In this book, the Spirit of God
declares that there are two great mysteries revealed in the gospel. Two great mysteries. Now, there are many, many mysteries
revealed in the gospel. But two, only two, are said to
be great mysteries. The first, of course, is the
mystery of the incarnation. Great is the mystery of godliness,
Paul tells us. God was manifest in the flesh. Great mystery. A mystery vital
to our salvation. A mystery revealed in the book
about which we could know nothing were it not revealed by God.
But still, in spite of all that is revealed, Even in the light
of all that is revealed, it remains a mystery no man can fathom and
no man can understand. No man certainly can explain. It's a mystery. Mystery. God
was manifest in the flesh. God lived in obedience in our
stead as our substitute in human flesh. God obeyed God in the
flesh for us. God, who cannot die, died for
us. God, the incomprehensible God,
sits upon the throne of glory in the humanity of Jesus Christ
our Lord. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In Ephesians chapter 5, the Apostle
Paul speaks considerably about the relationship of a husband
and a wife. And it tells us that for this
call shall a man leave his father and his mother and they too shall
be one flesh. And Paul says this is a great
mystery. But I'm not talking about men
and women. I'm not talking about the marriage of a man to a woman.
I'm not talking about a man merely leaving his parents for his wife
or a woman merely leaving her parents for her husband. When
I say they too shall be one flesh, the great mystery I'm talking
about is Christ and his church. Here again, a mystery about which
we could know nothing were it not revealed in the word of God.
A mystery the depths of which no human mind can fathom. A mystery no man can comprehend,
let alone explain. But like the mystery of the incarnation,
a mystery vital to our soul salvation. A mystery upon which we hang
our souls and our hopes for eternity. I'm one. with God my Savior in
Jesus Christ. One with Christ. Really and truly
one with Christ. Oh, what a wonder of divine revelation. This matchless mystery I have
no hope of explaining. I won't, however, to just talk
to you as plainly as I possibly can about that which the Word
of God clearly reveals concerning this wondrous mystery. If you're
taking notes, make this the title, Wondrous Mystery. Wondrous Mystery. All right, let's read John chapter
14, beginning at verse 1. Here our Lord Jesus declares
that this great mystery is the thing that God the Holy Spirit
reveals to us and in us, giving us the comfort and assurance
of grace and salvation in Christ. This mystery of our union with
Christ. That we are one with Christ and
Christ one with us. That we are in him and he's in
us. This is the assurance of our
everlasting salvation in Jesus Christ. John chapter 1. The Lord
begins by telling us repeatedly that he and the Father are one.
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself
that where I am there, you may be also. Verse four. And whether I go, you know, and
the way, you know, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither
thou goest. And how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. There's no way but me. I am the truth. There's no truth,
but me. I am the life. There's no life, but me. No man
cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Next time you want to blurt something
out, Put your hand over your mouth. I can almost picture Philip
right now saying, I wish I hadn't said that. Just got to say something. Jesus saith unto him, have I
been so long with you, yet hast thou not known me, Philip? Now
watch this. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. That's the only way you see God. That's the only way you see God.
You don't see spirit. You just imagine that. That's
just an illusion. That's just something religious
folks talk about who don't know God. You don't see spirit. God's
spirit. He that has seen me, the Savior
said, has seen the Father. You believe God, you believe
me. If you don't believe me, you don't believe God. You see
me, you see the father. If you don't see me, you don't
see the father. How sayest thou then show us
the father? Believest thou not that I am
in the father and the father in me? Well, how far are we to
carry that? Just carry it as far as your
puny little limited imagination will carry it. And you haven't
begun to commence to get started yet. I am in the Father and the Father
in me. Is there any sense in which that
is not true? Any time in which that is not
true? Any circumstance in which that
is not true? No. I am in the Father and the
Father is in me. Faith in God is faith in me,
the Savior says. Faith in me is faith in God. There's no other faith. I am the life. I thought God
is life. That's right. I am the life. The Father is in me and I'm in
the Father. You see me, you see the Father.
No, you don't. The words that I speak unto you
I speak not of myself, but of the Father that dwelleth in me.
Now, he's not saying the words that I speak aren't really mine.
That's not what he's saying at all. He's saying the words that
I speak are my Father's words, and my Father's words are my
words. But the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. These works that the Savior did,
The father did. The father did. Believe me that
I am in the father and the father in me. Or else believe me for
the very works sake. Verse 12. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall
he do also. And greater works than these
shall he do. Because I go to my father. Now
wait a minute. Greater works? The Lord Jesus
calls lame men to walk, and blind men to see, and deaf men to hear,
and dumb men to speak, and dead men to live. You going to do
something greater than that? We do indeed. We do indeed. By the preaching of the gospel,
God the Holy Spirit speaks his word and causes the folks who
are spiritually lame to run to God. Who are spiritually blind
to see the things of God. Who are spiritually deaf to hear
the word of God. who are spiritually dumb to call
God their father, who are spiritually dead to live. And it does so
all over the world throughout this gospel age. Greater works. Charismatics, Pentecostals, let
them have all their tomfoolery and all their nonsense. I don't
want any of it. It's all a fake charade. We do
these great works, preaching the gospel of God's grace. Read
on. Read on. Verse 13. And whatsoever
you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in
my name, I will do it. Whatsoever you shall ask in my
name, that will I do. Well, God gave us a blank check
and he said, fill in the amount and you can have whatever you
want. Only covetous, carnal, ungodly minds think like that. Was Job a believing man? Mark, he was emptied, bankrupt,
both in body and in finances. Utterly bankrupt. A perfect man
that feared God and eschewed evil. Did he pray? Yes, and he was still sore. Did
he pray? Yes, and he was still mocked.
Did he pray? Yes, and he still lost his family.
I was talking about writing out a, giving us a blank check, said
fill in the amount you can have, whatever you want to. Well, I
want to pray about this. That's what Balaam said. when
in you plainly the revelation of God. Well, what's this talking
about? Well, it's talking about seeking God's will, praying by
God's spirit, seeking that which our Lord taught us to seek, the
glory of God, the salvation of his elect, the forgiveness of
sins, seeking that which glorifies God in the saving of his people. Verse 15, if you love me, If
you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the father and
he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. How do you do that? If you love
me, keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he'll
give you another comforter. The spirit of truth will abide
with you forever. Is the Lord Jesus saying that
if you will do good, then I'll give you my spirit. If you will
obey the law, then I will pour out my spirit on you. If you
will do the best you can, then I'll give you another comforter.
No. How do you keep his commandments? Merle Hart, there's only one
way you keep his commandments. That's to believe his son. That's
it. That's it. Only the Son of God
kept the commandments perfectly and we kept them in Him and keep
them believing on Him. Verse 17, even the spirit of
truth whom the world cannot receive, cannot receive this spirit of
truth because it seeth Him not. Not seeth it, not seeth Him not.
Neither knoweth Him. But you know Him. You know Him. You know it, you know the spirit
of truth. He bears witness with your spirit. You know the spirit
of truth. He's the one who teaches you
to cry out of a father. You know him for he dwelleth in you. He dwelleth permanently abides
in you and shall be with you wherever you are, wherever you
go, whatever you do. Verse 18. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come to you. Now there,
he tells us something else. He's talking about the Spirit
of Truth. He's talking about God and the Holy Spirit. He's
been telling us, I and my Father are one. Now he tells us, I and
my Spirit are one. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these
three are one. He says the spirit of truth.
I'll pray the father. He'll send this comforter to
you He will dwell in you or he dwells in you and he will be
with you forever And then he says I'll not leave you comfortless. I'll come to you I'm talking
about myself. I'll come to you yet a little
while and the world seeth me no more But you see me because
I live You shall live also That is to say Bob as surely As I
live, you live. As surely as I live, you live. Because I live, as a result of
my life, you live. At that day, at that day, When
I come to you, when the spirit of God comes to you, when you're
when you're brought to life everlasting in the experience of it at that
day, when you're born again at that day, at that day, you shall
know. You shall know that I am in my
father and ye in me and I in you. At that day, at the day
when God, the Holy Spirit is given you, On the day he creates
faith in you, at the time he comes into you as the spirit
of life to abide in you forever and comfort you. At that day,
the son of God says, you shall know these three things. Three
great unions. You're going to know these three
things. You may not be able to express them in words and theological
terms. That's not meaningful. You may not be able to describe
the things that you're talking about in terms that suit other
people. That's not necessary. But know them you will. At that
day, you will know that I am in my Father. All who are taught
of God, the Holy Spirit, understand by divine revelation that there
is this union between man, Christ Jesus, and God, the Father. A union between our humanity
in the Son of God and God the infinite. You shall know that
I am in my Father. People sometimes talk such foolishness. Do you believe that Jesus is
God? Do you believe that Jesus is
God? Do you believe that a man is God? Why? Nobody believes that except folks
who believe God. That's all. That's all. You mean
He really was God? No, I mean He really is God.
He really is. And you shall be convinced that
you are in me. You are in me. Every sinner taught
of God, all who are given life and faith in Christ are made
to understand that Christ is their representative, their substitute,
their surety, and their head. We rejoice to know by divine
illumination that God the Son is one in whom we live. in whom we live and move and
have our being. He stood in our room and in our
place from old eternity and we were in him, in him. You shall know that you're in
me. I'm in Christ. I'm in Christ. When I was a 17 or 18 years old
and I'd read a few theology books and I knew everything there was
to know, I thought I understood that. I'm just beginning now to get
some grasp of the reality of it. And I'm finding out this
is indescribably beyond the reach of my brain. but not beyond the
reach of my experience and my certainty. I am in Christ. I'm in Christ. He's in God. I'm in him. And third, in that
day, in that day, when God, the Holy Spirit comes, you shall
know in that very day that I give my spirit to you, that I'm in In you. In you. Living in you. Walking in you. Working in you. Breathing in
you. Moving you. Inspiring you. Governing
you. I'm in you. I know he lives because
he lives in me. I'm in you. I'm in you. Thomas
Goodwin, who probably in my opinion was the master of the Puritans,
made this observation. This union of Jesus Christ and
his saints is a great and imminent mystery of the gospel and the
greatest hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you. When Christ moves
in, you have hope. Until Christ moves in, you have
none. When Christ is in you, you have hope. Until Christ is
in you, you have no hope. The basis of our hope is what
Christ did for us outside of ourselves. But the hope is Christ
in you. That's what the book says, Colossians
127. As God is in Christ and Christ
is in him, so we who are born of God are in Christ and Christ
is in us. That's the one thing I want to
communicate in this message If you trust the lord jesus If you're
born of god You and christ are one Imagine that imagine that You're
one with christ and christ is one with you I'm one with Christ
and Christ is one with me. I'm in him and he's in me. By
God's sovereign grace united to his son eternally. I can never be divided from my
covenant surety. God's free love from everlasting
made me one with his dear son. Blessed union, strong, unchanging. and with my savior one. Once
in Christ, in Christ forever, thus his promise ever stands.
Life and death and hell together cannot tear me from his hands.
Oft I fall, but God unchanging, faithful to his covenant stands.
He will never charge with sinning those for whom his son was slain. One with Jesus, one with Jesus,
by eternal union one, one with Jesus, one with Jesus. Oh, what
wonders grace has done. One with Christ from everlasting,
one with him upon the tree, one with him on high ascending, one
with him eternally, one with Christ. What is this union? Understand first that it is an
eternal union, an eternal union. From eternity, the Lord Jesus
stood forth as our covenant surety and was accepted of God. Now, again, we're not capable of grasping
these things. not capable of understanding
these things, not capable of explaining them. They're just
stated as facts of divine revelation to rejoice our souls. The pastor,
when God first saved me, he was talking about these mysteries
and he said, somebody said to him, said, I won't believe anything
I can't understand. At least you don't understand
how a brown cow can eat green grass and give white milk and
yellow butter, but you drink the milk and eat the butter.
There's a lot of things I don't understand that I enjoy greatly. I don't understand anything about
eternity. I'm a creature of time. I wasn't
there. Well, I was. But I personally
had not experienced what went on in eternity until Christ comes
to me in time. But when Christ stood forth as
my surety and was accepted of God as my surety, accepted as
our mediator, we were accepted in the beloved. You remember
how the Savior prayed in John 17? We'll be looking at it in
a few weeks, Lord willing. The hour has come. Restore unto
me, that is, give me the glory which I had with you before the
world was. Now give manifestly that glory
that you gave me when I stood forth as my people's surety in
eternity, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And the father manifestly put all things in his hands, but
it was done with him before the world was. Now, God Almighty
put all blessedness all grace, all mercy, all goodness, all
favor, all benefit, all righteousness, all holiness, all acceptance
in his son. And he gave it all to me before
the world began and accepted me in him. This union then is
an eternal union. Was Christ accepted of God as
the Lamb's slave from the foundation of the world? Indeed he was. Will there ever be a time when
he's unaccepted? Never. Were we accepted of God
in Christ the Lamb's slave from the foundation of the world from
eternity? The book says we were. Read it
for yourself in Ephesians chapter 1. Will God change his mind? Is it possible for those who
were accepted in eternity not to be accepted at any other time? Of course not. Eternity is eternity. Time doesn't change it. You mean
even when we were fallen and our father Adam, we were accepted?
Of course. Otherwise, we would have perished
like that. God said, in the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. Is that what he said? But Adam
didn't die. Adam didn't die. Oh yeah, but
he died spiritually. Yeah, but he's still walking
around. He didn't die. He didn't die. Why? Because there
was in Adam's loins a seed chosen of God called the seed of Christ
who must be brought to life. They were accepted from eternity.
We come forth from our mother's womb speaking lies. You mean
we were accepted then? We were accepted in eternity.
And Bobby, time doesn't change eternity. What we do in time
doesn't change what God did in eternity. Accepted from everlasting. This union is not only an eternal
union, it's what the old writers used to call a vital union. A
vital union. Vital. Now, just in case you
don't know what that means, that means it's got to be. It's a
vital union, an absolutely necessary union, vital both for Christ
and for us. Vital for him as our surety,
vital for him as our mediator, vital for him as our covenant
head so that we are the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
And he cannot be complete without us and vital for us. Because we're members of the
head. We're members of his body. Severed from him, we have no
life. Our Lord takes this up in John
chapter 17. He says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. Cut
the branches off the vine, and the branches wither and die.
They're useless. We're vitally joined to Christ. So that the Lord Jesus must have
us and we must have him. Oh, what condescending grace.
John Calvin, commenting on Ephesians 1, 22 and 23, says this is the
highest honor of Christ Church, that until he is united to us,
the son of God reckons himself in some measure imperfect. What consolation it is for us
to learn that not until we are with him does he possess all
his parts. I wish to be regarded as complete.
John Trapp expressed it this way. Christ, who having voluntarily
subjected himself to be our head, accounts not himself complete
without his members. In which respect, we have the
honor of making Christ perfect as the members of his body. We have the honor of making him
complete who is our completion. Him complete who filleth all
in all. So that Christ as the mediator,
if he loses one member, Just one little, insignificant, worthless
mip. There I am. If he loses me, he's maimed forever. And that shall not be. It's a
vital union. This union that we enjoy with
Christ, this vital union, is such a union that Adam said to
his wife Eve, For this call shall a man leave his father and his
mother and they too shall be one flesh. So this eternal vital
union is a union of life. In Genesis chapter 2, turn back
there for a minute. Genesis chapter 2. Verse 18. This union of life with Christ
and by Christ is by the mysterious, wondrous extraction of life from
Christ, just as it was with Adam and Eve in the garden. Genesis
2 18. The Lord God said it is not good
that man should be alone. I will make and help meet for
him. I'll make him the kind of help
he needs. I'll make him and help worthy
of him. I'll make him and help suitable
to him. I'll make him and help fit for
him. I'll make him and help such as is needful for him. so that man is not complete without
woman. No woman complete without man. I'll make him and help meet for
him. Verse 21, how's he going to do it? And the Lord God calls
the deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and it took one
of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. The rib
which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and
brought her unto the man Can't you imagine? Adam took one look
at that gal. He's a wow Wow This is what I
need This is what this is exactly what I need This now is my completion
Brought it to the man and Adam said this is is now bone of my
bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall
be one flesh. Rex, why do you reckon God created
Eve that way? Actually, he didn't create Eve
that way. Eve was created in Adam. He made
Eve that way. There's a difference. There's
a difference. When God created that one man,
Adam, he created all men coming from Adam in that one man, Adam,
so that all the descendants of Adam were created in him at one
time. And now they come forth from
Adam, generation after generation. Why did God do this this way?
He could just as well have created Eve like he did Adam. He could
just as well have created you like he did Adam. But why did
he do it this way? His intent is to give us a picture
of another Adam and another woman. His intent is to give us a picture
of Christ, the last Adam, in whose image Adam was made and
the Lord God. calls the deep sleep to come
upon the Lord Jesus, put him to death. And out of his side
comes forth a living creature, his church. Born of his side,
taken from his side, living now by him. And the Lord God brings
us to his side. And he says, wow. Would you look at that? That's
exactly what it said, Lindsay. Thou hast, with one of thine
eyes, thou hast ravished me. God so sees us. The Lord Jesus
so sees us. One with Him. One with Him in
life. So that His life is our life. Our life completely tied up in
His life. We belong to him. He bought us,
but more we come from him. He lived for us, but more we
come from him. He came here to save us, but
more he made us one with him from everlasting. And where he
is, lock, stock, and barrel. Sometimes I, uh, run across people. I've only had it happen to me
once, maybe twice. Somebody asked me to marry them, and a woman
doesn't want to take the kind of vows that I insist. And I
said, well, go somewhere else. I didn't come asking you to let
me marry you. Just go somewhere else. I'm not going to tell any
man I'll be obedient to him. Well, you will if you're God's
child. It's that simple. It's that simple. You see, a
woman finds Everything needed for her life in that man, God
gives her to be her head. And you know what? That lady
right there, that one right there. Now, if she objects, she can
shoot me when I get home, but she won't object. She belongs
to me. Lock, stock and barrel. She belongs to me. She gave herself
to me and she belongs to me. That means she has no right to and really
no desire to think of herself apart from me. Is that pretty
accurate? That's the way it is between
Christ and my soul. I belong to him. long stock and
barrel. I have no desire to have a thought
apart from him, let alone an hour. I have no desire to be
identified in any way apart from him. Don't give me the, she finds
her identification in me. Her name now is Mrs. Fortner. Mrs. Fortner. I told my daughter
long time before she got to dating age, I said, listen, honey, if
you're not, if you're influenced by this society and you're not
willing to take a man's name, don't you marry him? And I won't
marry you to him. It won't happen. Or you surely
would. No, I wouldn't. No, I wouldn't.
Not a chance on his world. A woman finds her identity in
a man, even as we find our identity in Christ. He is our life, Bob. Our life. Not the most important
part of our lives, our life. Not the most significant thing
in our lives, our life. Fourth, this vital union, this
union of life, this eternal union was secret. Secret until God
makes it a manifest union. Turn to 2 Timothy. Chapter one, a manifest union. Contrary to political foolishness,
and it's just political foolishness, it's not science. Contrary to
the political foolishness of our age, the life of a child
does not begin at birth. Some of you may remember when
Audra Grace was in her mother's womb, our granddaughter. She
had a large volume of fluid on her chest cavity and wouldn't
let her heart and lungs develop properly. Just a few months earlier,
she probably would not have been born and if born, born with severe
deformities. But the doctors went in, took
a long needle, went through face womb and went into her chest
and drew off fluids. Do you know what Doug told me
when he saw that? He said, when that needle hit
her chest, she just squished up. Because the life is already
there. The life is already there. The
life doesn't begin at birth. The life begins at conception.
It's made manifest. When that doctor pulls that baby
out, slaps it on the bottom, and it cries, now life is made
manifest. Is that right, doctor? The life
is made manifest. So it is with God's children.
Our life is one with Christ. When God made Adam, he made all
the sons of Adam in Adam. And when God made Christ our
covenant heir, he made all his sons in Christ one with him,
eternally one with him. but it is made manifest in the
new birth. Look here, 2 Timothy 1 verse
9. God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
but is now made manifest. now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought
life and immortality to light through the gospel. So that the
time comes when God the Holy Spirit comes in saving power
and makes you partakers of the divine nature, making you new
creatures in Jesus Christ, not reformed creatures, but regenerate
creatures. He doesn't come and change the
old man. He comes and puts in a new man,
makes you new creatures in Christ, new creatures that just naturally
call God Father. We see the spirit of adoption
crying, Abba, father, and that which causes us to look upon
God as our father. Trusting him is the manifestation
of life. People say to me, well, got to
be careful here. That's hardshell doctrine. I
don't care if it's Buddhist doctrine. It's true. It's just true. Is
that what the book says there? Is that what it says there? He
made it manifest by the gospel. Brought life and immortality
to light by the gospel. And this union, this marvelous
union, is ours from eternity. This vital union of life, this
union that's made manifest in time, is a mystical union. Mystical union. We're one with Christ, really one. Was he circumcised? The book
says we were circumcised in him. Was he obedient? The book says
we obeyed in him. Did he suffer? The book says
we suffered in him. Did he die? We died in him. Was he buried? We were buried
in him. Did he arise from the dead? We
arose in him. Did he ascend on high and sat
down on the throne of God? We sat down with him in the heavens.
That's what the book says. We're one with him. It's a mystical
union. A union no tongue can describe. No mortal can understand. A mystical union. A union that
defies explanation. But real? Real? Look here. Look here. All of
y'all look right at this pretty face. Look here. Look here. Do
you see Don Fortner? No. All you see is this body
of flesh. This tent in which I dwell. As
a matter of fact, if you would like to see some pictures, I
promise you that the Picture of the fellow she married 42
years ago almost and the picture this fella You would never dream. They were the same you had never
dreamed. They were the same There's been
changes radical changes what you're looking at is just a wearing
out house That's all But in here is Don Fortner No, that's not
so. In here is Jesus Christ, who is Don Fortner. Don Fortner,
who is Jesus Christ. So really and truly one, that
the two cannot be divided. Made partakers of the divine
nature. I'm in my Father. What does that
mean? You can't divide them. See me,
you see the Father. Hear me, you hear the Father.
Touch me, you touch the Father. I and my Father are one. I'm in you. You're in me. Does that mean
we become gods? Of course not. Does that mean
we're partakers? of the nature of that man who
is God and one with Him, of course it does. As really one with Him,
as with our father Adam. This mystical union is real. And one more thing. This union is forever. It's forever. Once in Christ, in Christ forever. One with Him, really and truly
one with Him. Oh, may God now join you to His
Son by the sweet union of the gift of faith in His Son. Amen.