boldness in the mystery of the
gospel. Now, if there is not mystery
in our preaching, if there is not mystery in what
we believe, we do not believe the gospel. Now, listen to Paul's
words. He says, praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there
and do with all perseverance and supplication for all saints
and for me, this is what I'm asking you to pray for me, that
utterance, that's words, words, may be given unto me that I may
open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery, the mystery
of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein
I may speak boldly without ambiguity, without figures of speech, but
plainly and clearly the mystery of the gospel as I ought to speak. He says, praying always. You know, this is a mystery. Praying always. Men ought always
to pray and not to faint. It's a mystery how God hears
us in the first place. It is a mystery that God uses
prayer and that everything you have, you're going to ask him
for. I will yet be inquired of for
the house of Israel to do it for them. Now he's gonna lead
you to ask for that which he's gonna give you. He's going to
give you through prayer, through you asking for it. So men ought
always to pray. and not to faint, not to lose
heart. Now, mystery. That's a mystery. It's mysterious how God uses
prayer, isn't it? Praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the spirit, watching there and do with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints. Now, when the
scripture speaks of mystery and everything really in the Bible
is mystery, There are some things that are named directly mystery,
but a mystery is that which we would not have known had not
the scripture made it known. It's not truth concealed. It's
truth revealed. And everything in the Bible is
mysterious. It's a mystery. It's not something
we can so much grasp. It's something we believe. I
think the most obvious example of that is God being one God
in three distinct persons. Now if someone said, I'm gonna
start studying and trying to find out who God is, and they
gave all their effort to try to come up with what God's really
like, do you think they'd ever come up with the fact that he's
one God in three distinct persons? You couldn't possibly come up
with that. It's only known by revelation. It's the mystery
of the gospel. Now he says, praying with all
prayer and supplications in the spirit. Now here's a mystery.
Praying in the spirit. The only way you or I can pray
is if we pray in the spirit. enabled supernaturally by God
the Holy Spirit to pray, enabled by Him to do this. Did you know
that there is no prayer at all apart from the Spirit of God?
Just like there's no worship without the Spirit of God. I
love that passage of scripture in Philippians chapter three,
where Paul said, we are the circumcision which worship God in The Spirit. There is no worship of God apart
from the Holy Spirit. Just this afternoon, I put in
a song. I like it. I never really paid
any attention to it much before. It was John Denver's Rocky Mountain
High. I don't know why I've always
liked that song. But at one point, he said, talk to God and listen
to His casual reply. And I just, what? Do you really believe that? You
can talk to God and listen to His casual reply? Where's the
Holy Spirit in that? Where's the supernatural in that?
That's just, I'm going to talk to God and listen to His casual
reply. There isn't anything casual about this. That's one of the
reasons I hate what they call casual worship. There's nothing casual
about the worship of God. And we can only pray in the Spirit
like we can only worship in the Spirit. God is Spirit. He's not
confined to Time or space, the way you and I are, he's spirit. And they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit
enable us to pray. May he enable us to worship him
in spirit and in truth. And notice he says in verse 18,
praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit.
Now, prayers, requests, supplications, needs. And when I pray, I'm asking for
things. I love to read Psalm 103, because
in that Psalm, David didn't ask the Lord for a thing. And I've
tried to pray that way, and it's impossible for me. It's just
impossible. I have requests that I'm asking
the Lord to do for me, and I know something about great needs. David, the man after God's own
heart on 10 different occasions, a man who's very wealthy. He
said, I'm poor and I'm needy. I have nothing. I'm poor and
I have great needs. And that's the way we come into
his presence in prayer. If I'm in the spirit, praying
in the spirit, I have requests, have mercy on me. Save me, I
have great needs. He says, with all prayer and
supplication in the spirit and watching there and do with all
perseverance, looking for the Lord to answer your prayer and
never give up. You do it with all importunance,
with all perseverance, don't give up. Lord said, men ought
always to pray and not to faint. And remember how I gave the example
of that widow, the importunate widow, who just kept asking,
kept asking, kept asking, asking. And the king finally said, I
can't stand it anymore. I'm gonna give her what she needs.
Now don't think of the Lord as being that way. He's not saying
I can't stand it anymore. I'm gonna go ahead and answer
the prayer, but he's encouraging us to be importunate, to always
be seeking his face. Supplication for all saints.
Now, with regard to prayer, pray for one another, pray for me.
And that's what Paul is asking him to do in the next verse,
what he's asking them to pray for, but pray for one another,
pray for each other's needs, physical needs, spiritual needs.
We look at what the clerks are going through right now and we
pray for the Lord's grace upon them and that he would be pleased
to heal her according to his will, pray for one another. Men
ought always to pray. I'm so thankful he said that.
And I like the way he said men ought always to pray. He didn't
say believers ought always to pray. He said men ought always
to pray and not to faint. I like the way he said that.
Somebody says, well, is that, just forget it, take it as it
says. Men ought always to pray and not to faint, not to lose
heart. And here's what he asked them
specifically to pray for him about in verse 19. Pray for me
that utterance may be given to me. Now that word utterance is
the same word that's usually translated words. It's the Greek
word logos, same thing. Pray for me that words 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 bond
that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Now pray
that the Lord, here's what Paul is saying to them, and this is
what I'm saying to you just as well, pray that the Lord would
give me his word to preach. Now, I am as vain as the next
guy. And I want people to hear me.
Vanity. I want people to hear me. I want
you all to hear me preach. I want the Lord to bless what
I'm preaching. I want you to hear. I want you to be blessed.
And there's so much vanity in that. Me, me. That being said, I'm aware of
me. Can't wait to get rid of me.
He's always there. He'll be there till I die. I'm
aware of me. But I have no desire for men
to hear my words. I really don't. I have no desire
for men to hear my voice. I don't want to bring people
around to my point of view. I don't want to get you to believe
the way I do and give agreement with my doctrine I want the Lord
to give me his word for me and for you. I want to hear, I want
to believe, and I want to preach his word. And that's what Paul
is asking them to pray for him about. Pray that utterance, words
might be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly as I ought
to speak, that ye may also know my affairs. Well, I'm stopping
at verse 20, I'm sorry. That I may speak boldly as I
ought to speak. Now, we're going to consider
this thing of the mystery of the gospel in detail in just
a few moments, but there are Three words that I find striking in Paul's requests
for them to pray that he might be given words and that he might
speak with boldness. The first word is ambassador.
He says in verse 20, for which I am an ambassador in bonds. Now, if I am preaching, The truth. And if God has sent me to preach,
he sent me as his ambassador. What's that mean? Well, Paul
said, we then as ambassadors of Christ. And every believer
is an ambassador of Christ. But he's speaking of his preaching.
He said, I'm to preach as an ambassador of Christ. Now, what
is an ambassador? Well, an ambassador of our country
represents not his own opinions or his own views. He represents
the dogma of the United States of America. He doesn't come in
his own name. He comes in the name of the President
of the United States and the people of the United States.
He didn't come in his own name, but the name of his country.
And he speaks in the terms of our country. He doesn't try and
adapt his language or soften his language or make his language
to be easier to be received by the people he sent to. He didn't
try to do that at all. He states the terms of the country.
This is it. That's the only way he comes. Not here's what I think, but
here's what my country says. Here's what my country stands
for. And he doesn't, he's not vague. He doesn't back away. He doesn't try to keep from offending
people. He states the terms of the country. Now, if I'm a preacher
sent by God, I come as his ambassador with his message. stating it
as it is in his word. I love one of Scott Richardson's
definitions of preaching. He says, true preaching is saying
back what God has already said. That's it, an ambassador. And then notice in verses 19
and 20, 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. Now, the word boldly means with
unreservedness, to speak without ambiguity, to speak clearly. Now, here's my favorite example
of bold preaching. Turn to Acts chapter four. Acts chapter four. Beginning in verse seven, Peter
has been arrested. Acts chapter four, verse seven.
And when they had set them in the midst, Peter and John, they
asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? This
was speaking of that lame man who had been healed. By what
power or by what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled
with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, you rulers of the people
and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed
done to this impotent man, by what means he is made whole,
be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel, but by
the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, the creator, He's
the one who made this man whole. Now, would he have been telling
the truth if he said that? Well, what he said would have
been true, but he would be lying, compromising the gospel and not
saying the truth. Is that so? He could have said
the God of glory, Jehovah, God is the one who made this man
whole, but that's not what he said. And if he would have said
that, although it was true, it would be compromising the gospel. You see, everything you can say
can be true and it still could be compromising the gospel. That's a very important point.
And let's see what he did say. Be it known unto you all and
to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, the one you crucified, the one God raised from the dead,
even by him, that this man stand here before you whole. This is
the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other. For there's none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now, when they
saw the what? The boldness of Peter and John, and they perceived
that they were unlearned and ignorant men, these men hadn't
been to seminary, where's their authority? They took knowledge
of them, that they had been with Jesus. Now that's boldness. He didn't say what was true. He proclaimed the truth. The scripture that comes to my
mind is the law was given by Moses. Well, is there anything
in the law that's not true? The law of God, totally inspired. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now to speak with boldness is
to speak with bluntness, plainness, to speak without concealment,
to speak with confidence and courage. I want to preach boldly. You want to witness the gospel
boldly, don't you? I don't wanna back up and say
things that are true, but try to save myself. I want to preach
the gospel in boldness. And Paul's asking, pray for me
that I do that because he knows he won't do it unless God enables
him. He'll back up, he'll take this off, he'll hinder this,
he'll soften this, if God doesn't cause him to preach with boldness. And the only kind of true preaching
there is, is bold preaching. And I'm not talking about brash
preaching. I can't stand to hear a brash preacher who thinks he's
bold. That's not boldness, because it doesn't come from the Lord.
That's just brashness. That's just somebody trying to
promote himself. I'm not interested in that. But I wanna hear bold
preaching, don't you? And here's the content of bold
preaching. He says in, back in Acts chapter
six, and for me that utterance may
be given me, verse 19, that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel. Now here's what I want to do.
I wanna make known the mystery of the gospel. That's the purpose
of the preacher, to make known, to declare the mystery of the
gospel. Now, do I want people to be saved? Of course I do. I want everybody
in this room to be saved. I want everybody in this town
to be saved if the Lord saves them. I want men to be saved. But is that my agenda, to see
men saved? We're trying to bring people
to a knowledge of the gospel. If that is my agenda, if my purpose
is try to, quote, see men saved, if that's my purpose, what I'll
do is I'll water down the message in order to get that end. Paul
said, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach thee. My only purpose
is to make known what God has revealed in his word, because
I know I can't save anybody. I can't do anything in anybody's
salvation. That's the Lord's work. My purpose,
and this is what Paul's asking them to do for him, pray for
me that I might make known the mystery of the gospel. Now, the gospel is a mystery. The subject matter of our preaching
is mysterious. And I'm so fine with it being
that way. I remember one time somebody
said this to me of a certain preacher that they couldn't hear
and they made this statement with regard to his preaching.
He said, there's no mystery in his preaching. Everything's cut
and dry. There's no mystery in his preaching. Now, the gospel is a mystery
that we would never have known had not God made it known in
his word. And that's the ways to be preached.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter two, verse seven, we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery. That's our preaching. And you
know, I've got to say this, this is not, well, here's the preacher
and here's the, no. Every believer is right here.
You're with me in this just as much as me preaching. You're
testifying the same thing by wanting to hear this message
and standing for this message. It's the same thing. We preach
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. Now, like I've
already said, a mystery is not understood, it's believed. Who understands the mystery of
the Trinity? If you could understand it, you'd
be God. God understands it, but me and you don't. We believe
the mystery of the Trinity though, don't we? We can't explain it,
but we can declare it. God is one God. Hear, O Israel,
the Lord thy God is one God, and he's one God revealed in
three distinct persons. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, a distinct person, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. Now, all we can do with that
is believe. Not explain it, not explain it away, but believe. Turn with me to Romans chapter
16 for a moment. I'd like you to see this scripture.
Romans chapter 16. Verse 25, Paul says, 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 the faith. Now here we have
the scripture as the source of this mystery. Everything we believe
comes from the scripture, the word of God. And some of these things are
actually called mysteries. Let me give you a few of them. We read in Romans 11, of the
mystery of the blindness of the Jews until the fullness of the
Gentiles. Now somebody says, tell me what
all that means. I can't. I've thought I've known before.
And sometimes I think I do. And sometimes I think I don't.
I know all Israel shall be saved, I know that. I know you can't
look at it like, I know a lot of people think, well, there's
gonna be this great revival in the end times where the Lord's
gonna call all the Jews. Well, he may call a bunch of
Jews at the end times, but the point behind all Israel will
be saved is all the elect will be saved. All Christ died for
will be saved. All God the Holy Spirit gives
life to will be saved. But there is something to the,
the Jews being in some kind of darkness in part until the fullness
of the Gentiles come, which may be now, and so all Israel should
be saved. And then we have in 1 Corinthians
15, the mystery of the resurrection. Now what a mystery this is. Paul
put it this way, behold, I show you a mystery. 1 Corinthians
15, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ
shall be raised incorruptible. I'm gonna be raised up with a
glorified body, incorruptible without sin. I love that song,
waiting for my body that will never sin. I'm waiting for my
body that will never sin. And what a mystery that is, that
I'm gonna be in the dirt, dust, and all of a sudden I'm gonna
be raised up in a glorified body. Oh, what a thing to, well, how
mysterious. How mysterious is that? And what
about this? Ephesians 1.9 says, having made
known unto us the mystery of his will. Now, people spend their
time trying to figure out God's plan for their life. Oh, I'm
afraid I'm gonna miss out on it. And they've heard things
like God's got a wonderful plan for your life. And the word plan's
not in the Bible. God purposes, but as far as having
a plan that he wants for you and you're trying to find out
his will for your marriage and your job and all that, that's
an exercise in futility. Now, you ask the Lord to direct
you, You know, I told somebody just this week, I've never known
something was his will until after the fact. Once I did it,
I knew it was his will. But beforehand, oh, you struggle. You ask the Lord to give you
direction. But somebody says, well, I know this is God's will
for me. No, you don't. You just don't. And somebody
says, well, are you advocating unbelief? No, I'm not advocating
unbelief. But you just don't. I don't know why, this wasn't
in my notes. I don't know why I'm saying it. But I do know his will. Having made
known the mystery of his will. The Lord said, I came down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the will of him that
sent me. I know God's will. This is the
will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. That's God's will. That's his
will of redemption. That's his will of purpose. I
know it's God's will for Christ to get all the glory. I know
it's God's will for everybody that Christ died for to be saved,
be justified, their sins blotted out. I know the mystery of His
will. Every believer knows that. What about 1 Timothy 3.16? Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. The eternal God. The infinite
God that can't be bound by space or time was manifest in the flesh. Flesh like me and you. Same limitations. Sin accepted. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Colossians 2.9 says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead
bodily. What? Mystery. Ephesians 5, 31 and 32 says the
two shall be one flesh. Talking about Adam and Eve. The
two shall be one flesh. Now I speak of great mystery,
he says, but I speak, I'm not talking about Adam and Eve and
them getting together. I'm talking about Christ and
the church being one. You wanna talk about mysterious?
I've always been in Christ. I've always been one with Christ.
There's never a time in eternity when I was not one with Christ. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, united eternally to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's mysterious. No beginning with me. I've always
had personality. to God. I've always been a person
to Him. I was born September 9th, 1959. That's when I came
into this existence. But I've always been in Christ.
There's never been a time when I was not in Christ. One with
Him. Eternally united to Him. Now that's mysterious, isn't
it? Can you possibly grasp that? But do you believe it? Yes, actually,
that's my only hope. With regard to this thing of
eternal union, I love what, and I've quoted this before, but
what that lady said to Charles Spurgeon, she said, I know God
had to have loved me before I was born, because if he would have
waited till after I was born, he couldn't have done it. And
everybody here knows what that means. The eternal union of the
elect with the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Colossians 1.27 speaks
of the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ
in you. The hope of glory. If you're
a believer, if I'm a believer, Jesus Christ the Lord dwells
in us. Explain that. I couldn't possibly
do it, but I know it's so. Paul put it this way. I live,
I do live, it's me, it's Paul. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Now somebody
had to believe God perfectly. You know who did? Jesus Christ. When he was on the cross, he
was completely separated from his father. He felt no favor
from his father, nothing but his awful frown, nothing but
his awful wrath. He was cut off completely and
felt nothing but Separation. So much so that he said with
regard to himself, I'm a worm. Psalm 22, six. This is the Lord
speaking. He said, I'm a worm, not even
fit to be a man. Oh, how he was cut off. He felt
no love from his father. He felt not his father's presence.
He never quit believing God. He never quit trusting. He said,
though he slay me, yet will I trust Him. Now that's the faith I'm
justified by. That's the faith I'm relying
on. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave
Himself for me. Do I understand that? Of course
not. But I know this, if I believe, it's Him in me. If I love, it's
Him in me. 1 Timothy 3, 9, holding the mystery
of the faith. Everything we believe is mystery. And we hold to it. We read in
2 Thessalonians 2 of the mystery of iniquity, and in Revelation
17, verse 5 of the mystery of the great harlot. You know, we
understand that religion is nothing more than a harlot. We understand
that. How do you know that? He's made
it known in his word. And you have the mystery. Now, the mystery of God, you
can't see him. You never heard his voice audibly. And yet you know he is spirit.
God is spirit. He's eternal. He never had a
point when he began to be. He's always been. He's sovereign. His will is always
done. And everything that happens.
He's the first cause of. And he's in control of. You know the reason you're wearing
those silly masks? It's his will. It's his purpose. He's in control of all things. He's all powerful. Anything that
he wills, he has the power to cause to come to pass. He's omnipresent. This is mysterious, isn't it?
He's not bound by space. The universe is in the palm of
his hand. There's no yesterday, Today or
tomorrow with him, he's not bound by time. He's all knowing and
all wise. He's absolutely just, absolutely
just, absolutely gracious, immutable, invisible, independent. He has no needs. That's mysterious. We believe. We believe what He's
revealed concerning Himself in His Word. We believe most especially
what is revealed concerning Himself in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ where He's made Himself known. We believe. Do we understand
His attributes? No, but we love Him. His most
excellent, glorious attributes. We wouldn't change Him if it
were in our power. What about the mystery of the
Son of God? How He The infinite God. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and He's meek and lowly in heart. How
mysterious. The Holy Spirit, all we experience
of God is through Him. We think of the mystery of the
decrees of God. Everything that happens is according
to His decree. It's described in Revelation
chapter five on that book sealed with seven seals written inside
and outside, there wasn't a room to put another word because it's
all in his decree. The mystery of the surety ship
of Christ. To think before time began, he
took full responsibility for my salvation. And everything
God requires of me, he looks to Jesus Christ for because Jesus
Christ is surety of the everlasting covenant. You think of the mystery
of creation, God creating the universe from nothing. The mystery
of the incarnation and the virgin birth, God became flesh and he
did so through a virgin. Begotten by the Holy Spirit,
that holy thing in thee shall be called the Son of God. The mystery of his life without
sin, Isn't that mysterious? You can't even imagine a life
without sin. He never sinned. He kept God's law perfectly.
The mystery of his death, to think that he who is life could
die in the first place, that's mysterious. I love the way the
songwriter put it, "'Tis mystery all, the immortal dies, who can
explore the strange design In vain the firstborn seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine. Tis mercy all, let earth adore,
let angel minds inquire no more. How come hymns aren't much written
like that in our day? The mystery of him being made
sin. Talking about mysterious. He
was actually made sin. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I wouldn't dare. I'd be getting
into something I don't know anything about. I just believe it. He
was made sin. God took my sin and made it his. And what about the mystery of
me being made, every believer being made the righteousness
of God? Now that's mysterious. For he
hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. What about the mystery of his
resurrection when he was raised from the dead? Every believer
was raised in him and justified before God. The mystery of our
regeneration when he birthed us by the Spirit. walking around
with two natures. That's mysterious. I've got a
holy nature that does not sin. And I've got an evil nature that
does nothing but sin. Somebody says, can you explain
that? No. Do you believe it? Yes. He that's
born of God doth not sin. He cannot sin for his seed, the
seed of God remains in him. An old wretched man that I am
who should deliver me from the body of this death. These two
men walking around in the same man. That's a mystery, isn't
it? I'm a mystery to myself. But
I know this is the work of God. What about the mystery of being
preserved? The fact that you haven't fallen
away and you've continued up to this point. Isn't that mysterious? The grace of God. The mystery
of faith. Look into what somebody else
has done. The Lord Jesus Christ instead
of what you've done. And that's the only way you can
be saved and accepted. Not by works. Faith in Christ. The mystery of repentance. Change
in your mind regarding everything you ever believed. The mystery of judgment day when
there are books and there's the book. The wicked will be judged
out of the books according to their works. The righteous according
to the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The mystery of eternal conformity
to his image. Don't you stand in awe of the
mystery of the gospel. Now, the only way to make known
this mystery is with boldness. Not trying to back off and explain
it away, Not so much trying to explain it as proclaim it. God the Holy Spirit will apply
it. I can't apply it to anybody. God the Holy Spirit can though.
He takes the mystery of scripture, the mystery of the gospel, the
preacher's just to make it known, to preach it, and God the Holy
Spirit applies it to the hearts of his people. May the Lord enable
us to have boldness in proclaiming the mystery of the word, the
gospel. Let's pray.