Mystery of His Will

The Profound Concepts of Ephesians 1 and the Overflow of Grace

0:03 It would perhaps be accurate to say that the most uninformed and ignorant man in the world is the man who dares to assert that becoming a Christian involves the giving up of one's mind. The idea prevalent in our day is that if you would be a thinker, then you must not and cannot be a Christian. Christianity, a caricature that people have in their minds, being some kind of childish, simplistic resolution of the world's problems, and that thinking men, grown-up men, mature men, certainly cannot be Christians. I say to make such an assertion is to blatantly declare one's ignorance. For as we have been seeing in our study of this first paragraph in Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 3 through 14, some of the most profound, staggering, mind-stretching concepts to be found anywhere in all of human literature are found here, as the Apostle writes to a group of common citizens at Ephesus,

1:24 gathered together in the church, made up of slaves, of masters, of fathers, mothers, children, and speaks to them, and the redemption, the purchase of a people by the price of the blood of Christ. And then as the paragraph develops such sweeping, panoramic concepts as the summing up of all things in Christ, my mind is staggered again and again as I have sought to contemplate the meaning of the Apostle's words, and I hope your minds have staggered and been struck with awe as you have sought to follow some of these thoughts of the Apostle as we have considered them for these many weeks. In this first paragraph, this great hymn of praise to the triune God for this great salvation, the Apostle says, The Apostle, having announced the general theme in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.

2:48 He then goes on to bring into focus these specific blessings attributed to the Father, election unto holiness and predestination unto sonship. And in verse 6 he says that all of this was done by bestowing, such grace upon us in the beloved, and then the focus shifts to those peculiar blessings that come through the Son, in whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. And having mentioned the riches of grace as the measure of redemption, he says that grace was not exhausted in redemption, but it overflowed. And it overflowed. And it overflowed to us, verse 7, verse 8, I'm sorry, which He made to abound or overflow to us in all wisdom and prudence. And so last week we considered together Paul's praise to God for grace that not only provides redemption through the blood of Christ, but grace that overflows to impart saving wisdom through Christ. Grace has abounded in wisdom, that is, penetrating insights into divine realities,

4:12 and prudence, the ability to apply those realities to life. In fact, there's a real sense in which the structure of the book of Ephesians is a continuous commentary on what wisdom and prudence are. Chapters 1 to 3 are wisdom. Wisdom.

4:32 Penetrating insight into divine reality. Divine realities. These great sweeping doctrinal concepts. Chapters 4 to 6 are prudence.

4:42 How to apply those great realities to the real nitty-gritty where men live. The world of the family. The world of interaction with unconverted men. The world and life of the church.

The 'How, Why, When, and What' of Grace Overflowing

4:55 And so the very book of Ephesians is an extended commentary on how grace has overflowed to supply wisdom. Wisdom and prudence. Then from verse 9 onward, you have the apostle doing what he did in verses 4 and 5, and what he does in many places. You have him enlarging, dilating, expanding, explaining the general theme which he has announced in verse 8.

5:25 Grace has overflowed to us in wisdom and in prudence, and then the first question he anticipates and answers is, how did this grace overflow? Grace overflowed to us. It overflowed to us in making known the mystery of his will. Well, why did it overflow to us?

5:44 According to what? According to his good pleasure. When did it overflow? It overflowed unto a dispensation of the fullness of times.

5:57 What does that overflowing envision? Well, he answers that. It envisions the summing up of all things in Christ. So these next few...

6:06 Two verses answer the simple questions, how does this wisdom and prudence come to us? Why does this wisdom and prudence come to us? When does it come to us? What does it envision?

6:22 And so carefully and slowly we want to work our way through the answer to those questions, how, why, when and what, with relationship to this general theme of grace overflowing, and then to the question of wisdom. in saving wisdom and prudence. And our focus today will be upon this phrase, making known unto us the mystery of His will. How divine wisdom and prudence are conveyed, or the gospel of Christ, God's medium of divine wisdom.

6:59 That's the theme of this phrase. The gospel of Christ, God's medium of divine wisdom. Catch the thread of thought again.

Defining 'Mystery' in the New Testament

7:10 This riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto us, that is, by making known unto us the mystery of His will. Now, it's essential at the very outset, if we're to grasp the thought of the apostle, to spend some time on this word, mystery. It's a very predominant word in the New Testament, particularly in the writings of the apostle Paul. It is used some 27 times in the New Testament, a few times in the Gospels, a couple of times in the book of the Revelation, but 20 times in the writings of the apostle Paul, and half of those times in the book of Ephesians and in Colossians. This word, mystery, then, is a predominant word, and to be ignorant of its meaning is to be ignorant of one of the most precious concepts in all of the New Testament. Therefore, let's address ourselves to finding the precise meaning of this word, mystery, and what it means in this context, the mystery of His will. Well, first of all, you know what the word mystery means to us.

8:32 When we speak of something that's a mystery, we mean something that is perplexing or we cannot comprehend it. I shall never forget when I walked up inside the 747 for the first and only time. Usually when I fly across the Atlantic, I'm a disloyal American. I fly BOAC, VC-10, because I like that particular aircraft, and I'm spoiled, and I like the whole way the British do things without parading half a dozen movies in front of your faces and having stewardesses that look like chorus girls and all the rest.

9:05 But coming back last time, there was no service available the time I needed it, so I had to book on a Pan Am 747. And those things look big when they're sitting on the runway, but when you're starting to walk into that thing and you look down the length, and then you get inside and it's 20 feet across, from there all the way over to about to here, and you see all of that iron sitting on the runway, you say, it is a mystery to me how this thing ever gets off the ground. Now, when you use the word mystery that way, what you mean is, it's incomprehensible, I can't figure it out. Some of you kids, maybe you've got a buddy at school, he never studies.

9:45 Never studies. And lo and behold, he pulls hundreds on his test, and you say, that's a mystery to me how that guy always gets a hundred on his test. What do you mean when you use the word mystery? You don't mean it's spooky.

9:57 What you mean is, I cannot comprehend it. It's perplexing to me. Now, don't put that meaning on the word mystery. And it's a warning to us to be careful of putting contemporary meanings of our words automatically onto the words of scripture.

10:16 Well then, what was the usage in Paul's day? And he reached, surprising to say, right into pagan religion to pick out this word, mystery. The Holy Spirit caused the Apostle Paul to choose a word that was very well known, in that day, particularly throughout the whole Greek world, for there were in that day a number of religions called mystery religions. And the thing that was unique about these religions was that they had certain secret rites and ceremonies which only the initiated people could know.

10:56 You know, like the secret societies in our day. You take the secret societies of the Masons and some of these others. There's that sense when they meet one another and see their mason ringed that we're in the know, but those poor commoners out there, see, they're not the initiated ones. And that was the thought of these mystery religions, that only the ones who were the initiated ones could know it.

11:20 So the whole concept of secrecy was there. But the very word they used to describe their mysteries is the word the Apostle Paul took by the Holy Spirit. And what he did with it was to wrench it loose from it, loose from its heathen context and pump it full of unique biblical significance. And now we want to discover this morning, what did Paul, by the Spirit, pump into that word that gives it its rich, unique, biblical meaning?

Two Usages of 'Mystery': Symbolism and Revealed Secret

11:54 Well, there are two basic usages of the word mystery in the New Testament. One is very infrequent. We'll look at it, a couple of examples, and then when you see it in your own Bible, you'll know what meaning it has, and then we'll look at the predominant usage, especially in the letters of the Apostle Paul. Sometimes this word mystery refers to a symbol or a parable, the meaning of which is veiled or hidden if you try to interpret the thing only in terms of what you see.

12:25 But the person who has the key to understanding can see beyond the parable or symbol and he gets the meaning. Look at the way it's written. It's used, in this sense, in Revelation chapter 1. On a given Sunday, the Lord's day, John was caught up in the Spirit.

12:47 God was going to reveal certain things to him in what we call apocalyptic vision. He was to have these visions which were to be revealing, in symbolic form, eternal truths. And in that vision, John saw seven lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, he saw this figure of the glorified Christ. Now, he doesn't understand what some of this symbolism is.

13:15 And God is going to interpret it to him. Notice carefully now verses 19 and 20 of Revelation 1. Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.

13:39 The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. You see how the word mystery is used here? A synonym would be the symbolism of the seven stars and of the seven candlesticks is this. You look up and you see stars and candlesticks, but John, I don't want you to simply see stars and candlesticks.

14:03 I want you to see that the stars represent something, and the candlesticks represent something, so the symbolism is called a mystery. It's used the same way twice in Revelation chapter 17. And then our Lord uses it in this sense in the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark 4 and verse 11. Our Lord has been speaking in parables, and he says to his own, Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom, but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables.

14:42 All they see is the factors of the parable. But he says to you is given to know the mysteries, the thing behind the parable, the essential meaning. So this is the word, the meaning of mystery, in a few instances in the New Testament. But now the dominant usage is this, and I hope even you kids get this, so that when you're reading your Bibles, and you're having family worship, and you come across the word mystery, you'll be able to say mystery means a thing hidden in the mind of God and not accessible except God is pleased to reveal it.

15:21 A mystery is a thing hidden in the mind of God and not accessible unless God reveals it. So when you come to the usage of the word mystery in the writings of Paul, you find this concept that the mystery was a thing hidden in the mind of God. Notice that very wording in this very book, Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 9. Ephesians 3 and verse 9.

15:58 To make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God. The mystery is something that has been hidden in God. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 7. You have a similar concept expressed by the Apostle.

16:22 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 7. But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden. So the concept of hidden is here. A thing hidden in the mind of God, but if God is pleased to reveal it and to manifest it, it is no longer hidden.

16:50 It is a mystery, yes, hidden in the mind of God, but now revealed in the purpose of God. So the concept of mystery and manifestation is tied together. All those concepts are tied together. Look at the 1 Corinthians 2 passage again.

17:07 This mystery hath been hidden. Verse 8 of 1 Corinthians 2. None of the rulers knew, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. As it is written, the things which eye saw not, ear heard not, entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.

17:27 That's the mystery. It's hidden. No one can penetrate into it. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit.

17:38 It is hidden in God, but it is revealed by God. The same concept is found in Colossians chapter 1. Another of the great mystery passages in the writings of Paul. Colossians 1.26 Even the mystery which hath been hid, there's the concept of hidden again, hid for ages and generations, but now hath it been manifested, unto his saints. So then the dominant usage of the word mystery is the idea of a revealed secret of God. The apostle says in Ephesians 1, Grace overflowed to us. And how did grace overflow to us?

The Gospel as the Mystery of God's Will

18:27 By making known the mystery of his will. Grace overflowed to impart saving wisdom and prudence by the revealing of the secrets of God. So then we can conclude that all saving truth is a mystery. It's concealed in God until revealed by God.

18:53 Any saving truth then can be legitimately called a mystery. That's why Paul uses it in that sense. In Ephesians 3 he said that it is a mystery that both Jew and Gentile would be called in the church and stand on absolutely the same footing. And he says this is something that could not be known unless God revealed it.

19:17 It was hidden in his purposes for generations but now he has revealed it very clearly. Ephesians chapter 3, 3 and following. How that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery. And what is that mystery?

19:34 It's a mystery that was not made known to the sons of men as it hath been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit to wit the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body. Why the Old Testament predicted the ingathering of the Gentiles. This passage must never be interpreted as the dispensationists do who say that the church is never envisioned in the Old Testament. That's ridiculous.

20:00 But he's saying what was not clearly revealed was that Jew and Gentile would come in on a non-Jewish footing and have equal standing in the full expression of the church of Jesus Christ. The whole imagery in the Old Testament is Gentiles will come to the Jews and when they get within the circle of what a Jew was then they'll get all the blessings a Jew got. Now God says no, no, no distinction. No Jew nor Gentile.

20:28 One new man in Christ. Now that was hidden in God's purpose for generations. He had planned to do it. But it was a mystery.

20:35 Hidden but now revealed. So it's a saving truth but it's a mystery because hidden now revealed. Same way with God's future purpose for the Jews. Does God have any future purpose for the Jewish nation?

20:48 How do you know if He does or doesn't? Well the only one who knows is God. But if God reveals it that's a mystery. Hidden now revealed.

20:58 So Paul calls it that in the book of Romans chapter 11 where he's treating the subject of God's dealings with Israel as a nation in terms of redemption and salvation. He says in verse 25 I would not brethren have you ignorant of this mystery lest you be wise in your own conceits that a hardening in part hath befalling Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written. He says I have something to tell you. Something to tell you that was hidden in God's mind but now revealed that God is not done with His people whom He foreknew.

21:40 He shall yet gather a great multitude of them unto Himself not in a political entity but in spiritual grace and in saving mercy. Now that's a truth that is hidden but revealed so Paul calls it a mystery. What about the idea that some people would actually never see death but at the return of the Lord they would bypass death and be transformed in their physical bodies and be made fit to go right into His presence. How could anyone ever know that?

22:13 So when Paul is explaining that in 1st Corinthians 15 51 what does he say? Behold I show you a mystery. Something God knew that He'd do from all eternity but He never made it plain to others. But now He makes it plain so it is a mystery.

22:29 And then all the truth that surrounds Christ is called a mystery. 1st Corinthians 3 1st Timothy 3 16 Great is the what? The mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit received up into glory.

22:46 These are things God purposed in His own mind and heart from all eternity but they were hidden now they are revealed so they are called mysteries. Say how did I get the point? Well I hope you do. I'm pressing these passages before you not to take up time but I want you to know what the word mystery means.

23:05 So all saving truth is a mystery concealed until revealed but then listen carefully since the gospel embodies all these truths the gospel is equated with the mystery of God. Look in Ephesians 6 and verse 19 where Paul uses the term the mystery as a synonym for the gospel. Or something close to a synonym. He says pray for everybody and praying for everybody don't forget me.

23:38 Ephesians 6 19 And on my behalf that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth to make known with boldness what? The mystery of the gospel. He said I want to make known with boldness all of those things hidden in God's heart from eternity but now openly displayed in the gospel of Christ since the gospel embodies all saving truth. It is the mystery of God.

24:12 That's why Paul says as an apostle in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 1 to us are committed the mysteries of God. And then turn please to the classic passage on this whole subject of the mystery Romans chapter 16 and notice how all these strands of truth are brought together what 1 Corinthians 13 is to the subject of biblical love what 1 Corinthians 15 is to the subject of the resurrection Romans 16 25 and 26 is to the subject of the mystery. Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal but now is manifested and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith to the only wise God through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever. Amen. Now do you see how all these thoughts are present here? The mystery was something that was hidden

25:40 kept in silence now is manifested and what is the context of its manifestation? In your mind and maybe this afternoon if you mark your Bible you can actually circle it in the text. The context the climate of this mystery is gospel. Verse 25 according to my gospel.

26:00 The preaching of Jesus Christ gospel Christ. Verse 26 by the scriptures prophet commandment of God. You see the elements of truth that all cluster around the idea of mystery hidden in God now manifested and in that manifestation the scriptures undergird the manifestation. The gospel is the medium of that manifestation.

26:29 And Jesus Christ is the theme of that manifestation. That brings together then the various ideas that the Holy Spirit pumped into the word mystery and then gave it to us the people of God that we might be enriched by it. So we may say then and I hope it's not an oversimplification that a mystery is truth hidden in the mind of God truth revealed by the spirit of God truth proclaimed by the word of God truth hidden in the mind of God truth revealed by the spirit of God truth proclaimed by the word of God. Now why is the gospel called in Ephesians 1 and verse 9 for this is where we began this morning and I haven't forgotten that but I'm trying to help you arrive at the precise thought of the apostle why is the gospel called the mystery of his will? He says grace has overflowed with saving wisdom and prudence by making known the mystery of his will. Well it's obvious that that wisdom and prudence came through the gospel.

27:48 Why does he call it the mystery of his will? For the simple reason that behind every facet of the gospel is the operation of divine will and purpose. It was because God willed to save men that there would be any hidden secrets about how he would save them. It's because God purposed to call men out of a state of nature into a state of grace that there would ever be any hidden thoughts in his heart about how he would do it when he would do it by what means he would do it.

28:26 It's because he willed to send a savior who would come to us by way of a virgin's womb. Who would bring us to God by way of a bloody cross, by way of a shrouded heavens, by way of death and an open tomb. These are all mysteries locked up in God's mind, yes, but locked up in his mind because they were purposed in his will. Therefore, the apostle calls the gospel the medium of conveying divine wisdom, the mystery, the hidden but now revealed secret of God.

Application 1: Learn What the Gospel Is

29:03 Of his own precious will. Now, in the light of this, what does this say to us? What should our reaction be to this concept of wisdom coming by the gospel, this manifestation of the mystery of his will? Let me suggest several things this morning.

29:28 First of all, from this concept, learn what the gospel is. The gospel is not a system of philosophy wrung out of the puny minds of men. The gospel is not some scientific conclusion wrung out of the test tubes and laboratories of men. The gospel is a divine revelation of God's eternal intention to save men by way of a mediator.

30:04 The gospel is not a mystery that is hidden in God but now revealed by God who could have ever conceived that God would do anything but damn his creatures. He had said in the day you eat you'll die. I know that if I've sinned I'll die. But if the same God would move toward guilty man and say you shall live and then provide a way of life that involves the mystery of the incarnation the mystery of Calvary the mystery of the resurrection the mystery of ascension even a goose flesh when you think about the gospel this is what it is a revelation from God that this is how he will bring man to himself. Learn then from Paul's use of this phrase divine wisdom overflowed making

Application 2: Feel Indebtedness for the Gospel

31:34 known the mystery of his will. Secondly learn gospel, for remember, it was overflowing grace that caused this wisdom and prudence to be conveyed by this mystery of His will. It was grace that made it known, and how we should feel a sense of indebtedness that this is not a closed universe. I was doing the readings and reading in a book this week on an evaluation of modern culture in the light of the trends in art over the past few centuries, written by a man who's quite competent to assess this.

32:20 And on the front of this book, and then on the inside there's another reproduction, there's a picture that's been haunting me. It's a picture that most of us would look at and say, ah, just stupid modern art. The guy didn't know how to draw anybody. Well, you see, art is not meant to be just a mechanical, fancy kind of photography. The artist is showing what he sees when he looks at me. And in this picture, there is a cube that looks like a large block of ice, very clear. It's obviously a cube, like a cage. And in it, there's a creature that looks like a man.

32:57 You couldn't mistake it for a cow, for a fish, for a whale, for a donkey, for a monkey. It has a mannish form, cut off at the waist. The waist is sitting at the bottom of the cube. And the shoulders go out to the sides of the cube. And the cube closes this creature in. And as you look up from the body, which is very normal, you see a mouth. And that mouth is opened in a grotesque form. And you can almost hear the shriek of horror that's coming out of that mouth, just by looking at the picture.

33:28 And then above the mouth, the nose begins to just broaden out into nothing. And then there are two things that look something like eyes. But from there on out, there are just streaks of paint that go up and they merge up near the top plane of the cube, so that you say, that's a man. But it is like his head was not blown off, but blown out. And he's shrieking out in horror. What's his problem? I'll tell you what his problem is. He feels like an animal in a cage, but he knows himself to be something more than an animal. He's a man. He's a man! But as he thinks of life, what is it? What's my purpose? What am I here for? Can I know God?

34:15 He's come to the place of absolute despair. heels, he's blown his head, and all he can do is shriek. Ah, dear ones, that thing has haunted me. Because if you take life seriously, that's exactly what it will bring you to.

34:33 Now, if all you're concerned about is paying your bills and filling your belly and taking your vacation, then that doesn't say a thing to you. God have mercy on you. If you take life seriously, what's it all about? What am I here for? My friend, this is what will make you feel indebted to God for the gospel. Life is not a cube with a solid plane above me. Thank God He has revealed the secrets of His heart, and in the gospel He tells me what I am, who He is, and how I may know Him, so that instead of a blown head, and the open mouth and the shriek of despair, we can say with Paul, blessed be the God and

35:25 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for grace that is abounded unto us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will. I know who I am. I know how my sins have been forgiven. I know how my sins have been forgiven. I know how my sins have been forgiven. I know how my sins have been forgiven. I know how my sins have been forgiven. I know how my sins have been forgiven. I know what lies beyond the grave. I can live with purpose and die with confidence. And how do I know it? Grace has overflowed in making known the mystery of His will. No wonder the Lord Jesus, I say it reverently, fell at the altar of Luke in verse 21. It says, In that hour Jesus rejoiced in His Spirit and said,

36:28 I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and what? Revealed them unto babes. He says, Father, I thank You. This is not a closed universe. There is an open end by which You reveal Yourself to men. Do you feel your indebtedness to the gospel? Do you feel your indebtedness to the gospel? Do you feel your indebtedness to the gospel? Do you feel your indebtedness to the gospel? Not only that God has made it known historically in time, made it known in Scripture, but that He has given you the ability to grasp it. For there is a sense in which, apart from that inner illumination of the mystery, all the external revelation of it will come to naught. But the Scripture says the preaching of the cross, that's making known the mystery. That's the gospel. Making known the mystery

37:25 hidden for ages and generations. But the preaching of the cross, the making known the mystery, is what? Foolishness to them that believe not. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. And, O child of God, if you have been made wise with heavenly wisdom and prudence, may God help you to feel your indebtedness to God and His grace, that not only did this mystery come to naught, but that you have been made wise with heavenly wisdom and prudence. It did come in revelation, but it came by the illuminating work of the Spirit.

Application 3: Depend on God to Grasp the Mystery

38:05 And then thirdly, learn from this concept of the mystery of His will, your dependence upon God to help you grasp the mystery of the gospel. It is an open and declared secret. There is no mystery about it in the heathen sense that only the initiate can understand it.

38:28 But Jesus said in Matthew 13, 11 through 14, Blessed are your eyes, for they see. Blessed are your ears, for they hear. Blessed are you, because you understand. Unto you it is given to know the mysteries.

38:44 I know a few things that make me feel more painfully, my helplessness as a preacher. I'm dealing with things that seem so simple and clear to me many times, and my own spirit thrills with the reality of them. I can tell by the look on your face. Some of you say, what in the world is he talking about? I see it, and I don't think it's obscure because I'm using big words, or because I'm putting you to sleep by droning on in a monotone. I try to illustrate simply, amplify sufficiently. Ah, but my friend, though it's a mystery hidden in God and revealed by God, there must be that illuminating work of the Spirit upon your own heart. And so if that work has come, then censure indebtedness. And if these mysteries have

39:39 not been such as to thrill you as they thrilled the apostle, then fall upon your face and cry to God, but in mercy. He would be pleased to open your eyes and enable you to see and to penetrate the mystery. But then, fourthly, and I want to dwell a little bit longer on this, from this perspective, learn to have confidence in the gospel. According to the apostle Paul, it is the gospel, the mystery of God's will, which is the medium of bringing men to wisdom and to prudence. It's the gospel which God uses to answer the most profound philosophical questions that man has ever raised. It is not philosophy that answers philosophy. It is the unadorned gospel that answers all of the profound philosophical questions. It is the unadorned gospel that answers all of the profound philosophical questions of life.

Application 4: Have Confidence in the Gospel

40:35 So when Paul comes into a bastion of heathen philosophy, he says, if ever I want to live by this principle, it's here. So he says, and I quote now 1 Corinthians 2, And I, brethren, when I came unto you, I came determined to know one thing, nothing else. I'm going to have one string in my banjo and only one note, and I'm just going to keep plunking away. I determined, this was a conscious, calculated course of action. I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now does that mean all he did was stand up and say, Jesus Christ was crucified, Jesus Christ was crucified? No, it's ridiculous. What he's saying is, the lodestone of all that I say, the road to which all the roads of my proclamation lead.

41:36 The hub, the spoke, I mean, the central hub of all that I say to which all the spokes will be related is Jesus Christ. So if I talk about creation, I'll tell you that He's the Creator and the Creator died. And if I talk about life and the meaning to life, I'll say He is the way, the truth, and the life, who by His death opened the way of life for us. He's not saying that He would sentimentally just spout off the words, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's some ridiculous thought in our day that to preach Christ simply means to stand up and say, Christ died, Christ died, Christ died, and if you have Jesus mentioned 30 times in the sermon, then it's spiritual. That's ridiculous. No, no. But what the apostle is saying is, I will not come to you and answer your philosophical questions philosophically. I'll open up the mystery. I'll tell you that

42:33 my answers are not wrung out of my own thought, but they've come to me by revelation from God. And the focal point of that revelation is the Lord Jesus in His person and in His work. Do you have confidence in the gospel? Paul did, and the fruit of it was this. He could say to these people, who perhaps were no doubt offended in the beginning, when he stood amongst them and just was adamant, well, Paul, come on off here, let's get on neutral ground and philosophize a bit. He said, no, I determine there's nothing among you Christ and inclusive life. Ah, but we have great, profound intellectual problems. He says, go to Christ. Ah, but we have, go to Christ. And what happened? Well, some of them found out he was right, because he could write to them and say this, and I quote now 1 Corinthians 1.30, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, what? Wisdom. Wisdom.

43:29 And oh, I imagine there was many a Corinthian who'd come up to Paul and throw their arms and say, oh, thank you. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Paul. You didn't cater to our itch for something that sounded intellectual. You didn't cater to our carnal desire to get you bent into our form of reasoning and philosophizing. Thank you, Paul. Thank you. You set Christ before us. All the truths that cluster around his glorious person, and all the strands of truth that flow into and out of his cross. And oh, Paul, we have been enriched by grace in all wisdom. But not only wisdom, we know how to live now. We've got prudence. Instead of just going from our philosophical debates

44:18 where we thought lofty thoughts and went back to our brothels and back to our brawling homes, we walk by the brothels now and we're faithful to our wives, and when we get into the home, there's harmony and there's love. Thank you, Paul.

44:34 Hilary, really, thank you, Paul, for that all, we just couldn't wait any more. That was the epiphany . The zombie woman achieve this gospel with prudence! And the wife and husband couldn't. They didn't hear what she heard because of the staffing and it was not cupid-like doing. And the time come when these things start to break free up and maybe they even die. Myあっ Jung says, if people could do these things over homemade clockwise, basically set them free at that age, it could be done in a great way. But if they've never had the power to do that, what then?

45:03 Their father, or their first wife, or their second wife can't. That isinin' one of course. And I want to say something here. The first wife could do it. A single wife will not mucha. A single that the simple, unadorned gospel is God's means of imparting the grace of wisdom and prudence. God have mercy on any of you young men aspiring to the ministry. If you ever forget this principle, may the Lord turn your tongue into a stammering wad of flesh before you move from that principle so beautifully announced in this text. Well, I've got to close with an exhortation.

Exhortation: Pray for Zeal in Communicating the Gospel

45:35 Pray. Pray for zeal in communicating the gospel. Paul did this. And he even asked others to pray for him.

45:45 I close with Colossians 4, 3 and 4. What does he pray for?

45:51 What does he want others to pray for him?

45:55 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving, with all praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the Word to do what? To speak. To speak the mystery of Christ.

46:12 In Ephesians 6 he said the same thing. That boldness may be given me to speak the mystery of the gospel. Oh, beloved, let us pray one for another that God will give us boldness and zeal in communicating the gospel. We come to men with these mysteries through which wisdom and prudence are given.

46:38 You feel sometimes self-conscious. You get in the presence. I know some of you do. You say, look, I've never gone to college.

46:45 I didn't even finish high school and I'm around these people with college degrees. I feel all kind of squeezy and kind of...

46:51 Oh, my friend, don't you feel that way. Don't you feel that way?

46:56 God in grace has overflowed to you with all wisdom and prudence. As you watch those college graduates, they don't know how to make their marriages work. And they can't without the gospel. They don't know how to make their jobs meaningful.

47:12 They're frustrated, disappointed, always restless. Why? They don't have wisdom to know how to do their work right without the gospel. They're all filled with inner turmoil.

47:23 They look at the world and if they take it seriously and just aren't drowning themselves in booze and TV and illicit sex, they say things are a mess out there.

47:33 And they're disturbed and they can't resolve their frustrations. You have more wisdom than all the psychiatrists under heaven put together if you know the gospel.

47:43 Oh, you say that's too simple. Well, bless God.

47:47 Not many wise, not many noble are called.

47:51 Why? Because this is the stumbling block in the offense of the gospel. Well, that's too simple. Yes, it is.

47:58 God is determined to make foolish the wisdom of this world. And then when he brings you to the place of childlike humility, then he begins to stretch your mind with concepts like Ephesians 1. What an amazing testimony to the power of the gospel to humble the mind and then to stretch it in the right framework. Imagine servants sitting there thinking about election before the foundation of the world, union with Christ, redemption.

48:26 Servants!

48:29 Their minds stretching to levels for which there is no answer but the grace of God. Oh, beloved, let us praise him today for the overflowing of grace that made known unto us the mystery of his will and thereby imparted unto us all wisdom and all truth.