Now, if you would like to open
your Bibles again to Ephesians chapter 5, I'm going to read verse 32, Ephesians
chapter 5. Verse 32 says, This is a great
mystery. This is a great mystery. I've been preaching for a pretty
good while. I've been associated with things
religious for a pretty good while. And I'm convinced beyond a shadow
of a doubt of three things in regard to us and spiritual matters. I'm positively convinced, number
one, that we do not know We do not know nearly as much as we
think we know about God. I'm convinced of that. The average preacher and religionist
gives the impression that they have a lock on spiritual truth,
on God and his kingdom. And I'm just persuaded that we
do not know nearly as much as we think we know about this Bible
and about the living God and about His redemptive grace and
about His kingdom. In fact, it says in 1 Corinthians
8, just listen as I read verses 1 and 2, knowledge puffeth up,
but love edifieth. If any man think that he knoweth
anything, if any man think that he knoweth
anything, He knows nothing, yet as he ought to know it. The second
thing, that's just so, we do not know nearly, not nearly as
much as we think we know about God. What can you know higher than
the heavens? It's deeper than hell. What can
you understand? It's broader than the sea. Secondly,
we do not know nearly as much as we ought to know with all
the advantages that we've had, with all of the blessings, opportunities
that we've had, with the Word in our hand and
in our home. with all of the writings of the
past years, we do not know nearly as much as we ought to know about
Christ and about His kingdom. It's so sad, the limited knowledge
and the vast opportunity that this generation has. Peter said,
as newborn babe, desire, crave, Pray long for the Word that you
may grow thereby. As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk and meat of the Word that you may grow. We've grown, we pay so much attention
to our health, so much attention to our physical material needs,
and so little attention to the growth of our souls and our hearts. in spiritual matters, study to
show thyself approved unto God, approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not be ashamed. How ashamed we ought to be when
we know so little. And we've had so many opportunities,
more than any generation of all ages, with all of the communication
opportunities and travel. Bible conferences, Bible studies,
Sunday schools, Bible classes, messages, the Bible, the books,
and we're so ignorant. But there's one thing for sure,
number three, we do not and cannot know here on this earth in these
bodies what we shall know, praise God someday. I do want you to
turn to this scripture, I Corinthians 13. It says in verse 9 of I Corinthians
13, we know in part. Here stands a minister preaching
to you, pastor of a church 30 some odd years, who's read and
studied The Bible for all these years, every day for all these
years, written articles and books, only God knows how many, how
many words, how many sermons, fourteen or fifteen thousand.
And yet I only know in part, and what a small part it is,
And I only preach part of it. Somebody said, Paul said he preached
the whole counsel of God. He didn't say that either. He
said, I've not shunned to declare to you all the counsel of God.
He never said he preached the whole counsel of God. Nobody
ever has. I hear churches say, we preach
the whole counsel. You don't even know it. Don't
even know it, let alone preach it. We know in part, just a part. We prophesy in part. Look down
here at verse 12. It says, Now we see through a
glass dimly. Did you ever drive your car down
the road, raining, air conditions got too cold so you turn it off
and that windshield starts fogging up? And boy, you start trying
to rub the sea and it's night time, it's raining, the visibility
is bad enough as it is, but you can't see well at all. And this
is, we see through a glass darkly, dimly. But then, thank God, face
to face. Now I know in part, don't be
so, don't be so confident, don't be so overbearing. We just know
in part, and then shall I know even as also I am known. How
foolish is the preacher and how foolish is the religionist who
even supposes that he's arrived or has a lock on any spiritual
truth or any of the mysteries of God. Here's another scripture
I want you to look at, Romans 11. Romans chapter 11, listen
to Paul here, in verse 33 of Romans 11, he says, O the depth,
O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge
of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, how unsearchable,
and his ways past finding out. Paul also said in Philippians,
he said, I haven't arrived, I'm not perfect. He said, I haven't
even yet laid hold upon that for which I've been laid hold
of by Christ. He said, O that I may win Christ
and be found in him. O that I may know him and the
power of his resurrection. The Holy Spirit uses this word
mystery. Did you hear it a while ago?
This is a great mystery. And the Holy Spirit uses this
word frequently. Mystery, mystery, mystery. Let me show you a few. Turn to
Romans 11 again. Romans 11, verse 25. Now He uses
this word mystery frequently. He says in Romans 11, 25, I would
not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery. We got a mystery
on our hands and He said, I don't want you to be ignorant about
it. lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part
is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentile be come
in." Have you solved the mystery of
God's dealing with Israel, Abraham's seed in the flesh? What shall be concerning Israel? What is God's plan for Israel?
I don't know, it's a mystery. I've often said to this congregation,
something's happening over there. I don't know what it is. But
you say, all Israel is not Israel. He's not a Jew which is one outwardly,
he's one which is a Jew inwardly. I know that. I know circumcision
is not of the flesh, it's of the heart. I know that. And I
know that all Israel shall be saved. I know that. But I do
know that God says here there's a mystery concerning blindness,
which has happened to Israel, and that in part. And He talks
about a fullness of the Gentiles. He talks about the Gentiles'
day reaching an end, and then something happening for Israel.
And I don't understand that mystery. Let me show you another one,
I Corinthians 15. Let's see. If we know so much,
let's see what we know about this mystery. In 1 Corinthians
15, beginning with verse 51, it says this, I'll show you a
mystery. Behold, look, listen, I'll show
you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. In other
words, when Christ comes again, some people are going to be in
the grave. We've buried some already, going to bury some more
too. And they shall rise. But he said, everybody's not
going to die. Somebody's going to be living when Christ comes.
But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, in the batting of an eye, at the last trump, trumpets
going to sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise. And we're
going to be changed from corruptible flesh to incorruptible flesh. Boy, that's a mystery. Here a
man stands right here. Christ were to come right now
in a batting of an eye, I stand here before you now a human with
flesh and bones and blood and a human nature and so many weaknesses,
afflictions, infirmities and just like that I'd be in the
image of Christ. Don't know much about that, Ronnie,
do you? That's a mystery. Let me show you another one,
Ephesians 1. Here's another mystery to handle if you'd like to. If
you'd like to, in Ephesians 1, verse 9, he said, Having made
known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure, which he purposed in himself. Paul's taking us back
here now, before the morning stars sang together, before the
sons of God shouted for joy, earth was created before man's
footprints walked on this earth. He's taking us back there when
God purposed something in himself and showing us a mystery. And
he said, verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of time, when all of it's over, when the earth and the heavens
melt with a fervent heat, God establishes a new heaven and
new earth. He's going to gather together. in one, all things
in Christ, in his covenant of mercy and grace, which are in
heaven, which are on earth, even in him, in whom we have obtained
an inheritance. What a mystery. God's going to
gather all His children, all of His elect, all of His sheep,
all of His people, from all the four corners of the earth, from
heaven and earth, He's going to gather them together in one
in Christ, according as He purposed in Himself, according to the
good pleasure of His will, before the world began. That's a mystery. Let me show you another one.
Colossians 1. Colossians chapter 1. Now you know this. Colossians
1, 25, for centuries, for centuries, from the day of Abraham to the
day that Christ came into the world. God was pleased to pass
by the Gentiles. That's who we are, Gentiles.
And this church at Colossae was a Gentile church, and God was
pleased to pass by the Gentiles. And God only revealed His mercy
and His grace to the Jewish nation. You know that, and I do too.
There was one tabernacle, it was in Israel. There was one
high priest, he was in Israel. There was one altar and mercy
seat and one atonement, that was in Israel. And the Israelites
were not to have any dealings with the Jews, I mean with the
Gentiles. And God passed by the Gentiles
all the time, though, promising that He would have a people out
of every nation. And here in Colossians 1, verse
25, He says this, Paul's the minister to the Gentiles,
apostle to the Gentiles. He said in verse 25, whereof
I made a minister according to the dispensation of God which
was given to me for you, you Gentiles, to fulfill the Word
of God, even the mystery, the mystery which has been hid from
ages and generations. A mystery that's been hidden
from all of the princes and kings of the Persians and the Babylonians
and the Egyptians and the kings and queens and statesmen of the
Philistines and the Amalekites and these prominent people in
all the world. And now it's revealed to His
saints. It's a mystery. which is Christ
in you, Christ in you, the living God who dwelt between the cherubims
and called it his shekinah glory, in you. We understand professions and
handshaking and decisions. We understand joining the church
and participating in ordinances. We understand slipping from one
doctrinal position to another. We understand our legalism and
morality and ceremonialism. But I'll give you a mystery.
Christ in a person. the living God, who inhabits
the heavens, whom the world cannot contain, and the earth is His
footstool. Here's a mystery, Christ in you. Christ in you. That's 1 Timothy. Let's look at another one. 1
Timothy chapter 3. Here's one for us to, perhaps
you'd like to do a study on the incarnation of God. Sometimes when you feel that
you've arrived, that you've got a pretty good corner on the truth,
that you know a whole lot about God and religion, and you're
expounding what you think. Well, I know what I think. Tell
me what you think about how God became flesh. How he who made woman was made
of a woman. Can you figure that one out?
Maybe you can tell me how the world was in him and yet he was
in the world. He who inhabits the Shekinah
glory, walked on the earth and thirsted like everybody else,
weary and hungry. Oh, Paul said in 1 Timothy 3.16,
without controversy, great is the mystery of Godliness. Great
is the mystery of godliness, the mystery. God was manifest
in the flesh. I watch some of these religious
services where they're carrying on so much foolishness and whooping
it up and carrying on and talking about speaking in tongues and
all manner of gibberish. walking on the backs of the pews
and throwing songbooks and all this sort of thing. And I think,
oh, if we could just, by the power of God's Spirit, if we could get out of the flesh
for a little while, out of our carnal logic and our carnal reasoning,
our carnal ignorance and start asking the Spirit of God to give
us some insight into and some understanding of the mystery
of godliness. how God was manifest in the flesh,
seen of the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, crucified on a cross, buried in shame, raised in glory,
ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high, and now
intercedes as our great advocate and mediator. Oh, that we might
enter into these mysteries. Might do well for us to sit where
Job sat one day, turn to Job chapter 38, sit where Job sat
one day, all of his cockiness and haughtiness and arrogance
and self-righteousness, and God sat him down. Have you received the gifts?
Can you speak with tongues? Do you have the gift of this,
that and the other? You're just playing games, that's
all. The Lord said, Job sat him down,
verse chapter 38. Job, who is this that darkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge? What's all this stuff you're
talking about? What you are and what you've done, what you know.
Dirt up now your loins like a man, I'll demand of you, and you answer
me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare if you have any understanding. Who laid the measures thereof,
if you know? Who stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Who laid the
cornerstone? When the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy, who shut up the sea
with doors when it break forth as if it had issued out of the
womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness
a swaddling band for it? Look at verse 17. Have the gates
of death been opened to you, Joe? Have you seen the doors
of the shadow of death? Verse 33, knowest thou the ordinances
of heaven? Can you set the dominion thereof
in the earth? Can you lift up your voice to
the clouds that rain waters fall upon you? Can you send lightnings
that they may go and say unto thee, here we are, here we are,
send us where you will? Who hath put wisdom in the inward
parts? Who hath given understanding
to the heart? God ask him, who sends the bird south in the winter?
Who taught the robin to build its nest? Who taught the little
animals to provide food for their young? Do you know these things? Oh, the mysteries of God. And
then Job said in Job 42, listen to him, Job 42, Job answered
the Lord and said, Lord, I know that you can do everything and
that not one thought of the heart can be withholden from thee.
Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Things too
wonderful for me. Things too wonderful for me which
I knew not. And I've got another one here
now in Ephesians 5. Things too wonderful that we
mortals take for granted, that we speak of so flippantly and
carelessly. God's love. God's love. Here in Ephesians chapter 5,
he said this is a mystery. This is a mystery. I speak concerning
Christ and the Church. And in verse 25, he said, Husband,
love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for
it. The Holy Spirit here likens the
relationship between Christ and His Church, Christ and His Mother, to that relationship between
a husband and a wife. This is a great mystery. My question first of all was
this, well how can any earthly relationship, I don't care what
it is, because everything here is so imperfect, everything here
is so temporary, everything here has so much flesh associated
with it, everything is so subject to change. How can any earthly
relationship fully express or typify that blessed union between
Christ and His Church, between the Lord and His elect? That's
a mystery. That's a mystery, but that mystery
to some extent is revealed by the Spirit of God and entered
into by faith. He said, Husband, love your wives
as Christ loved the Church. How did Christ love the church?
I'm going to answer that briefly, if you'll be patient with me.
How did he love the church? Well, first of all, it was an
electing love. It was an electing love. Now,
how is that like a husband and wife? Well, the husband chooses
his bride. According to his own desire,
according to his own will, he chooses his bride. I know many
years ago that possibly was not so, when families, for convenience
sake and other things, put young people together and gave them
to one another when they were young. But today, a husband chooses
his bride, and the Lord Jesus Christ chose his church. He said, you have not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. Listen to 1 John, chapter 4.
1 John, the fourth chapter, our Lord said, herein is love. Here's
love. Here's real love. Not that we
loved God. We didn't love God. We loved
darkness. We didn't love light. We loved
ourselves. We didn't love God. Herein is
love. Not that we loved God. He loved
us. He loved us. He chose us. He
loved us before the foundation of the world. Over here in Deuteronomy,
turn if you will to Deuteronomy chapter 7. Listen to this. Our
Lord speaking to Israel, which is typical of spiritual Israel. And he said in Deuteronomy 7
verse 6, you're a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord
thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people to himself.
A man chooses his wife to be a special person. All he loves,
his parents, he loves his brothers and sisters, he loves other people
in the world with a sincere affection. But his wife is special. She's
special. Special unto him above all people
and upon the face of the earth. And verse 7 says, the Lord did
not set his love upon you or choose you because you were more
in number than any people. You were the fewest of all. But
why did he do it? Because he loved you. Because He loved you. That's
why He chose you. That's why He chose you. I thank
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. All right. And you know old Mephibosheth,
when David sent down to the house of Lodibar, no pasture, no bread,
and brought that old poor crippled boy up, the son of Jonathan,
and said to him, Mephibosheth, you're going to eat at the king's
table. You're going to sit with the king's son. You're going
to be my son forever. And poor crippled Mephibosheth,
sitting there on the ground, looked up at King David, and
he said, why? Why have you shown such mercy
to such a dead dog? And every one of us must feel
that way in the light of our Lord's love for us. We didn't
love Him, He loved us. We didn't choose Him, He chose
us. We didn't seek Him, He sought
us. And He did it because of the
good pleasure of His will. He did it because He would. Secondly,
this love that Christ has for His church is an unselfish love. It says He loved the church and
gave Himself for it. It's an unselfish love. He never
loved us for what we were. He never loved us for what we
had. He never loved us for what we could give to Him. I wish
we could learn that kind of love. When some individual ceases to
serve us, then we cease to love. When some individual ceases to
be what we think that person ought to be, then we cease to
love. Our love is for ourselves and ourselves alone. And it's
a covetous love and a greedy love. But our Lord Jesus Christ
for us had an unselfish love. He had nothing to gain by loving
us. We had everything to gain. He
was rich, we were poor. He is very God of very God, and
we are man. Oh, such finite, fallible creatures. He was beloved of the Father,
adored of the angels, an heir of all things, and yet he set
his love upon us. Nothing good in us, and yet he
loved us, took all of our debts and made them his own, gave himself
to satisfy God's holy law and God's righteous justice on our
behalf. We were nothing. It just seems like everybody's
love's got a price on it, and I believe it does. I believe
it does. I believe there's no such thing
in human hearts, in human nature, in a human body as love apart
from Christ Jesus. I don't believe it exists. Because
it's motivated by the self and by principles of greed. And that's
not our Lord's love. That's not our Lord's love. He
gave himself. He didn't require anything of
us. I read one time that if a Jewish man was engaged to be married
to a woman, either before or after the ceremony, it doesn't
matter if it's discovered before the ceremony or after the ceremony
or after they've lived together for a certain time. If any spot
is found in her or any blemish or any past fault found in her
by law, the marriage was off. he could divorce her. In other
words, our Lord said this, and he was quoting that Jewish law,
if any man put away his wife except for the cause of fornication.
In other words, if a Jewish man married a Jewish woman and found
out she was not a virgin, he could divorce her right there,
according to the law. But oh, what spots and blemishes
and faults and sins our Lord found in us And yet he kept on
loving us. Kept on loving. Gave himself,
numbered with the transgressors, a total unselfish love. Let me
read you a hymn they used to sing in Spurgeon's church. Sing
the song of Jesus' love. Sweep the song, all songs above. Love unmerited and free, our
triumphant song shall ever be. Now begin the heavenly theme.
Sing aloud in Jesus' name. Love which made the Lord of all
drink the wormwood and the gall. Love which led him to the cross,
bearing there our shameful loss. Love which took him to the gloom
of that cold and darkened tomb. Love which made him to arise
far above the starry skies, there with tender loving care all his
people's griefs to share. Love which will not let him rest
till his chosen ones all are blessed, till they all for whom
he died live rejoicing by his side." His love is an unselfish
love. And then thirdly, his love is
an enduring love. He said, I've drawn you with
an everlasting love. You ever heard somebody say,
I don't love you anymore? You want me to give you an answer
for that? You want me to give you an answer for that? Somebody
says to you, I don't love you anymore. You want me to give
you an answer? You never did. You never did. John said if they hadn't been
of us, they would have continued with us. Love never fails. You're a liar. You never did
love. That's so. Scripture says, His
compassions fail not, they're new every morning. He said, I've
loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
I have drawn thee. You never loved, or you'd still
love. Love beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, and love
never fails. Whether they be tongues, they
shall cease. Whether they be prophecies, they shall fail.
Love never fails. Never stops. Thank God for His love. He said,
I am the Lord, I change not. The gift and calling of God are
without change. Having loved His own, having
loved His own, He loved them to the end. He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never leave you. That soul that on Jesus hath
leaned for repose, I will not I will not desert. I will not. And then fourthly, his love. How did Christ love the church?
A love of sympathy. The man who really loves his
wife shares her joys and he shares her sorrows. A person who loves
another weeps when that person weeps and rejoices when that
person rejoices. But I'll tell you this, no man
ever sympathized or identified with or entered into the sorrows
and heartaches of his wife one ten thousandth like the Lord
sympathizes and enters into, with and enters into our sorrows.
Our Lord Jesus Christ loves us with a sympathetic love. If you
just knew, cast your cares upon Him, He cares for you. Pastor, I wish I could get this
through my thick head, that I don't need to lean on the arm of the
flesh. I've got an everlasting arm upon
which to lean. I don't need to trust the wisdom
and judgment of men. I trust His eternal purpose.
All things work together for my good. to them who love God,
who are called according to His purpose. He knows my afflictions. He knows my infirmities. He knows
my sorrows. He knows my trials. He sent them! And He'll bring me through victorious.
I know that. I know that up here. I want to
learn it down here. In 1946, I'd returned from the
service And they were bringing back the
bodies of soldiers and sailors that had died and been buried
on foreign soil. And they brought back the body
of a friend of mine, a man named Leslie Patrick. Leslie left home
before I did, went into the Marines and was overseas from Guadalcanal
all the way up through Saipan and Guam and finally Iwo Jima. And he was killed there at Iwo
Jima and he was buried there on the sands of Iwo Jima. And
they were digging him up and bringing him home in 1946, and
they brought him back. First time he had been back home
since he left to go into the Marines. His mother and father
didn't see him anymore after he left. They were brokenhearted,
and we were having the funeral service, and I just remember
it like yesterday, and Doris was singing. I couldn't enter
into their sorrows then like I can now. Not nearly like I
can now, but we've gone through the same thing, you know. But
this is what I'm pointing out, that our Lord enters into your
sorrows. It's not a sorrow you have He
can't enter into because He's been there. He was tempted in
all points as we are. See, when they were burying this
boy, and Darce was singing this song, The song I thought was
beautiful, but not like I know it now. And that one aspect of
their sorrow, I can, if that were happening now, I know exactly
where they were, but I didn't know them. But what I'm saying
is, my Lord, there's no sorrow, there's no heartache, there's
no trial, there's no burden, there's no loneliness, there's
no disappointment, there's no misunderstanding. If you can
possibly endure that He does not fully enter into and sympathize
with you and understand and care because He's been there. Darth sang this song. God understands
your sorrow. He sees the falling tear. And
He whispers, I'm with you. Falter not nor fear. God understands your heartache. He knows the bitter pain. Trust
Him. Trust Him in your darkness. You can't trust Him in vain.
God understands your weakness. He knows the tempter's power.
And He will walk beside you however dark the hour because He understands
your longing. Your deepest grief He shares. Then He will bear your burden
because He understands and cares. His love is a love of sympathy. I don't know how religionists
got so mean when their Lord is so gracious. I don't know how religionists
got so cruel and heartless when their Lord is so merciful. Could
it be that they don't know Him? Could that be the truth, that
they'd just never been with him? Just never been with him. It
looks like he'd rub off on them a little bit, doesn't it? If
they spent much time in his presence. If they watched him forgive,
they'd learn how. If they watched him show mercy,
looks like they'd learn how. They watched him in his dedication
to the Father's will, in his submissiveness to the Father's
will. in his dedication to the Father's will. Looks like they'd
become more dedicated, doesn't it? I believe they would. I believe
they would because husbands love your wives as Christ loved the
church. I believe our families would
become more loving places if the father and mother had experienced
the presence of Christ. Because he's our example. Last
of all, his love is one of an intimate union. I'll just give
you this and quit. In verse 28, men ought to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth
it and cherisheth it, even as the Lord his church. For we are
members of his body, of his flesh, of his bones. You understand
this? This is a mystery, he said. I
don't understand it. I know a husband and wife are
one, in that they have the same name, they live together, they
share equally what they have. But this union is nothing compared
with the living union of Christ and the church. We are members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bone, It's not fiction
or a figure of speech. We are one with Christ. He prayed,
Father, that they may be one as we are. I in them and thou
in me. What an intimate living union. Elected, redeemed, called, regenerated
in Christ. And somebody said this, we too
are so joined that I find he'll never be in heaven and leave
me behind. We too are so joined that this
I find he'll never be in heaven and leave me behind." Our Father bless the Word. Make
it effectual. Oh Lord, make it effectual. The only thing that can deliver
us from hypocrisy and false religion is a true experience of grace
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now continue Thy mercies upon
us in the ceremony to follow for the glory of Christ. Amen.