We ask you to bless this offering and put the work on the start.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
You can turn to your Bibles to the book of Mark 4.
Mark 4, if you don't have a Bible, there should be one in a seat in front of you.
Mark chapter 4, Wild Reeds.
"And he began again to teach by the sea side,
and there was gathered unto him a great multitude,
so that he entered into the ship and sat in the sea,
and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
And he taught them many things by parables,
and said unto them in his doctrine,
'Hurkin, behold, there went out a sower to sow,
and it came to pass.
As he sowed, some fell by the wayside,
and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
And some fell on a stony ground, where had not much earth,
and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth.
But when the sun went up, it was scorched,
and because it had no root, it withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it,
and it yielded no fruit. And some fell on good ground,
and did yield fruit that sprang up, and increased,
and brought forth some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred.
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And when he was alone, they asked that were about him,
with the twelve asked of him the parable.
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God,
but unto them that are without all these things are done in parables,
that seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear,
and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted,
and their sins should be forgiven them.
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable, and how then will ye know all parables?
The sower soweth the word, and these are they by the wayside,
where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately,
and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise, which are sown on stony ground,
who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness,
and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time.
Afterwards, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake,
immediately they are offended; and these are they which are sown among thorns,
such as hear the word, and the cares of this world,
and of the deceitfulness of riches, and of the lusts of the other things entering in.
Choke the word, and becomeeth unfruitful; and these are they which are sown on good ground,
such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some one hundred.
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed,
and not to be set on the candlestick? For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested,
neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears
to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear, with what measure
ye meet, it shall be measured unto you, and unto you that hear shall more be given. For
he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken, even
that which he hath. And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed
into the ground, and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring
up and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first
the blade, then the ear, after that the full cord in the ear. But when the fruit is brought
forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. And he said,
Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what comparison shall we compare it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown in the earth is less than
all the seeds that be in the earth; but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becomeeth greater
than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of air may lodge under the
shadow of it.
And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it;
but without a parable spake he not unto them.
And when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples; and the same day,
when the even was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over to the other side.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him, even as he was into the ship;
and there was also with him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was
now full.
And when he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow, and they awake him
and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still!
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm; and he said unto them, Why are ye so
fearful?
How is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that
even the wind and the sea obey him?
So, Sean, if you could please pray for us.
Brother Lachlan, for reading the scriptures for us.
That's his real name.
But actually he asked me, is it Mark chapter 4?
And I said yes, but it was actually supposed to be Hebrews chapter 13.
So I'm just going to preach the sermon I was supposed to preach tonight, and so I'll
just have the guys switch the title of the sermon later.
But it just makes sense because this is going to be a two-part sermon anyway.
But the title of my sermon is actually "Mysteries of the Bible Explained."
Mysteries of the Bible Explained.
Look down at your Bible at verse number 10 in Mark chapter 4 it says, "And when he was
alone they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
And he said unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto
them that are without, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see
and not perceive and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they
should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them."
So in the Bible mystery, you know, and really in our modern vernacular too, sometimes people
just think mystery is like something that needs to be solved, you know, that's like
a murder mystery, and that's a term that's actually a good, you know, it's a right definition.
But when the Bible is talking about it, most of the time it's talking about, you know,
it's a divine revelation that's beyond human understanding unless God helps them to understand
it, which is where you're getting the definition here.
So you know, that's why Jesus spoke in parables so that only the people that are meant to
understand it are going to understand it. And even the disciples didn't understand the
things that he was saying a lot of times. That's why they're always asking him, "Well,
what does this mean?" And it's like, "Well, let me explain it to you." And so only when
Christ explained it to them did they understand it. And then after Christ resurrected from
the dead, then they would understand the things that he said in the past and their knowledge
was opened up. He helped them to understand the scriptures. And so a mystery is like a
divine truth that cannot be fully understood by human reason alone in the Bible. And some
times it's just a secret that's not going to be revealed until God's timing is ready
to reveal it. And some things are never going to be explained. You know, and this is the,
this is what people get upset about, about the Bible. They're like, well, how, why can't
I get the answer to the question that I want? Well, let me just tell you something. Not
everything that's in the Bible is going to be answered. Not everything, not every answered
every question is going to be in the Bible for you. You're like, well, why not? Well,
it's only, you know, the book is big and there's a lot of answers for you, but God is only
going to put the answers in there that he thinks that you need to know at this point
in your life and, and for your whole life. But if you dig deep into the scriptures, there's
layers to the Bible. There's understanding that God will unlock for you. You know, it's
like, you know, it's like when you're playing games or something on your phone or you're
playing video games or certain achievements that get unlocked. Well, when you read the
Bible a lot, and when God wants you to know mysteries in the Bible, he's going to unlock
those things for you. There's a lot of things in the Bible that you will not understand
unless you just read it over and over again, or you're asking God for wisdom and knowledge.
You know, that's why we should pray before we read our Bible, "Hey God, you know, show
me great and wondrous things out of thy law." Because, you know, if you want to know more
things, then God will give you the knowledge. Ask and you shall receive. You know, if you
ask him for wisdom, he will give it to you. He will give it to you liberally. But some
things though, there are things in the Bible like, you know, what do the thunders utter?
Well, God doesn't allow John to record them in Revelation. Why? Because he doesn't want
us to know what they say. What do the thunder? And we don't know. And, you know, it's like,
but someone, "I really need to know." Well, it doesn't matter if you need to know because
God's not going to let you know that. There's just some things that God's not going to tell
us. And, you know, where did God come from? Well, He doesn't tell us that either. And
that's just, you know, people just get perplexed and just will not believe in God over things
like that. But there's just some things He's just not going to tell us. He just always
has been. I mean, that's the real, that's the actual answer to that question is that
He just always has been. He's from old. He's from everlasting. He's just always been. Well,
how? How? I don't know. I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us that. And God doesn't
really tell us how that works, but it just is. And some things are just, you know what?
Well, that doesn't make sense. Well, you know what really doesn't make sense is that we
came from a rock, you know, like an inanimate object. That doesn't make sense that we came
from an infinitesimal dot that spun around for billions of years and exploded. And then
somehow there's planets that spin, you know, counterclockwise or the opposite direction
of other planets. That doesn't make sense because if everything was spinning in one
direction, the law of centrifugal force would say that all things would spin the same way.
I mean, it just, it is what it is, you know, and that inorganic material cannot produce
living material, except for if God does it. Because God made man out of the dust of the
earth, but God has to do those things and God has to reveal mysteries to us. Another
word used in the Bible that means the same thing is secret. A secret is something that's
kept hidden or unexplained, which can refer to confidential information, a mystery or
hidden method or hidden meaning. So, and the word mysteries is used in the Bible. Let's
look at Matthew chapter number 13, and this is kind of a parallel passage, but it's set
a little bit differently in Matthew chapter 13. So go ahead and flip back to Matthew chapter
13. But see, God wanted his disciples to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
but to other people, it's not known. It's just like, saved people can understand the
Bible because they have the Holy Ghost. And even some things in the Bible are not unlocked
to us at all times. If we just, if we got saved and just instantly knew everything in
the Bible, it would be like information overload. And so God just allows us to learn and understand
things as we're able to digest it, as we're able to understand it, as we're able to use
it. Because what if you understood the reprobate doctrine from day one? Some people do. Some
people get saved. You know, some people, that's a hangup. And they're like, well, why would
I believe in a God that allows pedophiles and rapists and serial killers to live and
to go to heaven? Well, the answer is he doesn't. So to some people, that's something they do
need to know day one. But to some people, that's super offensive that homos would be
damned to hell because they're reprobates or whatever. God doesn't want them to understand
that until 10 or 15 years after they're saved or whatever. I don't know. Anyway, Matthew
chapter 13, it says, "And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto
them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." So again, it's kind
of the same, he's saying the same thing, but now he says mysteries. Like it's not just
one mystery. It's multiple things. And so the parables are given to that. I mean, Jesus
basically just spoke in parables, almost everything he taught in the Bible was just when he's
preaching publicly, he's preaching to the people in these parables. And the Pharisees
had a hard, really hard time understanding because they just were not saved and there
were devils. And they would only perceive things sometimes, like when he's directly
preaching right at them, then they're like, they perceived that they were speaking about
him or about them. And they're like, Oh, I kind of see what you're saying here. And
then they got really mad and Matthew chapter 23. Now turn to Romans 11 23, Romans 11 23.
So what I want to do is I want to show some different scenes in the Bible where it brings
up mystery and kind of try to explain some of these biblical mysteries. Romans chapter
11 verse number 23. And I think I left my water again, didn't I? Yes, I did. Can I get
a runner Mikey? It's just sitting on my bench there. Romans chapter 11 verse 23, the Bible
says, and they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, talking about Israelites shall
thou be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. So the nation of Israel was
broken off of that tree, that believing tree, right? And it says, for God is able to graft
them in again. Now, if an Israelite or a Jew, they believe, then he's able to graft them
in again, right? It says, for if thou wert out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature,
or graft contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be
the natural branches, be graft into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren,
that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits.
That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become
human. So when they rejected Christ as their Messiah, God blinded, you know, I mean, obviously
Paul went and the other disciples went and they went, you know, Paul's custom was to
go into the synagogues and to preach the gospel. And, you know, some, some people were converts
to like Greeks and other nations. And even on the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached,
there was people from all nations and a lot of people were getting saved. There were Gentiles,
there were converts, but, you know, some Jews would believe, but then the rest would just
not believe. And they would stir up strife against Paul and persecute him and things like that. And
so then he would just leave and go to the next place. But what, what is it saying here? It's
saying that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become
in. Well, what's the miss, why is he saying, I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery?
Well, because he's going to tell us what the mystery is. You know, a lot of the mysteries
in the Bible in the New Testament are revealed to us because there were something in the
Old Testament that was not fully known. I mean, Moses in the song of Moses, he basically
tells about how Israel is going to fall away, but if in the latter days that they should
turn back to the Lord that he will accept them. So let's turn to Luke and we'll find
out what's he talking about the fullness of the Gentiles become in. Well, you know, the
Bible is going to help us to solve this mystery because there's a couple reference points
in the Bible that will teach us when does this happen? What is this talking about? When
is the fullness of the Gentiles become in? When do they get to, when is God going to
turn them back into godliness? Well, look at Luke 21 verse 20. I should have told you
to keep your finger in Romans 11 though. Hopefully you do that. It's not too late. Luke 21 verse
20 it says, "And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the
desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains,
and let them that are in the midst of it depart out. And let not them that are in the countries
enter therein too. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written
may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.
For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people." Talking about the
Jews, right? "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all
nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled." So here it is. So Paul's referencing this times of the Gentiles being fulfilled. So he
understands what Christ has already taught. Paul is talking about this mystery, isn't he? So when
does that happen? Well, we need to go to the book of Revelation, which means the revealing, right?
Christ is revealing to us mysteries in the Bible, in the book of Revelation. Now you need to go to
Revelation chapter number 11, and he'll tell us, the Bible is going to tell us when the time of the
Gentiles is going to be fulfilled. When is the fullness of the Gentiles? When is the fullness
of the Gentiles? And this is something that most churches aren't going to get right because they
just don't understand these doctrines because they're just blinded by dispensationalism.
They're blinded by their Jew worship. They're blinded by, you know, bad doctrine and bad charts
that they look at. They have these charts that are like, you know, this. It's just ridiculous.
Anyway, look at Revelation 11.1. It says, "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod,
and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that
worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not. For
it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."
Okay, so when is this time happening? This is the second half of what pre-tribbers would call the
tribulation, but that's not the tribulation, okay? But this is 42 months is what the holy city shall
they tread forty-two months and I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth.
So the two witnesses arrive on the scene right before the rapture happens, okay? They arrive right before the beginning of this 42 months.
So that's how we know and they don't the 42 the the the the two witnesses are killed by the beast at almost the very end of the seven year period, okay?
So when is the time of the Gentiles is given to the Gentiles until when? Until for 42 months.
And so we know that it has to start before this and it ends when? At almost the very end of time as we know it.
Almost right before the millennial reign of Christ. So the Jews, and you know, they're not going to be able to turn back this ungodliness,
turn back to Romans 11 until that time is fulfilled. They're going to be in blindness.
So that's why in Luke chapter 21, it's talking about that there's going to be great wrath upon this people.
And obviously, I believe that Jews will be saved even until, you know, there will be a remnant that's saved.
Paul says that there's an election, according to grace, there's a remnant of people.
Paul was a remnant of the Jews, right? He was of the tribe of Benjamin.
Romans 11.26 says, it says, "And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written,
there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
But when does that happen? I just showed you at the end of the seven years,
because that's right before Babylon is destroyed. You know, they go up, they're killed by the beast
from the bottomless pit. There's a three-day celebration where everybody's giving each other
gifts and stuff. Everybody sees their dead bodies. They don't bury their bodies. They're laying in
the streets for three days. And then God raises them from the dead. They go up into heaven,
and then God judges Babylon. And right after he judges Babylon, that's when, you know,
the time of the end is. So it says, "For this is my covenant unto them, that I shall take away
their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the
election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes, for the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through
their unbelief. Even so, these also now not believed that through your mercy, they also may
obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his
judgments and his ways past finding out. In other words, you know, there's a lot of secrets that
God has and a lot of mysteries that God has that are hard to understand and hard to find out.
They're unsearchable. And unless he wants to reveal these things unto us, we're not going to
know them. And he doesn't have to share everything with us, by the way. You know, people just have
this, this, you know, obviously God does share a lot of things with us. He shares his counsel with
us. He shares his wisdom with us, but he doesn't have to share everything with us. You know,
people just get this idea that God has to answer to us or something. Look, we're, we're his creation.
We answer to him. He doesn't answer to us. Turn to Romans 16, Romans chapter 16. So that mystery
is solved. Paul helps us to understand the mystery by, you know, and obviously Jesus
reveals the mystery to us and tells us when the end of the Gentiles is fulfilled and that
is in Revelation chapter 11. By the way, I'll show you another mystery later on concerning the two
witnesses, which is pretty interesting too. But Romans 16 verse 25 says, "Now to him that is power,
that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began."
So you have the word mystery and the word secret both there to not be redundant, of course,
because they both mean the same thing. So it says, "But now is made manifest and by the scriptures
of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations for
the obedience of faith." What is this mystery? Well, it's of course the mystery that, you know,
Jesus Christ was going to come. He's going to be the savior of mankind. He's going to live this
sinless life. You know, he's going to die for everybody's sins and rise again the third day.
This is a, this was a mystery kept secret from when? Since the world began. God knew that this
was going to happen since the world began. And we're given these little nuggets of truth and,
and, you know, you know, there's a lot of cryptic sayings about the Messiah, but nobody knew exactly
how it was going to be done. Nobody knew exactly, you know, we're given all these bread crumbs and
these shadow fulfillments and all these different sayings in the Bible, but nobody really had it
fully nailed down because the Jews had no idea that Jesus was going to come out of Galilee,
even though the Bible says he would, but they just didn't. They said he was going to be born
in Bethlehem. And then they're like, no prophet comes out of Galilee search the scriptures,
you know, and they're just, they thought they knew everything, but they just didn't know
what they were talking about. And God confounded them. But look now, so now let's look over at
first Corinthians chapter two, first Corinthians chapter two, they'll go into more about that
in a little bit. But, but the fact that Jesus was Jesus himself was kept a mystery. Look at first
Corinthians chapter two verse six, it says, how be it we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,
yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the princes of this world that come to not, but we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory. And I fully believe that this is why it was kept a mystery,
because if Satan would have known the full plan, I believe that he would have not have done what he
did. I believe that, you know, the principalities of powers, he moved everybody and he tried his
hardest to kill him when he was a baby, through Herod, killing all the children and all the coasts
of Bethlehem. And I believe that he would not have done it. He thought he won. When he killed Jesus,
when he had him crucified, I think that he really thought that he won. But look what it says right
there. It says, "Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory." They would have never have crucified Jesus had they known that he
was going to actually save all of mankind by doing this. They thought, "Yeah, we won. They're throwing
a big party about it." But in reality, three days later, he rose from the dead and he won the victory,
right? It says, "But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God." This is
what I was talking about, when we search the scriptures, look God is going to reveal unto us
through his Spirit, you know, when we're searching things, and actually the Spirit is the one that
searches these things out for us because we have the Holy Spirit. But you know, we have to do a
little bit of work, you know, you can't just not read the Bible, not be spiritual, and then think
that God's going to reveal a bunch of information to you because he's just not going to do that.
But it says, "For what man knoweth the things of man save the Spirit of man which is in him.
Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit
of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given
to us of God." So of course we're going to have some basic knowledge, even just a brand new
saved person is going to have some basic knowledge of the truth. "Which things also we speak not in
the words which man's wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things
with spiritual." How do we learn and know these mysteries? Well it just told us right there.
We're not supposed to that they speak not in the words of man's wisdom and this is not how we
should speak. You know if we're going to learn and know things that are spiritual we need to be taught
by the Holy Ghost. It says "but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. Hear a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept." And this is how we
learn spiritual truths and doctrine is by reading the Bible, comparing scripture with scripture.
This is how the Holy Ghost teaches us comparing spiritual things to spiritual. It says "but the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for there are foolishness unto him,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." See, and this is the
thing. People that aren't saved cannot understand the deep truths of the Bible. You can understand,
you know Noah and you know he built a boat and his wife and kids got on it. There was two by two.
I mean those are things that you can surface level understand. He brought seven of all the
clean animals and two of each of the not the ones that he couldn't sacrifice or whatever.
The unclean beast of the time or whatever. But you know you can learn certain things. Well,
Moses was put into a basket and then Pharaoh's daughter found him or whatever. Unstated people
can figure that stuff out. But the truly deep things of the Bible, they can't even understand
salvation. People that aren't saved aren't just going to understand salvation unless somebody
guides them into that truth. Someone has to show them from the Bible and I've preached about this
recently but look people aren't just going to figure salvation out. People just automatically
and people get mad when we go and proselytize and preach the gospel and evangelize in these places
and they're like they already know the gospel. They already are saved. It's like no they're not
because they're telling us that they're not saved. We'll go and knock on doors in certain
churches in this area. They'll go yeah I go to such and such church and it's like never saved.
Hardly ever. Maybe there's one accidentally that's saved every once in a while of certain
churches but most of the time there's certain churches in this area that nobody's saved from
their church. Look at verse 15. "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself
is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ." So he's given us the mind of Christ and he's given us the Holy Spirit
so we can judge these things. We can understand these things and so we have mysteries that people
don't know. That's like when we can explain and this is why it's so important that we as Christians
are lights in this world because we do have that knowledge. We do have that wisdom and so we are
lights that are shining in the world that need to be able to pass that knowledge on to other people
and when people say well God doesn't need you for anything you know that's not true.
You know we're laborers together. We're God's husbandry. He wants us to work with him
to help reach this world for Christ. Now look at first Corinthians 15 verse 51. First Corinthians
15 verse 51. I was just kind of going in order looking at the word mystery. First Corinthians
15 51. Here's another mystery. Paul likes to show mysteries it seems like so but he you know Paul
was given a lot of you know revelation by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why he was given the
thorn in the flesh so he wouldn't be you know thinking he was all high and mighty right.
Let's see first Corinthians 1551 this is known as the resurrection chapter in the Bible because
it's talking about the resurrection pretty much the whole time. It says behold I show you a mystery
we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye
at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible
and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on
immortality so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on
immortality then shall be brought to the past the same that is written death is swallowed up in
victory oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin
and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to god which giveth us the victory through our lord
jesus christ and so what is it talking about here well you know at the rapture is what it's
talking about that not everybody's going to die in the way that we would think you know when if
there's people that are alive and remain the bible says those that are alive and remain unto the
coming of the lord will be caught up to meet the lord in the air and but we won't you know those
people that are dead in christ will rise first and that those are alive and remain will be caught up
to meet the lord in the air so we won't precede those people but anybody that's alive they're
going to be you know they're not going to have they won't have to die is basically what it's
saying we won't we shall not all sleep so sleep is another term used for death because christians
don't truly die anybody that's saved does not truly die your body dies but your soul and spirit
do not die they go directly to be with the lord but so the special exception to you know because
the bible says um there's a point on demand wants to die and after this the judgment but the special
exception to this is those that are alive and remain under the coming of the lord they're just
changed so they're changed instantaneously in the in a moment in the twinkling of an eye so when
you see someone's eye twinkle that's just how fast it happens you know i i mean i don't know if you've
seen people's eyes twinkle before but i guess he's just saying he's just using that as a as like a
metaphor i guess that it just happens and you know just like that so um and then when it's saying
when well when the the for the trump shall sound the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible and we shall be changed so those people that are alive they're just instantly
going to not be not have a fleshly body anymore but their bodies are going to be incorruptible
instantaneously and will be immortal and it's kind of weird to say that you know sometimes it's like
we'll be immortal but that's what it means this this mortal shall shall be in immortal will be
see it says for this corruptible must put put on for this corruptible must put on incorruption this
mortal must put on immortality i mean immortality means that we live forever which is awesome
i mean and then you know so getting as many people saved as we can is is a great thing because those
people also get to be immortal with us so and that's why it says you know death is swallowed up
in victory oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory it's gone death loses the
the devil loses the devil lost and so we should be thankful to god look it says thanks be to god
verse 57 which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ he he's the one that led the
charge he's the one that did all the work and we just get to claim that victory by believing in him
and he gives us all those riches turn to aphesians one aphesians one aphesians chapter one verse
number eight the bible says wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence
having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath
purpose in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together
in one all things in christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him in whom
also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will that we should be to the praise of his
glory who first trusted in christ so we have been it says in verse 9 having made known unto us the
mystery of his will so i mean in the new testament again there's been lots of things that have been
that were kept secret from from the foundation of the world but in the new testament there's a lot
of things that are made way more clear to us there's things that were like really foggy in
the old testament and the new testament makes those things clear so you know you just think
about all there there's just all kinds of doctrines in the new testament it's like oh that's what that
is so the new testament is kind of like a commentary uh you know to help us to understand
a not not just a commentary but it's a commentary to help us understand a lot of the passage in the
old testament the spiritual meanings for some of those things you know like the uh thou should
not muzzle the ox that treatheth out the corn that's the scripture in moses law but then paul
says do you think that you know this is not written for does god take care for oxen and then it's
like this is written for man this is helping you to understand that someone that works hard
you know should be paid for it or whatever so that's just a just a for instance but
i was just trying to think of something that was that was low hanging in there but so he's just
saying that you know he's made us known the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which
he hath purposed in himself so the dispensation of fullness of times he you know dispensation
now people are like see it says dispensation you know so there is dispensations yeah old testament
and new testament that's why we have a division there it's between malachi and matthew and
jesus christ is the dispensator of the due testament okay so there's no other testament
after this there's no other sacrifices needed after jesus christ made that initial sacrifice
that's all that needs to be done there is no going back to the old testament there's no
two covenants going at the same time and here's israel right here and they they have their own
covenant going on with us no no that's vanished away and done with so that's what he's saying
he's saying of the fullness of times he gathered together in one all things in christ so if you're
going to get saved no matter what nation you're from it's going to be through jesus christ in
this new dispensation called the new testament both which are in heaven and which are in earth
even in him in whom all so and also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined
predestinated excuse me according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the council
was on will so you know these this is passages that the that the calvinists love to grab a
hold of see were predestined it's like yeah but predestined doesn't mean that god chose who is
going to be saved and who wasn't going to be in a sense that he you know i just don't like his beard
you know he he's going to hell you know that's not what that means so it just means that he knew
already who was going to choose to be saved and who wasn't going to so he just because he knows
everything doesn't mean that he said i'm sending him to hell just because i don't like the look on
his face so that's just weird to even think that way and especially since the bible says that
jesus christ is the savior of all men especially those that believe so i don't know how you can
wiggle out of that one calvinist but somehow they try to but then it says that he according to the
purpose of of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will you know and god
does work things out but like people do try to you know mess up the plan but god's ultimate will is
going to prevail because he is god that we should do be to the praise of the glory first trust in
christ okay so look at verse uh aphesians chapter three aphesians chapter three it says in aphesians
chapter three verse two it says if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of god
which has given me to you word how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery
as i wrote afore in few words whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery
of christ which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto
the holy apostles and and prophets by the spirit so again he's he's just kind of he just keeps
harping on this idea that these things were just not known in the old testament these things are
now known in the new testament and that's why the new testament is so important and people just
don't understand the difference sometimes between the old new testament a lot of times people just
think mean god old testament nice god new testament but jesus christ is the same yesterday today and
forever he hasn't changed he still feels the same way about everything that he used to feel
he was loving in the old testament he's loving in the new testament he gave mercy in the old
testament he gives mercy in the new testament he's wrathful in the old testament he's wrathful in the
new testament have you read the book of revelation lately he's he's wrathful in the new testament
he's very wrathful in the new testament i mean some of the things that are done in the new testament
are are far greater destruction than they are i mean of course the flood was pretty bad he killed
everybody okay i get that but we're talking like fireballs and these locusts that have women's hair
coming up and chomping on people but they won't die i mean you know i mean i i don't know i might
take the flood over that over some of that stuff but anyway look at verse six it says that the
gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise in christ by
the gospel whereof i was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of god given unto me by
the effectual working of his power unto me whom less than the least of all saints in this grace
given that i should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of christ and to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been
hidden god who created all things by jesus christ to the intent that now unto the principles and
powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of god according to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in christ jesus our lord in whom we have boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of him wherefore i desire that you faint not at my tribulations for
you which is your glory so you know and then so the fellowship of the mystery which is from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in god so i mean paul is just you know he's a he's the mystery
man he's just revealing all these mysteries unto us about how the gentiles are fellow heirs you know
that was also a mystery the jews obviously didn't believe that the gentiles would be
you know together with god but the bible talks about that a lot it just doesn't like fully
reveal what it you know there's not a big picture given to us in the old testament about it just
says and unto the gentiles you know the gentiles will seek unto him and they'll seek salvation
i mean it does say it you would think that they would understand it but like when jesus goes to
preach his first sermon in his hometown they try to throw him off a cliff for preaching that two
about two gentiles being saved so i mean they obviously uh didn't weren't ready to hear that
message so they're ready to throw the lord off of a cliff because he talked about two gentiles
that got saved really weird right turn to aphesians 5 aphesians chapter 5 show you another mystery
aphesians chapter 5 verse 30 the bible says for members of his body of his flesh and of his bones
for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they
too shall be one flesh this is a great mystery but i speak concerning christ in the church
nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the wife see
that she reverence her husband of course this is probably the most famous wedding passage in the
whole uh bible but what is he speaking of in reality he's speaking of the great mystery
of christ in the church but he's he's i mean not he's not speaking of the great he's speaking of
christ in the church but he's talking about the but the mystery is is how uh two people become
one flesh but i mean i i obviously i believe that you know when adam you know he was alone and god
made a help he said i you know it's not good for man to be alone i will make and help meet for him
i mean that part of the mystery is is like you know obviously when we get married we become one
flesh what does that mean exactly well um that's the mystery i guess what what it actually means but
uh you know i guess if you think about the story of adam and eve adam it wasn't good for him to be
alone so god made him to fall into a deep sleep you know gave him some godly anesthesia and you
know he did the first surgery and he pulled out one of his ribs and then from eve was made of the
rib bone of adam was made a woman so basically eve was adam's rib made you know he modified her and
you know poof you know a woman came out of his rib right so i mean i guess in that sense you know
they were one flesh because he he she came out of the man right like so i mean i guess physically
they were one flesh in that way so i guess that's i guess that's kind of that but that doesn't still
help us to understand the full mystery but what does paul say this is a great mystery does he
solve the mystery for us though i i don't think we can fully understand what it means but i do
think that there's a little bit of a clue in just understanding that the first woman came out of man
you know that he married his rib basically it was mick rib no i'm just joking mick rib is back wow
see what the timing see the timing there no i didn't know that but thank you brother bill
i'm going to mcdonald's no i'm just joking everybody's stomach's like oh i'm hungry now
i'll make rib no but uh so but it says nevertheless let every one of you in particular
so love your wife even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband you know when
you come when you consummate the marriage when you marry you know your spouse you are one flesh
that's what the bible teaches so but as far as how you're one flesh it is paul says it's a mystery
so and it doesn't seem like he really solves the mystery for us so some things are you know not
always explained exactly what that means but when we are in christ you know we are the body of christ
so that kind of you know how how are we the body of christ well you know we are in christ our
salvation is in christ and christ you know we are the bride of christ as in you know christ has
espoused us as a bride but not in a weird way obviously but like that's i don't know so he's
trying to you know trying to help teach us that you know in the in that mystery sense there so
turn to aphesians 6 aphesians 6 aphesians chapter 6 verse 18 the bible says praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints and for me that utterance may be given unto me that i may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel for which i am an ambassador in bonds that therein i may
speak boldly as i ought to speak so what does that mean make known the mystery of the gospel
i was kind of thinking about this and i was and i was thinking it's a mystery to the people that
aren't saved isn't it because people that aren't saved they think they are a lot of times even if
they're you know go to church or whatever they think that they're saved and what do they usually
say i'm saved because i'm a good person i'm saved because i repented of my sins i'm saved
because i got baptized baptism is a is a is is one of the high one of the things that they say a lot
if they say i'm a good i'm a good person is number one answer family feud number number two might be
baptism number two might be baptism well i was baptized when i was you know however old or i was
baptized as a kid or whatever well i got baptized and and that's also the wrong answer you know and
a lot of people think that they got saved because they got baptized they think it washes away their
sins and you know the or they say that i repented of my sins or you know that's that's another big
answer um or because it's a works faith combination which is also not true um every once in a while the
skillet comments will come up last night i made the mistake of looking at the skillet comments and
this guy was like you're teaching you know a wrong salvation or whatever and it was i think it was
just a clip or something on youtube and and i'm like because i because i said that repentance
means a change of mind when it comes to salvation you gotta change your mind about whatever you're
believing that's sending you to hell and believe and trust christ he's like that's your that's not
what it means you're preaching a false salvation it's like nobody you're preaching a false salvation
if you believe that you know doing work or repenting of your sins is going to take you to heaven
because it's not you're going to die and go to hell if you think that you're if you trust it in
your works at all to get you to heaven and a lot of people here's here's what a lot of people also
say well if you repent and here's what they mean that they lose their salvation all the time they
probably think they lose it every day or something or once a week or whatever and that as long as
they just repent that they'll be saved again which is complete garbage because and they'll even use
like hebrew six to bolster their argument but the problem with using hebrew six to bolster their
argument it says that they cannot be renewed again to repentance so if you can't be renewed
again to repentance then you cannot use that verse in order to teach that you can lose your salvation
because if that's what you think it means you can't be renewed again to repentance you're going to
die and go to hell but that's not what that verse is talking about but if it was you're not you
can't be saved again is what it's if you think that's what it says then it's saying you can't get
saved again so i believe it's talking about the reprobate doctrine other people that are good
people believe that it's talking about doing you know doing good work so you can't get saved again
so i agree with that you can't get saved again that's true because you only you can only get
saved one time and it's being born again not being born again and again and again and again
he loves me he loves me not he loves me he loves me not you're saved you're not saved uh
what a horrible way to live you know people talk about that sermon by jonathan edwards
where it's like sinners in the hand of an angry god or it's like you're like this string that's
being held above the fire and then you know the fire you know you're just you're about to die
and go to hell at any moment or whatever what a what a way to to live thinking that you're
just going to go to hell at any moment because you're just not really sure if you're saved or
not you haven't done enough have you really repented enough have you just like crawled
through glass on your hands and knees have you whipped yourself in the back enough to get there
that's not how you get to heaven you get to heaven by believing on christ and paul saying
hey for me that utterance may be given them to me that i may open my mouth boldly to make known the
mystery of the gospel you know it's a mystery to people that are dying and going to hell
and paul says i need to be bold about it you know why because it's not popular the true gospel is
not popular that's why people shut the door on our face that's why people say no that's why they
reject it and that's why we're hate that's one of the reasons why we're hated i think pastor
shelly did like this poll or he looked he looked at why people uh reject uh i think why people are
angry at the things we teach the most and and the number one thing was the gospel they don't like
the easy believism gospel but that's what the bible teaches i saw another comment last night
and like i'm not just surfing the comments all the time i'm hardly ever do it but for some dumb
reason maybe it's just so i can say it in the sermon i don't know but they're just like he's
one of those free grace preachers or whatever it's like yeah guilty as charged buddy i do believe in
free grace yeah i'll wear that like a badge of honor i don't i don't care call me a free grace
believer yeah that's because that's what i believe i believe that grace was 100 free you know it's
not cheap grace it's free grace because jesus paid a heavy price to pay for our salvation god sent
jesus christ his only begotten son who you know he had to walk he didn't at a certain point he
didn't even watch anymore he had to turn his back on christ as he was destroyed in front of everybody
and mocked and spit on i mean pretty wild but i'm gonna end the sermon here um and and i'll preach
another part to this because there's no way i can get into this next point i'll keep you here too
late so i'm gonna end here and uh we'll go and have some lunch and get out and go swimming or
something all right let's pray lord we thank you so much for uh revealing mysteries to us and
i pray lord that we'd be in our bible so that you could actually reveal some mysteries to us
and i pray that you would help us to take the things of god seriously and and that lord you'd
give us a great week and help us to be thankful in our hearts for the things that we have and
lord does not take for granted our health our prosperity that we have in this country and in
our personal lives pray you'd help us to be good to each other as christians and and other people
that don't have as much as we do and i pray that you just help us to reach out to somebody this
week and give them the gospel and we pray these things in jesus name amen closing song we count
your blessings count your blessings 439 in the red or the green altogether upon my spills you are
when you are discouraged thinking all is lost count your many blessings name them one by one
and it will surprise you what the lord hath done your blessings name them one by one count your
blessings see what god hath done your blessings name them one by one your blessings see what god
hath done are you burdened with all of care does the cross seem heavy you are called
to bear count your many blessings every doll will fly and you will be singing as the days go
blessings name them one by one count your blessings see what god hath done
sing one by one sing see what god has with their lands and may christ has promised you
blessings money can fall warden heaven always name them one thing see what god conflict while
they're discouraged god blessings angels will comfort them sing see what god can you close this