Thank you, Brother Todd. It's
cold out there. This is wool, I think,
and it's still cold. We can get a winter down there,
too. It used to be about 70 degrees. Before I bring what the Lord,
I believe, would have me to say tonight, concerning two mysteries
that every believer knows. I would like to express my gratitude
and my appreciation to this congregation for your faithful support, your
love and concern for us in Mission Field, Mexico. We know you love
the brethren down there in Mexico and the work the Lord has given
us to do. We are thankful for you. The
Lord has raised up some churches there in the Yucatan Peninsula. As you know, I am repeating this. I know for many of you who have
known this for some time, but perhaps there are some who have
not. So I know you will not be tired of hearing again what the
Lord is doing. There are five churches that have been established
with ordained pastors. and many other churches that
are at the charge of elders who are preaching. Brother Walter
Groover, my dad, is visiting these churches on an itinerant
schedule, visiting them every month. He takes a different place
every Sunday morning. But primarily, we are thankful
for the door of opportunity to preach in Metis, the capital
city where we live. It is a big city. It is a very prosperous city. But a year ago or so, maybe a
little bit more, we were able to purchase a building, and this
church, this congregation, helped. greatly towards this cause, and
we're thankful for it. We have an air conditioner in
the summertime, so we're thankful for that. People are starting
to complain about it being too cold, and you think I care? I
don't care. I like it to be cold. But anyway, I do care about that. I like it. No, really, I'd rather
it be cold than hot. When it's hot, people fall asleep.
And it's true. If it's hot, just people fall
asleep. We're thankful for the air conditioner in the building.
It's a nice building. We're thankful. We meet there
Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night. Wednesday
night, my dad, Walter, teaches or preaches the message every
Wednesday night. I preach there Sunday morning
and Sunday night. On Monday, all the pastors and
elders and those that are studying to be preachers come in to Medina.
And this last week that we met before we let out for the holidays,
we're supposed to meet first January the 9th will be the first
class again. We're studying Leviticus and
Romans and Acts. So those are the three books
that we're studying right now. I'm looking forward to continue.
It's a great time. We never graduate. No one ever
graduates in this school. We just get together and enjoy.
each other's fellowship and going through the Word and learning. We meet there on Monday morning,
and all the different pastors and men from the different villages
come in, and we meet for three hours, from ten to one. We had to move it up to ten o'clock
so that everybody would have an opportunity to come into town.
The Lord has also opened opportunities for us to go to Cancun. And we're going there every two
weeks right now. Now, I know what you're thinking. It's the
town of Cancun, not the beach. But it's the city. It's a big city, Cancun. But
if you ever came down to visit us, I'm sure we'd take you to
Cancun and let you go to the beach. But there's a man from
the villages. Throughout Yucatan, people have
moved to Cancun to work, find work. And as they've moved there,
they've found that there's no gospel there. So they've called
and asked us if we would go and preach. So we don't know if the
Lord would be pleased to raise up a church there, but there's
some interest and we're thankful for that opportunity. And also
we continue to go to Chiapas. We're going to Chiapas every
two months. It's about a twelve-hour drive, and I take with me a couple
of pastors. And some other men, like this
last time, my sister Teresa, Elliot's wife, went with us.
It was just a great time to take off and go to Chaplis and stay
there for four or five days and come back before Sunday service. But we are thankful for your
love and your concern. faithful support for the mission
work there in Mexico, and we're just glad to be part of you and
how good it is for me to be here with you tonight. I'm trying
to look out. Oh, everybody's covered up. But
I recognize you. I see you out there. I'm thankful
for you. Thank you, brother, for this
opportunity to take this little bit of time. Now I would like
for us to consider tonight two mysteries. Two mysteries that only God's
children can know. Is this thing on? It's on. Sorry. Two mysteries. The text you know well, 1 Timothy
3, but don't turn there. Look at Matthew chapter 13, if
you will. Matthew chapter 13. Our Lord
was speaking a parable. It says, He went out by the house
and sat by the seaside. This is chapter 13, verse 1.
A great multitude came to hear our Lord preach and teach. The
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, is a preacher. of the gospel. And all the multitude sat on
the side of the ship, and he began to speak to them many things
in parables. Many things in parables. But
the disciples of our Lord came to him in verse 10, and the disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And this is what our Lord said,
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you,
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, but unto them it is not given. It is given to you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it's not
given to them. That's why. And then later on,
he talks about what judicial blindness is. And we'll get to
that in a moment. But these two mysteries, you
see, it says it's given to you to know the mysteries. The mysteries. Now, I want us to look in 1 Timothy
3 to this first mystery that I want us to consider. This is
a great mystery, the Apostle Paul says to Timothy. He says,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed unto the world, received up into glory. That
is the first mystery I want us to consider. And the second mystery
I want us to consider is in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 7. For the mystery of
iniquity doth already work. Remember I said only a believer
can know that mystery? Perhaps some people are sitting
on the edge of their chair right now. Only a believer can know
the mystery of iniquity also. Bear with me. Bear with me. Let's
go through this first, this mystery of godliness. Now, the Apostle
Paul here is talking to Timothy and instructing him as to his
behavior, his conduct within and without the church. And he
says to Timothy, Timothy in chapter 1, verse 19, he says, You hold
the faith and good conscience. Timothy, some have put away concerning
faith have made shipwreck. You hold the faith in good conscience,
which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. And
in chapter 3 and verse 9, he says, holding the mystery of
the faith in a pure conscience. Holding the mystery of the faith. What is this mystery of the faith?
Well, we have it here in verse 16. But let's consider a little
bit more what it is that the Apostle Paul is telling Timothy
and the church, this church tonight, the church, the local church
in Yucatan, the church wherever the Lord puts his church. What
is the job? What is the charge of the church
wherever the Lord raises up a church? The Apostle Paul says to Timothy,
ministers, and the church, the house of the living God, he says
in verse 15, this is the reason I'm writing to you, Timothy.
He says, if I tarry long, I want you to know that thou mayest
know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of
the truth. The pillar and ground of the
truth. Now we know what a pillar is. A structure that is there
to hold something up. A pillar, that's just the job
of a pillar is to hold something up. And the pillar of the truth,
the church is the pillar of the truth to hold up the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. A pillar doesn't move around,
by the way. A pillar stays put. A pillar stays put. It doesn't
move around. It holds fast the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That which was once delivered
to the saints. that which was once delivered. And the ground
of the truth, that term is a military term that is given to a platoon,
for instance. You hold that ground. You hold
that ground. That's what he's talking about,
the ground of the truth. The ground of the truth. The
pillar and ground of the truth. What is this truth, then? This
truth is the mystery of godliness. This truth that the church is
to hold up and this truth that the church is to stand fast in
this truth is the mystery of godliness. The Lord Jesus Christ
commanded us, his disciples, to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. Preach the gospel. That is what
we are to do. And look in 1 Corinthians 2,
the Apostle Paul describes When he came to Corinth, he said,
When I came, I didn't come with enticing words and wisdom of
man. He said, I, brethren, when I
came to you, came not with an excellency of speech or wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. That's the gospel. It's
God's Word. 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.
And my speech and my preaching was not in enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the
power of God. Howbeit, we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world or the
princess of this world that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery. A mystery. Even the hidden wisdom
which God ordained before the world unto our glory. The gospel
we speak, in other words, is a mystery. The gospel we preach
is a mystery. It's a mystery hidden to the
world. It's a mystery revealed to His
people. But it's a mystery. It's a mystery. And no doubt it's called a mystery
because we will never, ever understand all that there is to understand.
But it's a mystery revealed. It's a mystery revealed. Concealed
of this world, but revealed to his people. And Timothy there,
3.16, the Apostle Paul, describes this mystery of godliness that
we are to hold fast and to proclaim and to preach in six statements. I want us to go through these
six statements briefly. But it is speaking of the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there in 1 Corinthians,
the Apostle Paul said, I came preaching Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Well, he describes this same
mystery in six statements. First, he says, God was manifest
in the flesh. This first point is the person,
the person of the Redeemer, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is he? He is God, the eternal Son of
God, the second person of the Trinity. He was made flesh, bone
of our bone, flesh of our flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And it says
in verse 14, 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. Well, there is no salvation.
There is no salvation apart from the Lord Jesus Christ being God
manifest in the flesh. Jehovah himself manifest in the
flesh. And this is a mystery that cannot
be revealed. It is not attained. It is not
acquired by knowledge. It is not attained and not acquired
by knowledge. Our Lord asked his disciples
one day, whom do you say that I am? And the apostle Peter said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord
Jesus Christ looked at Peter and said, Peter, Simon Bar-Jonah,
blessed art thou. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
that to you, but my Father which is in heaven. It is a revelation.
You are blessed of God. Wherever you find someone that
believes God, wherever you find someone that believes the gospel,
it's a mystery. You're blessed of God with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places. And the first thing is,
you know who He is. You know who He is. The truth
we believe and we must proclaim is this, His person, He is eternal
God. made flesh. We know why he was
made flesh. We know why he had to come into
this world. He was made flesh, bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh, that he might be our Redeemer,
that he might take our place, that he might establish righteousness
here on the earth, that he might obey perfectly God's holy law,
that he might take on himself the sins of his people, that
he might offer himself in the place of his people. He had to
be bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He had to be God
also. Only God can satisfy God. But
it says here who He is. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit. That's the second point. His
work of redemption. He was justified by God the Holy
Spirit. Justified by the Spirit. This
is a mystery concealed to the world, but revealed to his people.
Everything the Lord Jesus Christ did as a man, living among men,
think about this, living surrounded by sin, the filth and the pollution,
the corruption of man. Yet that one, that holy one,
that harmless one, undefiled, separate from sinners, he became
us, didn't he? He's exactly what we needed.
Exactly what we needed. It says there in Hebrews 7, verse
26, for such a high priest, he has to be manned to be a high
priest. He has to be able to go before God representing us. Such a high priest became us
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. The Holy Spirit, think about
this, the Holy Spirit who sees everything. who sees the thoughts
and imaginations of our hearts. And by the way, that's a comfort
to God's people that He knows everything about us. But what
I'm trying to point out is this. He knows everything. And He knows
everything in the heart of that man, the man Christ Jesus, in
the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everything He said and everything
He did, He did fulfilling God's holy law. doing the will of God,
such that he was able to say, I glorify thee on the earth. Think, let that sit in for a
minute. The Lord Jesus Christ said, Father, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. I finished it. The Holy Spirit
justified him in saying that. The Holy Spirit justified him
in saying that. He established righteousness. That is to say,
as a man, he perfectly obeyed God's holy law. My mouth is dry
now. He established righteousness
here on the earth as a man. And then he went and he made
an end of sin. That is to say, he put away the sins of his people.
He put away the sins of his people by the expiation in his sacrifice. He put away the sins of his people
when in his death on the cross as their substitute, he satisfied
God's holy demands, the demands of God's justice against the
sins of his people. The sins of his people were laid
on him. Scripture says he was made sin. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.
What a wonderful thing. Well, he not only died for our
sins according to the Scriptures and buried according to the Scriptures,
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He's justified
of the Spirit. That is to say, everything he
came to do, he did. And everything he said, God said,
he's right. He's right. He's justifying of the Spirit.
Well, here's a third thing. I just don't know how to explain
this scene of angels. I'll just try to briefly. You see, the angels are here
tonight. The angels are here tonight.
The angels are interested. in this work of redemption the
Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished. He is seen of angels. And it
is just something for me to wonder and marvel at, but the holy angels,
they saw Satan, Lucifer, and a third of the angels rebel against
God and cast out of heaven. And they saw They're looking
into it. No doubt this is what's pictured
in the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, the children
with their wings towards each other, looking into the mercy
seat. You know where they're looking? They're always in the
presence of God. You know where their face is?
They're looking to Christ. They're looking to Christ. That
is where the principal glory of God is revealed in the face
of Jesus Christ. How that God can be merciful
to sinners. It's like you and I. How can
God save sinners and still be God? That's his principal glory. His principal glory. And the
angels are interested in this. That's what it says there in
the Apostle Peter. He says, 1 Peter 1, verse 10,
"...of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was
in them did signify, when it testified beforehand of the sufferings
of Christ and the glory that should follow." unto whom it
was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into." But I see something
else in here. The angels are witnesses. The
angels are witnesses of all that the Lord Jesus Christ They are
interested in this. They were there at his birth
singing. God the Father said, Let all
the angels worship him. And all the angels are worshiping.
Everybody is going to worship him one of these days. Every
knee bowed, every tongue confessed. They were there at his birth
singing, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and
goodwill toward men. They were there when he was tempted
of Satan and succored him. in the garden when his sweat
was as it was, great drops of blood. They ministered unto him. They were there at his resurrection
when they rolled away the stone. They were there when that woman
came to the gravesite, and they said, Well, why do you seek the
living among the dead? And they were there at his resurrection
and said, Why do you look up at the heaven? The same one that
you've seen go up, the same Jesus, He's coming again. He was seen
of angels. And he is seen of angels tonight.
They are his ministering spirits sent to minister to them that
are the heirs. Isn't that precious? That's wonderful. And look at this fourth part
of this mystery. Preach them to the Gentiles.
Preach them to the Gentiles. You know, this reference has
to do with this gospel. is for sinners. Isn't that so? This gospel is for guilty sinners. Hell-deserving sinners. And what
a mystery this is, because the apostles themselves said, Who
can be saved? Who can be saved? The Lord said,
Man, it's impossible. But, you know, if you just want
to pick somebody to send the gospel to, you wouldn't preach
to me. And you'd say, well, he's just
too far gone. But you know, every one of you that's been saved,
you could say, the Lord's already saved the chief of sinners. I
believe you could say that. This is the Apostle Paul saying
there in 1 Timothy 1, in verse 13, he says, Who was before a
blasphemer and a persecutor and an injurious, but obtained mercy,
because I did it ignorantly, and the grace The grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. You see, this fact that the gospel
is preached to the Gentiles, it is marvelous grace, isn't
it? This is the mystery of godliness. It's marvelous grace, amazing
grace. The Apostle Paul is speaking
here of grace. I'm the chief of sinners, he
says in the next verse. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came to the world
to save sinners of whom I'm chief. This is a mystery. The mystery
revealed. God saves sinners. You know,
the Apostle Peter, when the Lord sent him to preach to Cornelius,
the Lord had to teach Peter not to call common what the Lord
sanctified. And he showed him that great
blanket, I guess it was, coming down with all those beasts and
said, kill Peter. And Peter said, no, Lord, my
lips haven't touched anything unclean. And the Lord taught
him. But listen to what Peter said
when he went to see Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, verse 28. Peter told this to Cornelius.
He said, you know, that is just not right. It's an unlawful thing.
for a man that is a Jew to keep company or to come in to another
nation. Sinners. The Gentiles were equated
with sinners. And so this is a great, great
mystery. The Lord said, Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. You know what
the disciples thought? Go into all the world and find
a Jew and preach to him. That's what they heard. The Lord
had to break down that barrier. He broke down that barrier. But
the gospel is preached to sinners. Sinners. You find a sinner. And
that's a holy thing. The Holy Spirit has made Himself.
You find a sinner. There's good news. There's good
news. Oh, and here's a wonderful mystery.
The fifth part of this text says he was believed on in the world.
The mystery of regeneration. You know, man is unable to believe
God. Man is unable, does not have
power to believe God, cannot believe God. But this is saying
here that he's believed on in the world. What a great mystery
this is. And it's a mystery because only
God can reveal the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
has his sheep. He does. He has his people. He
has his people all throughout the world. And they will hear
his voice. They will follow Him. He sends
forth His gospel. His gospel is preached in all
the world. And He, by the power of the Spirit, through the preaching
of the Word, calls His people in His time. Thy people shall
be willing the day of thy power. They will come. They will believe. But when they believe, it's a
miracle of grace. It's a miracle of the new birth.
It's not the old man that believes. And it's not the old nature that
believes. It's a new nature. It's a holy nature. It's a holy
nature that believes. Born from above. That's why you
believe. Born from above. I'm trying to
find a brother who read back in the study. He said you got
it. The religion has that backwards, right? He said as many as who
are ordained to life believe, and they've got it backwards,
don't they? They say, you believe and you're ordained to life.
That's religion. But the Lord has his people.
Giving life to his people by the preaching of his Word is
a miracle of the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, there's no mystery. Where are the little kids at? You know, when you were going
to school, it was grade school, and you learned 2 plus 2 is 4.
You already know that, don't you? Yeah, they do. It took me
a long time to learn that. 2 plus 2 is 4. 2 plus 3 is 5. 2 plus 4 is 6. I'm still having
trouble. I'm being slow now. But you see,
after going over and over again, I learned that. That's not a
mystery. And you can't learn Christ, you
can't be born again by learning the doctrines of grace. That's
not a mystery. Anything that you can acquire
by a set of knowledge is not the mystery of godliness. I hope
that's coming across. Anything man's intellect can
grab, something man can reason out, that's not a mystery. This
is the mystery of godliness. This faith cannot be acquired.
Nicodemus came to the Lord, and he was a man that studied, and
he knew things, and he was going to dialogue with the Master,
that's what he thought. He was going to talk about heavenly
things. And the Lord said, Nicodemus,
except a man be born again, he can't even see the kingdom of
heaven. This is a mystery. This is a mystery. Let's go on. There were some Jews who came
to the Lord one day and they said, ìWhat shall we do that we might
work the works of God? What shall we do?î And the Lord
said to them, ìThis is the work of God that you believe on Him
that He has sent. This is Godís work.î Let that
sink down. This is Godís work. So that any
time you find somebody that believes, you know who gets the thanks
and the glory? God gets the thanks and the glory. As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, and to them that believed
on his name, which were born, not of blood, not of the will
of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." And here is
the sixth part, and he says, he is received up into glory.
The Lord Jesus Christ, that man, made a little lower than the
angels, but he is exalted above all. He is given a name which
is above every name. risen from the dead, victorious
over all our enemies, his enemies, Satan, the world, over sin, death,
the grave, and exalted by God the Father and Son of the throne
to reign forever and ever, glorified with the glory," listen to this,
this is a great message, "...with the glory," that he said, the
glory that he had before the world was. I don't know how to
explain that. I think I see something. This is a great mystery of godliness. Like I said, it's a mystery because
it's only revealed by God the Father, only revealed to his
people. Not of blood, not of the will
of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. But you know, when
the gospel goes forth and is preached, we're fixing to talk
about the mystery of iniquity. When the gospel goes forth and
it is preached, there are some that say they believe. Is that
not so? Many say they believe. Many say
they know the Lord. Many say they preach and do many
wonderful works in His name. Do they not? Let's look at this
mystery of iniquity. What is it? Let's look over here
in 2 Thessalonians. I said that only a child of God
can know the mystery of iniquity. First, I want to say what it
is not. The mystery of iniquity, what it is not. First, it is
not the works of the flesh, as men may think. The mystery of
iniquity is not the works of the flesh or the sins of the
flesh that men might think. You see, because those are manifest. Those are manifest. In Galatians
chapter 5, verse 19 says, the works of the flesh are manifest.
The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envies, murders, drunkenness, rivalings, and such like, of
the which I told you before in Thomas Bass, that they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." So the mystery
of of iniquity does not have to do with the works of the flesh. The mystery of iniquity, what
it does have to do with is false religion. The mystery of iniquity
has to do with false religion, and only God's people know the
difference. That's how he keeps you from
it. That's how he keeps you from it, because if it were possible,
even the elect should be deceived. That's how deceiving the mystery
of iniquity is. That's how crafty it is. Let's look at 2 Thessalonians,
chapter 2. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him,
that you be not soon shaken in mind or troubled neither by spirit
nor by word nor by letter. As from us, as the day of Christ
is at hand, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day
shall not come except there come a falling away first." Falling
away from what? It's talking about apostasy.
Falling away from the truth. Falling away first. And that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped,
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was
yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that
withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth
will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the
wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit
of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceitfulness and
unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause God shall send them a strong delusion. that they should believe
a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness." This mystery of iniquity has
to do with false religion. We'll come back to that in 2
Thessalonians, but in Revelation 17, verse 5, upon this This false religion, this woman,
it says, verse 5, And upon her forehead was a name written, Babylon the great, the mother
of harlots and abominations of the earth. This is the mystery
that God's children know, so they keep away from it, so they
do not fall after it. Well, this mystery, I want to
just notice here, back in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, briefly, has to do
with apostasy. Verse 3 says, there is a falling
away. That is to say, they fall away
from the truth. They fall away from the truth
because they receive not the love of the truth, as it says
there in verse 10. They receive not the love of
the truth. It's just something they acquired. You see, it's
their doing. It is something that they have
attained. But there is no love of God shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit in regeneration. There is no love for this truth. So by and by, they fall away. There is no love of the truth.
It opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God,
verse 4. Oh, how that is prevalent in
the world today, and especially in this country, how people are
trying to take the word God out of everything. Is that not so? Is that not so? And that is not
even to say the Lord Jesus Christ. That's just, they don't want
the word God, much less the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. It opposes itself, exalts itself,
and that is the message that is preached in most all places.
in the world. It exalts itself. It exalts the
will of man above the will of God. It exalts the knowledge
of man above the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It exalts
itself as God. It is an idol. It receives not
the love of the truth. And because of that, it says
there in verse 11, God confirms them in that lie. God confirms
them in that lie with strong delusions. You see why it's called
a mystery is because, listen to this, it's called a mystery
because those that are in it cannot know that they're in it. Those that are in it cannot know
that they're in it. They're just as sincere and they're
just as convinced that the gospel you preach, brother, is doctrine
of demons. They're just as convinced of
the doctrine you believe. doctrine of election, the sovereign
election of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, particular redemption.
They are just as convinced that it is doctrines of demons, and
they pray against it. They are confirmed in their lie.
God keeps them in that lie. God keeps them in that lie. You
know, the Lord said there in Matthew chapter 7, this is a
serious issue, isn't it? Matthew chapter 7, the Lord said
that there would be many in that day. Matthew 7.22, He said, There
shall be many saying to me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and
in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from ye, ye that work
iniquity. You that work iniquity. They
cannot know that they're in it. God sends them strong delusion.
Only the children of God can know this mystery also, the mystery
of iniquity. If it were possible, our Lord
said, of this apostasy or this falling away, even the elect
would be deceived. Look at Matthew 24. The Lord
is talking about the end time. This gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations,
and then shall the end come." The gospel is going to preach
in all the world, and then the end is going to come. And when
this end comes, these end times, look at verse 24, "...there shall
arise false Christs and false prophets." False prophets preaching
false Christs. and false prophets, and shall
show great signs and wonders insomuch that, if it were possible,"
thank God it's not possible. Why is it not possible? Because
we're just too good. No, he keeps us from falling. He keeps us from falling. "...if
it were possible, they shall deceive the very less." That's
how convincing they are. That's how close they are. Behold, I have told you before,
if it were possible, they would believe the very elect." Well,
remember, we started back there in Matthew 13. They asked the Lord, why do you
speak to them in parables? Let's look over there at Matthew
13 again, verse 10. They said, Why do you speak to
them in parables? And the Lord said, He answered and said unto
them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given." You see
that gift? The gift is not given. For whosoever hath this gift
of grace, whosoever hath the Holy Spirit, whosoever hath this
new life, this holy nature, whosoever hath, to him shall be given.
and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not, from
him shall be taken away even that he thinks he has, even what
he has. Therefore I speak to them in
parables, because they seeing, seeing not." He is talking about
judicial blindness. Listen to this. To them I speak
in parables, because they see and see not, and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive.
For this people's heart is waxed gross in their ears, or dull
of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time
they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
should understand with their heart. and should be converted,
and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for
they see, and your ears, for they hear." Blessed. Blessed
are your eyes. He's talking about judicial blindness. Now, listen, I want to review
here. All men are born in this world dead in trespasses and
sins, blind to the glory of God. And some, the Lord Jesus Christ,
let me go back a little bit. These two mysteries teach us.
So far what we've seen, what does it teach us? God is sovereign
in salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign
in salvation. He'll do whatsoever he wills
with his own. And everybody is his. Everybody
is his. He's their creator, he's their
king, he's their Lord. Whom he will, he'll have mercy,
and whom he will, he'll harden. All men are born of this world
dead in trespass and sin, blind, do not know God, cannot know
God. And God in sovereign will, he
passes some women and some men by. Think of the millions, thousands
of millions, if I don't have millions, of people who have
lived on this earth and have never heard the gospel. and God
has just passed them by. God is sovereign. He doesn't
owe salvation to anyone, to you, to me, to anybody. He is sovereign. To some, God, before the foundation
of the world, chose to salvation. You see there, it says there
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, talking about The apostles, you
see, were bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, for God has chosen you from before the foundation
of the world. It says there in 2 Thessalonians,
chapter 2, verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks
to God for you. In opposition to those who are
blinded, we are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. We are bound to give thanks to
God. There are some that God, before the foundation of the
world, chose for salvation. And He reveals
Himself in time by the preaching of the gospel. God who shines
the light, commended the light to shine out of darkness, shines
in the heart of His people to give the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. by the preaching of the gospel,
the means he has ordained. This is the mystery of godliness.
And some hear this message and they say they believe. But it
is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. And to those who say they see,
God judicially blinds them. But if you don't see, God gives
you eyes. He came to save sinners. Others,
they save, they hear the gospel, they save, they see. They receive
not the truth, they receive not the love of the truth, they have
not the Holy Spirit, and by and by they deny the Lord who they
say bought them. By and by they deny the Lord
who they say bought them. This is the mystery of iniquity. God is sovereign in salvation.
Now, what does that bring us to, every one of us here? What
does that bring us to? What is the only proper response
at the light of this truth revealed? The only proper response is,
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy on me. Lord,
if I have not believed you before, let me believe. If I have not
loved you before, let me love you today. Never look back to
yesterday. Never look back to the past.
Always turn your eyes one more time to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why would you want to look back?
The Apostle Paul says, forgetting that which is behind, looking
forward. I press forward to the mark. Coming unto Jesus. It's a continual coming. There
are people that say, I'm just as sure. That's not the Spirit of God's
people. You know, the Lord said to the apostles, they were sitting
around at Last Supper, And the Lord said to them, they said,
One of you is going to betray me. And you know what the response
of the apostles was? Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I? Look at it in Matthew 26. Lord,
is it I? You know, when it came around
to Judas, he said, Master, is it I? That's different. He said, Master, is it I? I think
he just felt like that's the thing to say. That's the thing
to say, I've got to say it. But what I'm saying is this,
our eyes once more are turned to the only hope a sinner has,
the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, the mercy of God. Have mercy
on me. Have mercy on me, O Lord. Don't leave me in my own experience
and my own thoughts and imaginations. Have mercy on me. The mystery
of godliness. Jesus Christ, our Son of David,
have mercy on me." I trust this has been a blessing to you. You know, there's perhaps some
out here that fear. You know, you say, I fear. I'm
afraid. Will I deny Him? Well, to you that fear, and to you that
don't have any confidence in your flesh, The Lord says, Fear
not, I have redeemed you. Fear not, I am the Holy One of
Israel. I have redeemed you. But there are some who don't
fear, right? They have no concern about it. They don't fear. I trust that has been a blessing.
I know that the Lord has revealed these mysteries to his people.
And he keeps us. He keeps us from falling. He
keeps us from going after error. And it's all to him, all to the
praise and glory of his grace. Thank you, Brother. Thank you
for your faithful support and your prayers for us. The Lord
bless you.