1 00:00:01,225 --> 00:00:05,019 Ephesians 1:7 2 00:00:05,019 --> 00:00:11,240 "In Him..." 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:21,345 Or, "In Whom..." as the original says 4 00:00:21,345 --> 00:00:26,435 speaking about the Beloved from v. 6. 5 00:00:26,435 --> 00:00:30,395 God the Father has "blessed us in the Beloved." 6 00:00:30,395 --> 00:00:34,765 "In Him, we have redemption 7 00:00:34,765 --> 00:00:39,041 through His blood, 8 00:00:39,041 --> 00:00:48,599 the forgiveness of our trespasses, 9 00:00:48,599 --> 00:00:54,616 according to the riches of His grace." 10 00:00:54,616 --> 00:00:57,116 The riches of God's grace. 11 00:00:57,116 --> 00:01:01,326 The redemption through Christ's blood 12 00:01:01,326 --> 00:01:04,016 that brings about this forgiveness 13 00:01:04,016 --> 00:01:06,466 of our trespasses 14 00:01:06,466 --> 00:01:13,494 is "according to the riches of God's grace." 15 00:01:13,494 --> 00:01:20,286 Now, verse 8. 16 00:01:20,286 --> 00:01:23,325 Every translation except the King James Version 17 00:01:23,325 --> 00:01:25,005 including the New King James, 18 00:01:25,005 --> 00:01:30,954 they all start verse 8 with a "which." 19 00:01:30,954 --> 00:01:33,864 It's generally agreed the KJV 20 00:01:33,864 --> 00:01:38,136 could be clearer in verse 8. 21 00:01:38,136 --> 00:01:41,383 KJV says, "Wherein He hath 22 00:01:41,383 --> 00:01:42,856 abounded toward us 23 00:01:42,856 --> 00:01:46,885 in all wisdom and prudence." 24 00:01:46,885 --> 00:01:49,086 It might better read the way 25 00:01:49,086 --> 00:01:53,117 the New King James, the NAS, the ESV, 26 00:01:53,117 --> 00:01:54,966 and you can see the meaning here. 27 00:01:54,966 --> 00:01:56,325 It's very clear. 28 00:01:56,325 --> 00:01:58,296 "Which He lavished..." - the "which." 29 00:01:58,296 --> 00:01:59,566 What he's referring to 30 00:01:59,566 --> 00:02:01,536 are the "riches of His grace." 31 00:02:01,536 --> 00:02:03,696 It is "according to the riches of His grace 32 00:02:03,696 --> 00:02:05,744 that we have redemption through His blood, 33 00:02:05,744 --> 00:02:07,507 the forgiveness of our trespasses," 34 00:02:07,507 --> 00:02:12,224 and these riches are those 35 00:02:12,224 --> 00:02:18,045 "which He lavished upon us." 36 00:02:18,045 --> 00:02:24,257 Now brethren, these verses - 37 00:02:24,257 --> 00:02:29,225 all the translations are pretty straight on v. 7. 38 00:02:29,225 --> 00:02:32,756 Verses 8, 9, and 10 - 39 00:02:32,756 --> 00:02:38,357 the different translations are all over the place. 40 00:02:38,357 --> 00:02:40,786 And I recognize that when I preach here, 41 00:02:40,786 --> 00:02:43,596 not everybody has the same translation, 42 00:02:43,596 --> 00:02:46,944 and so I often want to make 43 00:02:46,944 --> 00:02:50,285 some of these comments. 44 00:02:50,285 --> 00:02:52,117 Some are good in some places, 45 00:02:52,117 --> 00:02:55,774 and some not so good in some places 46 00:02:55,774 --> 00:03:00,696 as far as the translations go. 47 00:03:00,696 --> 00:03:02,693 What I will say is this, 48 00:03:02,693 --> 00:03:05,365 even though every translation 49 00:03:05,365 --> 00:03:09,266 is going to be different in these 3 verses - 50 00:03:09,266 --> 00:03:12,225 8, 9, and 10 - 51 00:03:12,225 --> 00:03:14,697 the heart of the issue is not missed 52 00:03:14,697 --> 00:03:16,426 in any of them. 53 00:03:16,426 --> 00:03:18,835 I mean, we don't have to be in perplexity 54 00:03:18,835 --> 00:03:21,935 about what is being spoken about here. 55 00:03:21,935 --> 00:03:25,267 In every one of your translations, 56 00:03:25,267 --> 00:03:29,586 you have in verse 9 the idea 57 00:03:29,586 --> 00:03:35,415 of the mystery of God's will. 58 00:03:35,415 --> 00:03:36,996 That is there. 59 00:03:36,996 --> 00:03:40,252 In verse 10, you all have 60 00:03:40,252 --> 00:03:43,866 some idea about something happening 61 00:03:43,866 --> 00:03:45,718 in the fullness of time 62 00:03:45,718 --> 00:03:51,285 that unites or brings together 63 00:03:51,285 --> 00:03:55,796 or brings unity, 64 00:03:55,796 --> 00:03:57,995 brings some commonality 65 00:03:57,995 --> 00:04:00,255 among all things in Christ, 66 00:04:00,255 --> 00:04:02,276 things in Heaven and things on earth. 67 00:04:02,276 --> 00:04:03,915 Now, we're going to, Lord willing, 68 00:04:03,915 --> 00:04:06,057 look at verse 10 next week. 69 00:04:06,057 --> 00:04:15,696 But the idea here is that God - 70 00:04:15,696 --> 00:04:18,786 remember the context, brethren - 71 00:04:18,786 --> 00:04:22,696 verse 3, Paul is blessing God 72 00:04:22,696 --> 00:04:25,506 because of the spiritual blessings 73 00:04:25,506 --> 00:04:27,186 in the heavenly places 74 00:04:27,186 --> 00:04:29,836 that those who are saved 75 00:04:29,836 --> 00:04:33,347 are blessed with in Christ. 76 00:04:33,347 --> 00:04:34,977 That's what we're talking about. 77 00:04:34,977 --> 00:04:36,615 He's enumerating. 78 00:04:36,615 --> 00:04:44,095 He presents and expands upon 79 00:04:44,095 --> 00:04:48,925 to some degree these blessings, 80 00:04:48,925 --> 00:04:51,004 spiritual blessings, 81 00:04:51,004 --> 00:04:55,586 spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. 82 00:04:55,586 --> 00:04:57,685 These are the things that excite Paul 83 00:04:57,685 --> 00:05:00,986 about our salvation. 84 00:05:00,986 --> 00:05:03,755 So what you have is 85 00:05:03,755 --> 00:05:05,755 "the riches of His grace 86 00:05:05,755 --> 00:05:08,036 He lavished upon us." 87 00:05:08,036 --> 00:05:10,035 Some of the translations 88 00:05:10,035 --> 00:05:12,865 put a period right here. 89 00:05:12,865 --> 00:05:16,255 You look at the scholars. 90 00:05:16,255 --> 00:05:18,105 Some think that the wisdom, 91 00:05:18,105 --> 00:05:21,465 the prudence, the wisdom, the insight - 92 00:05:21,465 --> 00:05:25,495 some think that has to do with our wisdom, 93 00:05:25,495 --> 00:05:29,006 that basically the mystery is revealed to us 94 00:05:29,006 --> 00:05:34,639 and it results in our wisdom and our insight. 95 00:05:34,639 --> 00:05:37,525 They take the wisdom and the insight 96 00:05:37,525 --> 00:05:39,197 or the wisdom and the prudence 97 00:05:39,197 --> 00:05:43,635 and they kick it over to verse 9. 98 00:05:43,635 --> 00:05:48,005 Most of our translations leave it in 8. 99 00:05:48,005 --> 00:05:51,336 Some put a comma after "us." 100 00:05:51,336 --> 00:05:52,925 Some put a period there. 101 00:05:52,925 --> 00:05:54,315 Some start a new sentence: 102 00:05:54,315 --> 00:05:55,764 "in all wisdom and insight, 103 00:05:55,764 --> 00:05:59,636 He made known to us the mystery of His will." 104 00:05:59,636 --> 00:06:01,115 The scholars go back and forth. 105 00:06:01,115 --> 00:06:02,797 Is this God's wisdom? 106 00:06:02,797 --> 00:06:05,324 Is this our wisdom as a result of 107 00:06:05,324 --> 00:06:07,226 the mystery of His will? 108 00:06:07,226 --> 00:06:10,056 I'll let you guys fight through that. 109 00:06:10,056 --> 00:06:12,337 Obviously what God is doing here 110 00:06:12,337 --> 00:06:15,546 is an express manifestation of His wisdom. 111 00:06:15,546 --> 00:06:20,209 And if we look at the mystery, 112 00:06:20,209 --> 00:06:22,545 we see very clearly in the references to that - 113 00:06:22,545 --> 00:06:26,407 especially I'm thinking about 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 114 00:06:26,407 --> 00:06:33,397 that it is a wisdom that is imparted to us as well. 115 00:06:33,397 --> 00:06:37,206 And so, if you want to say it's God's wisdom? Amen. 116 00:06:37,206 --> 00:06:39,765 If you want to say it results in our wisdom? Amen. 117 00:06:39,765 --> 00:06:44,236 Both are true. Both are realities. 118 00:06:44,236 --> 00:06:47,396 But whether this wisdom and insight 119 00:06:47,396 --> 00:06:48,556 or wisdom and prudence - 120 00:06:48,556 --> 00:06:50,347 whether it's God's or ours, 121 00:06:50,347 --> 00:06:54,198 the obvious implications here 122 00:06:54,198 --> 00:06:56,428 is that in the riches of God's grace 123 00:06:56,428 --> 00:07:00,236 which He lavishes upon us, 124 00:07:00,236 --> 00:07:01,947 something happens. 125 00:07:01,947 --> 00:07:05,361 Something is made known to us. 126 00:07:05,361 --> 00:07:08,527 It doesn't matter what translation you have, 127 00:07:08,527 --> 00:07:10,406 you can see it in verse 9. 128 00:07:10,406 --> 00:07:12,896 There is a making known to us 129 00:07:12,896 --> 00:07:15,167 the mystery of God's will. 130 00:07:15,167 --> 00:07:18,467 ESV: "Making known to us the mystery of His will." 131 00:07:18,467 --> 00:07:21,847 NAS: "He made known to us the mystery of His will." 132 00:07:21,847 --> 00:07:24,977 The New King James: "Having made known to us 133 00:07:24,977 --> 00:07:26,237 the mystery of His will." 134 00:07:26,237 --> 00:07:28,639 The KJV: "Having made known unto us 135 00:07:28,639 --> 00:07:29,924 the mystery of His will." 136 00:07:29,924 --> 00:07:31,488 It's there. You see it. 137 00:07:31,488 --> 00:07:35,558 This is what I want you to recognize. 138 00:07:35,558 --> 00:07:37,227 Think with me here. 139 00:07:37,227 --> 00:07:45,296 Paul - he wants to take us up into glory 140 00:07:45,296 --> 00:07:48,456 and show us the most glorious aspects 141 00:07:48,456 --> 00:07:50,596 of our salvation. 142 00:07:50,596 --> 00:07:55,836 That's where he starts Ephesians. 143 00:07:55,836 --> 00:08:00,837 He says let me start by telling you this. 144 00:08:00,837 --> 00:08:03,276 I'm going to take you to eternity past. 145 00:08:03,276 --> 00:08:06,896 God chose us in Christ. 146 00:08:06,896 --> 00:08:09,076 He elaborates. 147 00:08:09,076 --> 00:08:11,870 We were chosen to stand before Him 148 00:08:11,870 --> 00:08:14,405 holy and blameless. 149 00:08:14,405 --> 00:08:16,168 What else? 150 00:08:16,168 --> 00:08:21,805 Predestined for adoption as sons 151 00:08:21,805 --> 00:08:24,245 through Jesus Christ. 152 00:08:24,245 --> 00:08:25,665 What else? 153 00:08:25,665 --> 00:08:28,966 Redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. 154 00:08:28,966 --> 00:08:31,865 What else? 155 00:08:31,865 --> 00:08:34,726 You know what's interesting to me? 156 00:08:34,726 --> 00:08:38,301 Is making something known. 157 00:08:38,301 --> 00:08:41,576 Making the mystery known. 158 00:08:41,576 --> 00:08:44,628 God doing something in your mind 159 00:08:44,628 --> 00:08:49,907 is in the top four of the most profound 160 00:08:49,907 --> 00:08:52,546 aspects of our salvation 161 00:08:52,546 --> 00:08:55,396 as Paul enumerates and enlarges on them 162 00:08:55,396 --> 00:08:57,596 in this Ephesian letter. 163 00:08:57,596 --> 00:09:01,319 Notice this: 164 00:09:01,319 --> 00:09:07,767 "God makes known..." 165 00:09:07,767 --> 00:09:11,897 Brethren, you find this kind of language 166 00:09:11,897 --> 00:09:14,246 in various places. 167 00:09:14,246 --> 00:09:16,776 You can be reading through Galatians 4 168 00:09:16,776 --> 00:09:18,476 and you can come across something like this: 169 00:09:18,476 --> 00:09:21,478 "Formerly, when you did not know God." 170 00:09:21,478 --> 00:09:25,177 You remember how David found it there in 1 Peter? 171 00:09:25,177 --> 00:09:28,617 "Your former ignorance." 172 00:09:28,617 --> 00:09:30,516 Do you know that the people out there 173 00:09:30,516 --> 00:09:32,396 that are not Christians walk around 174 00:09:32,396 --> 00:09:37,027 in staggering ignorance? 175 00:09:37,027 --> 00:09:39,266 You go door to door, 176 00:09:39,266 --> 00:09:40,576 you go to the campus, 177 00:09:40,576 --> 00:09:43,065 you go to the nursing home this afternoon, 178 00:09:43,065 --> 00:09:45,697 you go out among this world - 179 00:09:45,697 --> 00:09:50,686 there is massive ignorance. 180 00:09:50,686 --> 00:09:52,168 People don't know. 181 00:09:52,168 --> 00:09:54,439 There's a darkness that shrouds the mind. 182 00:09:54,439 --> 00:09:56,746 And you know what Paul is saying? 183 00:09:56,746 --> 00:09:58,355 To the Galatians, he says, 184 00:09:58,355 --> 00:10:00,145 "Formerly, when you did not know God 185 00:10:00,145 --> 00:10:02,856 you were enslaved by those that by nature are not gods, 186 00:10:02,856 --> 00:10:04,857 but now that you have come to know God..." 187 00:10:04,857 --> 00:10:06,046 In other words, 188 00:10:06,046 --> 00:10:08,806 what Paul is hitting on 189 00:10:08,806 --> 00:10:12,808 is that there is a mystery that's made known. 190 00:10:12,808 --> 00:10:15,016 There is something that we didn't know 191 00:10:15,016 --> 00:10:16,408 we were ignorant to 192 00:10:16,408 --> 00:10:20,777 and one of the chiefest of the four manifestations 193 00:10:20,777 --> 00:10:26,235 of the aspects of salvation that God imparts to humanity. 194 00:10:26,235 --> 00:10:28,276 You want to number them? 195 00:10:28,276 --> 00:10:30,116 In the top four, 196 00:10:30,116 --> 00:10:33,281 Paul puts one of the most marvelous expressions 197 00:10:33,281 --> 00:10:36,066 of God lavishing the riches of His grace upon you, 198 00:10:36,066 --> 00:10:39,406 the spiritual blessings in heavenly places 199 00:10:39,406 --> 00:10:43,149 is what He does to the mind. 200 00:10:43,149 --> 00:10:47,227 Brethren, this is key. 201 00:10:47,227 --> 00:10:48,706 Because you know what? 202 00:10:48,706 --> 00:10:52,707 We're told to examine ourselves. 203 00:10:52,707 --> 00:10:54,383 We're in a situation where Paul 204 00:10:54,383 --> 00:10:57,755 says to the church: examine. 205 00:10:57,755 --> 00:11:03,156 (incomplete thought) 206 00:11:03,156 --> 00:11:04,590 Here's the thing. 207 00:11:04,590 --> 00:11:08,260 Think with me here. 208 00:11:08,260 --> 00:11:11,780 How do you know if God chose you 209 00:11:11,780 --> 00:11:14,190 to stand before Him? 210 00:11:14,190 --> 00:11:16,430 How do you know if He chose you in Christ? 211 00:11:16,430 --> 00:11:18,110 You weren't there. 212 00:11:18,110 --> 00:11:21,180 Election is not emblazoned 213 00:11:21,180 --> 00:11:23,279 on anybody's forehead. 214 00:11:23,279 --> 00:11:26,413 Predestined. 215 00:11:26,413 --> 00:11:29,461 Predestination - again, it's in eternity past. 216 00:11:29,461 --> 00:11:30,559 You weren't there. 217 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:32,614 How do you know if you've been 218 00:11:32,614 --> 00:11:34,803 predestined to adoption? 219 00:11:34,803 --> 00:11:39,373 Again, there's no tattoo on you that says that. 220 00:11:39,373 --> 00:11:43,713 Christ redeeming, shedding His blood. 221 00:11:43,713 --> 00:11:47,263 Well, how do we know who that's for ultimately? 222 00:11:47,263 --> 00:11:51,021 How do we know who that's going to be effective for? 223 00:11:51,021 --> 00:11:55,271 We don't really know. 224 00:11:55,271 --> 00:11:57,242 Forgiveness of sins. 225 00:11:57,242 --> 00:11:59,632 How can you tell if somebody's sins are forgiven? 226 00:11:59,632 --> 00:12:00,944 It's a legal thing. 227 00:12:00,944 --> 00:12:03,783 How do I know legally if that's taken place? 228 00:12:03,783 --> 00:12:05,793 But you know what? 229 00:12:05,793 --> 00:12:08,253 Now we come to something 230 00:12:08,253 --> 00:12:13,261 that is very experiential, very manifest. 231 00:12:13,261 --> 00:12:15,005 What's that? 232 00:12:15,005 --> 00:12:17,402 Listen, when God saves somebody, 233 00:12:17,402 --> 00:12:19,813 without question, without exception - 234 00:12:19,813 --> 00:12:23,572 nobody can say: 235 00:12:23,572 --> 00:12:25,853 "well, that's typically how He does it. 236 00:12:25,853 --> 00:12:28,971 He didn't do that to me." 237 00:12:28,971 --> 00:12:30,683 Do what? 238 00:12:30,683 --> 00:12:34,024 Reveal. Make known. 239 00:12:34,024 --> 00:12:35,503 What's another word for that? 240 00:12:35,503 --> 00:12:37,445 To make known? 241 00:12:37,445 --> 00:12:42,024 It's revelation. 242 00:12:42,024 --> 00:12:44,712 This is what happens when God saves somebody. 243 00:12:44,712 --> 00:12:48,523 There is a revelation of what? 244 00:12:48,523 --> 00:12:50,012 The mystery. 245 00:12:50,012 --> 00:12:51,223 You see that there. 246 00:12:51,223 --> 00:12:54,754 The mystery of His will. 247 00:12:54,754 --> 00:12:56,952 I've called this message: 248 00:12:56,952 --> 00:13:02,054 "The Mystery of the Mystery." 249 00:13:02,054 --> 00:13:05,504 I mean, we can understand the mystery, 250 00:13:05,504 --> 00:13:07,613 but there's a mystery about the mystery. 251 00:13:07,613 --> 00:13:09,953 What is the mystery? 252 00:13:09,953 --> 00:13:12,792 The mystery is mysterious. 253 00:13:12,792 --> 00:13:15,513 What is it? 254 00:13:15,513 --> 00:13:19,814 Revelation is one of the great spiritual blessings. 255 00:13:19,814 --> 00:13:24,464 What God does is He opens our minds, 256 00:13:24,464 --> 00:13:26,203 our perception, 257 00:13:26,203 --> 00:13:30,654 to comprehend mysteries, 258 00:13:30,654 --> 00:13:34,903 secrets, hidden things that we would never 259 00:13:34,903 --> 00:13:37,952 see and understand if God did not specifically single us out 260 00:13:37,952 --> 00:13:39,660 and cause us to see them. 261 00:13:39,660 --> 00:13:43,030 We need to recognize that. 262 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:45,527 That brethren, that is a hallmark 263 00:13:45,527 --> 00:13:46,998 of true Christianity, 264 00:13:46,998 --> 00:13:49,437 that something happened to your perception. 265 00:13:49,437 --> 00:13:52,157 Something has happened to your mind. 266 00:13:52,157 --> 00:13:55,686 Something suddenly came upon 267 00:13:55,686 --> 00:13:57,298 your spiritual senses 268 00:13:57,298 --> 00:13:59,166 that you never were enabled 269 00:13:59,166 --> 00:14:01,179 to see or perceive before. 270 00:14:01,179 --> 00:14:05,757 So why does Paul use the term "mystery"? 271 00:14:05,757 --> 00:14:09,138 "Making known to us the mystery of His will 272 00:14:09,138 --> 00:14:10,688 according to His purpose 273 00:14:10,688 --> 00:14:13,476 which He set forth in Christ." 274 00:14:13,476 --> 00:14:17,117 Or, "According to God's good pleasure 275 00:14:17,117 --> 00:14:20,699 which He purposed in Him." 276 00:14:20,699 --> 00:14:23,478 The ESV stuck "in Christ" there 277 00:14:23,478 --> 00:14:24,688 at the end of verse 9. 278 00:14:24,688 --> 00:14:26,888 Let me tell you that is not in the original. 279 00:14:26,888 --> 00:14:29,667 It says "in Him," and it could be "in Himself." 280 00:14:29,667 --> 00:14:33,560 This could be God simply expressing to us 281 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:38,127 that according to God's good pleasure, 282 00:14:38,127 --> 00:14:41,168 He purposed in Himself 283 00:14:41,168 --> 00:14:43,659 this mystery. 284 00:14:43,659 --> 00:14:45,009 It could be "in Christ." 285 00:14:45,009 --> 00:14:47,578 It's hard to tell in the original. 286 00:14:47,578 --> 00:14:51,017 The translators will take it both ways. 287 00:14:51,017 --> 00:14:53,248 But brethren, revelation 288 00:14:53,248 --> 00:14:56,346 is one of the great spiritual blessings. 289 00:14:56,346 --> 00:14:58,559 I'm not talking about the book of Revelation. 290 00:14:58,559 --> 00:15:00,987 I am talking about your own mind 291 00:15:00,987 --> 00:15:03,258 being turned on to behold 292 00:15:03,258 --> 00:15:05,429 what you could never behold before. 293 00:15:05,429 --> 00:15:07,098 That's what we're getting here. 294 00:15:07,098 --> 00:15:09,599 So, why the term "mystery"? 295 00:15:09,599 --> 00:15:12,439 Brethren, what do you typically think of 296 00:15:12,439 --> 00:15:18,760 when you think about mystery? 297 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,309 The unknown. 298 00:15:22,309 --> 00:15:24,828 I mean, I don't know why it keeps coming to my mind, 299 00:15:24,828 --> 00:15:30,850 but when I was a kid, 300 00:15:30,850 --> 00:15:33,547 "Hardy Boys" and "Nancy Drew" - 301 00:15:33,547 --> 00:15:36,047 I think mystery was even in the title of it. 302 00:15:36,047 --> 00:15:40,899 Or my mom read Agatha Christie. 303 00:15:40,899 --> 00:15:44,268 I never did, but my mom did. 304 00:15:44,268 --> 00:15:48,928 What's a mystery in that sense? 305 00:15:48,928 --> 00:15:51,048 I mean it's basically a story 306 00:15:51,048 --> 00:15:55,688 that somebody murdered somebody 307 00:15:55,688 --> 00:16:02,728 with something over there. 308 00:16:02,728 --> 00:16:04,728 And the plot thickens. 309 00:16:04,728 --> 00:16:07,157 So what happens is you're trying to figure out 310 00:16:07,157 --> 00:16:09,138 "who dunnit" right? 311 00:16:09,138 --> 00:16:11,348 And you don't know who did it. 312 00:16:11,348 --> 00:16:15,519 And so it's a mystery. 313 00:16:15,519 --> 00:16:20,038 Because at a certain point in the story, 314 00:16:20,038 --> 00:16:23,830 you don't know the information. 315 00:16:23,830 --> 00:16:25,666 You don't know the facts. 316 00:16:25,666 --> 00:16:29,409 It involves a crime or some other event, 317 00:16:29,409 --> 00:16:30,330 and what happens? 318 00:16:30,330 --> 00:16:32,059 It's unexplained. 319 00:16:32,059 --> 00:16:37,501 It's not fully explained until you get to the end. 320 00:16:37,501 --> 00:16:40,448 Oftentimes, that's what we think of as a mystery. 321 00:16:40,448 --> 00:16:43,678 Or, like you say, how did you say it? 322 00:16:43,678 --> 00:16:46,987 Something that is unknown. 323 00:16:46,987 --> 00:16:48,930 It's a mystery. 324 00:16:48,930 --> 00:16:51,531 The Lochness monster or something. 325 00:16:51,531 --> 00:16:55,199 I remember going to Andreas' 326 00:16:55,199 --> 00:16:56,269 down in Mexico, 327 00:16:56,269 --> 00:16:59,998 and there's a place about halfway 328 00:16:59,998 --> 00:17:04,158 to Quatamac 329 00:17:04,158 --> 00:17:07,447 where they see these lights 330 00:17:07,447 --> 00:17:09,490 off in the distance, 331 00:17:09,490 --> 00:17:11,490 and they don't know what they are. 332 00:17:11,490 --> 00:17:13,149 Don Johnson was telling me a story 333 00:17:13,149 --> 00:17:15,358 about somewhere - he's over there in Arkansas, 334 00:17:15,358 --> 00:17:17,228 and there's some place out in the woods 335 00:17:17,228 --> 00:17:18,270 where they see lights 336 00:17:18,270 --> 00:17:20,409 and actually after a prayer meeting one time, 337 00:17:20,409 --> 00:17:22,658 he and some of the guys went out in the woods 338 00:17:22,658 --> 00:17:25,060 to look for these lights. 339 00:17:25,060 --> 00:17:27,009 Mysteries. 340 00:17:27,009 --> 00:17:30,929 Things that are unexplained. 341 00:17:30,929 --> 00:17:34,709 Sometimes we start thinking about paranormal 342 00:17:34,709 --> 00:17:40,831 or something extra-earthly. 343 00:17:40,831 --> 00:17:44,388 People see things in the sky or something. 344 00:17:44,388 --> 00:17:46,230 We need to ask the question: 345 00:17:46,230 --> 00:17:49,740 How is the term used by Paul? 346 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:51,961 How's it used in Scripture? 347 00:17:51,961 --> 00:17:54,076 And a good place to start here 348 00:17:54,076 --> 00:17:59,061 is our Lord's teaching. 349 00:17:59,061 --> 00:18:01,329 If I'm not mistaken, 350 00:18:01,329 --> 00:18:06,129 the Lord uses this term in His teaching just once. 351 00:18:06,129 --> 00:18:07,727 Now it shows up three times 352 00:18:07,727 --> 00:18:09,829 because each of the synoptic Gospels 353 00:18:09,829 --> 00:18:14,666 gives you its version of it, 354 00:18:14,666 --> 00:18:20,088 but it's basically - you may remember this - 355 00:18:20,088 --> 00:18:23,069 when the parables are being given, 356 00:18:23,069 --> 00:18:28,719 and you remember that after the Parable of the Soils is given, 357 00:18:28,719 --> 00:18:32,587 Jesus talks about the mysteries of the Kingdom 358 00:18:32,587 --> 00:18:35,507 and how some people get it and some people don't get it. 359 00:18:35,507 --> 00:18:37,442 Let's look at Matthew's account of that. 360 00:18:37,442 --> 00:18:39,659 Matthew 13. 361 00:18:39,659 --> 00:18:42,228 Brethren, what I want is I want us to develop 362 00:18:42,228 --> 00:18:45,900 a theology of what the mystery is all about. 363 00:18:45,900 --> 00:18:48,859 Because Paul thinks this is a really 364 00:18:48,859 --> 00:18:50,787 integral part of our Christianity. 365 00:18:50,787 --> 00:18:53,028 So let's just spend today 366 00:18:53,028 --> 00:19:02,788 and dig this out. 367 00:19:02,788 --> 00:19:05,130 This is the question we're asking - 368 00:19:05,130 --> 00:19:07,439 it's the mystery of mystery - 369 00:19:07,439 --> 00:19:09,449 we want to unravel this. 370 00:19:09,449 --> 00:19:11,149 We want to develop a theology 371 00:19:11,149 --> 00:19:16,568 of the mystery of God. 372 00:19:16,568 --> 00:19:18,977 It may be used quite a bit more in our Bibles 373 00:19:18,977 --> 00:19:21,977 than what you recognize. 374 00:19:21,977 --> 00:19:26,367 But Matthew 13:10. 375 00:19:26,367 --> 00:19:30,937 "Then the disciples came and said to Him, 376 00:19:30,937 --> 00:19:36,167 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' 377 00:19:36,167 --> 00:19:40,847 And He answered them..." 378 00:19:40,847 --> 00:19:45,397 Brethren, this is what Paul is excited about. 379 00:19:45,397 --> 00:19:47,369 What? 380 00:19:47,369 --> 00:19:49,018 Right here. 381 00:19:49,018 --> 00:19:54,198 "To you it has been given..." 382 00:19:54,198 --> 00:19:59,638 That's the spiritual blessing that Paul recognizes 383 00:19:59,638 --> 00:20:02,838 that is so fantastic about becoming a Christian. 384 00:20:02,838 --> 00:20:06,148 It's that where you had this former ignorance, 385 00:20:06,148 --> 00:20:09,187 God fills your mind with light. 386 00:20:09,187 --> 00:20:11,617 "To you it has been given." 387 00:20:11,617 --> 00:20:13,998 Something has been given to you 388 00:20:13,998 --> 00:20:17,718 that hasn't been given to others. 389 00:20:17,718 --> 00:20:20,027 Just like it's been given to you to be chosen; 390 00:20:20,027 --> 00:20:23,340 just like it's been given to you to be predestinated to adoption; 391 00:20:23,340 --> 00:20:25,925 just like it's been given to you to have Christ 392 00:20:25,925 --> 00:20:27,708 shed His blood for you 393 00:20:27,708 --> 00:20:29,908 and for you to have forgiveness of sins - 394 00:20:29,908 --> 00:20:33,338 it has been given to you to be made known 395 00:20:33,338 --> 00:20:36,688 to your brains, to your perception 396 00:20:36,688 --> 00:20:38,307 what is not made known. 397 00:20:38,307 --> 00:20:40,438 Brethren, you have to recognize, 398 00:20:40,438 --> 00:20:43,328 having the ability to open up this book 399 00:20:43,328 --> 00:20:47,160 and look into it and perceive its teaching 400 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,237 is a blessing that most of the people in this world 401 00:20:50,237 --> 00:20:51,805 do not have. 402 00:20:51,805 --> 00:20:53,738 Don't take it for granted 403 00:20:53,738 --> 00:20:55,537 when you are able to behold 404 00:20:55,537 --> 00:20:57,527 wondrous things from His Word. 405 00:20:57,527 --> 00:20:59,608 That is not given to everybody. 406 00:20:59,608 --> 00:21:03,009 And Paul is excited about this! 407 00:21:03,009 --> 00:21:05,679 Now listen, can you imagine you're sitting there 408 00:21:05,679 --> 00:21:08,689 and you're hearing from Jesus Christ Himself, 409 00:21:08,689 --> 00:21:11,098 God come to earth, and He tells you, 410 00:21:11,098 --> 00:21:13,957 boys, you have been chosen out 411 00:21:13,957 --> 00:21:16,439 from among all the people in this world - 412 00:21:16,439 --> 00:21:19,191 you and some others like you - 413 00:21:19,191 --> 00:21:22,339 to know what the rest of mankind 414 00:21:22,339 --> 00:21:26,268 has not been given to know. 415 00:21:26,268 --> 00:21:29,388 "To you it has been given to know the secrets..." 416 00:21:29,388 --> 00:21:33,180 That is our term: mysteries. 417 00:21:33,180 --> 00:21:34,807 The ESV says "secrets." 418 00:21:34,807 --> 00:21:36,947 Most other translations say the "mysteries." 419 00:21:36,947 --> 00:21:41,797 The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. 420 00:21:41,797 --> 00:21:45,789 "But to them..." notice this. 421 00:21:45,789 --> 00:21:47,429 Some people have this idea. 422 00:21:47,429 --> 00:21:50,271 Listen, this is what's so prevalent 423 00:21:50,271 --> 00:21:53,748 in Arminian thinking, 424 00:21:53,748 --> 00:21:56,117 that God basically has done the same thing 425 00:21:56,117 --> 00:21:59,074 for all mankind. 426 00:21:59,074 --> 00:22:01,927 You see, sometimes people like to look in Scripture, 427 00:22:01,927 --> 00:22:07,147 and say Scripture says that God is impartial. 428 00:22:07,147 --> 00:22:08,806 But you have to be very careful 429 00:22:08,806 --> 00:22:11,247 that you don't take God's impartiality 430 00:22:11,247 --> 00:22:14,897 to an erroneous position. 431 00:22:14,897 --> 00:22:17,708 When it says God isn't partial, 432 00:22:17,708 --> 00:22:21,510 it doesn't mean that God doesn't 433 00:22:21,510 --> 00:22:23,737 bestow grace and favor on some 434 00:22:23,737 --> 00:22:26,468 and withhold it from others. 435 00:22:26,468 --> 00:22:28,168 We don't need to get into all that 436 00:22:28,168 --> 00:22:29,497 and develop that right now, 437 00:22:29,497 --> 00:22:30,888 but you don't want to take 438 00:22:30,888 --> 00:22:32,308 the doctrine of impartiality 439 00:22:32,308 --> 00:22:34,309 and make it what it's not. 440 00:22:34,309 --> 00:22:36,126 Jesus is very clearly saying: 441 00:22:36,126 --> 00:22:39,108 To you it's given. To them it's not given. 442 00:22:39,108 --> 00:22:43,249 Does God give certain things to some people and not to others? Yes. 443 00:22:43,249 --> 00:22:45,637 Can God be faulted for that? No. 444 00:22:45,637 --> 00:22:47,331 Because what all of us deserve 445 00:22:47,331 --> 00:22:50,207 is what our sins deserve. 446 00:22:50,207 --> 00:22:53,087 And if God makes exception to any, 447 00:22:53,087 --> 00:22:56,810 it's an expression of God's mercy and grace 448 00:22:56,810 --> 00:22:58,408 for which we don't deserve 449 00:22:58,408 --> 00:22:59,698 and He's right to do it 450 00:22:59,698 --> 00:23:02,098 because He can justify us and yet be just 451 00:23:02,098 --> 00:23:10,818 because of exactly what He has 452 00:23:10,818 --> 00:23:13,468 produced for us 453 00:23:13,468 --> 00:23:17,278 through the sending of His Son 454 00:23:17,278 --> 00:23:19,669 so that justice can totally be upheld. 455 00:23:19,669 --> 00:23:21,338 But look at this. 456 00:23:21,338 --> 00:23:23,248 "To them it has not been given. 457 00:23:23,248 --> 00:23:26,368 For to the one who has, 458 00:23:26,368 --> 00:23:27,778 more will be given." 459 00:23:27,778 --> 00:23:29,960 What a principle that is! 460 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,438 Hold on to that. 461 00:23:31,438 --> 00:23:37,178 Listen, my brothers and sisters, 462 00:23:37,178 --> 00:23:38,641 see, sometimes we take this 463 00:23:38,641 --> 00:23:40,020 and wrench it out of context 464 00:23:40,020 --> 00:23:41,909 and use it to mean all sorts of things. 465 00:23:41,909 --> 00:23:46,618 But if you take it in context, 466 00:23:46,618 --> 00:23:48,879 oh brethren, what an encouragement. 467 00:23:48,879 --> 00:23:54,429 What it means is if you have had your eyes opened 468 00:23:54,429 --> 00:23:56,178 to your own sinfulness, 469 00:23:56,178 --> 00:23:58,579 to your own sickness, 470 00:23:58,579 --> 00:24:00,109 your eyes opened to Christ 471 00:24:00,109 --> 00:24:01,548 being your own hope, 472 00:24:01,548 --> 00:24:05,188 and you've looked to Him in faith, 473 00:24:05,188 --> 00:24:09,077 what He is saying here is: 474 00:24:09,077 --> 00:24:15,268 To you who have been given a revelation, 475 00:24:15,268 --> 00:24:18,618 there's more revelation coming. 476 00:24:18,618 --> 00:24:20,857 Keep going back to the Word. 477 00:24:20,857 --> 00:24:24,998 This is a promise that He's going to give you more. 478 00:24:24,998 --> 00:24:27,116 As you live your life 479 00:24:27,116 --> 00:24:28,677 and study Scripture, 480 00:24:28,677 --> 00:24:31,948 you will come to recognize 481 00:24:31,948 --> 00:24:34,938 greater riches, greater secrets, 482 00:24:34,938 --> 00:24:37,299 and greater treasures that we are told 483 00:24:37,299 --> 00:24:40,365 are hidden in Jesus Christ. 484 00:24:40,365 --> 00:24:41,617 And it's very interesting, 485 00:24:41,617 --> 00:24:43,258 Paul says that to the Colossians - 486 00:24:43,258 --> 00:24:45,467 even to those who are already Christians - 487 00:24:45,467 --> 00:24:47,617 and he talks about what is 488 00:24:47,617 --> 00:24:51,218 seemingly yet hidden in Christ 489 00:24:51,218 --> 00:24:55,279 and waiting there for us to unearth it, 490 00:24:55,279 --> 00:24:57,840 to dig it up. 491 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,357 There is still more revelation to be had. 492 00:25:01,357 --> 00:25:04,547 If once God has opened your eyes 493 00:25:04,547 --> 00:25:06,258 and said, "Let there be light," 494 00:25:06,258 --> 00:25:08,887 and you have beheld the glory 495 00:25:08,887 --> 00:25:11,207 of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 496 00:25:11,207 --> 00:25:13,317 let me tell you, there is more glory. 497 00:25:13,317 --> 00:25:14,608 Don't stop looking. 498 00:25:14,608 --> 00:25:15,799 Don't be content. 499 00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:19,268 Don't feel like I've already arrived. 500 00:25:19,268 --> 00:25:21,018 I've already seen. 501 00:25:21,018 --> 00:25:23,858 No, no, you haven't seen. 502 00:25:23,858 --> 00:25:30,377 You've seen, but you have not seen. 503 00:25:30,377 --> 00:25:31,897 There's more. 504 00:25:31,897 --> 00:25:34,008 He will have an abundance. 505 00:25:34,008 --> 00:25:36,448 Listen to what is being talked about. 506 00:25:36,448 --> 00:25:38,569 This is revelation on the table. 507 00:25:38,569 --> 00:25:41,518 Abundance of revelation. 508 00:25:41,518 --> 00:25:42,999 That's the issue. 509 00:25:42,999 --> 00:25:44,619 "From the one who has not, 510 00:25:44,619 --> 00:25:48,239 even what he has will be taken away." 511 00:25:48,239 --> 00:25:50,378 I mean, that's kind of a scary picture. 512 00:25:50,378 --> 00:25:52,118 Even in the parable He just gave, 513 00:25:52,118 --> 00:25:54,907 He gives us pictures of birds who come 514 00:25:54,907 --> 00:26:00,688 and what has been given is taken away. 515 00:26:00,688 --> 00:26:04,254 Those birds are demons. 516 00:26:04,254 --> 00:26:06,633 What has been given is the Word of God 517 00:26:06,633 --> 00:26:09,755 and it's taken away. 518 00:26:09,755 --> 00:26:11,661 "This is why I speak to them in parables 519 00:26:11,661 --> 00:26:13,245 because seeing they do not see, 520 00:26:13,245 --> 00:26:14,465 hearing they do not hear 521 00:26:14,465 --> 00:26:18,247 nor do they understand." 522 00:26:18,247 --> 00:26:22,456 "The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven." 523 00:26:22,456 --> 00:26:26,007 It's a mystery. 524 00:26:26,007 --> 00:26:28,753 It's given to some. It's withheld from others. 525 00:26:28,753 --> 00:26:34,794 Brethren, shortly after I was saved - 526 00:26:34,794 --> 00:26:36,391 and I've told this story before, 527 00:26:36,391 --> 00:26:38,214 probably some of you don't remember, 528 00:26:38,214 --> 00:26:40,576 and many of you never heard it the first time around. 529 00:26:40,576 --> 00:26:41,733 Shortly after I was saved, 530 00:26:41,733 --> 00:26:42,945 it was just in the first few years, 531 00:26:42,945 --> 00:26:45,736 it was before I moved down here to Texas, 532 00:26:45,736 --> 00:26:48,106 I was looking for opportunity. 533 00:26:48,106 --> 00:26:51,576 I so badly wanted my father to be saved. 534 00:26:51,576 --> 00:26:53,944 He was one of the most wicked men that I knew. 535 00:26:53,944 --> 00:26:58,262 I wanted God to save him. 536 00:26:58,262 --> 00:27:00,227 I don't remember where we were going, 537 00:27:00,227 --> 00:27:01,536 but he asked me to drive. 538 00:27:01,536 --> 00:27:03,235 I was driving his truck. 539 00:27:03,235 --> 00:27:07,154 He had a cassette deck. 540 00:27:07,154 --> 00:27:11,815 And I think before jumping in the truck 541 00:27:11,815 --> 00:27:13,135 and going wherever we went, 542 00:27:13,135 --> 00:27:14,676 I ran out to my car 543 00:27:14,676 --> 00:27:15,876 and I got in there 544 00:27:15,876 --> 00:27:17,560 and I would carry around 545 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:19,964 this sermon by John MacArthur 546 00:27:19,964 --> 00:27:26,845 based on Matthew 7:12-13 or 13-14 547 00:27:26,845 --> 00:27:29,377 called "Which Way to Heaven." 548 00:27:29,377 --> 00:27:32,504 It was one of the most clear Gospel presentations 549 00:27:32,504 --> 00:27:34,926 that I had on tape. 550 00:27:34,926 --> 00:27:37,605 So I ran and grabbed it. 551 00:27:37,605 --> 00:27:39,095 And I'm driving my dad's truck. 552 00:27:39,095 --> 00:27:41,495 I said, "Dad..." this is my opportunity, 553 00:27:41,495 --> 00:27:43,094 one on one, we're in a truck, 554 00:27:43,094 --> 00:27:44,568 he can't go anywhere. 555 00:27:44,568 --> 00:27:48,035 I said, "Dad, please, 556 00:27:48,035 --> 00:27:49,873 I want you to listen to this." 557 00:27:49,873 --> 00:27:51,405 I popped that thing in. 558 00:27:51,405 --> 00:27:52,824 I am sitting there 559 00:27:52,824 --> 00:27:55,595 and just glorying in the truth! 560 00:27:55,595 --> 00:27:58,466 I'm thinking praise the Lord! 561 00:27:58,466 --> 00:28:00,965 My dad is hearing one of the clearest 562 00:28:00,965 --> 00:28:03,114 presentations of the Gospel 563 00:28:03,114 --> 00:28:08,515 that he could ever hear. 564 00:28:08,515 --> 00:28:14,725 It seems like in my memory 20 years ago, 565 00:28:14,725 --> 00:28:17,015 he might have 10 minutes in, 566 00:28:17,015 --> 00:28:20,206 he reaches over and he ejects it. 567 00:28:20,206 --> 00:28:23,585 And he looks at me and he said, 568 00:28:23,585 --> 00:28:27,129 "I cannot understand a single word 569 00:28:27,129 --> 00:28:32,444 that man is saying." 570 00:28:32,444 --> 00:28:35,785 And it's true. 571 00:28:35,785 --> 00:28:37,295 I'm sitting there thinking 572 00:28:37,295 --> 00:28:40,272 this is the clearest Gospel message 573 00:28:40,272 --> 00:28:44,326 he could be hearing. 574 00:28:44,326 --> 00:28:48,168 He's hearing the same words I'm hearing. 575 00:28:48,168 --> 00:28:51,385 Brethren, when Jesus spoke, 576 00:28:51,385 --> 00:28:53,627 imagine the crowd. 577 00:28:53,627 --> 00:28:57,109 Peter, James, John, the rest. 578 00:28:57,109 --> 00:28:58,833 The Pharisees. 579 00:28:58,833 --> 00:29:04,877 They're hearing the same words. 580 00:29:04,877 --> 00:29:09,425 "To you it's given. To you it's not given." 581 00:29:09,425 --> 00:29:14,014 It's not enough to have the words 582 00:29:14,014 --> 00:29:17,897 audibly presented, on the page. 583 00:29:17,897 --> 00:29:20,599 It's not enough. 584 00:29:20,599 --> 00:29:22,359 It has to be given to you. 585 00:29:22,359 --> 00:29:25,124 (incomplete thought) 586 00:29:25,124 --> 00:29:27,407 Brethren, we know, as I was just saying, 587 00:29:27,407 --> 00:29:29,404 what happens? 588 00:29:29,404 --> 00:29:32,444 The birds come and they pluck it up. 589 00:29:32,444 --> 00:29:34,538 Or we have the truth of the Apostle Paul 590 00:29:34,538 --> 00:29:36,763 there in the 2 Corinthian letter 591 00:29:36,763 --> 00:29:42,875 that our Gospel is veiled to some people. 592 00:29:42,875 --> 00:29:45,674 Why? 593 00:29:45,674 --> 00:29:49,523 Well, it's veiled because they're perishing. 594 00:29:49,523 --> 00:29:52,314 And in their case, 595 00:29:52,314 --> 00:29:57,826 the god of this world has blinded them. 596 00:29:57,826 --> 00:30:01,959 Do you recognize that when it comes to the Gospel, 597 00:30:01,959 --> 00:30:05,125 the god of this world (incomplete thought) 598 00:30:05,125 --> 00:30:08,013 you have to recognize the scope of this. 599 00:30:08,013 --> 00:30:10,663 Think about the billions of people 600 00:30:10,663 --> 00:30:12,278 on the face of this earth, 601 00:30:12,278 --> 00:30:18,718 and there is a massive conspiracy at work everywhere - 602 00:30:18,718 --> 00:30:19,968 all throughout our city. 603 00:30:19,968 --> 00:30:22,235 Can you imagine the demonic activity 604 00:30:22,235 --> 00:30:24,517 that is going on just in our city? 605 00:30:24,517 --> 00:30:26,174 Just in these neighborhoods? 606 00:30:26,174 --> 00:30:28,543 If you could see into the spiritual realm, 607 00:30:28,543 --> 00:30:30,954 do you know what was happening in that truck 608 00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:33,897 when my dad was listening to that tape? 609 00:30:33,897 --> 00:30:36,026 We're told. We're given glimpses. 610 00:30:36,026 --> 00:30:38,105 Birds. Demons come 611 00:30:38,105 --> 00:30:40,263 and pluck the seed up. 612 00:30:40,263 --> 00:30:41,614 Those who are perishing, 613 00:30:41,614 --> 00:30:42,755 the god of this world 614 00:30:42,755 --> 00:30:44,540 has blinded their eyes. 615 00:30:44,540 --> 00:30:46,490 That's what we see. 616 00:30:46,490 --> 00:30:49,396 To keep them from seeing what? 617 00:30:49,396 --> 00:30:51,094 Seeing light - 618 00:30:51,094 --> 00:30:54,936 the light of the Gospel of Christ. 619 00:30:54,936 --> 00:30:58,097 They're prevented. They're kept. 620 00:30:58,097 --> 00:31:02,986 Charles Leiter told me just this week. 621 00:31:02,986 --> 00:31:05,124 I was telling him about some things 622 00:31:05,124 --> 00:31:06,346 that are going on. 623 00:31:06,346 --> 00:31:08,653 Charles' book on the Law of Christ 624 00:31:08,653 --> 00:31:11,819 creates no little stir. 625 00:31:11,819 --> 00:31:14,625 And he was telling me 626 00:31:14,625 --> 00:31:19,795 he can go in and he can preach 627 00:31:19,795 --> 00:31:23,544 and repeat and emphasize 628 00:31:23,544 --> 00:31:25,374 and show Scripture. 629 00:31:25,374 --> 00:31:27,365 He says he will get done preaching 630 00:31:27,365 --> 00:31:29,415 and somebody will walk up to him 631 00:31:29,415 --> 00:31:34,505 and say, "Now are you saying such and such?" 632 00:31:34,505 --> 00:31:37,970 And he looks at them and says, 633 00:31:37,970 --> 00:31:44,957 "I was teaching the exact opposite of that." 634 00:31:44,957 --> 00:31:48,256 I mean, how does that happen? 635 00:31:48,256 --> 00:31:49,954 Somebody was sitting there 636 00:31:49,954 --> 00:31:52,295 hearing exactly what he was saying, 637 00:31:52,295 --> 00:31:56,155 being encouraged, 638 00:31:56,155 --> 00:31:59,235 being helped in living the Christian life. 639 00:31:59,235 --> 00:32:00,804 Somebody else comes up and says, 640 00:32:00,804 --> 00:32:02,653 "Now are you saying..." 641 00:32:02,653 --> 00:32:05,363 and their perception is that Charles 642 00:32:05,363 --> 00:32:10,058 just preached the exact opposite. 643 00:32:10,058 --> 00:32:13,245 Brethren, there are mysteries. 644 00:32:13,245 --> 00:32:18,324 And one of Paul's four primary demonstrations 645 00:32:18,324 --> 00:32:21,615 of the spiritual blessings in heavenly places - 646 00:32:21,615 --> 00:32:24,188 one of the four great manifestations 647 00:32:24,188 --> 00:32:26,899 of the salvation of God 648 00:32:26,899 --> 00:32:28,888 is this very thing: 649 00:32:28,888 --> 00:32:35,034 your mind. 650 00:32:35,034 --> 00:32:37,824 We get this from 2 Corinthians 4 as well. 651 00:32:37,824 --> 00:32:40,673 It takes God, the same God - 652 00:32:40,673 --> 00:32:42,500 you know Paul is saying 653 00:32:42,500 --> 00:32:47,180 the same God who said, "Let there be light." 654 00:32:47,180 --> 00:32:50,936 It takes that. 655 00:32:50,936 --> 00:32:56,264 It takes something on the scope of that 656 00:32:56,264 --> 00:32:58,284 for anybody to see. 657 00:32:58,284 --> 00:32:59,964 Just a side note here. 658 00:32:59,964 --> 00:33:02,650 I was thinking about this 659 00:33:02,650 --> 00:33:05,064 just in light of agnostics. 660 00:33:05,064 --> 00:33:07,203 Many of you know, an agnostic 661 00:33:07,203 --> 00:33:11,204 is basically somebody that what? 662 00:33:11,204 --> 00:33:13,353 Believes that God and the truths of God 663 00:33:13,353 --> 00:33:16,714 and the truths of salvation are unknowable. 664 00:33:16,714 --> 00:33:18,703 Not like the athiest who just basically 665 00:33:18,703 --> 00:33:20,314 denies the existance. 666 00:33:20,314 --> 00:33:22,681 The agnostic says 667 00:33:22,681 --> 00:33:24,562 it's not possible to know. 668 00:33:24,562 --> 00:33:26,554 And you know, I was thinking about that 669 00:33:26,554 --> 00:33:28,003 and I thought 670 00:33:28,003 --> 00:33:31,513 there is truth in what they say. 671 00:33:31,513 --> 00:33:33,434 The agnostic says 672 00:33:33,434 --> 00:33:35,555 it's not possible to know. 673 00:33:35,555 --> 00:33:36,764 And you know what? 674 00:33:36,764 --> 00:33:38,346 He makes it a universal rule 675 00:33:38,346 --> 00:33:40,566 that it's not possible for anybody to know. 676 00:33:40,566 --> 00:33:42,053 That's where he goes wrong. 677 00:33:42,053 --> 00:33:44,905 But if he simply said it's not possible 678 00:33:44,905 --> 00:33:48,425 for me to know with my unaided mind, 679 00:33:48,425 --> 00:33:51,495 he'd be right spot on. 680 00:33:51,495 --> 00:33:53,094 Did you hear me? 681 00:33:53,094 --> 00:33:57,364 Me with my unaided mind. 682 00:33:57,364 --> 00:33:59,975 If he makes it a universal rule, 683 00:33:59,975 --> 00:34:01,935 he's dead wrong because there are people 684 00:34:01,935 --> 00:34:04,303 who see what he can't see. 685 00:34:04,303 --> 00:34:07,903 There are people that know what he doesn't know. 686 00:34:07,903 --> 00:34:09,192 But he is right in this, 687 00:34:09,192 --> 00:34:11,003 he comes along and says 688 00:34:11,003 --> 00:34:13,035 I don't think anybody can know that. 689 00:34:13,035 --> 00:34:15,834 Well, in the state he's in, he's dead on. 690 00:34:15,834 --> 00:34:17,354 He can't know. 691 00:34:17,354 --> 00:34:21,905 Why? It's hidden. 692 00:34:21,905 --> 00:34:27,374 Okay, Jesus - you know this. 693 00:34:27,374 --> 00:34:32,325 Jesus Christ is healing people, 694 00:34:32,325 --> 00:34:34,834 feeding 5,000, 695 00:34:34,834 --> 00:34:36,274 He walks on water - 696 00:34:36,274 --> 00:34:37,944 not that the whole crowd saw that, 697 00:34:37,944 --> 00:34:40,264 but the crowd saw Him heal palsied people, 698 00:34:40,264 --> 00:34:41,672 restore sight to blind, 699 00:34:41,672 --> 00:34:44,845 turn water into wine. 700 00:34:44,845 --> 00:34:46,116 And you know what? 701 00:34:46,116 --> 00:34:47,786 The vast majority of His miracles 702 00:34:47,786 --> 00:34:49,755 were done in just a handful of cities. 703 00:34:49,755 --> 00:34:51,793 And you see that in Matthew 11. 704 00:34:51,793 --> 00:34:53,835 And He rebukes them 705 00:34:53,835 --> 00:34:56,395 for not repenting upon seeing 706 00:34:56,395 --> 00:34:58,456 all of this that He does. 707 00:34:58,456 --> 00:35:00,302 But you know in the end, 708 00:35:00,302 --> 00:35:02,195 He looks to His Father, 709 00:35:02,195 --> 00:35:04,563 and He says these words: 710 00:35:04,563 --> 00:35:05,975 "I thank You, Father, 711 00:35:05,975 --> 00:35:07,204 Lord of Heaven and earth, 712 00:35:07,204 --> 00:35:09,044 that You have hidden these things 713 00:35:09,044 --> 00:35:11,062 from the wise and understanding 714 00:35:11,062 --> 00:35:13,814 and revealed them to little children. 715 00:35:13,814 --> 00:35:16,466 Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will." 716 00:35:16,466 --> 00:35:21,106 Look, if you have any doubts about this, 717 00:35:21,106 --> 00:35:23,175 the proof and the evidence 718 00:35:23,175 --> 00:35:28,793 for what I'm teaching you is everywhere. 719 00:35:28,793 --> 00:35:31,965 It's not just God sent His Son to the cross 720 00:35:31,965 --> 00:35:36,364 and has now made it possible for everybody to be saved. 721 00:35:36,364 --> 00:35:39,606 And basically, man has a free will 722 00:35:39,606 --> 00:35:41,295 and man has the capacity 723 00:35:41,295 --> 00:35:42,846 to believe the Gospel 724 00:35:42,846 --> 00:35:45,164 and God just kind of like the deists teach, 725 00:35:45,164 --> 00:35:47,585 He just stands over there kind of hands off, 726 00:35:47,585 --> 00:35:48,975 He's set everything in motion 727 00:35:48,975 --> 00:35:51,544 and now He's given us all the opportunity to believe, 728 00:35:51,544 --> 00:35:52,765 and if we're smart enough 729 00:35:52,765 --> 00:35:54,877 or if our wills are just right 730 00:35:54,877 --> 00:35:58,905 or if we're not so evil as to keep rejecting it, 731 00:35:58,905 --> 00:36:01,015 we can come to the light. 732 00:36:01,015 --> 00:36:02,026 But let me tell you, 733 00:36:02,026 --> 00:36:03,715 that is not what Scripture teaches. 734 00:36:03,715 --> 00:36:05,635 What Scripture teaches 735 00:36:05,635 --> 00:36:08,423 is that unless God gives it to you 736 00:36:08,423 --> 00:36:10,624 to see these realities, 737 00:36:10,624 --> 00:36:13,075 you will never see them. 738 00:36:13,075 --> 00:36:14,916 You can fight that reality, 739 00:36:14,916 --> 00:36:17,965 but I'm telling you, this is so. 740 00:36:17,965 --> 00:36:19,895 Let's keep going. 741 00:36:19,895 --> 00:36:23,905 Romans 16. 742 00:36:23,905 --> 00:36:33,443 Look at Romans 16. 743 00:36:33,443 --> 00:36:38,914 Romans 16:25. 744 00:36:38,914 --> 00:36:45,233 Again, this concept of the mystery comes up. 745 00:36:45,233 --> 00:36:46,555 Romans 16:25, 746 00:36:46,555 --> 00:36:49,965 "Now to Him who is able to strengthen you 747 00:36:49,965 --> 00:36:52,493 according to my Gospel, 748 00:36:52,493 --> 00:36:55,464 and the preaching of Jesus Christ 749 00:36:55,464 --> 00:36:57,744 according (here it is) 750 00:36:57,744 --> 00:36:59,412 to the revelation of the mystery." 751 00:36:59,412 --> 00:37:01,134 That's what we've been talking about. 752 00:37:01,134 --> 00:37:02,214 When we talk about the mystery, 753 00:37:02,214 --> 00:37:04,423 we're talking about that which God reveals. 754 00:37:04,423 --> 00:37:05,745 Revelation. 755 00:37:05,745 --> 00:37:07,593 Not the book. 756 00:37:07,593 --> 00:37:09,804 We're talking about your spiritual eyes. 757 00:37:09,804 --> 00:37:11,614 Poof! 758 00:37:11,614 --> 00:37:14,496 You're flooded with a perception 759 00:37:14,496 --> 00:37:16,286 of what you could never see before 760 00:37:16,286 --> 00:37:20,216 concerning the salvation of your soul. 761 00:37:20,216 --> 00:37:22,235 And notice, 762 00:37:22,235 --> 00:37:24,414 "according to the revelation of the mystery 763 00:37:24,414 --> 00:37:27,965 that was kept secret for long ages." 764 00:37:27,965 --> 00:37:31,275 Now, in this respect, 765 00:37:31,275 --> 00:37:36,746 God's mystery is like the mystery thriller. 766 00:37:36,746 --> 00:37:39,455 Where you don't know who did it 767 00:37:39,455 --> 00:37:41,085 until the end. 768 00:37:41,085 --> 00:37:44,774 It's kept shrouded in mystery till the end. 769 00:37:44,774 --> 00:37:46,734 You see that's what he's saying here. 770 00:37:46,734 --> 00:37:49,424 He's saying for long ages 771 00:37:49,424 --> 00:37:51,423 this wasn't made known. 772 00:37:51,423 --> 00:37:53,663 Notice. 773 00:37:53,663 --> 00:37:56,655 It was "kept secret for long ages, 774 00:37:56,655 --> 00:37:58,012 but has now been..." 775 00:37:58,012 --> 00:38:00,544 Now remember, Paul, 2,000 years ago, 776 00:38:00,544 --> 00:38:02,614 he's writing to the Romans. 777 00:38:02,614 --> 00:38:04,094 That's what he's saying. 778 00:38:04,094 --> 00:38:07,194 Now it's been disclosed. When? 779 00:38:07,194 --> 00:38:08,464 When Christ came 780 00:38:08,464 --> 00:38:11,566 and now He's resurrected and ascended 781 00:38:11,566 --> 00:38:14,065 and the apostles are writing - then. 782 00:38:14,065 --> 00:38:16,435 He's saying now. Now. Now. Now. 783 00:38:16,435 --> 00:38:19,203 At that time, Christ came into the world. 784 00:38:19,203 --> 00:38:22,563 Christ left His apostles to bear testimony 785 00:38:22,563 --> 00:38:24,284 and to write the New Testament. 786 00:38:24,284 --> 00:38:26,005 That is the now. 787 00:38:26,005 --> 00:38:29,124 Paul is writing. That's the now. 788 00:38:29,124 --> 00:38:31,033 It has "now been disclosed." 789 00:38:31,033 --> 00:38:32,364 What He's saying is 790 00:38:32,364 --> 00:38:34,265 that prior to Christ's coming, 791 00:38:34,265 --> 00:38:36,075 prior to the New Testament, 792 00:38:36,075 --> 00:38:37,794 it was not known. 793 00:38:37,794 --> 00:38:40,763 Again, it's like our mystery thriller. 794 00:38:40,763 --> 00:38:43,633 You know how they go along. 795 00:38:43,633 --> 00:38:45,603 It's not like you don't get any facts 796 00:38:45,603 --> 00:38:46,915 until the very end. 797 00:38:46,915 --> 00:38:49,193 You get these facts along the way 798 00:38:49,193 --> 00:38:51,064 that give you a little bit of light, 799 00:38:51,064 --> 00:38:53,484 but still there's so much perplexity 800 00:38:53,484 --> 00:38:56,325 and uncertainty and indistinguishable... 801 00:38:56,325 --> 00:38:57,834 Brethren, in the Old Testament, 802 00:38:57,834 --> 00:38:59,613 they didn't know what to make of it. 803 00:38:59,613 --> 00:39:00,904 They're looking at Scripture 804 00:39:00,904 --> 00:39:02,445 and they're saying, well, it looks like 805 00:39:02,445 --> 00:39:03,681 He's going to be victorious. 806 00:39:03,681 --> 00:39:05,386 It looks like He's going to sit on a throne. 807 00:39:05,386 --> 00:39:07,285 But then we've got this Man of Sorrows over here 808 00:39:07,285 --> 00:39:08,524 and what's this all about? 809 00:39:08,524 --> 00:39:10,678 There's so much where they were perplexed 810 00:39:10,678 --> 00:39:13,315 that some even taught that there were two Messiah's. 811 00:39:13,315 --> 00:39:16,025 (incomplete thought) 812 00:39:16,025 --> 00:39:17,595 What are they making out here? 813 00:39:17,595 --> 00:39:21,035 Who is this guy? 814 00:39:21,035 --> 00:39:23,315 I mean, even as they're watching it unravel, 815 00:39:23,315 --> 00:39:25,633 Peter's like: No, You're not going to the cross. 816 00:39:25,633 --> 00:39:27,073 "Get behind Me, Satan." 817 00:39:27,073 --> 00:39:29,526 They're all like: come down from the cross 818 00:39:29,526 --> 00:39:31,554 if you be the Messiah. They don't get it. 819 00:39:31,554 --> 00:39:33,453 They don't get that He has to die. 820 00:39:33,453 --> 00:39:36,105 They don't get that He's going to rise from the dead. 821 00:39:36,105 --> 00:39:37,719 This is all shrouded. 822 00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:39,713 Christ, Jesus Christ - 823 00:39:39,713 --> 00:39:41,522 they knew a son of David was coming. 824 00:39:41,522 --> 00:39:43,534 They knew a son of Abraham was coming. 825 00:39:43,534 --> 00:39:46,973 They knew a son of the woman was coming. 826 00:39:46,973 --> 00:39:48,015 They knew this. 827 00:39:48,015 --> 00:39:49,065 They had an idea. 828 00:39:49,065 --> 00:39:50,693 They were putting pieces together. 829 00:39:50,693 --> 00:39:52,573 But it was so much a mystery 830 00:39:52,573 --> 00:39:54,486 that when He came, they were all baffled 831 00:39:54,486 --> 00:39:55,912 including His own disciples. 832 00:39:55,912 --> 00:39:57,652 They could not figure this out. 833 00:39:57,652 --> 00:40:01,444 They were getting pieces of the puzzle. 834 00:40:01,444 --> 00:40:03,043 That's the idea. 835 00:40:03,043 --> 00:40:05,323 But I'll tell you, brethren, 836 00:40:05,323 --> 00:40:06,764 once Christ has come 837 00:40:06,764 --> 00:40:08,913 and the apostles are writing these accounts, 838 00:40:08,913 --> 00:40:10,225 they're giving us light 839 00:40:10,225 --> 00:40:12,366 like we have never had before. 840 00:40:12,366 --> 00:40:13,776 (incomplete thought) 841 00:40:13,776 --> 00:40:15,414 Listen. 842 00:40:15,414 --> 00:40:17,983 Especially I think of dispensational, 843 00:40:17,983 --> 00:40:21,823 brethren, you end up with religious systems 844 00:40:21,823 --> 00:40:24,633 that are wrong when you say 845 00:40:24,633 --> 00:40:27,532 that the New Testament basically stands alone 846 00:40:27,532 --> 00:40:29,504 and you try to interpret 847 00:40:29,504 --> 00:40:31,464 the New Testament by the Old. 848 00:40:31,464 --> 00:40:33,285 That's not the teaching of Scripture. 849 00:40:33,285 --> 00:40:36,076 What Scripture says is now the mystery 850 00:40:36,076 --> 00:40:37,274 has been made known. 851 00:40:37,274 --> 00:40:39,753 Don't go back to the mysterious things 852 00:40:39,753 --> 00:40:41,084 and start there. 853 00:40:41,084 --> 00:40:43,034 Go to this revelation 854 00:40:43,034 --> 00:40:44,856 and go back there 855 00:40:44,856 --> 00:40:46,903 and pull what you know from the New 856 00:40:46,903 --> 00:40:50,375 and figure out what all the mysteries in the Old were about. 857 00:40:50,375 --> 00:40:51,844 That's the teaching here. 858 00:40:51,844 --> 00:40:53,856 What he says is now. 859 00:40:53,856 --> 00:40:55,073 When was the now? 860 00:40:55,073 --> 00:40:56,356 When he's writing to Rome. 861 00:40:56,356 --> 00:40:59,913 And what does he say happened in the now? 862 00:40:59,913 --> 00:41:01,874 Notice. 863 00:41:01,874 --> 00:41:03,906 "It has now been disclosed 864 00:41:03,906 --> 00:41:06,483 through the prophetic writings." 865 00:41:06,483 --> 00:41:08,006 What prophetic writings? 866 00:41:08,006 --> 00:41:09,564 His. 867 00:41:09,564 --> 00:41:10,702 Now. 868 00:41:10,702 --> 00:41:12,917 He's talking about now. Right there. Now. 869 00:41:12,917 --> 00:41:14,725 His and the other apostles. 870 00:41:14,725 --> 00:41:16,936 That's the prophetic writings. 871 00:41:16,936 --> 00:41:19,074 He's not talking about the Old Testament. 872 00:41:19,074 --> 00:41:21,616 He's saying now it's been disclosed. 873 00:41:21,616 --> 00:41:23,524 Not back then. 874 00:41:23,524 --> 00:41:27,975 "For long ages it's been hidden." 875 00:41:27,975 --> 00:41:30,785 "It's now been made known to all the nations..." 876 00:41:30,785 --> 00:41:32,504 again, you have those words: 877 00:41:32,504 --> 00:41:34,073 "made known." 878 00:41:34,073 --> 00:41:36,124 Revelation. 879 00:41:36,124 --> 00:41:38,335 "According to the command of the eternal God 880 00:41:38,335 --> 00:41:42,574 to bring about the obedience of faith." 881 00:41:42,574 --> 00:41:44,784 I just think about this: 882 00:41:44,784 --> 00:41:46,515 Can you imagine? 883 00:41:46,515 --> 00:41:50,155 You're in the crowd of the Pharisees. 884 00:41:50,155 --> 00:41:52,621 For long ages, this has been hidden, 885 00:41:52,621 --> 00:41:58,713 and here's Christ Himself and He's teaching it. 886 00:41:58,713 --> 00:42:00,215 You know what it's like? 887 00:42:00,215 --> 00:42:02,967 It's like I got to the end of the Agatha Christie novel 888 00:42:02,967 --> 00:42:06,855 on the page you're supposed to find out who did it, 889 00:42:06,855 --> 00:42:10,287 and they look at it and it's like it's in another language. 890 00:42:10,287 --> 00:42:15,356 It's like all the words are scrambled and upside down. 891 00:42:15,356 --> 00:42:18,515 They actually got to the time frame 892 00:42:18,515 --> 00:42:22,363 when it's being revealed, 893 00:42:22,363 --> 00:42:33,584 and now they morally are not capable of even hearing. 894 00:42:33,584 --> 00:42:48,744 Go to 1 Corinthians 2. 895 00:42:48,744 --> 00:42:55,136 1 Corinthians 2. 896 00:42:55,136 --> 00:42:59,405 Notice this. 897 00:42:59,405 --> 00:43:01,575 Verse 6, 898 00:43:01,575 --> 00:43:03,346 1 Corinthians 2:6, 899 00:43:03,346 --> 00:43:05,484 "Yet among the mature, 900 00:43:05,484 --> 00:43:08,685 we do impart wisdom, 901 00:43:08,685 --> 00:43:11,214 although it's not a wisdom of this age 902 00:43:11,214 --> 00:43:12,847 or of the rulers of this age 903 00:43:12,847 --> 00:43:17,164 who are doomed to pass away." 904 00:43:17,164 --> 00:43:20,875 Doomed. 905 00:43:20,875 --> 00:43:23,575 You know if you can't see 906 00:43:23,575 --> 00:43:26,185 what is given to some to see, 907 00:43:26,185 --> 00:43:29,372 you're doomed. 908 00:43:29,372 --> 00:43:31,146 But remember what I just said, 909 00:43:31,146 --> 00:43:34,912 our blindness is a moral blindness. 910 00:43:34,912 --> 00:43:38,743 Men don't want to see. 911 00:43:38,743 --> 00:43:40,018 But notice this: 912 00:43:40,018 --> 00:43:44,033 "We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God." 913 00:43:44,033 --> 00:43:46,744 That's the ESV. 914 00:43:46,744 --> 00:43:50,114 "We speak the wisdom of God in mystery." 915 00:43:50,114 --> 00:43:55,367 That's the Greek rendering here 916 00:43:55,367 --> 00:43:58,232 in many of the translations. 917 00:43:58,232 --> 00:44:01,633 "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery." 918 00:44:01,633 --> 00:44:03,644 Notice, "Which God decreed 919 00:44:03,644 --> 00:44:05,837 before the ages for our glory." 920 00:44:05,837 --> 00:44:07,173 It was in God's mind 921 00:44:07,173 --> 00:44:08,246 before the ages began. 922 00:44:08,246 --> 00:44:10,763 That's what Paul's been telling us in Ephesians 1. 923 00:44:10,763 --> 00:44:12,116 Now notice this, verse 8, 924 00:44:12,116 --> 00:44:15,833 "None of the rulers of this age understood this." 925 00:44:15,833 --> 00:44:17,235 They couldn't see. 926 00:44:17,235 --> 00:44:19,015 They didn't know the mystery. 927 00:44:19,015 --> 00:44:22,565 Now, don't despise the simplicity of this next statement. 928 00:44:22,565 --> 00:44:26,042 "If they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." 929 00:44:26,042 --> 00:44:30,115 Brethren, there's real simplicity there, but think about it. 930 00:44:30,115 --> 00:44:31,965 Pilate does not have a guy crucified 931 00:44:31,965 --> 00:44:33,724 if he really looks at him and says: 932 00:44:33,724 --> 00:44:36,164 This is the Lord of Glory. I'm going to have to stand before Him. 933 00:44:36,164 --> 00:44:39,036 He's going to judge me in righteousness on the last day. 934 00:44:39,036 --> 00:44:41,104 You see, if you see that, or you recognize 935 00:44:41,104 --> 00:44:42,844 the wrath of God is upon me, 936 00:44:42,844 --> 00:44:44,786 I'm a sinner, and this is my only hope. 937 00:44:44,786 --> 00:44:46,513 This One right here is my only hope. 938 00:44:46,513 --> 00:44:48,482 You don't send Him to the cross. 939 00:44:48,482 --> 00:44:50,084 Herod doesn't do what he did. 940 00:44:50,084 --> 00:44:51,266 They don't mock Him. 941 00:44:51,266 --> 00:44:52,644 The soldiers, the Sanhedrin, 942 00:44:52,644 --> 00:44:54,286 the chief priests, the Pharisees. 943 00:44:54,286 --> 00:44:56,684 These are the rulers. 944 00:44:56,684 --> 00:44:59,506 You see, you don't do what they did 945 00:44:59,506 --> 00:45:01,836 if it's been revealed to your mind 946 00:45:01,836 --> 00:45:04,474 what Peter, John, and James had revealed to their mind. 947 00:45:04,474 --> 00:45:06,884 What many of you have had revealed to your mind. 948 00:45:06,884 --> 00:45:09,545 If Christ came here today, you wouldn't crucify Him. 949 00:45:09,545 --> 00:45:10,453 But you know what? 950 00:45:10,453 --> 00:45:11,735 If Christ came here today, 951 00:45:11,735 --> 00:45:14,163 the vast majority of this world would crucify Him 952 00:45:14,163 --> 00:45:15,613 just like they did back then. 953 00:45:15,613 --> 00:45:18,846 Why? Because they can't see what you see. 954 00:45:18,846 --> 00:45:23,325 Because you're only going to see what James and John see 955 00:45:23,325 --> 00:45:28,089 if it's been given to you to see it. 956 00:45:28,089 --> 00:45:33,934 So, now, turn to Ephesians. 957 00:45:33,934 --> 00:45:35,845 We're building a theology of mystery 958 00:45:35,845 --> 00:45:37,598 and I know time is almost gone, 959 00:45:37,598 --> 00:45:40,703 but just bear with me for a few more minutes. 960 00:45:40,703 --> 00:45:42,515 This is where it gets really good. 961 00:45:42,515 --> 00:45:51,574 Ephesians 3. 962 00:45:51,574 --> 00:45:55,093 We're talking about the mystery of God. 963 00:45:55,093 --> 00:45:57,574 "For this reason, I Paul, 964 00:45:57,574 --> 00:45:58,955 a prisoner for Christ Jesus 965 00:45:58,955 --> 00:46:00,620 on behalf of you Gentiles 966 00:46:00,620 --> 00:46:02,056 assuming that you have heard 967 00:46:02,056 --> 00:46:03,674 of the stewardship of God's grace 968 00:46:03,674 --> 00:46:05,256 that was given to me for you..." 969 00:46:05,256 --> 00:46:06,345 notice verse 3, 970 00:46:06,345 --> 00:46:09,435 "how the mystery was made known to me by revelation." 971 00:46:09,435 --> 00:46:11,607 Again, when you find mystery, 972 00:46:11,607 --> 00:46:13,443 you find - if you understand it - 973 00:46:13,443 --> 00:46:15,034 it's by revelation. 974 00:46:15,034 --> 00:46:17,213 The word "reveal" or "revelation" 975 00:46:17,213 --> 00:46:21,242 consistently associated with this idea of mystery. 976 00:46:21,242 --> 00:46:23,114 He says, "As I have written briefly, 977 00:46:23,114 --> 00:46:24,243 when you read this, 978 00:46:24,243 --> 00:46:26,284 you can perceive my insight 979 00:46:26,284 --> 00:46:28,937 into the mystery of Christ." 980 00:46:28,937 --> 00:46:30,585 Again, "Which was not made known." 981 00:46:30,585 --> 00:46:31,583 Remember? 982 00:46:31,583 --> 00:46:33,619 It was basically kept secret. 983 00:46:33,619 --> 00:46:36,374 It was "hidden for long ages." 984 00:46:36,374 --> 00:46:38,035 That's what he says right here. 985 00:46:38,035 --> 00:46:41,156 "It was not made known to the sons of men in other generations 986 00:46:41,156 --> 00:46:42,935 as it has now been revealed 987 00:46:42,935 --> 00:46:45,986 to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." 988 00:46:45,986 --> 00:46:48,314 They didn't have it in the Old Testament. 989 00:46:48,314 --> 00:46:49,665 They got glimpses. 990 00:46:49,665 --> 00:46:51,426 They got shadows. They got types. 991 00:46:51,426 --> 00:46:56,014 They got figures, but they didn't have it. 992 00:46:56,014 --> 00:46:57,955 Now notice verse 6, 993 00:46:57,955 --> 00:47:00,819 the ESV adds this mystery - it's implied. 994 00:47:00,819 --> 00:47:03,905 This mystery "is that the Gentiles 995 00:47:03,905 --> 00:47:04,915 are fellow heirs, 996 00:47:04,915 --> 00:47:06,914 members of the same body and partakers 997 00:47:06,914 --> 00:47:09,492 of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel." 998 00:47:09,492 --> 00:47:16,267 One of the huge components of this mystery 999 00:47:16,267 --> 00:47:19,504 is that you and I, many of us here, 1000 00:47:19,504 --> 00:47:22,226 are included. 1001 00:47:22,226 --> 00:47:25,562 Again, you have glimpses of this 1002 00:47:25,562 --> 00:47:26,914 all over the Old Testament, 1003 00:47:26,914 --> 00:47:27,936 but isn't it amazing? 1004 00:47:27,936 --> 00:47:29,475 They didn't get it. 1005 00:47:29,475 --> 00:47:31,713 They didn't grasp it. 1006 00:47:31,713 --> 00:47:34,805 God's mystery. 1007 00:47:34,805 --> 00:47:36,776 Like I was saying, in a certain fashion 1008 00:47:36,776 --> 00:47:38,856 is like a murder mystery 1009 00:47:38,856 --> 00:47:40,784 where you get to the end 1010 00:47:40,784 --> 00:47:41,976 and it's who dunnit. 1011 00:47:41,976 --> 00:47:43,032 Through the long ages, 1012 00:47:43,032 --> 00:47:44,215 God kept us in the dark. 1013 00:47:44,215 --> 00:47:45,963 There's been some light to be sure, 1014 00:47:45,963 --> 00:47:47,905 as a murder mystery - it unravels. 1015 00:47:47,905 --> 00:47:51,504 There's clues along the way in God's mystery. 1016 00:47:51,504 --> 00:47:54,216 God's mystery is not a murder mystery. 1017 00:47:54,216 --> 00:47:57,006 This mystery is about life. 1018 00:47:57,006 --> 00:48:02,144 But you get to the end 1019 00:48:02,144 --> 00:48:05,620 and He reveals it. 1020 00:48:05,620 --> 00:48:06,876 The mystery. 1021 00:48:06,876 --> 00:48:08,814 The mystery has to do with the Gentiles. 1022 00:48:08,814 --> 00:48:10,244 The mystery is the Gospel we're told. 1023 00:48:10,244 --> 00:48:12,604 The mystery has to do with the Kingdom of Heaven. 1024 00:48:12,604 --> 00:48:18,507 The mystery of Christ. 1025 00:48:18,507 --> 00:48:21,916 Son of God and Son of David. 1026 00:48:21,916 --> 00:48:25,932 God and man. 1027 00:48:25,932 --> 00:48:31,004 There's still great mysteries there. 1028 00:48:31,004 --> 00:48:32,906 There's mystery. 1029 00:48:32,906 --> 00:48:35,404 How is He going to be victorious 1030 00:48:35,404 --> 00:48:38,942 when it seems like He's been defeated? 1031 00:48:38,942 --> 00:48:40,533 He dies on the cross. 1032 00:48:40,533 --> 00:48:42,994 They're expecting that He's going to be victorious. 1033 00:48:42,994 --> 00:48:44,804 He'd come down from that cross 1034 00:48:44,804 --> 00:48:46,335 and would conquer Rome. 1035 00:48:46,335 --> 00:48:47,825 How can this be? 1036 00:48:47,825 --> 00:48:49,607 It's all about life. 1037 00:48:49,607 --> 00:48:54,474 It's all about how Christ gains salvation for His people. 1038 00:48:54,474 --> 00:48:55,585 But here's the thing, 1039 00:48:55,585 --> 00:48:58,876 the mystery is not something permanently secret - 1040 00:48:58,876 --> 00:49:01,938 for long ages, but then it's revealed. 1041 00:49:01,938 --> 00:49:07,186 But the thing about it that we need to recognize is this: 1042 00:49:07,186 --> 00:49:10,452 It will always remain incomprehensible 1043 00:49:10,452 --> 00:49:12,364 to the unaided mind. 1044 00:49:12,364 --> 00:49:14,713 Just the carnal mind can't grasp it, 1045 00:49:14,713 --> 00:49:16,702 can't perceive it, can't go there, 1046 00:49:16,702 --> 00:49:20,022 doesn't recognize in the end 1047 00:49:20,022 --> 00:49:21,753 even when it's revealed to us 1048 00:49:21,753 --> 00:49:23,202 what it's all about. 1049 00:49:23,202 --> 00:49:25,991 The Gospel we are confronted with 1050 00:49:25,991 --> 00:49:29,483 is a mystery that no human mind 1051 00:49:29,483 --> 00:49:32,232 will ever grasp unless and until 1052 00:49:32,232 --> 00:49:34,994 God breaks into the man's darkness 1053 00:49:34,994 --> 00:49:37,472 and reveals Himself. 1054 00:49:37,472 --> 00:49:39,922 You remember how it was. 1055 00:49:39,922 --> 00:49:43,462 "Peter, who do you say that I am?" 1056 00:49:43,462 --> 00:49:47,762 "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God." 1057 00:49:47,762 --> 00:49:50,102 "Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you." 1058 00:49:50,102 --> 00:49:51,871 And if you know it, flesh and blood 1059 00:49:51,871 --> 00:49:53,122 did not reveal it to you. 1060 00:49:53,122 --> 00:49:55,183 And the only way you're going to know it 1061 00:49:55,183 --> 00:49:59,503 is if the Father has revealed this to you. 1062 00:49:59,503 --> 00:50:04,142 The mystery is not absolute 1063 00:50:04,142 --> 00:50:08,963 incomprehensibility to the human intellect. 1064 00:50:08,963 --> 00:50:10,821 But to the unaided mind, 1065 00:50:10,821 --> 00:50:14,343 there is a satanic haze. 1066 00:50:14,343 --> 00:50:17,484 There is a satanic blindness. 1067 00:50:17,484 --> 00:50:21,094 Look, how does man overcome 1068 00:50:21,094 --> 00:50:23,074 an angelic blindness? 1069 00:50:23,074 --> 00:50:24,371 He's stronger than us. 1070 00:50:24,371 --> 00:50:25,755 The only hope you have 1071 00:50:25,755 --> 00:50:27,483 is if God intervenes. 1072 00:50:27,483 --> 00:50:30,766 That's the only hope. 1073 00:50:30,766 --> 00:50:34,902 Brethren, what we're going to see in the weeks ahead 1074 00:50:34,902 --> 00:50:40,442 is this is really a main theme of Ephesians. 1075 00:50:40,442 --> 00:50:42,144 Now you don't have to turn to it, 1076 00:50:42,144 --> 00:50:45,853 but just listen to these. 1077 00:50:45,853 --> 00:50:47,673 "I do not cease to give thanks for you, 1078 00:50:47,673 --> 00:50:49,122 remembering you in my prayers, 1079 00:50:49,122 --> 00:50:50,903 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1080 00:50:50,903 --> 00:50:52,492 the Father of glory..." listen to this. 1081 00:50:52,492 --> 00:50:54,274 This is his prayer for these Ephesians. 1082 00:50:54,274 --> 00:50:57,292 "...May give you the spirit of wisdom 1083 00:50:57,292 --> 00:50:59,594 and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, 1084 00:50:59,594 --> 00:51:02,533 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened." 1085 00:51:02,533 --> 00:51:04,604 These people are already Christians. 1086 00:51:04,604 --> 00:51:07,132 And Paul thinks it's appropriate 1087 00:51:07,132 --> 00:51:08,402 to pray for them 1088 00:51:08,402 --> 00:51:09,922 that they would yet be given 1089 00:51:09,922 --> 00:51:12,164 a spirit of knowledge, of wisdom, 1090 00:51:12,164 --> 00:51:15,523 and of revelation in the knowledge of Him 1091 00:51:15,523 --> 00:51:18,472 that they might have the eyes of their hearts enlightened 1092 00:51:18,472 --> 00:51:19,944 so that they may know what? 1093 00:51:19,944 --> 00:51:21,552 They may know about the hope, 1094 00:51:21,552 --> 00:51:22,733 know about the riches, 1095 00:51:22,733 --> 00:51:26,351 know about this incomprehensible power 1096 00:51:26,351 --> 00:51:28,904 that is at work within them. 1097 00:51:28,904 --> 00:51:31,885 He even goes on in chapter 3 to say 1098 00:51:31,885 --> 00:51:33,773 this love of Christ - 1099 00:51:33,773 --> 00:51:37,123 you guys actually need some help 1100 00:51:37,123 --> 00:51:39,803 outside of yourself to really grasp this. 1101 00:51:39,803 --> 00:51:42,413 You need strength to comprehend 1102 00:51:42,413 --> 00:51:45,263 what is the breadth and length and height and depth. 1103 00:51:45,263 --> 00:51:49,802 You need God-given ability 1104 00:51:49,802 --> 00:51:51,032 to recognize this. 1105 00:51:51,032 --> 00:51:54,512 This is part of what this whole letter is all about. 1106 00:51:54,512 --> 00:51:56,378 That He's going to take us into places 1107 00:51:56,378 --> 00:51:58,395 where our minds are going to be opened up. 1108 00:51:58,395 --> 00:52:00,294 And remember what Christ said? 1109 00:52:00,294 --> 00:52:03,221 You know what's going to happen in the weeks ahead? 1110 00:52:03,221 --> 00:52:05,554 If you've already been given the ability to see, 1111 00:52:05,554 --> 00:52:07,663 more is going to be given. 1112 00:52:07,663 --> 00:52:09,803 I have that promise from Him. 1113 00:52:09,803 --> 00:52:11,782 I know there are some of you in this room 1114 00:52:11,782 --> 00:52:15,751 that as we move through this, 1115 00:52:15,751 --> 00:52:17,313 more is going to be given to you 1116 00:52:17,313 --> 00:52:19,191 because you've already been given something. 1117 00:52:19,191 --> 00:52:20,803 Some of you have had the Word given 1118 00:52:20,803 --> 00:52:22,153 and it's going to be taken away 1119 00:52:22,153 --> 00:52:23,266 because you're going to go out 1120 00:52:23,266 --> 00:52:24,492 and guess what's going to happen? 1121 00:52:24,492 --> 00:52:25,443 The birds are going to come 1122 00:52:25,443 --> 00:52:27,094 and they're going to take it up. 1123 00:52:27,094 --> 00:52:29,544 And you're left with this incomprehensibility. 1124 00:52:29,544 --> 00:52:31,873 You're going to be left in the darkness. 1125 00:52:31,873 --> 00:52:33,903 And you say, yeah, but you're telling me 1126 00:52:33,903 --> 00:52:35,523 that this is what God does. 1127 00:52:35,523 --> 00:52:37,434 You're telling me that Christ 1128 00:52:37,434 --> 00:52:38,842 was thanking His Father 1129 00:52:38,842 --> 00:52:40,422 that He had made known to some 1130 00:52:40,422 --> 00:52:42,571 and withheld it, He'd hidden these things 1131 00:52:42,571 --> 00:52:44,871 from the wise and from the understanding. 1132 00:52:44,871 --> 00:52:47,253 Okay, well, that's true. 1133 00:52:47,253 --> 00:52:49,083 So what's the remedy? 1134 00:52:49,083 --> 00:52:52,104 Don't be wise and understanding. 1135 00:52:52,104 --> 00:52:56,092 In other words, what you're called to do 1136 00:52:56,092 --> 00:52:59,814 is to be a fool. 1137 00:52:59,814 --> 00:53:01,094 I mean, can you see it? 1138 00:53:01,094 --> 00:53:03,363 You know what Paul said to the Corinthians? 1139 00:53:03,363 --> 00:53:10,154 He said God didn't call many wise. 1140 00:53:10,154 --> 00:53:13,734 There's a reason for that. 1141 00:53:13,734 --> 00:53:16,764 You can take encouragement. 1142 00:53:16,764 --> 00:53:19,223 You don't have to be smart. 1143 00:53:19,223 --> 00:53:21,023 You don't have to have an IQ. 1144 00:53:21,023 --> 00:53:23,192 God is in the business of picking people 1145 00:53:23,192 --> 00:53:25,612 actually that don't always have the highest IQ. 1146 00:53:25,612 --> 00:53:28,075 In fact, only a few do. 1147 00:53:28,075 --> 00:53:29,823 The vast majority don't. 1148 00:53:29,823 --> 00:53:32,504 And he's saying consider your calling, brethren. 1149 00:53:32,504 --> 00:53:33,793 This is the reality. 1150 00:53:33,793 --> 00:53:35,653 You don't have to be incredibly smart 1151 00:53:35,653 --> 00:53:37,143 by this world's standards 1152 00:53:37,143 --> 00:53:39,833 for you to perceive (incomplete thought). 1153 00:53:39,833 --> 00:53:43,875 Do you ever look at Richard Dawkins? 1154 00:53:43,875 --> 00:53:45,892 This guy - where's his IQ? 1155 00:53:45,892 --> 00:53:50,533 There's guys like this, but they don't get it. 1156 00:53:50,533 --> 00:53:52,768 They can't see it. 1157 00:53:52,768 --> 00:53:54,747 And they look at us like 1158 00:53:54,747 --> 00:53:56,036 we're ignoramuses. 1159 00:53:56,036 --> 00:53:57,296 And you know what? 1160 00:53:57,296 --> 00:53:58,998 In many ways, we are. 1161 00:53:58,998 --> 00:54:02,369 We don't understand many of the things they understand. 1162 00:54:02,369 --> 00:54:04,508 But the most important thing to understand, 1163 00:54:04,508 --> 00:54:06,138 we do understand. 1164 00:54:06,138 --> 00:54:08,177 And they don't. 1165 00:54:08,177 --> 00:54:10,426 Secrets. 1166 00:54:10,426 --> 00:54:15,128 God has chosen you to know them. 1167 00:54:15,128 --> 00:54:16,808 Consider your calling, brethren. 1168 00:54:16,808 --> 00:54:18,268 "Not many of you were wise 1169 00:54:18,268 --> 00:54:20,907 according to worldly standards." 1170 00:54:20,907 --> 00:54:24,687 God chose what is foolish in this world. 1171 00:54:24,687 --> 00:54:26,497 You know what we're told in Scripture? 1172 00:54:26,497 --> 00:54:28,237 "If any man seems to be wise in this world, 1173 00:54:28,237 --> 00:54:29,827 let him become a fool 1174 00:54:29,827 --> 00:54:31,178 that he may become wise." 1175 00:54:31,178 --> 00:54:33,639 So you say I don't like all this. 1176 00:54:33,639 --> 00:54:35,449 Well, I would say this, 1177 00:54:35,449 --> 00:54:37,458 stop being wise. 1178 00:54:37,458 --> 00:54:38,839 I don't mean really wise, 1179 00:54:38,839 --> 00:54:41,648 I mean stop being wise in your own eyes. 1180 00:54:41,648 --> 00:54:46,530 The way forward for all of us 1181 00:54:46,530 --> 00:54:49,189 is a path of humility. 1182 00:54:49,189 --> 00:54:51,970 Lord, I don't understand. 1183 00:54:51,970 --> 00:54:53,608 Open my eyes, Lord, 1184 00:54:53,608 --> 00:54:56,409 that I may behold wondrous things from Your Word. 1185 00:54:56,409 --> 00:54:59,440 Lord, teach me as only You can teach me. 1186 00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:01,170 Teach me like You showed Peter. 1187 00:55:01,170 --> 00:55:04,909 Lord, please, I know there are mysteries here. 1188 00:55:04,909 --> 00:55:07,260 I know there are mysteries in Christ. 1189 00:55:07,260 --> 00:55:09,298 I know there are mysteries in the Gospel. 1190 00:55:09,298 --> 00:55:12,139 There are mysteries that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven. 1191 00:55:12,139 --> 00:55:13,888 Lord, open my eyes. 1192 00:55:13,888 --> 00:55:15,748 As Paul prayed for these Ephesians 1193 00:55:15,748 --> 00:55:18,268 that they would be given this spirit 1194 00:55:18,268 --> 00:55:21,119 of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 1195 00:55:21,119 --> 00:55:24,078 having the eyes of their hearts enlightened. 1196 00:55:24,078 --> 00:55:27,320 Lord, give me that. Give me that. 1197 00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:29,867 Lord, give me strength to comprehend. 1198 00:55:29,867 --> 00:55:31,217 Don't you want that? 1199 00:55:31,217 --> 00:55:33,200 To comprehend the love of Christ 1200 00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:34,631 that passes understanding? 1201 00:55:34,631 --> 00:55:36,798 How can he be praying on the one hand 1202 00:55:36,798 --> 00:55:40,027 that I be given this power to comprehend 1203 00:55:40,027 --> 00:55:41,746 when he turns right around and says 1204 00:55:41,746 --> 00:55:43,090 it's incomprehensible? 1205 00:55:43,090 --> 00:55:44,959 Because that's what we're dealing with. 1206 00:55:44,959 --> 00:55:47,069 We're dealing with incomprehensible things. 1207 00:55:47,069 --> 00:55:48,802 And if you've been given some light, 1208 00:55:48,802 --> 00:55:51,269 you've been savingly given the light of Christ 1209 00:55:51,269 --> 00:55:52,698 and the beauty in Christ 1210 00:55:52,698 --> 00:55:54,177 and how He's your only hope, 1211 00:55:54,177 --> 00:55:57,298 oh brethren, the very prayers of Jesus Christ Himself 1212 00:55:57,298 --> 00:55:59,529 assure you: 1213 00:55:59,529 --> 00:56:01,870 to whom much is given... 1214 00:56:01,870 --> 00:56:04,160 Brethren, to whom something is given, 1215 00:56:04,160 --> 00:56:06,319 more is going to be given. 1216 00:56:06,319 --> 00:56:09,368 But the promise is that much is going to be given to you. 1217 00:56:09,368 --> 00:56:12,369 The prayer here in Ephesians is: 1218 00:56:12,369 --> 00:56:17,219 that they would be given this ability, 1219 00:56:17,219 --> 00:56:19,629 the revelation in the knowledge of Him. 1220 00:56:19,629 --> 00:56:25,989 Brethren, this is crucial 1221 00:56:25,989 --> 00:56:28,675 to living our Christian lives. 1222 00:56:28,675 --> 00:56:29,880 Why? 1223 00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:33,519 Because as your mind is expanded and stretched, 1224 00:56:33,519 --> 00:56:35,821 as you're able to comprehend with the saints 1225 00:56:35,821 --> 00:56:39,299 what is the breadth and length and height and depth - 1226 00:56:39,299 --> 00:56:40,828 brethren, I'll tell you this, 1227 00:56:40,828 --> 00:56:42,658 when your mind is stretched 1228 00:56:42,658 --> 00:56:44,469 and you're able to behold 1229 00:56:44,469 --> 00:56:47,319 manifestations of the love of Christ towards you 1230 00:56:47,319 --> 00:56:49,219 in ways you have never tasted before 1231 00:56:49,219 --> 00:56:51,738 and you experience the assurance and the joy of that, 1232 00:56:51,738 --> 00:56:53,458 you do not easily go out here 1233 00:56:53,458 --> 00:56:56,383 and look at pornography on the Internet. 1234 00:56:56,383 --> 00:56:58,230 This is the heart and soul 1235 00:56:58,230 --> 00:57:00,131 of living the Christian life. 1236 00:57:00,131 --> 00:57:02,040 It is fought in the mind. 1237 00:57:02,040 --> 00:57:03,029 And we saw it. 1238 00:57:03,029 --> 00:57:04,530 "Gird up the loins of your mind." 1239 00:57:04,530 --> 00:57:05,749 How are you going to do it? 1240 00:57:05,749 --> 00:57:07,291 Well, it's something God has to do. 1241 00:57:07,291 --> 00:57:08,589 Pray for one another 1242 00:57:08,589 --> 00:57:10,559 the way Paul prays here. 1243 00:57:10,559 --> 00:57:12,040 Pray that for each other. 1244 00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:13,330 Pray that for the pastors 1245 00:57:13,330 --> 00:57:14,841 so that when they step up here 1246 00:57:14,841 --> 00:57:15,908 and open up the Word, 1247 00:57:15,908 --> 00:57:17,849 God has given them the ability to see 1248 00:57:17,849 --> 00:57:20,062 what otherwise can't be seen. 1249 00:57:20,062 --> 00:57:21,392 Brethren, we need that. 1250 00:57:21,392 --> 00:57:24,241 And then to impart to you (incomplete thought). 1251 00:57:24,241 --> 00:57:25,431 And in your own study, 1252 00:57:25,431 --> 00:57:27,600 we need to be praying for one another for that. 1253 00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:28,733 Comprehension. 1254 00:57:28,733 --> 00:57:32,390 Given power to comprehend. 1255 00:57:32,390 --> 00:57:34,660 Oh, if God gives that to this church, 1256 00:57:34,660 --> 00:57:36,100 we'll be a healthy church. 1257 00:57:36,100 --> 00:57:38,928 Why? Because our minds will be transformed 1258 00:57:38,928 --> 00:57:41,571 and that is at the heart of living the Christian life. 1259 00:57:41,571 --> 00:57:44,971 Your battle of faith is fought here. 1260 00:57:44,971 --> 00:57:49,991 Your battle of resisting sin is fought here. 1261 00:57:49,991 --> 00:57:53,233 So may God give us grace. 1262 00:57:53,233 --> 00:57:57,899 Mind of man at its best 1263 00:57:57,899 --> 00:57:59,512 by itself unaided 1264 00:57:59,512 --> 00:58:02,860 is never adequate to comprehend these things. 1265 00:58:02,860 --> 00:58:08,010 And you saw it in 1 Corinthians 1. 1266 00:58:08,010 --> 00:58:10,520 You know what the Lord's aim is in all this? 1267 00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:13,229 That in the end, we would glory 1268 00:58:13,229 --> 00:58:17,940 only in the Lord. 1269 00:58:17,940 --> 00:58:19,527 Father, we pray, 1270 00:58:19,527 --> 00:58:23,191 Lord, I would pray for this church. 1271 00:58:23,191 --> 00:58:24,721 Give us the power, 1272 00:58:24,721 --> 00:58:27,680 give us the grace in these weeks ahead 1273 00:58:27,680 --> 00:58:31,091 to comprehend - every one of us - 1274 00:58:31,091 --> 00:58:32,599 to comprehend at levels 1275 00:58:32,599 --> 00:58:35,470 we have not yet comprehended. 1276 00:58:35,470 --> 00:58:37,491 I pray in Christ's name. 1277 00:58:37,491 --> 00:58:39,250 You're dismissed.