In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
We all love secrets. Someone says, “Let me tell you a secret,” and all our ears perk up. When we tell a secret to someone, it no longer remains a secret because they’re like all-India radio. Today, I’m going to tell you a unique secret—it is the secret of God. But you know what? God wants us to become the all-India radio of that secret because it’s the mystery of God revealed. Our tendency to blab is actually encouraged; our inability to keep a secret is a blessing here. So, prepare to become a divine all-India radio of this secret.
We’re looking at Ephesians 1:14, and in these verses, we see one of the most profound, staggering, and mind-stretching concepts to be found anywhere in all of human literature. It’s true, these are amazing verses. A whole panorama of salvation stretching back to past eternity talks about concepts of election, redemption, and the blessings of redemption, and it sweeps to a vision of future eternity—the summing up of all things in Christ. These are mind-staggering concepts for any great mind.
We might imagine Paul must be writing to the most brilliant, educated people, but if you go and see the Ephesian church, it will surprise you. It was made up of ordinary people, some uneducated slaves, working fathers, housewife mothers, and children—families who were previously worshipping in the temple of Artemis. Paul could write such great truths to ordinary people because our teacher is the great Holy Spirit. This teacher has a miraculous way of teaching the most difficult things even to the most ordinary believer. That is the confidence with which we are studying these difficult passages. So far, the Holy Spirit has staggered our minds, and we’ve been struck with awe as we’ve followed the thoughts of the great mind of the Apostle Paul.
He is praising God, listing salvation blessings and the grace that elected and predestined us, purchased redemption, and gave forgiveness of sins. It’s enough—what else do we need? That grace has overflowed in all wisdom and prudence. Last week, we saw in verse 8 that grace has abounded in wisdom, which is penetrating insight into divine realities, and prudence, the ability to apply those realities to life.
In the next verses, he tells us, “How did this wisdom and prudence come to us?” and “Why?” and “When?” and “What is the end goal of this?” Today, we will focus on verse 9, which answers two questions: “How did wisdom and prudence come to us?” and “Why did it come to us?” First, how? Verse 9 says, “having made known to us the mystery of His will.” We see the word “mystery” of His will was made known to us. It’s a very predominant word in the New Testament, used some 27 times, primarily by Paul. To be ignorant of its meaning is to be ignorant of one of the most precious concepts in the New Testament. Let’s understand the precise meaning of this word “mystery” and what it means in this context—the mystery of His will.
We use the word “mystery” in many ways for a secret or a puzzling thing that we can never understand. Some people eat a lot but never gain weight; it’s a mystery. Some kids don’t study but get 100/100—a mystery. In some houses, we buy a pair of socks, but one always goes away, leaving a cupboard full of single socks. In our house, knives always go missing. It is a mystery. You may have some mysteries in your house. We use the word “mystery” for something we cannot understand. Webster’s says a mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. We should be careful not to put our general contemporary meaning or dictionary meaning into scripture. We should always trace the biblical meaning in its context.
What does the Bible mean by “mystery”? I’ll state the definition and prove it from scripture: A mystery is a thing hidden in the mind of God, and we can never know it until God reveals it. Let me prove to you that this is the biblical definition. In the same book, Ephesians 3:9, “and to make all see what is the fellowship/dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.” See? The mystery is something that has been hidden in God.
1 Corinthians 2:7, “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. Verse 8 says, “which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Verse 9 says, “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'” That’s the mystery. It’s hidden. No one can penetrate it. But in verse 10, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” See? It was hidden, and God has revealed it to us. So the concept of “mystery” and “manifestation” is tied together. It is hidden in God, but it is revealed by God. The same thing is found in 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, the dominant usage of the word “mystery” is the idea of a revealed secret of God. It was not known for ages but revealed to His people by His Spirit. The Apostle says in Ephesians 1, grace overflowed to us in all wisdom and prudence. What was revealed to us in all wisdom and prudence? The making known of the mystery of His will—the revealing of the secret of God that was hidden in God for ages and for generations.
In a way, all saving truths are a mystery. It’s concealed in God until revealed by God. 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—fellow heirs with the Jews. And he says this is something that could not be known unless God revealed it. It was hidden in His purposes for generations, but now He has revealed it.
All the truth that surrounds Christ is called a mystery. 1 Timothy 3:16 says, “Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” These are things God purposed in His own mind and heart from all eternity, but they were hidden. Now they’re revealed, so they are called mysteries.
I am bringing all these passages so you know what the word “mystery” means according to the Bible. Since the gospel embodies all these truths, the gospel is equated with the mystery of God. Paul uses the word “mystery” as a synonym for “gospel.” For example, in Ephesians 6:19, he says, “Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” Since the gospel embodies all saving truth, it is the mystery of God. In 1 Corinthians 4:1, he says to us, “are committed the mysteries of God.”
A final classic passage for my definition is Romans 16:25-26, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith.” Now do you see how all these thoughts are present here? The mystery was something that was hidden and kept in silence. Now it is manifested. That mystery is the gospel. It is all proclaimed to us by prophetic scriptures. So we may say then a mystery is truth hidden in the mind of God, truth revealed by the Spirit of God, and truth proclaimed by the Word of God.
So when Paul in Ephesians says grace has overflowed with saving wisdom and prudence by making known the mystery of His will, we can understand that this wisdom and prudence came to us through the gospel. This is a mystery because for ages, it was hidden—how a holy God would save a sinner, whom He would save, when, and by what means He would save. Christ coming into the world through a virgin’s womb, living and dying for us, rising and ascending, sending the Holy Spirit, and effectually calling us—these are all mysteries locked up in God’s mind, but now revealed to us in all wisdom and prudence. How does God make people wise with heavenly wisdom? The answer is, by the gospel.
So we see how wisdom and prudence came to us: by God “having made known to us the mystery of His will.” Now, why? Why did it come to us? Why now, and not before? Why did it come to you individually, and not to so many of our relatives and friends? Why to us as the GRBC church, and not to so many other groups? Is it because we are wise and smart? Why was this mystery of ages revealed in all wisdom and prudence to me, to us? Verse 9 answers: “according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”
The word “good pleasure” we’ve seen before in verse 5. The Apostle Paul, in answer to why God elected and predestined us to sonship through Christ, said, “according to the good pleasure of his will.” It refers to God’s sovereign, delightful choice. If you ask the reason why this wisdom came to us and not to billions in the world, why God hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes, it was His pleasure. It is His wish. It is a sovereign, gracious choice. The verse says, “This will he purposed in himself.” God didn’t look outside of Himself for any other thing. The cause of it lies in Himself.
When Paul said grace overflowed in wisdom and prudence to us, Paul was talking to specific people at a specific place at a specific point in time. If every believer in the Ephesian church were to ask, “Why should I be born in Ephesus at such a time that I’d be old enough to hear and understand? And why should Paul come to Ephesus on such and such a date? And why should I have happened to be where I heard about Him, there at the school of Tyrannus? And why, when I went and heard, did God open my eyes and cause me to see the wisdom of heaven in the message of Christ? Why do so many others not understand?” Paul says, “Look, you can scratch your head all your life, think of 101 secondary causes, assume it was chance or coincidence, but the only true answer is His good pleasure; His eternal sovereign will which predestined every small event in this world, orchestrated all this in this way so that in time His grace should overflow to you in all wisdom and prudence, making known the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.” This comes in a very specific, personal way.
As you sit here this morning, if grace has overflowed in wisdom and prudence in the opening up of the mystery of the gospel, the Holy Spirit wants you to trace back all your journey in life to God’s good pleasure. You will stand back in wonder and awe and praise God like Paul when you realize God predestined to bring this hidden mystery to you historically, geographically, and effectually.
Let me explain. Historically: we stand at a point in time when this mystery, hidden in God for ages and generations, has now been revealed. Think of all the nations that have risen and fallen in the history of the world into which not one ray of the mystery of the gospel ever came. Think of Egypt as a superpower when Israel was just slaves. Canaanites, Amorites, Amalekites, Moab, Ammon, Babylon, Assyria, all worshiping all kinds of animals, living in such dark superstition without light. They never knew God. Even in India, with the oldest Mauryan empire, Gupta empire, Pallavas, Chalukyas, and great Chola dynasty, you can go through millions of lands for thousands of years before Christ and you couldn’t find one person, man, woman, or child, who could say this basic truth: “Christ died for our sins.” Not one! Think of some of those great nations, different civilizations and cultures with all their literature and knowledge. Not one of all those mighty wise men could say, “Christ died for our sins.” The mystery of the gospel, which God purposed from eternity, was hidden in His own mind and heart.
Now Paul says, “historically at this time, God made known unto us the mystery of His will.” And you say, “Why, Lord?” “According to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him.” Why should you and I be born historically at such a point in time when the secrets of God’s heart have been unlocked and unfolded? The only answer is, “Even so, Father, for it seemed good in Your sight.” It was His time schedule, not ours, but His. When you think of millions who’ve gone before us with no slightest knowledge of the gospel, and are paying eternally for the penalty of their sins even now, and you wonder why they didn’t hear the gospel and had no choice of their own, never had the mystery unfolded to them, think of all our forefathers. Just like Jesus, we also had so and so who begot him. Our big family trees. None heard the gospel. Why were you not born then, but why were you and I born now, where you can hear this mystery fully? Then you begin to say with Paul, “Blessed be God, whose grace has overflowed, making known the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him to me historically at this time.”
This is not only true historically with reference to the pagan nations, but even with reference to the people of God in the Old Testament. The Lord said in Matthew 13:16, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not. And to hear the things which ye hear and heard them not.” These are the most godly people in the Old Testament who wanted to hear this mystery fully, but God didn’t reveal it to them. He just gave them types, rituals, and dim shadows. Imagine the frustration. Someone says, “I want to tell you a big secret…” and then they don’t, but they give clues and symbols. They all knew God had a big secret, but they couldn’t understand it. They could just see shadows, like a beautifully draped, minutely sculpted doll statue; you could see the general form, though you could not appreciate all of the beauty of the detail. Oh, how often must some of those holy men of old have said, “Oh, God, what are you talking about?” It says they “desired.” They were not content to simply be the shadows through which God spoke.
Can you imagine what Isaiah must have gone through after he penned the 53rd chapter of Isaiah? “Bruised for our iniquities, wounded for our transgression, chastisement of our peace upon him.” How he must have cried out and said, “Oh, God, what are you saying in this? What is the full unfolding of that which I have written?” God says, “It is a secret; I will not reveal it now.” Prophets and righteous men longed to see them. God said, in essence, the mystery is locked up in my heart. But do you see what grace it is that it overflowed in wisdom and prudence so that we can read every word of Isaiah 53 and understand it fully now? Daniel and all the prophets didn’t understand what they wrote. Not one of them could say, as you can now say in commonplace talk, “Christ died for our sins, rose for justification.” The most fundamental, rudimentary element of the gospel, they could not say it with the clarity with which you can now say it. Oh, beloved, why should we historically stand at this point when our eyes see and our ears hear what men and women who are far holier and far more godly were never allowed to see? One answer: “Even so, Father, for it seemed good in Your sight.”
But not only is that true historically, it applies geographically. For not only was the time of the revealing of this mystery based on God’s gracious sovereignty, but the very places in which that mystery is to be unfolded are also determined by His gracious sovereignty. Matthew 11:20 says, “Then began Jesus to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
But why didn’t the mystery come to Tyre and Sidon? Our Lord says, “Had it come to them, it would have been effectual to their salvation.” But it didn’t come to them. The Lord says, “many prophets and righteous men desired to see,” but God’s sovereignty didn’t allow them to see. But even geographically, Tyre and Sidon would have repented, but it did not go there, but the mystery came here. Why? The answer is, “according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself.” When you read in Acts 16, Paul is going to different cities preaching the gospel; you hear the Holy Spirit stopped him from going to certain places. Why? Sovereignty even in the geographical places where the mystery goes. We see the good pleasure of God’s purpose in Christ unfolding itself, not only historically but geographically.
You look at some of the Islamic countries like Afghanistan under Taliban rule, where there’s severe punishment for Christians, or North Korea, Somalia, Iran, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan—terribly poor countries. Have you asked, “Why was I not born in that place, with a long beard, scarf, saying Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh Subhanallah, Insha’Allah? Why am I not sitting in some desert with a gun training to be a terrorist?” Why should you be in a place, geographically, where the mystery has been unfolded?
Children, why should you have been born in a Christian home? Why, instead of a gun in your hand, did God put you in a home where from the time you can remember anything, you were told Bible stories, brought to church and Sunday schools, and heard that Christ died for sinners, Christ rose, Christ lives, and Christ is mighty to save, instead of being told to bow and roll before dead stones? Why? Think of it. Joseph, the wise dreamer, Daniel, the Prime Minister of Babylon, Solomon, with all his wisdom, Elijah, the holy man of old—they didn’t know what you know by the time you are five years old, some of you, in terms of the revelation of the mystery.
Why should that thing come to you historically? Why should you be born at this time? Why should it come to you geographically? I know no answer but the answer of verse 9: “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed, in Him.”
Again, see the wonder of grace. This mystery comes historically today for billions of people. We live after Christ, geographically now, because of religious freedom, but it doesn’t come effectually. Instead of this mystery coming to them in all wisdom and prudence, it makes them eternal fools in their minds and animals in their lives without prudence because they reject the gospel and harden their hearts. God has historically and geographically revealed His hidden secret for generations. How many millions reject it today? Because the message must not only come to us historically and geographically, but effectually. And Paul says to the Ephesians, “blessed be God because overflowing grace not only came historically and geographically, but effectually came to you in wisdom and prudence, making known to us the mystery of His will.” It opened your blind eyes and gave you insight into divine realities when millions are blinded. Why? Blessed be God because of His good pleasure.
So to the question: we have seen how grace overflowed in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us the mystery of His will. And why did grace overflow to me historically, geographically, and effectually? Paul’s answer is, “it was according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him.” It was His sovereign choice.
Applications
1. Stand Back and Be Amazed at the Panorama of Your Salvation and Bless God for This Great Salvation.
I was sitting and looking at the whole panorama—this glorious sovereign God, who in all past eternity lived, and out of billions of souls, He set His love all those years and elected me before the world was created. When He made the awesome plan of predestination, the central goal of that plan was to adopt me as His son. Why such great eternal purposes for a worm of time? To the praise of the glory of His grace! And then He accepted me in the beloved, and purchased redemption by paying the heavy ransom price of His blood and, according to the riches of His grace, forgave all my uncountable ocean of sins, the great sins that I committed. This itself is overwhelming, the fullness of grace.
But grace didn’t stop. It filled His cup and overflowed in all wisdom and prudence, making known to me the mystery of His will, which billions of people have no clue about, and billions who desired to know it could not. This grace came historically in the time of my birth in 1976 and grew to the exact age when I could understand the gospel. In 1993, when I was 17 years old, this grace came geographically to a location in Lingarajapuram and brought me to Campus Crusade. Not only historically and geographically, but that grace came effectually and opened my foolish eyes and gave me a penetrating insight into divine realities, when hundreds who attended didn’t realize anything.
I thought I just went to Campus Crusade, heard Jesus, and became a Christian. Paul tells me, “Oh, Murali, this grace started in eternity, electing, predestining, purchasing salvation, and orchestrated the whole history, timelines, and geography of your birth and life. Then it came looking historically, geographically, and effectually.” “Why did it come to you and not to hundreds of my friends and relatives?” “According to His good pleasure… His divine sovereign choice.” In the next verses, we will see where this grace will take me.
Oh, believer, stand back and be amazed at the panorama of your salvation and bless God for this great salvation. My heart was filled with joy. Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I feel blessed and understand why our Lord said in Matthew 13:16, “Blessed are your eyes for they see. Blessed are your ears for they hear. Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Oh, now I understand it is this wisdom that gave me prudence to not live like my friends and become drunkards, drug addicts, and AIDS patients now. This gospel mystery made us wise with heavenly wisdom. We know who we are, and we know how our sins are forgiven; we know why we were born on this earth, and we know what happens to us after death; we know how to live now. Live in a way pleasing to God. Live a life conformed to His Word.
What a wonder that this came to you! Oh, bless God, it is sovereign grace. No wonder, in Luke 10:21, the Lord Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”
2. Magnify His Gospel.
We can do this in four steps: behold the glory of the gospel, have confidence in the gospel, feel indebted to the gospel, and pray to boldly proclaim the gospel.
- Behold the Glory of the Gospel: The gospel is not a system of ideas that came from the puny minds of men, a man-made religion, or a group of churches. The gospel is a divine revelation of God’s eternal intention to save men by way of a mediator. This should excite us like Paul. The gospel is a mystery that was hidden in God for generations, but now revealed by God. Who could have ever conceived that a holy God would do anything but damn depraved sinners? He had said, “in the day you eat, you’ll die.” It takes no mystery to know that if I’ve sinned, I’ll die. But that the same God against whom we sinned planned a way of life that involves the mystery of the incarnation, the mystery of Calvary, the mystery of the resurrection, the mystery of the ascension, the mystery of union with Christ, and the mystery of the new birth. This is the glory of the gospel; it is a mystery hidden but now revealed to us by the overflow of grace.
- Have Confidence in the Gospel: All men, whatever show they put outside, have deep questions. It is the gospel alone which God uses to answer the most profound philosophical questions that man has ever raised. It is not the world’s wise books or philosophy that answers man’s deepest questions. We saw how vain all those are. It is the unadorned gospel that answers all of the profound questions of life. Paul had that confidence in the gospel. That is why wherever he goes, whether to the Roman colony of Philippi, or to Ephesus full of idolatry, or Athens with all its education, he proclaims the gospel with confidence. Do you have confidence in the gospel? Don’t you hear all the questions the world is asking? Sometimes they all seem to be asking, but we don’t answer. Paul hears all the questions the world is asking and in a way tells them, “I have all the answers, but not from my mind, but by revelation from God.” That answer is found in who the Lord Jesus is and what He did. Paul had full confidence in the gospel. Only because of that was he able to form so many churches in impossible places, even in Ephesus. He went in spite of all the glory of the temple of Artemis, and he preached the gospel. For all their questions, he said, “Go to Christ, go to Christ.” Many went and found answers. All those churches thank him. “Thank you, Paul. You sent us to Christ. In Him we now find all wisdom and knowledge.”
But not only wisdom. We’re not only thinking right, but we know how to live right. Prudence on how to live now, solve family problems, and personal problems. When we had problems, we would go to ugly temples, use all kinds of witchcraft, get drunk, and go to temple prostitutes. We lived in the gutter. But now we know the meaning of life, we have light, living happily in our homes faithful to our wives. Our lives are full of light. There’s harmony and there’s love. “Thank you, Paul. You gave us the truth that not only imparted wisdom but prudence.” And my friend, it’s the gospel that does it. It’s the gospel that does it. It is the power of God unto salvation. Do we have a confidence in the gospel? Our meager efforts, or no efforts, for the gospel show we lack confidence. May God deliver us from that unbelief. A lot of things are happening today in Christianity. Why is it a mess, a laughingstock? All pop singers are famous preachers. Why are church services entertainment and a joke today? In the name of Christianity, so many strange things are happening. The root cause of all that in our day is simply unbelief in the power of the gospel. People don’t believe that the simple, unadorned gospel is God’s means of imparting the grace of wisdom and prudence. Oh, may God make Christians believe the gospel.
3. Feel Indebtedness to the Gospel: Imagine without the gospel how dark our lives would be. No wisdom of divine realities, who I am, how can I know God, what happens after death, or no prudence to live our lives. How horrible like animals we would live. Running after money, money, and covetousness. Once we achieve it, we’re still empty. We take drugs, do some yoga, and become mentally unstable.
That will be our picture—a man in an empty world, standing on top of the world, having achieved everything. His head is blown. He’s very educated. His body is big, with a royal dress and gold, standing on top of big buildings with a car and money, with an open mouth and a shriek of despair. “Who am I?” That will be our picture without the overflowing grace that caused this wisdom and prudence to be conveyed by this mystery of His will. Oh, how we should feel a sense of indebtedness. The gospel taught us who 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 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 may be forgiven. I know what lies beyond the grave. I can live with purpose and die with confidence. It is the gospel.
Paul felt that indebtedness. In Romans 1:14-15, he said, “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.” In 1 Corinthians 9:16, “I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” And in Acts 20:24, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Wasn’t it the same gospel that saved us? Oh, what ungratefulness if we don’t feel that indebtedness to the gospel. Do you feel your indebtedness to the gospel? Oh, may God help you to feel your indebtedness to God. Not only did this mystery come to you historically and geographically, but it came effectually by the illuminating work of the Spirit.
4. Pray: Beyond just seeing the glory of the gospel, having confidence in it, and feeling indebted to it, we must also pray. Pray for zeal in communicating the gospel, just as Paul did. He even asked others to pray for him, as seen in Ephesians 6:19, “and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.”
We should all pray this prayer. We have in our hands this mystery, hidden for generations and now revealed. All we need to do is open our mouths and tell them. Yet, we lack boldness. We feel self-conscious, tense, and ashamed. We feel like others are too wise and educated and may think we are crazy. Oh, may God open our eyes to see that they have questions; they struggle with sin in their marriages, families, and work. Life seems meaningless. The gospel is the answer for all of that.
Look at them: they’re frustrated, disappointed, and always restless, filled with inner turmoil, drowning themselves in alcohol, TV, and illicit sex. Their lives are a mess. Why? They don’t have this wisdom and prudence. But if you know the gospel, you have more wisdom than all the psychiatrists under heaven put together.
May God enable us to praise Him, to magnify the gospel, and to be like Paul, who, out of a sense of overwhelming gratitude, said, “I want to proclaim this mystery to all.” God never applies it effectually unless we proclaim it verbally. Oh, may we bless God out of gratitude and proclaim this mystery to all. May God grant us that boldness and confidence.
For those of you who claim the mystery is revealed to you, who say, “I know Christ died for my sins,” and have become believers and church members—who say you have wisdom and penetrating insight into divine realities—let me ask you, if you have wisdom, where is the evidence of prudence in your life? Wisdom will never come alone; it always brings prudence. Grace overflows, enriching us with both wisdom and prudence. The evidence of grace overflowing with wisdom is prudence in our lives. Is your life governed by God’s word? Do you commit yourself to the church and the gospel as the most important things in your life? Are you seeking God’s kingdom first? Are you living wisely with prudence in your family, at work, and in society, not running after covetousness? If there is no prudence in your life, it reveals that wisdom has not come to you.
I say this with trembling and sadness in my heart. The mystery of the gospel, which billions yearned for, did not go to so many, but it came to you historically and even geographically, yet it still has not come to you effectually and saved you. Have you asked why? You hear so many sermons, the greatest truths that billions in the world have not heard even one of. You know more than Isaiah, Jeremiah, and even Daniel. Still, it has not effectually given you wisdom and prudence, revealing the mystery of His will.
I shudder to say that if you don’t soon repent and come to Christ, this mystery is revealed to you to make you fill the cup of your sin in your life and give you the worst punishment in hell, so God can glorify His justice to the utmost through you. It is a frightening aspect of my ministry; for some, it is the aroma of life, and for some, it is the aroma of death. I see some of you, and I want to warn you that all my ministry will do for some of you is to make hell a worse place to be in forever. It would have been better for you to have been in Tyre and Sidon and never had the mystery of the gospel opened up to you. It will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for you because you know more than they did. Because after hearing the gospel repeatedly, you do not repent, the worst punishment in hell awaits you.
Some new people come with so much joy and say, “Pastor, that message was so clear; it opened my eyes and filled my heart with joy and peace. Thank you.” Some of you sit there and hear so many sermons and say, “I don’t understand what he is saying.” You understand every mystery of lust stories, thrillers, movies, and Instagram reels, but you sit here woolly-headed, fuzzy-headed, seeing left, right, and down. What is the difference? They are not smarter than you. The difference is that the mystery came to them effectually, opening up their minds to see all wisdom and prudence, and it transformed their very soul. But for you, it’s just a bunch of words.
Romans 1:28-29 warns, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality…”
If you don’t understand how much effort good students put in to learn, you will not understand this either. If you don’t understand this, it will not only affect this life but all of eternity. Shouldn’t you cry out to God, “Oh God, open my eyes”? Pastor has been teaching for years, and I am sitting here like a stone. Your word says the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. Lord, that’s true. It’s all foolishness to me. I don’t understand it. I don’t grasp it.
Let that realization humble you. Bring yourself down to the dust before God and cry out with that poor blind beggar, “Son of David, have mercy upon me.” The Lord Jesus has come, the prophet says, to open the eyes of the blind. That’s why He has come. You call upon Him to open your eyes and give you the grace to see and to understand the mystery of the gospel. Otherwise, again, I shudder to say, what you heard today will increase your punishment in hell even more.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 