We're turning this morning to
the book of Matthew chapter 11. I'm going to read and speak from
verse 25 of Matthew 11. Now here's our subject. The mysteries
of the gospel. Now the scripture calls the gospel
a mystery. The mystery of godliness. The
mysteries of things revealed. But I'm speaking on the mysteries
of the gospel which are hidden and which are revealed. Now listen
to the text. This is the Master speaking.
He says in verse 25 of Matthew 11, at that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord Sovereign of heaven and
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and
the prudent, from the wise and the clever, the worldly wise,
and Thou hast revealed these things unto babes, even so, Father,
for so it seem good in thy sight." Now, my friends, when our Lord
appeared on this earth in the flesh, when Jesus Christ came
into the world, though He came on the most gracious and merciful
heavenly business, and Paul said this business was to save, he
said, Jesus Christ is come into this world to seek and to save
that which is lost." Our Lord said Himself, the Son of Man,
is come to seek and to save the lost. Christ came to die for
sinners, Paul said, of whom I am cheap. Now though He came on
the most gracious and merciful heavenly business, and though
He was Himself without blame, holy without sin, the Scripture
says He knew no sin, even Pilate before that throne crying for
his blood. Pilate said, I find no fault
in him. I find no fault in him, though he was holy and without
blame. And though men acknowledged that he came from God, Nicodemus
said, we know you're a teacher come from God. No man could do
the miracles you do except God be with him. And though he healed
the sick, and though he performed innumerable acts of kindness
and love, he was hated. The scripture says, despised
and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. He was rejected. He was despised. We esteemed him not. No beauty
that we should desire him. He found many enemies. In fact,
everybody that was anybody turned thumbs down on Jesus Christ. He found many enemies and few
friends. Our Lord was especially hated
by those high and religious circles. You know that. He was especially
hated by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin, the scribes, even
the high priests. These men who were noted for
their theology, noted for their doctrines and their knowledge
of morality and tradition, these men who carried on the ceremonies
in the so-called house of God, despised Jesus Christ. They sought
on every hand to trap him, to ensnare him, to turn the people
against him. They despised him. And then he
was especially hated by those in great political power and
great national power. They began to say, well, can
any good thing come out of Nazareth, that little burg, that little
village, that poverty-stricken pocket? Can anything good come
out of that place? Our Lord was rejected by the
wealthy, by the influential. Our Lord asked this question.
He said, how hardly shall they that have great riches enter
into the kingdom of God. Those who came to him were sinners. Those who gathered about him
were the needy, the unlearned, the unloved, the obscure persons. He was called the friend of sinners. Our Lord was kind and merciful
to sinners. He associated with men whom other
men abhorred. He said, I'm not come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The well have no
need of a physician, but they that are sick. The Pharisees
said, look at him. He's gone to be the guest of
a man who's a sinner. One day the Pharisees asked his
disciples, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?
Because the others rejected him. Because they despised him. because
they turned their backs on Him. He didn't turn His back on them.
Our Lord never turned His back on any man. They turned their
backs on Him. Let's put the blame for our misery
where it belongs. Christ said, You will not come
to Me that you might have life. One day He said, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you to Myself as a hen
doth gather her brood, but you would not. That's where the blame
belongs. The high and mighty The wise
and clever, the political powers, the religious powers all turned
thumbs down on Jesus Christ. They turned their backs on Jesus
Christ. They cried for his death. He
did not turn his back on them. Let's put the blame for the misery
of men where it belongs. God says, I have called and you
refused. God says, I've stretched forth
my hand and you would not. Therefore, when your fear cometh,
I will laugh. You will seek me, and shall not
find me. You will call upon me, and I
shall not hear. However, our Lord shall not fail
on his mission of mercy. Our Lord shall not fail on his
redemptive road. God will have a people. Heaven
will be populated. The gospel of Jesus Christ will
be believed. Heaven will resound with songs
of praise for the grace of our lovely Lord. And that's what
our Lord's rejoicing about right here. At that time, at that time,
Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and said, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, sovereign King, thou hast hid these things, thou hast
hid these things from the wise and the clever, where thou hast
revealed them unto babe. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight." Now I want us to look at this statement carefully.
What's our Lord saying here? And there are five. I want to
divide it into five parts so that it'll help you understand
it and help you retain it. Number one, what are these things
that the Lord's talking about? When He said, Father, you've
hid these things from the wise and the clever, the worldly wise,
you've hid these things. What are these things? which
are hidden. Secondly, where are they hidden?
In what sense are they hidden? And thirdly, from whom are they
hidden? And then fourthly, how is the
knowledge of these things to be obtained? Somebody's going
to hear it. Somebody's going to believe it. Somebody's going
to lay hold upon it. Somebody's going to embrace it.
God's going to have a people. The Lord God shall not fail.
Christ did not suffer in vain. Though the rich and the wealthy
and the influential and the powerful and the religious say, no, we'll
not have this man reign over us, we will not submit to him,
we will not bow in subjection to him, we will not have Jesus
Christ, we'll have our own way of religion, they may say that,
but Christ will have a people. The poor and the despised, the
haught, the lame, the blind, go out and call them, he said,
compel them to come in, that my house may be full. And the
fifth thing I'm going to look at is this. to whom are these
things, these things revealed. Now let's take them one at a
time. First of all, what are these things? Our Lord said,
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have
hid these things, these things, from the wise and the prudent.
What are these things? Well, in general, in general,
these things are the things that pertain to salvation. These things
are the things that pertain to eternal life. These are the things
that pertain to a relationship with God, a true relationship
with God. Now, Christ accused those of
His day. This is what He said, You neither
know Me nor My Father. He says, If I tell you earthly
things and you don't understand, how can you understand, how can
you believe, if I tell you heavenly things? The Apostle Paul said,
I had not seen, ear had not heard, neither hath it entered the heart
of man the things God has prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. Neither hath it entered
the heart of man these things that God hath prepared. And that's
what I'm talking about. These things here are the things
pertaining to salvation, eternal life, a relationship with God.
And it's evident from Scripture. And it's evident from experience,
and it's evident from history, that the natural man knows little
or nothing of God. Oh, he has a God, a God of his
own imagination, a God of nature, a God that he's whittled out
with his own penknife. He has a God, he has an idea
of God, but it's not according to knowledge. He's ignorant of
spiritual matters. He's ignorant of a true knowledge
of God, but Jesus Christ said eternal life is to know the living
God. And David said, as the heart
panteth for the water brook, so panteth my soul after the
living God. These things are hidden from
the wise and the prudent. Now that's in general. These
things in particular, these things in particular are the truths
and doctrines which pertain to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They hated Christ and rejected
him for the things which he taught. They didn't hate Christ because
he healed the sick, because he raised the dead, because he fed
the hungry. They didn't hate him for these
things. He said, many good works have I done among you, for which
of these do you stone me? They said, we're not stoning
you for a good work. We're stoning you because you're a man and
you say you're God. Oh, that's the problem. He is God Almighty. Do you believe that? Jesus Christ
is God Almighty. He said, I and my Father one.
He said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He said,
no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son
will reveal him. God said, thy throne, O God,
is forever. Paul said, feed the church of
God, which God purchased with his own blood. These things,
the deity of Christ, are hid from the wise and the prudent.
the deity of Christ what about his sovereign grace and his sovereign
power when he was down in Nazareth he told the people he'd show
mercy to whom he would he'd be gracious to whom he would why
he said when when there was a great famine over the land of Israel
there were many widows without food God didn't feed one of them
he fed a Gentile woman and there were many lepers But God didn't
heal a one, he healed a Gentile by the name of Naaman, and they
rose up in anger and would have killed him, would have thrown
him off a cliff, simply because he said, sovereign mercy, mercy
is sovereignly given. Grace is sovereignly given. It's
not mercy if it's earned, it's not mercy if it's bought, it's
not mercy if it's owed. It's mercy if it's sovereignly
given. When a man casts himself on the
mercy of the court, he's casting himself upon the sovereign mercy
of the judge. The judge doesn't have to free
him. He doesn't have to pardon him. He doesn't have to parole
him. He'll do it if he will. And that's what the leper said
to Christ, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. But these
things are hidden. And not only that, but the new
birth. Our Lord talked to Nicodemus about being born again. He said,
how can this be? Here's a master in Israel. Here's
a student of the Scriptures. Here's a theologian, graduate
theologian. Here's a man old, up in years,
who's been leading, teaching people, religion, all his life,
and Christ talks to him about the simple matter of regeneration,
the simple matter of the new birth, the simple matter of the
awakening of a sinner, the creation of a new heart, and he says,
what, what, did I go back in my mother's womb and be born
again? Our Lord said, Nicodemus, are you a master in Israel? And
you don't know that? You don't know anything about
the new birth? These things are hid, the nature of faith. He
said to them, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink his blood, you have no life in you. And they began to
look around saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?
We're not cannibals. We're not supposed to drink blood.
How can we drink his blood? They didn't understand the nature
of faith, of receiving Christ into the heart, like I receive
food. into my mouth, it goes into my belly, and is digested
and sent into all parts of my body, and nourishes me and strengthens
me and gives me life by that which I put within. So when I
receive Christ by faith in my heart, He nourishes my whole
being." They didn't understand that. They didn't understand
the depravity and inability of man. He accused them of being
sinners. They said, we're not sinners. We're not sinners. We don't do any wrong, we don't
steal, we don't kill. Christ said, let me tell you
something. You've heard it said by them of old times, thou shalt
not kill. Listen to me. To hate a man in your heart is
to be guilty of murder. You see, that's where sin is
born, that's where it's bred, that's where it's nourished,
in the heart. The things that the flesh does is simply the
result of sin concocted and planned in the heart. They didn't understand
that. These things were hidden from
them. Well, they said, God's our Father, we have Moses. And
I'll tell you this, men today will not hear these things. These
things. In general, our Lord said, Father,
you've hid these things from the clever and the wise and the
intellectuals and the smart-alecks. You've hid these things. And
these things in general pertain to salvation, life, a relationship
with God. In particular, the deity of the
Son of God, His incarnation, His sovereign power, the inability
of men, the substitutionary work of Christ, the new birth, regeneration,
repentance, faith, sanctification. To most people these are just
words, imputed righteousness, imparted righteousness. These
things. Well, where are they hidden?
In what sense are they hidden? Well, I'll tell you where. They're
hidden in Christ. That's right. They're in Christ.
That's where they are. They're in Christ. God's put
every blessing pertaining to sinners in Christ. God's put
every blessing pertaining to salvation in Christ. In Him dwelleth. It wasn't there for a little
while and then left. It dwelleth. All the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's where it is. It's in Christ.
He of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. You don't need anything but that.
Wisdom, heavenly spiritual wisdom. Righteousness, that's pure, perfect,
immaculate, infinite holiness. Sanctification, that's imparted
righteousness, holiness of life. And redemption, no charge, no
condemnation, no judgment, all in Christ. They're in Christ,
that's where they are. Well, you say, why are they hidden
then? Why does he say, if they're clearly in Christ, if they're
vested in Christ, if God's put them in Christ, if that's where
they are, then why are they said to be hidden? Well, they're not
hidden as in a game, when we play hide-and-seek, or when we
hide the apple or hide the marble. And they're not put in Christ
so that men can't find it, if they really want Christ, if they
really seek Christ, if they really desire Christ. Blessed are they
that hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be filled." Any man
who wants to know these things can know them. But these things
are in Christ and men do not find them or discover them or
learn them because they're seeking them. Listen to me. Not in Christ,
but everywhere but in Christ. That's the reason they're hidden.
You'll never find anything if you don't look where it is. If
I take my keys today and hide them over there under that chair,
You're not going to find them looking on this pulpit. You're
not going to find them looking back here behind the backdrop. You've got to look where they
are. And the reason salvation, eternal life, forgiveness, mercy,
which is hid in Christ, is not discovered and understood and
laid hold upon by sinners is because they're not looking for
these things in Christ. They're looking for them everywhere
but in Christ. They're looking for salvation
down at the front of a church, or in a preacher's hand, or in
a sacrament, or in bread, or wafers, or wine, or in the baptismal
pool, or in the law, or in the good works. Paul said in Romans
10, he said they're going about to establish their own righteousness. They won't submit to the righteousness
of God, which is Christ. Christ said, I'm the way. The
truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. But we're trying to get to the Father through the church.
Ask a man, how are you saved? Well, I'm a good Christian. Or
I'm a Methodist or a Baptist or a Catholic. That's not the
way to be saved. Christ is the way to God. It
clearly says that. It's in Christ. Or men try to
be saved by doing good. Are you a Christian? Well, I've
never done anybody any harm. I've always tried to do the best
I can. I've been good to my wife and children and taken care of
my family and paid my honest debt. Well, that's not the way
to God. You're looking for it everywhere,
wherever it is. It's in Christ. Forgiveness, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus. And where are you looking for
redemption? Well, you're looking in your works. Are you a Christian?
Yeah, 25 years ago, I did this, I did that, I did this. But that's
not what the Scripture says. It says redemption is not in
I did, it's in He did. It's in Christ. You see what
I'm saying? These things are hid. The door
to heaven, what is it? Somebody says, well, there's
a lot of ways to heaven. We're all just traveling different
ways. Christ said, other foundation can no man lay than that which
is laid, Christ Jesus. There's none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. I am the door,
by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. He that climbeth
up some other way is a thief and a robber. These things, they're
hid. from the wise and the clever
and the prudent. Because he's looking for these
things everywhere but where they are. And they're going to stay
here from you till you see them in Christ. You're coming to Christ
or you're not coming to God. You're coming by the way of the
cross or you're not coming at all. Now that's so. And you'll
go on blinded. Blinded by the God of this world.
He's religious. He's always been religious. He's
always dealt with people in the religious area, in the religious
realm. Some people think Satan hangs
out at the honky-tonks and down at the pool room or somewhere.
No, he doesn't. He hangs around in churches and
synagogues and cathedrals and everywhere where religion is
named so he can blind people with everything in the world
but Christ. He doesn't care how religious
you are, just so you do not know Christ. And they remain hidden
from everybody who looks for them anywhere but in Christ,
who said, look unto me and be you saved. I'm God and there's
none else. all the ends of the earth. Is
that clear? Thirdly, from whom are they hidden? He said, Father, you've hid these
things from the wise and the prudent. Now, this expression
does not mean that these people who reject God's grace and gospel
are truly wise. He calls them the wise. You've
hid these things from the wise. They're not really wise. They're
wise in the wrong things. They're clever in the natural
realm. They can build bridges and skyscrapers and make war.
But they think themselves to be wise, but the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God. A truly wise man is one who fears
God. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ is
saying this. You hear these things from the
wise and the prudent, from people who have worldly wisdom, natural
wisdom, physical, material wisdom. And they think themselves to
be wise in the spiritual realm. But they, in that realm, they're
blind and dull of hearing. The natural man receives, if
not the things of God, their foolishness to it. The truly
wise man is the man who fears God. Listen to the wise man Solomon. He said, the beginning of wisdom
is the fear of the Lord. That's where it all starts. The
secret of the Lord, the secret of God, the mysteries of God
are with them that fear God. A man of good judgment, a prudent
man, is one who knows that a man's life does not consist in the
things which he possesses. That what shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? Listen to 1 Corinthians
1.26. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh are called, not many
mighty, not many noble, but God hath chosen the foolish things
of this world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the
base things, and the things which are despised by men, to bring
to naught the things that are. To whom are these things hidden? The worldly wise, even the religious
wise, those who think themselves to be wise, and have not subjected
their so-called wisdom to the wisdom of God. who've not come
down in the dust at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, who've
not said, Lord, I'm but a child, teach me. I'm so hungry, feed
me. I'm so empty, fill me. I'm so
blind, give me sight. I'm so deaf, give me hearing.
I'm so dumb. Let the light of the glorious
gospel of Jesus Christ shine into my heart. Well, how is the
knowledge of these things obtained? Salvation, forgiveness of sin,
eternal life. He said, Thou hast revealed them.
That gives us the clue. Thou hast revealed them. It's
a revelation. One day our Lord said to his
disciples, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man am? And they
said, well, some say you're John the Baptist, and some say you're
Elijah, and some say you're one of the prophets. See, these are
natural men of logic and intellect, trying to figure out who this
man Jesus Christ is, trying to figure out, well, where did he
come from, and who is he, and what's he saying? They couldn't
figure it out. They couldn't see it. They were so-called wise
men, but our Lord pointed to these so-called ignorant fishermen,
these obscure, uninfluential men, and He said, but whom do
you say that I am? And Peter looked at Him and said,
I know who you are. You are the Christ, the Messiah. You are the one promised all
the way through the Old Testament. You're the Son of God. And He
said, Peter, blessed are you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. You didn't learn that in school.
You didn't learn that down at synagogue. My father taught that
to you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my father, which is in heaven, Peter, blessed
are your eyes, they see, and your ears, they hear." Here were
these scribes and Pharisees. Peter spent his life on a boat,
on the beach. Fishing, cleaning nets, washing
nets, casting them into the sea, cleaning fish, cutting them up,
selling them. Here were these men who spent
their lives up there with all the old musty, rusty books. They'd
blown the dust off and swept the cobwebs and read them from
cover to cover. They'd read all of the old writers.
They'd read the scriptures. They'd searched the scriptures.
They'd searched them in vain. They were blinded by their own
traditions and ceremonies and religious heritage. They couldn't
see anything. And they said, well, who is this
man Jesus, et cetera, et cetera. And our Lord said, Peter, whom
do you say that I am? And he said, you're the son of
God. I know exactly who you are. That's how he came to know it,
by revelation. But God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,
from faith to faith. Yes, sir, that's how it's learned.
That's how it's learned. You're not going to teach a man
these things. God teaches. God's his teacher.
And we preach and we teach and we give the scripture. But I
want to tell you something. God's our teacher. The Holy Spirit's
our teacher. And we'll only learn from Him
when He opens the heart and is pleased by His grace to give
us an understanding. To whom are they revealed? Babes. Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the clever and the intellectual And thou hast revealed
them to babes. You talking about little children
preaching? Well, not necessarily. I'm talking about those who are
brought down to the feet of Christ. Down, down, down, as little children. Our Lord said, except ye be converted
and become as a little child. What's a little child like? Well,
he knows he's ignorant. He knows he doesn't know. Secondly,
he's teachable. He'll listen to you. And then
he's dependent. He'll not reason. He'll receive. And when you stop reasoning,
and start receiving, you'll start believing. Now, I have two messages
on this tape. This is a cassette tape with
two messages. One is entitled, The True Circumcision,
and the other is the one I just preached on, The Mysteries Which
Are Hidden and Which Are Revealed. If you send two dollars, I'll
mail you this tape, or as many copies as you want. Until next
Sunday, listen again, 11 o'clock. God bless you.