nothing
like this. Nothing as important, nothing
as valuable, nothing as needful as the worship of God under the
sound of the preaching of the Gospel. You won't spend better
time with your family than you spend with them in the house
of God, hearing the gospel of God, singing his praise and worshiping
him, seeking his face. Now let's look at what Paul says
here. Number one, the Lord our God, the triune Jehovah, has
the omnipotent power, the divine might to establish you, to firmly
fix you, to stabilize you, to make you constant, strong, unswerving. Oh, what a statement, what a
statement. God is able to establish you,
to establish you. Oh, it takes omnipotent, irresistible
grace to do that work. Here's the next word. He'll do
it according to. not just by, not just through
the instrumentality of, but according to my gospel. God establishes
his elect. The old English is better than
modern. He didn't say establishes, he
establishes his elect according to the rich promises of the gospel. What have you found that gives
you greater stability? Anybody? Anybody? What have you found that makes
you less likely to waver in the face of difficulty? What have
you found that makes you less movable by the influences of
men and society? God is able to establish you
according to my gospel. Now watch this. The Lord God
has made the power to fix you in your appointed place in his
church and kingdom. He has the power to fix you in
your appointed place in his family, to set you firmly like a steel
post in concrete in his house. I was standing out on the front
porch this morning. I often do, as you come in. But I happened to take a glance
more of that post out there you and I were talking about a few
weeks ago. Some of you aren't aware of it. Years ago, we had
a storm come up here, and it literally picked that front porch
roof up. And those posts, even though
they're screwed in the concrete, came out of the concrete. and
one of them sat down crooked. It's just a little crooked, just
the base of it a little crooked. I'm reminded it wasn't well established. It wasn't fixed. The wind picked
it up and there it is crooked. God is able to establish you
like a steel post set in concrete in his house according to my
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. God establishes his elect by
the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. By showing
forth the person and work of his darling son. And then the
gospel re-preach. Paul describes as the unveiled
mystery of Holy Scripture, verse 26. According to the revelation
of the mystery. This is what the gospel is. It
is the unveiling 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. I'll come back
to that in a minute. Move on. The mystery of God is
now made manifest, openly declared by the commandment of God to
all nations. God commands us. Go ye therefore into all the
world and preach the gospel. Go ye therefore into all the
world and preach the gospel. You may or may not recall, you
probably do because I've repeated it a number of times, shortly
after You called me here to be your pastor. I said to you when
we were chatting on one of those visits, you and me and we were
together and just chatting. I said, we need to always beware. We have a responsibility to the
kingdom of God beyond the four walls of the meeting where, or
the house where we meet. We have a responsibility to the
world. We have a responsibility to preach
the gospel to the whole world as we have opportunity and means
while we have breath in this generation. It is God's command. to you and to me, to you and
to you, to go into all the world by whatever means God gives,
by whatever door God opens and preach the gospel to every creature. Jesus hath been evidently set
forth, Paul wrote to the Galatians, crucified among you. And he is
evidently set forth by the preaching of the gospel. evidently set
forth by the plain, simple, forthright, unadorned declaration of the
gospel. Hold your hands here and turn
over to 1 Corinthians 2. I want you to see this, 1 Corinthians
2. Paul says, I, brethren, when
I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. I came not with excellency
of speech. Now that doesn't mean I didn't study and prepare. That's
not what it means. That doesn't mean I just really
didn't have any great ability. That's not what it means. He
means to say, I deliberately came to you speaking with such
plainness that you could not misunderstand me. I spoke with such plainness that
you could not misunderstand me. If you listen to a fellow preach,
I don't care who he is, and you don't understand exactly what
he was saying, just one or two possibilities, just one or two
possibilities, either he didn't know what he was talking about,
or he really didn't want you to know what he was talking about.
That's the only two possibilities, the only two. I have used the
illustration, I don't know of a better, This dear lady bakes
the best pound cake you ever stuck between your lips. I mean
it is a, it is a, I say pound cake, one slice weighs about
a pound. It is a pound cake and it's good, it's good. And I don't
have a clue how she does it. I don't even, I honestly don't
even know how she, her oven's got two little buttons, I don't
know which one to turn. Every time I turn it on, she has to tell me which
way to turn both of them. I don't even know how to turn
the oven on. But I promise you, I promise you, if she wanted
to tell me how, she could tell me exactly how to make that pancake. And I could do it just as good
as she does. All she got to do is tell me.
I know she could, because I'm not the brightest bulb in the
room, but I know I can take lessons. And she is the brightest bulb
in the room, and she can tell me exactly how she does it. If
she tells you and you follow the instructions, I'm going to
tell you something. She didn't tell you the whole
story. Some of you ladies do this. I've learned that you give
out your recipes, but you don't give everything. Just one little
ingredient, because you don't want anybody to make it just
like you. If Shelby gives you a recipe, I promise you, she'll give you
the whole thing. But if you can't do it just exactly the same way,
it's because she did not want to be clear. And preachers who
are not clearly understood either do not know what they're talking
about or they don't want you to know what they're talking
about. And in either case, they ought to go start mopping floors
rather than preaching. They're deceivers. They have
no business doing it. Paul says, I came not with the
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony
of God, for I determined not to know anything among you, save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. That doesn't mean I was scared
to death what you were gonna do to me. No, doesn't mean anything
like that. I was scared to death of misrepresenting
God. Scared to death of not speaking
the truth as God gives it in his word. Scared to death of
standing here pretending I have a message from God when I don't
have a message from God. I've often been asked by young
preachers, how long do you have to preach before you get comfortable
and you're not nervous about preaching? And I make this promise
to you as I have for 39 years as your pastor. I promise you. I promise you. If I ever get
comfortable to come here in God's name and open this book and speak
to you without weakness and fear and trembling, I'll quit doing
it. We're God's ambassadors. Come
to declare God's word. Look what it says. Verse five,
that your faith should stand I'm sorry, verse four. And my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power. So when
I got done preaching to you, you know God spoke to you. That
your faith should stand, not in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God. Albeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect. We're talking to saints, believers. Men made perfect in Christ, yet
not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world
that come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, the gospel. the glory of God shining in the
face of Jesus Christ. But it's a mystery unveiled and
understood only when God, who commands light to shine out of
darkness, shines in your heart to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ by the preaching
of the gospel. Go back to Romans 16, 26. The gospel of the grace of God.
This gospel we preach. is preached and made known to
all nations for the obedience of faith. We preach the gospel
for the glory of God so that sinners might actually be saved
by believing the gospel, by trusting the Lord Jesus. This is all for and to the glory
of our great God. To God only wise, glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen. That's what we're looking
for. That's what we desire. Now, why
does Paul call this my gospel? What is the mystery he's referring
to? Let me try to answer those two
questions and I'll wrap this up. When Paul says the gospel
of Christ is my gospel, It's because it was the gospel committed
to his trust. The gospel by which he had been
saved. The gospel he preached. He calls
it my gospel in three different places in the New Testament to
distinguish it from every other gospel. He says, my gospel, this
is the gospel. And every gospel contrary to
my gospel is a false gospel. Every gospel contrary to what
you've heard me preach is a false gospel. There is but one gospel. It is the gospel of God's free
grace coming to sinners, effectually coming to sinners in, by, and
through Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, who has put away the sins of
his people and redeem them, it is the gospel of free grace. Without question, Paul speaks
of the gospel, this one true gospel, as the gospel of God. And he declares it plainly to
be the gospel of salvation by grace alone. Now this is what
I mean by that statement. Salvation comes to helpless,
depraved, lost, justly condemned sinners only by the election
of God the Father, only by the particular effectual redemption
of God the Son, only by the irresistible, omnipotent mercy and grace of
God the Holy Ghost. I'll preach it the way you preach.
Nobody else talks like that. There's nothing for the sinner
to do. That's exactly it. That's exactly it. I got it just
right, didn't I? Either it's God's work or your
work. And God declares it to be a work
finished from the foundation of the world. And if it was finished
from the foundation of the world, creatures of time can't possibly
have anything to do with it. Salvation is the free, unconditional
gift of God's immutable, omnipotent grace. Nothing in man Nothing
done by man, nothing experienced by man, nothing on the part of
man has anything to contribute to this thing called salvation.
This is God's work, only God's work. Turn over to 2 Timothy
chapter one, this very familiar text. Paul is urging Timothy to be
faithful in preaching the gospel, and this is what he says. Be
not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor
of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of
the gospel according to the power of God. Well, Paul, what on earth
are you talking about? Who hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling, and your works ain't got a blasted
thing to do with it. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Brother Todd was talking
to me yesterday at lunch. He'd listened to some preacher
claiming to believe grace and he said, now we believe in salvation
by grace alone. That was his first statement.
This was his second statement. Now that doesn't mean you can
go ahead and live like you want to. I said he's got a problem. Because he
really thinks that you go out and live like you want to, unless
you're held back from doing so by some laws and prohibitions
of men. Paul says, the gospel I'm preaching
to you ain't got nothing to do with works. And I'm not scared
of that affecting you adversely. I'm not afraid of that somehow
causing you to want to live licentiously. The gospel of God's grace does
not hinge on you. It's God's work. It was done
from eternity. Now read what it says. According
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. I have often been accused, well,
you talk, When a man gets saved, God just lets him know about
it. He just gets in on it. And I used to try to excuse that
when I was younger, fella. That's just what I'm saying.
Because that's just exactly what God says. But is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
There it says, Bill Raleigh. He was married to Vicki, and
Vicki was raised all her life under Brother Henry Mahan's ministry,
taught the gospel from youth, and you didn't have a clue what
it was until you went over there and heard that strange fellow talking to you.
And he listened to him and ignored it, and he came here, settled
down here while Brother Clark was here preaching. I guess you
came in and listened to him and ignored him. And you know what
he did? He came here and listened to me and ignored me for years. For years, is that right? And
one day, God turned the light on. He said, God's given me faith in
Christ. What happened? God turned the light on. God
gave him light and brought life and immortality as a light in
his soul by the gospel, saying, I saved you. I saved you in the death of my
Son. I've been saving you with every
breath of your life. I once received a letter from
someone who asked me this question. How can I be sure the gospel
you preach is the only true gospel? And that's a fair, honest, reasonable
question. I suggest that you would be wise
to ask that question of every preacher. He ought to be required
to answer it. This is my answer. I know that
the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in
Christ alone is the only true gospel for these reasons. Number
one, the gospel I preach is the only gospel in the world, the
only gospel ever been written about or preached anywhere in
the world that's in exact conformity to every word in this book. I challenge you, I challenge
anybody who hears this message, anytime, anywhere in the world,
show me anything in this book contrary to the gospel of God's
free sovereign grace in Christ. I mean by that, And I wrote it
down just a little bit ago. There is not a hint anywhere
in this book. There is not a hint anywhere
in this book that God loves all men, that Christ died for all
men, and that the Spirit of God tries to save all men. There's
not a hint in this book, nowhere in this book. I mean nowhere
in this book. There's not a hint that some
folks loved of God, some folks redeemed by Christ, and some
folks called by the Spirit go to hell anywhere. You were raised
under that nonsense all your life and it's nowhere in this
book. Nowhere in this book. I defy anybody to find otherwise.
This is the gospel. set forth in all scriptures that
we preach to you that by Jesus Christ is the forgiveness of
sins and all who believe are justified from all things from
which they cannot be justified by the works of the law. The
gospel is the good news from heaven concerning the person
and accomplishments of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The
gospel This gospel I preach to you is the power of God to salvation
to everyone that believeth. You, I don't suggest that you
do it, but most of you have had enough experience with religion.
You work the service a certain way. And you start playing the
organ at just the right time. And you speak softly. And you get folks to raise their
hands. And if you need prayer, raise your hand. Now, nobody's
looking. If you'd like to be saved, raise
your hand. No, just me and you. Nobody else.
Just me and you and God. So I can pray for you. Now, now
let's stand together. Now, if you raised your hand
and you don't want to be a liar, you're exactly right. Somebody
grab the preacher by his whiskers and throw him out the door. Oh,
no, we don't depend on anything to make the gospel effectual.
We just preach it. Watch God work. Just preach it. Watch God work. Let me tell you
something, it's wonderful to watch God work. Oh, it's wonderful to watch God
work. It's the power of God to salvation
to everyone that believeth. This gospel, I know is the only
true gospel because there's not another word preached by another
man anywhere in the world. Contrary to this gospel, that
gives glory to God in all His holy attributes, in all His attributes. I said, down in Tennessee, talking to
some preachers, either Friday or Saturday one, God has arranged things in His
sovereign purpose so that every sinner who goes to hell goes
to hell because it's right. Now about everybody somehow or
another will nod their head and acknowledge that. The second
thing I said to these preachers when I was talking to them is
kind of shocking to most folks. If you go to heaven, Lindsay
Gamble, it'll only be because it's right. Folks go to hell because they
fully deserve it. And the only folks who go to
heaven are folks who fully deserve it. How can that be? Not by what
you do. But by what Christ has done,
by the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ unto death as our
substitute, He fully satisfies the righteousness of God and
the justice of God. The truth of God and the mercy
of God, the love of God and the wrath of God, the anger of God
and the grace of God, in him mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other now. God in Christ, because Jesus
Christ, has fully obeyed the law, and he has fully satisfied
the law, and there's no reason for God ever to be angry with
any sinner for whom Christ has died. You come to Christ, and
as surely as you come to Christ, it's just for God to justify
you. Did you hear me? He's now just
and the justifier of them that believe. that God only in justice
saves sinners by free grace. God only in justice saves sinners
by free grace, saving us through the merits of His darling Son.
This Gospel that I preached to you is the only Gospel that that
honors and satisfies all the demands of God's holy law, so
that we come to Christ and we bring God the true Passover lamb. And you can, you can come to God right now.
You can walk right into God's face in the Holy of Holies on
the mercy seat where God said, I'll meet you between the cherubs
on the mercy seat. You can walk right into God's
face with no fear of God not accepting
you because you bring what God requires. what God provides,
what God accepts, Christ our Passover. My only hope, my only
plea is that Christ died and he died for me. This is the only
gospel. I'm talking about a gospel of
free grace. A gospel of free grace through the crucified Redeemer. This is the only gospel that
offers hope to helpless, lost, doomed, damned sinners. Men and women who can do nothing
for themselves. You see sinners are dead, dead, dead. And a dead man can't even
feel something let alone do it. A dead man can't even think something,
let alone do it. We preach a gospel that God speaks
to the dead, and the dead hear his voice, and they come forth
in life. Ezekiel, look at this valley
of bones. This great army's been dead for
a long time. Their bones are scattered all
over the place. You can't tell which bone goes to which body.
Can these bones live? Well, I wouldn't say no. But
if it depends on me, they can't. And if it depends on them, they
can't. Oh, Lord, thou knowest. Prophesy to the bones. What?
What's good to preach to them they're dead? Well, if it depended
on them, wouldn't mean good to preach to them. If they could
do something, wouldn't mean good to preach to them. Why preach
to them they're dead? prophesy as if you prophesy to
the wind. Say to the wind, come, breathe
upon these bones. And it prophesied to the wind
and the wind blew. And the bones were raised up
and sinew on the bones and flesh on the sinew. There, God covered
them with life and he gave them life. That's what I'll do for
the whole house of Israel. I'll give all mine elect, though
dead, life in Christ Jesus. How do you know the gospel you
preach is the only gospel there is? Because this gospel alone
gives all the glory to God and none to man. This gospel forbids
boasting. Many years ago, I was in college
out in Springfield, Missouri. I was 18 years old. And I had
a reputation for being one of those fellows they called a hyper-Calvinist. It didn't get me much out there.
I'll tell you what it did get me. It got me a dormitory room
by myself the whole year. Nobody wanted to stay with me.
But it didn't give me anything else. It didn't give me anything
else. And every time they'd get a chance, a whole gang of them
would jump on me. All of them wanted to do something,
make me look bad. And the worst imaginary theologians
to deal with are female theologians. They get so cocky and mouthy,
and you wanna hit them, but you can't hit a woman. You just have
to listen to them. And I was talking to this fellow
one day, and this gal from up at the front of the bus, she
stood up and she screamed, she said, yes, God saved me, I'm
saved by grace, but it was my decision. Pardon me, pardon me. Your decision? Oh, no, no. Nobody who knows God say that.
Nobody been snatched out of hell would say that. Nobody who'd
been raised from the dead would say that. Nobody who's experienced
God's grace would say that. No, no, no. Well, she was just
confused, yeah. Dead men usually are. The gospel
of God's grace allows no room for boasting. For who maketh
thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Believers
rather look at salvation. Doesn't matter whether you're
talking about election, or redemption, or regeneration, or conversion,
or faith, or sanctification, or glorification, or rewards
in heaven. This is how they respond to it
all. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give
glory for thy mercy and for thy true sake. This is the only gospel,
the only gospel there is, the only gospel any man ever preached,
the gospel of God's free grace, free grace, free grace in Christ,
our glorious substitute and redeemer. There's no other gospel. that
rightly compel sinners to consecrate themselves to God alone. You see, David Peterson, you
owe God everything. Everything. You didn't contribute
a thing. Everything. Look at this man. Look at this man. I owe God everything, every breath,
everything. He died for me, that I should
not live to myself, but to him who loved me and gave himself
for me. But what is this mystery, this
mystery that's unveiled? Look at our text again. and have the 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 is now made manifest by the scriptures
of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. The mystery that's unveiled by
the gospel It was not something that was
kept secret from the Old Testament saints. No, no. Adam knew the
gospel. Abraham knew the gospel. Moses
knew the gospel. He built that whole tabernacle
after the pattern of Christ crucified. David knew the gospel, but they
didn't have it set forth in the fullness with which it is now
set forth by the finished work of the incarnate God who died
in our stead and rose again and took his seat on the right hand
of the majesty on high and gave us this book. What did it come
to reveal? What's the mystery that's opened
up? The mystery of the gospel is
the unveiling of redemption accomplished. Old Testament Scriptures, all
the Law and all the Prophets said, there's somebody coming,
a man, a man who is God, a man who will live in perfect righteousness. and he will magnify the law and
make it honorable. A man, a man who must be made
sin. A man who must suffer the wrath
of God for sin. A man, a man who by his suffering
for sinners as the sin atoning substitute will remove iniquity
and transgression. and he will bring in everlasting
righteousness, and God will smile on sinners in him. That's what
all the law and prophets said was gonna happen. The gospel
says, that's what Christ did. That's what Christ did. What's
this mystery that's unveiled by the gospel? The mystery is
the mystery of the union of God and man in one person. Not just the union of the God-man,
Christ our Redeemer, united and one with God, God and man in
one person, Christ Jesus. But the union, the union, the
union of God and this man right here. Did you get that Jimmy? A union, you in union with God. God in union with you. How? He has put you in His Son. And in the new birth, He put
His Son in you. So that now, the life of God
is in you. That's called eternal life. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. What is this mystery? What is
this mystery? Soon Christ is coming again. And he's going to put all his
enemies under his feet. And he's going to raise the dead.
And this corruptible shall put on incorruption. And this mortal
shall put on immortality. And this natural body Gonna go
to the ground and rot. That's all right, that's all
right. I know morticians get all upset, you talk like that.
That's what they're gonna do, gonna go to the ground and rot. They
may put you enough fluid in you, you don't rot for a long time,
but you're gonna rot. You're gonna rot. That's the way it's
supposed to be. That's the way it's supposed to be. You bury
me somewhere out here on this property, and I'm still a pretty
good-sized fella, and I'll make a pile of dirt out y'all there.
Unless they put me in a steel coffin, something that'll keep
it from happening, give it just a few years and have it come
in whole, come fill the hole in, cause I'll just go back to
dirt. That's all, just dirt. This corruptible,
this mortal, this natural will be raised incorruptible. This man could be raised in immortality. A spiritual body. That's a mystery. That's a mystery. Lindsay, I
don't have a clue what I just said, do you? I don't have one
clue what I just said. I got absolutely no idea. I just
know it's so. I just know it's so. Our Lord
Jesus was raised from the dead physically, wasn't he? Was he
or wasn't he? Thomas put his head right there.
He stick it right there inside. He was raised from the dead in
a physical body. Is that right? And one day, he
walked through the door. I don't mean he opened the door
and walked through it. He walked through the door. There he was. That's
a physical, spiritual body. He sits on the throne today. In a physical body, God in my
flesh. In a spiritual body, in a spiritual
body. And we shall be raised in his
likeness when redemption's done and these bodies are called from
the grave. Amen.