The second law of thermodynamics, which insists upon decay and loss, will be reversed, and things will get better and better, and greater and greater, and richer and richer, and higher and higher to an infinity beyond our comprehension. We feel worthless, useless. Through us, Lord, heal the blight of humanity around us -- the curse and the darkness and the corruption and the despair which is so evident about us. The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way.' The speaker in the book of Job was thinking of this Great Teacher when he asked--"Who teacheth like him?" The most prolific cause of loss is disobedience--disobedience either to one of God's written commands, or to the inward promptings of His Holy Spirit. We say, "I want to come to my own conclusions." Blind to good and evil, reckless to destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way. This is the secret of it. Who is he who hath the happiest lot? You will never understand life, and you will never understand the conflicts you have in your home between yourself and your wife, or your children, or your parents, or with your neighbors, or anyone else, until you understand this secret, this mystery of lawlessness. Yea, he may be under such a decay, that little or no difference will be observed betwixt him and others that are yet in nature; and be not only unable to go actively and lively about commanded duties, yea, or to wrestle from under that deadness; but also be so dead, that he shall scarce …John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life, Of the Fewness of those who Love the Cross of JesusJesus hath many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. I hope you have learned already that a Christian resolves his puzzles and riddles and the difficult questions of life on the basis of the authority of the Word of God. 1, 2. It is the answer to guilt. You will constantly be merely treating the symptoms which keep reappearing all the time unless you begin to understand how to use weapons which will aim at the real source of trouble, as Paul tells us in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. We know what a stewardess is, in this day of aviation. There are many passages in Scripture which speak of that change, of what God is going to do in the future, what he is preparing us for. He was sent to teach and to preach. Significantly, it was to Paul, not Peter, that "the secret of the gospel" was first revealed. He has made ample provision for failure. Neither I, nor thou, nor any man upon the earth. Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may follow all the words of this law.. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His fasting. We all have grave problems. We all love to come and listen to these truths expounded here. Confirmation by example. And it is waiting for Christians to demonstrate -- so that when you get upset or anxious or attacked, you don't react as a non-Christian would. As ask in Jesus' name, Amen. They may know it intellectually, but they haven't committed their lives to it. For permission to use this content, please review The Psalmist prays in this psalm for three things: deliverance, guidance, and forgiveness. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. If thou dost so, thou wilt be in danger often of following sight rather than faith,--choosing the evil, and refusing the good. xxxviii. There is a malevolent being called Satan, prince of a great kingdom of darkness and evil, a kingdom of millions of beings like himself who are in headlong stampede against the government of God, in revolt and rebellion against him, and who are intent on wrecking and smashing and mangling all the love-born plans of God for the human race. It is these same things which later on in First Corinthians he refers to as the "mysteries" of God. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Many are astonished at His Miracles, few follow after the shame of His Cross. 2. Job xxxvi: 22. This is the answer to the mystery of lawlessness. I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'" Exactly parallel with that is what Paul calls "the mystery of godliness." The Sermon on the Mount is addressing the issue of authenticity. "Well," somebody says, "that is fine for you Christians. Without this knowledge there is no explanation of history. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. In preparation for a series of messages from Ephesians 1 through 3, it will be helpful to consider a subject which is always of prime interest to believers -- the authority of the Scriptures. As we take up some of the more important of them, we need to realize that I can touch upon them only briefly in the time available. He wrote: Brief, powerless is man's life. Give âin secretâ¦and your Father who sees in secret will reward youâ ( Matt. 2. But many are only coming and drinking it all in, but never going beyond that -- merely listening -- perhaps a few changes apparent here and there, but nothing very much. Do you see his ruling and overruling hand, his ability to control and manipulate, and to bring about his purposes through tears and darkness and sorrow? 2. You accept that by blind faith. It takes purposeful intention to lean into a whisper. We can't get away from that, although we might like to. I share with you something which has been troubling me: I am disturbed at how few of our people really have habits of personal Bible study. Christ treated all of Scripture, which at that time consisted of what we call the Old Testament, as the ⦠6. Most certainly. But "commit thy way unto the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass." Its necessity and use. They have been preached here many times. What a ministry God has committed to us! Many follow Jesus that they may eat of His loaves, but few that they may drink of the cup of His passion. Of these three petitions the central one is that for guidance. God has a secret which, if you learn it, enables you to handle this mystery of lawlessness. It is found in intimate fellowship with God. There is no reason why we should fail; God has made ample provision against failure; we must not expect to fail; but in case we do fail, provision has been made. The great (and often hidden) reward of fasting is God himself. 9. Who is he that hath everything according to his will? 10. You will never be able to help another. As we close, I would like to ask you for a moment to pray silently before God and answer whatever the Spirit of God is asking your own heart. We don't want to be fettered and impotent through ignorance or faithlessness. When he refers to the rulers of the age, he does not mean governmental authorities, necessarily. It is challenged and rivaled by no other. You must face these questions. Therefore, what it says is final. This is what explains what happens to us in our lives. Do you know how to handle it? All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to undergo anything for His sake. Christians are said to be stewards of the mysteries of God. 3:1-3; 6:19). Confirmation by example. Because his father Jacob had sired Joseph in his old age, the first to whom his favorite wife Rachel had given birth, Joseph was a favorite son. 6. All our attempts after full obedience will be failures until we get access to His abiding fellowship. But, glory be to God! Job xxxvi: 22. …John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Great TeacherTeaching was the great business of the life of Christ during the days of his public ministry. But, nature is what is there. You can be confronted with puzzling and baffling experiences you don't know the answers to. But they are constantly falling apart at the seams because they have no meaning, no purpose, no reason to exist. Prayer defined. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. Men deny the existence of this secret kingdom. Pray âin secretâ¦and your Father who sees in secret will reward youâ (v. 6). 1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Neither I, nor thou, nor any man upon the earth. It is in the secret place that we are most vulnerable with God and most deeply experience His intimate love. Of course, a lot of demagogues run around making promises merely because they want to get into office. God rewards Christian fasting because it attunes us to the very purpose of God in the universe: to magnify himself in our desiring, enjoying, and being satisfied in him. And he says, "They do not know these secrets of God. 1. He will show them his covenant. And, "The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us," (Romans 8:18 RSV). And he is the Redeemer, of whom the prophet Isaiah was telling when he said--He …Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young, Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow. Jesus described the kind of experience he wants us to know:Paul, from prison, shared his experience of the secret with all who would listen:The secret to contentment is very simple. God created man for the enjoyment of a walking relationship that involved companionship, dialogue, intimacy, joint decision-making, mutual delight, and shared dominion. But the approach I want to discuss this morning -- and what to me is the most remarkable and convincing evidence that the book I have in my hand is God's revelation of ultimate reality, of final truth -- is the fact that here in this book I find revealed about life certain truths which are essential to me, or to any person, in order to live life as it was intended to be lived, and which I cannot find anywhere else -- no other source gives them to me. They are set before you constantly, so they won't be new and startling. Its necessity and propriety. Work through our lives to heal many, we pray, and above all, make us faithful stewards of these secrets. Mysteries, in Scripture, are not 'Who Done Its.' Conclusion. A âmysteryâ in the New Testament is something that had at one time been hidden but is now revealed to Godâs people. Man wrestles with injustice, evil, and the inability to make real social progress -- and always has. But one thing they do -- they enable us to find the solutions, and to handle the circumstances which come. God has not only gone public with this secret, but he invites us and longs for us to know it. It was he who was first sent forth to proclaim the doctrine of salvation, and to reveal all that had been accomplished at Calvary. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. "The Word of God" we call it. And yet they are still beyond us, still challenging to the intellect. There is no way by which we could possibly spend the time necessary to think and study through everything ourselves. By keeping Godâs commandments. That is where these secrets become available to the world around. That the evidence which God has afforded us of the truth of our religion is abundantly sufficient. We accept your immediate forgiveness for our failure, but we want to go on from here, Lord. Without this secret we become victims of life instead of victors. This feeling is perhaps best described by the high priest of humanism, Bertrand Russell, who recently died. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His fasting. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. There are many foolish, Sometimes the believer is under such a distemper of weakness and deadness, that there is almost no commanded duty that he can go about; his heart and all is so dead, that he cannot so much as groan under that deadness. These are what mark this as God's book, the essential book about life. He is governing human affairs. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. A loud voice easily draws a crowd. In this chapter God is reminding the people that they are in covenant with him. You don't have to be torn apart and discouraged and bored and jealous and envious and anxious and fretful. 9However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"â 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed. Now, let me say something out of the depths of my pastoral heart: You will never be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God that way. But sometimes even Christians use that phraseology because we are falling heir to the philosophy of the world about us which tries to obscure the kingdom of God and act as though it isn't there. 2. There is no reason why we should fail; God has made ample provision against failure; we must not expect to fail; but in case we do fail, provision has been made. And it was he who was in the Psalmist's mind when he spoke of the "good, and upright Lord" who would teach sinners, if they were meek, how to walk in his ways. Isaiah the prophet wrote about Godâs displeasure of doing things hidden, or in secret. Who is he that hath everything according to his will? Why do I have to go through this experience? And a steward is the male counterpart -- a dispenser of necessities, who gives out meals and tickets and information and all the other things necessary to any traveler. Psalm 31:20 says, âYou shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.â But we have the mind of Christ. for, Thou art miserable wheresoever thou art, and whithersoever thou turnest, unless thou turn thee to God. He was sent to teach and to preach. lxix. We might discuss the uniqueness of the Bible in its unerring ability to foretell human history. We don't want anyone else to influence us. The Daily Benefits Derived from It. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. What is the doctrine of the secret rapture? I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. Do you see the kingdom of God there? Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy [faithful to their task]. How we struggle with this! One of the best kept secrets of our faith is the blessedness and joy of cultivating a secret life with God. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. There is no more encouraging secret in all the world than to understand this mystery of God's working in the future. Why do we accept the Scriptures as the Word of God and as the authority in our lives? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 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