Sermon #1551 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: The
Mysteries of God
Text: 1 Corinthians 4:1
Subject: Things Now Revealed
Date: Sunday Morning Bible Class
Tape # X-94a
Introduction:
Turn with me, if you will,
to 1 Corinthians 4:1. Paul has been urging the saints at
Let a man so
account of us, as the ministers of Christ. What an
awesome privilege, honor and responsibility this is! The man who now stands
before you is nothing. There is not a man in this building who is not more fit
than me to be your pastor, and to preach the gospel of Christ. I know something
of my own innate limitations and inward lusts. But the Lord God has been
pleased, in his infinite goodness and boundless grace, to make this worthless
piece of human flesh a minister, a servant of Christ. He has trusted to this
earthen vessel the treasure of his gospel!
"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." Those men called and gifted to preach the gospel are stewards in Gods house, stewards of the mysteries of God. They are men to whose care the Lord God has committed the wondrous mysteries of the gospel, giving them light, knowledge and understanding in them. It is their business and responsibility to dispense and make known, the mysteries of his boundless, free grace in Christ.
The one thing that is required of stewards is that they be found faithful to their stewardship (1 Cor. 4:2).
(1 Cor 4:2) "Moreover it is
required in stewards, that a man be found
faithful."
I covet your prayers on my
behalf in this regard, that I may be found faithful to your souls, faithful to
the gospel, and faithful to the glory of God. In faithfulness to my
responsibility to your souls as the servant of Christ and a steward of the
mysteries of God, I want to talk to you today about the mysteries of God.
Mystery
The word mystery, as it is used in the New Testament, refers to something
once hidden but now revealed.
·
That which was hidden under the
types and shadows of the law is now revealed in the gospel.
·
That which is hidden from natural,
unregenerate, unbelieving people is revealed to believers by the Holy Spirit.
The word is used twenty-two times in the New Testament. But the
mysteries revealed are seven. There are seven mysteries
specifically revealed in the gospel.
THE
MYSTERY OF GODLINESS
I.
The apostle Paul speaks of the
mystery of godliness in 1 Timothy 3:16.
(1 Tim 3:15-16) "But if I
tarry long, 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. (16) And 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 on in the world, received up into
glory."
The
mystery of godliness is the whole body of revealed truth regarding the
Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ the incarnate, crucified, risen,
exalted, saving Son of God (Eph. 6:19; Col. 2:2; 4:3). It is called the
mystery of the gospel the mystery of God and the mystery
of Christ.
(Eph 6:19) "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel."
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THE
MYSTERY OF FAITH
II.
The Holy Spirit tells us (1 Tim.
3:9) that pastors and deacons must be men who hold the mystery of the
faith in a pure conscience.
There
is but one faith by which sinners are saved, the faith of Christ. John calls it
the doctrine of Christ. The mystery of the faith is the
message of salvation by the grace of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is the message of the gospel (1 Cor. 2:7).
(1 Tim 1:19-20) "Holding
faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have
made shipwreck: (20) Of whom is Hymenaeus and
Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to
blaspheme."
(1 Cor 2:7) "But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory."
THE
MYSTERY OF SPIRITUAL
III.
Then the Scriptures speak of what I
will call the mystery of spiritual union between Christ
and his people (Eph.
(Eph 5:25-32) "Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
(26) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word, (27) 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. (28) So ought men to love their wives as their own
bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. (29) For no man ever yet
hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the
church: (30) For we are members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones. (31) For this cause shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one
flesh. (32) This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and
the church."
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What
a mystery this is! There is a real, blessed, indestructible union, a mystical,
spiritual oneness between Christ and his people. We are in Christ and Christ is
in us. Believers are so thoroughly one with Christ that all that he is and has
as the God-man, we are and have in him. His doing is our doing. His acceptance
is our acceptance. And his reward is our reward.
Twixt
Jesus and the chosen race
There
is a bond of sovereign grace
That
hell with its infernal train
Can
neer dissolve, nor rend in twain!
THE
MYSTERY OF
IV.
The mystery of providence
masterfully is set before us in Romans 8-11(Rom.
The
mystery of providence is the revelation of the fact that God has always
intended to save chosen sinners out of every nation. To that end he sovereignly
rules all things. Even the fall and casting away of the Jews was used by God to
be a means of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles.
(Rom 11:25-27) "For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (26) And so all Israel shall be
saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (27) For this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins."
(Eph 3:3-9) "How that by
revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
(4) Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ) (5) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,
as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; (6)
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: (7) Whereof I was made
a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the
effectual working of his power. (8) Unto me, who am less than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ; (9) And to make all men see what is
the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath
been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:"
THE
MYSTERY OF THE
STARS
AND CANDLESTICKS
V.
When John was banished to the Isle
of Patmos, he was in the Spirit on the Lords day.
When it came time to worshipped, though he could not meet with them in body, he
met with Gods saints around the throne. As he did, worshipping God, the Lord
Jesus taught him the mystery of the stars and candlesticks (Rev.
1:20).
The
revelation of this mystery is the assurance given to faithful pastors (stars)
and gospel churches (candlesticks) that they are in the hands of Christ,
established, provided for, and preserved by him.
(Rev 1:10-20) "I was in the
Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
(11) Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou
seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in
Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and
unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
(12) And
I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks; (13) And in the midst of
the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a
garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. (14)
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as
snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; (15) And his feet
like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the
sound of many waters. (16) And he had in his right hand seven stars: and
out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as
the sun shineth in his strength.
(17 And
when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me,
saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: (18) I am he
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have
the keys of hell and of death. (19) Write the things which thou hast
seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
(20) The mystery of the seven stars which thou
sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest
are the seven churches."
THE
MYSTERY OF INIQUITY
VI.
The mystery of iniquity(2
Thess. 2:7) and of Babylon (Rev. 17:5) like all that we have seen
thus far, is a mystery that cannot be known and understood, except by Divine
Revelation. But this is a mystery plainly, forcibly, unmistakably revealed in
the Book of God.
The
mystery of iniquity and of
(2 Th 2:7-12) "For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until
he be taken out of the way. (8) And then shall that Wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming: (9) Even him, whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (10) And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie: (12) That they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
(2 Th 2:13-14) "But we are
bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (14) Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Rev 17:4-8) "And the woman
was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication: (5) And upon her forehead was a
name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (6) And I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw
her, I wondered with great admiration. (7) And the angel
said unto me, Wherefore didst thou
marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast
that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. (8) The
beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall
wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of
the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet
is."
THE
MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION
VII.
Now, turn to 1 Corinthians 15 and
behold the mystery of the resurrection (1 Cor.
The
mystery of the resurrection is the wonder of how Christ will both raise the
dead and reconcile all things to God (Eph. 1:9-10) at his glorious second
advent.
(1 Cor