Paul asked the church at Colossa
to pray for him that God would open the door of utterance to
preach the mystery of Christ. That's what I've entitled this
message, the mystery of Christ. And he said, in preaching that
mystery, I'm in prison right now. I'm in bonds. Webster's
definition of mystery is something secret. obscure or unexplained,
that which is beyond human comprehension. Now that's not really what the
Bible means by the word. While it's true that the mysteries
of Scripture are beyond human comprehension, that's very true,
I think of the Trinity. One God in three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Who could possibly come up with
that unless God was pleased to reveal it? Who can understand
it? Who can grasp it? I can't grasp that, I just believe
it. the eternal union of Christ with His elect, how God's elect
have always been in Him, united to Him. Always. There's never a time when they
weren't. Can you understand that? I certainly can't. I love it. I believe it, but comprehend
it? No. No. There, let me say this, while
it's true that the mysteries of Scripture are beyond human
comprehension, they are not secret, obscure, and unexplained. You see, we have this book called
the Bible that reveals these mysteries to us, and we would
know anything unless we have this written revelation of God,
the Bible that reveals these mysteries. I'm so thankful for
the scriptures where these mysteries are written down for us to see.
Turn for a moment to Romans chapter 16 verse 25, last chapter of
Romans. Now to him that is of power,
Romans 16, 25. Now to him that is of power to
establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus
Christ according to the revelation, the uncovering of the mystery. which was kept secret since the
world began, but now is made manifest and by the scriptures
of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting
God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith."
You see, we have these mysteries revealed in the scriptures. I'm
so thankful for the written word of God. If we don't have a divine
revelation where God speaks, what do we have? We have my opinion,
we have your opinion, which is worthless. We have man's thoughts,
which is worthless. We have no meaning to life. We
have no right, no wrong. We have nothing if we do not
have the Bible. I'm so thankful that all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. And when you listen to me preach,
here is all I ask for you to do. See if what I'm preaching
is according to the Scriptures. That's all I ask. You may not
even believe, but see if what I'm preaching is according to
the Word of God. That's all that counts. Now,
Paul said that he was a steward of the mysteries of God. And he said in 1 Corinthians
2, 7, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Look in Ephesians
chapter 6, turn back a few pages to Ephesians chapter 6. He's
asking to the church at Ephesus to pray for him. And he says
in verse 19, pray for me that utterance may be given unto me
that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel. You see what a big issue this
is in the scriptures? Now the Lord said to his disciples, when
they said, why do you speak to the people in parables? He said,
it's given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. But
to them, it is not given. We read in Ephesians 3, 9 of
the fellowship of the mystery. We have fellowship and communion
with one another around the mystery of the gospel. Now, a mystery
is not something so much comprehended but believed. I see that so clearly. I can't comprehend and intellectually
grasp the mysteries of the scripture, but I believe them. I believe
him. And I'm just so fine with that. I'm just so okay with that. What
mystery there is in the scripture. And if I could comprehend it,
if I could intellectually grasp it, there really wouldn't be
too much to it. Isn't that so? Oh, but the infinite
God and the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of Christ. Now, everything
in this book is a mystery in the sense that we would never
have known it unless the Lord was pleased to make it known
in this book and give us the grace to see it. If the mystery
is in the book, we still can't understand it or grasp it or
even see it unless he gives us eyes to see and ears to hear.
But there are seven things in the scriptures that are actually
called mysteries. And that's what I want us to
consider. We read of the mystery of His will. We read of the mystery
of godliness. We read of the mystery of being
one with Christ, union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We read of
the mystery of faith. We read of the mystery of Christ
in you. We read of the mystery of the
resurrection, and we read of the mystery of iniquity, the
mystery of the harlot of Babylon, which is the same thing. Now,
first, let's consider the mystery of His will. Ephesians 1, 9,
we read that He's made known to us the mystery of His will. Now, regarding knowing God's
will as to whether or not to do something, I don't know that
I've ever had confidence that I've known God's will for me.
Should I do this? Should I go here? Should I go
there? Should I take this job? Should I do that? I don't know.
I don't know. I hope. I ask the Lord to order
my steps in his word and direct me, but I can't. I've never,
as far as things that are not written down, I've never been
able to say confidently, I know this is God's will. I know it
is. I hear people say, well, I know it's the Lord's will.
for me to do this. Well, I'm jealous of you. I'm
jealous of you because I've never have felt that kind of confidence.
Now, I do know God's will though. I might not know his will for
what I eat tomorrow. I know his will will be done.
I know he's in control of everything, but I do know God's will. Every believer knows God's will
because he has revealed it. And like I said, all I have confidence
in, in my knowledge of God's will is what's written down in
his When God saved the Apostle Paul, he sent Ananias to him
and he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou mightest
know his will. And see that just one, and hear
the voice of his mouth. Now Paul already knew God's will
of commandment. He knew the Ten Commandments
backwards and forwards. But he's saying, you're going
to know my will of redemption. You're going to know my will
of sovereign saving purpose. John chapter 6, let me quote
some scriptures to you. John chapter 6, verses 38 through
40. Christ said, for I came down
from heaven not to do my own will. but the will of Him that
sent me, and this is the Father's will which has sent me." Now,
do you want to know what God's will is? Here it is. This is the Father's will which
has sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. It's God's will
for Christ to save everyone that God gave to Him. even all of
God's elect. Second Peter 3.9 says the Lord
is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but
he's long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. It's God's will that none of
us, the us-ward, that's talking about his people, that's not
talking about all men, in general, because if it was, if it was
God's will for all men in general to be saved, all men in general
would be saved. He said, God is not slack in his promise of
some in count slackness, but as long suffering to us, we're
not willing that any should perish. You know what? None of them will
perish. In Matthew 18, 14, the Lord said, it's not the will
of your father in heaven that one of these little ones should
perish and they won't. He said, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. It's his will for anybody who
comes to Christ for mercy to not be cast out. What a blessed
thought. Romans 9, 18 says, he will have
mercy on whom he will have mercy. And whom he will, he hardens. That's the will of God. Romans, Chapter 12, verse 2,
Paul speaks of the good and the acceptable and the perfect will
of God. In Ephesians 1, 11, it says,
he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Literally,
after the will of his own will. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse
13, we read, this is the will of God. Even your sanctification. And in 1 Thessalonians 5.18,
Paul says, In everything give thanks for this, whatever it
is, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Whatever you're going through right now, thank God for it.
This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Isn't it
wonderful that he would have a will concerning you? What a
blessed thought. Hebrews 10.10, The Lord says,
lo, I come in the volume of the book it's written of me. I delight
to do thy will, O God. By the witch will, that will
that he delighted to do, by the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. That shows the supremacy of His
will. He's willed our complete sanctification,
declared us to be holy through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross. Now, I love the story of the
leper coming to Christ. He was full of leprosy. He knew
who the Lord was. He said, Lord, and he bowed down
before Him. He said, Lord, if you will, You
can make me clean. He understood the supremacy of
the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. My salvation is utterly and completely
in your hands. If you will, it's all up to you. Nothing I, I don't have any control
of this thing. If you will, you can make me clean. Can you pray that prayer? Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. Do you know everyone who's
ever prayed that prayer heard this answer? The Lord said to
that poor, pathetic leper, he reached forth his hands and touched
him and said, I will. Isn't that powerful? I will. Be thou clean. Simply by an act of the will
of Christ, that leper was made clean. I love that. I love the will of Christ, don't
you? Oh, the mystery of his will. Aren't you thankful he's made
known the mystery of his will? And I'm praying the same thing
that leper did. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, to turn to 1 Timothy chapter
3, Here's the next great mystery. Verse 16. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. Now this is one of two mysteries
that are called great. And indeed, this is a great mystery. Without controversy, I've told
this story before, but I love it. I'm going to tell it again.
There was a man, and his brother was a preacher, and he was a
preacher. And his brother did not believe, though, in the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why somebody would bother to
preach that didn't believe in the deity of Christ is beyond
me, but his brother did not believe in the deity of Christ. But he
asked his brother, who did believe in the deity of Christ, to come
and preach for him. And he said, but I want to do it on this condition. I don't want you to preach on
anything controversial. He said, OK, I won't. So he announced
his text without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The eternal being, who is spirit,
was manifest in a human body. Colossians 2.9 says, In Him,
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the man Christ Jesus, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead. All the fullness of sovereignty,
of holiness, of justice, of power, of wisdom, of immutability. Whatever God is, it all dwells
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in flesh, and next it says justified in the spirit. Now, the Lord's
great work in coming to this earth was to justify people,
to make it to where they're without guilt. And by God the Holy Spirit
enabling him, he did it. He kept God's law perfectly and
justified in the Spirit. All of God's elect were justified. And then it says next, part of
the great mystery of godliness is how he's seen of angels. And
I love to think about this. Angels probably aren't real interested
in a lot of things going on in this When you say so, I mean,
they're not interested in things we're interested in, but I'll
tell you what they were interested in. Can you imagine how they
felt when they saw the Son of God become flesh? I mean, they
were staring in wonder, singing glory to God in the highest on
earth, peace, goodwill toward men. And you can bet they watched
His every minute. All the host of angels watched
as He walked 33 years upon this earth. And don't you reckon they
were standing ready to smite when they saw the Son of God
nailed to a cross? They were waiting for the commandment,
we'll take care of this. And oh, they were there when
our Lord was raised from the dead. They were there in the
tomb. They came and saw the angels there. He was seen of angels. That's glorious to think about,
isn't it? I love to think about the elect angels. They're demons,
the fallen angels, and they're the elect angels. I love that
term, don't you? The elect angels. The reason they didn't fall is
because God kept them from it, and they worshiped the Lord. And then it says in verse 16
that he was preached unto the Gentiles. Now, I wonder how many
of us are amazed at the greatness of this grace that we have the
privilege of hearing his gospel right now. There was a time when
the Gentiles didn't get to hear the gospel. We get to now. What? That's mystery, isn't it? Do
you find it amazing that God is allowing you to hear the gospel? There are millions who haven't
heard. But God is allowing you right now to hear His blessed
gospel. Isn't that mysterious? Why me? Why me? Why would the Lord look
down in mercy on me to do that for me? And then it says, he
was believed on in the world. This is mysterious. Do you really
believe that he's the eternal son of God? Yes, I do. Do you
really believe he created the universe? Yes, I do. Do you really
believe that if he died for you, that's all God requires, that
all you need is what he did? Do you really believe that? Yes,
I do. Do you believe he's coming again?
Yes, I do. I do. And I look forward, anxiously
look forward to his return. and he was received up into glory. Great is the mystery of godliness. Now turn to Ephesians chapter
5. In verse 32, Paul says, this is
a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ. Now, he'd been given some instructions
regarding marriage and what great instructions they are. And everybody
wants to have a happy marriage. Everybody wants to have a marriage
where everyone's pleased with one another and enjoying their
relationship with their spouse. And he gives us some instruction
regarding marriage, but he lets us know at the end, that's not
what I was talking about. That's not what I was talking about.
I was talking about Christ and the church. Look up in verse
25. husbands. love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for it that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the
word that he might present it to himself a glorious church
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should
be holy and without blemish that's what the Lord did for his church
look what he says in verse 28 so ought men to love their own
their wives as their own bodies he that loveth his wife loveth
himself. You know, I used to think, well,
I thought we're not supposed to love ourself. Self-love is considered, and
called sin in the scriptures, lovers of them own selves. But
you know what this is a reference to? When Christ loved his wife,
he loved himself, because his wife is united to him, one with
him. Now that's a mystery. That's
a mystery. That's not something I can wrap
my tiny little brain around, but I believe it. When Christ
loved his wife, he was loving himself. Now this, let's go on
reading and I'll show you that. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth it, and cherisheth it, even as the
Lord the church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be what? One flesh. One. Both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of I am so united to Christ
that God the Father says of me, and this is what through the
Lord who told us this in John chapter 17 verse 23, thou hast
loved them as thou hast loved me. Now the only way that can
be is if I'm completely united to Christ so that when God sees
me, all he sees is Jesus Christ. Great! is this mystery of godliness. The two shall be one. Eternally united to the Lord
Jesus Christ. First Timothy chapter 3. Paul is speaking of the responsibilities
of the deacons, and he says in verse 9, holding the mystery
of the faith in a pure conscience. The mystery of the faith, that
which we would not have known unless God was pleased to make
it known. That's the same faith that Paul
spoke of in 2 Timothy 4 when he said, I fought a good fight.
I finished my course. I've kept the faith. He spoke
of the faith of God's elect in Titus 1.1. The faith of God's
elect, that all of God's elect possess. The acknowledging of
the truth. And that's what faith does. It
acknowledges, it embraces the truth, which is after, which
is caused by, is what that word is. It's caused by godliness. the common faith, Titus 1.3,
the faith that all of God's people have in common. Paul said, do
we make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now, the
key to faith is the object of faith. You see, everybody believes
something. Somebody says, I don't believe
in God. Well, that's what you believe. That's what you believe. Everybody believes
something. Everybody has some kind of faith. Everybody's got
something they believe in. You can have a faith that won't
do you any good because the object of your faith can't do you any
good. Here's the key, is the object of your faith. Christ is the object of the Christian's
faith. And Christ puts such honor on
faith because it places all the honor on Him. You know when He
says, Thy faith has saved me? I love it when He says that.
Well, what was your faith that saved you? He said, Thy faith
saved you. What was that faith that saved you? Well, here's
what my faith is. My faith is that I'm relying on Jesus Christ
for everything in my salvation. I'm relying on this, that everything
that God requires of me, everything, He looks to His blessed Son.
That's my faith. And the Lord says, Thy faith
has saved thee. Go in peace. Now, strictly speaking, you know
as well as I do that faith didn't die for my sins. Christ did. Faith didn't give me a new heart.
Christ did. Faith didn't give me grace. Christ
did. Faith believes that. Faith believes
that. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I am persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed to him. That word commitment is so important. If you believe in works in any
way to any degree, you're not committing. You only commit when
you lean wholly upon Christ as all that's needed to make you
perfect before God. Have you ever committed? Oh,
may God give me grace to be just like Paul and to say the same
thing. Colossians chapter 1, here's
the fifth mystery. Verse 26, even the mystery, which
has been hid from the ages and from generations, but now is
made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you. The hope. of glory. Now you want to talk about a
mystery. What a mysterious thing. Not only am I in Christ, not
only am I united eternally to Him, but Jesus Christ is in me. He dwells in me. By His Spirit, He is in me. Paul said, the life that I now
live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. He said, I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.
I don't live off my own faith, I live off His. I really do. I don't have any confidence in
my faith. I have confidence in His faith.
Somebody had to believe God perfectly. He did. And I am relying on His
faith. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me in the life that I now live in the flesh. I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself
for me. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. If righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in
vain. Paul said in Galatians 1 15, When it pleased God who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. It is not enough for Jesus Christ
the Lord to be revealed to me. I'll lose Him. I must have Him
revealed in me. I believe, and I know why. Christ in me causes me to believe. I'm in a continual state of repentance. I'm always changing my mind about
myself, and I know why. Christ lives in me. I really do love the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I love God. I love all of
His attributes. I love His gospel. And I know
why. It's because Christ liveth in
me. Christ in you. The hope of glory. What a mystery. You know, Paul,
when he was speaking to the Galatians, he said, My little children in
whom I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you. He said, I stand in doubt of
you. You know what he said next? That's what he said to these
people. He said, I stand in doubt of you. I travail and birth till I see Christ formed
in you. I stand. And then he said, tell
me you that desire to be under the law. Don't you hear what
the law says? I know this. If Christ is in
somebody, they have a thirst to not be under law, but under
grace. A thirst. Would you turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15? This is the sixth great mystery. Verse 49, and as we have borne
the image of the earthly, 1 Corinthians 15, 49, and as we
have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now the flesh
that you have right now, the blood that you have pumping through
your body, it can't be in heaven. Neither does corruption inherit
incorruption. 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 shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. Let me ask you a question. Do
you think that body that you're housed in right now could enter
into heaven? that's been used as an instrument
of sin, be smeared and be fouled with sin. That tongue that has
been used in a dishonorable way, telling lies, criticizing. Could that tongue enter heaven?
Those ears that have listened to that which they ought not. Those eyes that have beheld vanity. Those hands that have been used
in the commission of sin. Those feet that have taken you
places you ought not be. Can that body enter heaven? No. No. God put it in the dust. It will be raised, incorruptible,
with a glorified body that does not sin. What a glorious inheritance. That's a mystery, isn't it? God
raising the dead. Christ was raised from the dead.
His resurrection was different. I love the fact that He didn't
suffer any decay in His body. The reason he didn't suffer any
decay in his body is because he rendered complete satisfaction
to God. Whatever it was he intended to
do, he did. He made payment. God was satisfied. The moment he died, all of God's
elect, he was satisfied with him. He was raised again for
our justification. Christ was raised from the dead.
And we were raised from the dead spiritually, dead in trespasses
and sins. He gave us life. We were raised
spiritually. And one of these days, we'll
be raised physically at that last great Trump. What a glorious mystery. You
know, I think of the people that we've lost in the last several
years. They're going to be raised up
incorruptible. I love to think of the people
that have used to come here, that are in glory right now.
They're not thinking of us. They haven't given us a thought.
We thought about them, but they haven't thought about us. They're
in the presence of Christ. And when we're all raised up
into his presence, what a blessing that will be. We don't understand
this, but we won't be sinners anymore. We won't even remember
what it's like to be a sinner. Perfect in Christ Jesus. And the last thing that I'd like
to refer to that is called a mystery in the scripture. It's found
in 2 Thessalonians 2, 7. It's called the mystery of iniquity.
Speaking of the Antichrist, the man of sin, the mystery of iniquity. And the mystery of iniquity is
called in Revelation 17, 5, we read, mystery, Babylon the great,
the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. Now, here's this
mystery that we see. We see religion for what it is.
That mystery of iniquity that tries to take the place of Christ.
Anti-Christ does not mean against Christ. It means in the stead
of Christ. And we see religion, we see that
harlot that the world is so impressed with and sees it so beautiful. We see her for what she is, a
prostitute. We see man's religion. as nothing more than a prostitute,
as a mystery of iniquity. And the only reason we see that
is because he has revealed it to us. And we see religion for
what it is, an evil thing. And this is certainly a mystery
we would have never known had not God made it known. And you know when God makes known
the gospel to you. That personal righteousness that
you used to trust and hold on to, you see it as filthy rags. And all you want to be found
in is that fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness
of the saints, the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, He is the righteousness of the saints, isn't He? He is.
And oh, what a glorious thing when the Lord demonstrates to
us and shows us the filthiness of our own religion. And we want
to get rid of it. And we want to simply be found
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful for the revelation
of these mysteries? The mystery of His will. The mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
The mystery of union with the Lord Jesus Christ, being one
with Him. The mystery of the faith. The mystery of Christ in you. The mystery of the resurrection. And the mystery of iniquity,
the prostitute of Babylon. John said in Revelation 17, write,
mystery, Babylon. the mother of harlots and abominations
of the earth, being drunk with the blood of the saints. I'm so thankful for the revelation
of the mystery. Let's pray together. Lord, we stand amazed that you've
made these mysteries of your word known to us and given us
a love for them. Lord, give us the grace simply
to believe thy gospel. Lord, give us hearing ears. Lord, if you don't give us hearing
ears, we won't hear. Give us hearing ears and receptive
hearts for Christ's sake. In His blessed name we pray.
Amen. Paul, what have you got for closing
hymn? 466. 466. We'll stand and sing. This is a mystery indeed. Christ
liveth in me. Hymn number 466. Once far from God and dead in
sin, no light my heart could see. But in God's word the lies
I've found, now Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. What a salvation is that Christ
liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder
sun, the