======================================================================== HIDDEN MYSTERIES THAT GOD WANTS TO REVEAL TO US by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon delves into the mysteries revealed in the New Testament, focusing on the profound truths of Christ coming in the flesh and keeping His spirit pure, as well as the mystery of Christ's relationship with the church. It emphasizes the importance of humility, reverence for God, and seeking revelation from the Holy Spirit to truly grasp and live out these mysteries. The speaker urges listeners to pursue a deeper understanding of these truths and to actively participate in building the church as co-workers with Christ. Topics: "Mystery of Christ", "Humility and Revelation" Scripture References: Matthew 13:11, Matthew 11:25, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 3:3, Ephesians 5:32, 1 Timothy 3:16, Psalms 25:14, 1 John 2:6, Matthew 16:18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon delves into the mysteries revealed in the New Testament, focusing on the profound truths of Christ coming in the flesh and keeping His spirit pure, as well as the mystery of Christ's relationship with the church. It emphasizes the importance of humility, reverence for God, and seeking revelation from the Holy Spirit to truly grasp and live out these mysteries. The speaker urges listeners to pursue a deeper understanding of these truths and to actively participate in building the church as co-workers with Christ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I was thinking of a particular word in the New Testament, or I'd share a few thoughts with you along that. It's the word which Jesus used in Matthew 13, if you turn with me there, Matthew's Gospel chapter 13, where, you know, Jesus was speaking a parable, and the disciples came to Jesus in Matthew 13, verse 10, and said, Why do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus answered them, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. So one would think that Jesus would be very keen that everybody should understand what he's trying to say. I myself, in my own ministry of teaching the Bible, my desire is often that everybody should understand what I'm saying, and I'll try and make it as simple as possible. But in the last 45 years of CFC churches in different parts of the world, and speaking to different people, I've discovered one thing, that no matter how simple you make it, the truths, the amazing truths of the New Covenant, most people don't get it. And that's proved by the quality of their life, the quality of their family life, and very often, if you're honest, they have to admit there's not much difference between the quality of their life and the life of Christians and other churches. So what is it that we can speak which makes us distinct? And I've come to see that it's because a lot of people, I mean, I made this mistake way back in the beginning too, when I was trying to understand the message of victory and overcoming sin and the New Covenant. I thought if I understood it correctly, I got it. And since I had a good mind, I could understand it very quickly, and I could explain it to myself very quickly. And it's the same with those who are clever, intelligent, like these Pharisees. They thought they understood, but they didn't. And one of the, you know, when Jesus, they asked Jesus this question, why do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus said, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 13, 11, it has been granted to you to know them, but not to these Pharisees. Was it because the disciples were cleverer than the Pharisees? No, the Pharisees were far cleverer, more intelligent and more educated than these fishermen. But there was something these fishermen had that those clever Pharisees didn't have. And that's why they missed it completely. And this word mystery is not found in the Old Testament. It comes a number of times in the New Testament. Paul uses it repeatedly. And mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, you know, the kingdom of heaven was not mentioned in the Old Testament. We need to understand that the Old Covenant was entirely about a kingdom of earth. And the New Testament emphasizes the kingdom of heaven. So that's the first thing. If people are primarily occupied with a comfortable earthly life, and a little bit of Christianity, maybe New Covenant Christianity, just to ease their conscience. But their main interest is their earthly life. You can say their kingdom is of this earth. They will never understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. And as far as this word goes, God will deliberately hide it from them. But the disciples who followed Jesus, who were passionate to have the kingdom of heaven, though they were not so educated, they understood it clearly. It's similar to what Jesus said two chapters earlier in Matthew 11. He said, in a prayer to the Father, he praised the Father for hiding these truths from people. Now, we often pray, Lord, people, let people understand these wonderful truths about forgiveness and overcoming sin and building the church and fellowship and all these wonderful truths. But Jesus praised the Father for hiding them. It's amazing. And you see there, I praise you, Matthew 11, 25, Father, that you have hidden these wonderful truths from the clever and the intelligent, and you revealed them to little babes, to infants. Now, that is not something that people who go to Bible school understand. They go there to study, and the cleverest person gets the first prize when they finish their Bible school for your course. But it's hidden from them. And I want to say to all of you who are clever and intelligent, and I think most of you are, you will never understand in your spirit. You'll understand in your mind everything that is taught, but you will not understand in your spirit what God is saying if you don't come like a little babe. And what a little babe has, which clever, intelligent people don't have. Have you thought of it? It's not sharpness of mind. It's not cleverness. There's one thing that little babies have which clever, intelligent people usually just don't have, and Jesus said it. He said, unless you humble yourself like this little child, you cannot enter God's kingdom. It's humility that a little child has which clever, intelligent people don't have. Most clever, intelligent people, even when they act humble before others, it is to get a reputation for humility. Though everybody knows I'm so clever, but they see that I'm very humble. It's seeking honor for their humility. It's all garbage in God's eyes. That's not real humility. Humility is the recognition that before Almighty God, I am a zero, and there's no difference between me and any other human being in God's eyes. I cannot esteem myself as superior to another human being in any way if I'm genuinely humble, not even over an unbeliever. If there's any sense in our mind that we are a little better than others, and that's there in us, we've got the poison of Adam in our flesh. It's a thing that has to be crucified more than anything else. That leaves us ignorant of these mysteries of God's kingdom. The one thing that Peter and James and John Fisherman, unlearned fishermen had, which the Pharisees didn't have, was humility. They had the humility to follow Jesus, who was considered a despised false prophet. See, to talk about being related to Jesus today, in today's world, America, you're respected. Okay. Christian. The word Christian has some respect, but not in... if you're a follower of Jesus in the first century in Palestine and Israel, you were considered a fool. You were considered stupid. You were considered ignorant of the scriptures. And that's why when these Pharisees who studied the scriptures so carefully and knew the scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, the entire Old Testament, when Jesus came into the midst of their temple, they said, He is Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Whereas the Bible, the Word of God says, remember when Jesus was walking with the disciples to Emmaus in Luke 24, it says He took the entire Bible in Luke 24-27. The first five books of the Bible are called Moses, Old Testament, and the remaining 34 books of the Old Testament, which are called the Prophets. He took all of that, all 39 books, and in all of them, during that three-hour walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus with those two disciples, He showed them how you could find Christ, the Messiah, in every one of those 39 books. That was a Bible study going on in Emmaus. Every one of those books pointed to Jesus. And when He came, it was a fulfillment of all those prophecies. But the Pharisees who studied those same books, they didn't just say, like some others, He's Elijah, or He's one of the prophets. That itself would have been better. They said, no, He's the prince of devils. Is it possible for a person to study the same Old Testament scriptures, which point to Jesus right through, and then to look at Jesus when you come into the midst and think He's the devil? Yes. Clever, intelligent people. And the only reason they were blind, only one reason, it's important for us to know the reason, they were proud. Pride brings a darkness into the heart when the mind is very active, and you can quote scripture, and you can even preach. The Pharisees would preach, but they were completely blind. They could not see Christ as the Son of God. And when Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew chapter 16, who do people say that I am? Matthew 16, 13. The disciples had heard others talking about Jesus, and they said, some say, you're John the Baptist, come back from the dead. Some say you're Elijah, some say you're Jeremiah, or some say you're one of the other prophets. Those were people who saw Him as a good man, but not the Messiah, the Son of God. But Peter, so here were the groups of people, the Pharisees who thought He was the prince of devils, and some little God-fearing people who thought He was Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of those others. But Peter, the most uneducated and unlearned of the whole lot, he said, you're the Messiah, the Son of God, second person of the Trinity. And how did he know that? It was not through his cleverness. It's because though he was a fisherman, he came in a little child, like a little child of Jesus. And we know that because Jesus said to him, you're blessed, Simon. Because to paraphrase it, it was not your human understanding by which you got this revelation. But my Father in heaven, Matthew 16, verse 17, gave you this revelation, that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God. The word revelation, it's a word which is not found in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the word was understanding and study. The scribes studied the law. But disciples get revelation. Scribes study, disciples get revelation. So he got revelation from the Father as to do this. And revelation is a supernatural opening of the blind eyes of our heart. You know, just like Jesus touched the eyes, the physical eyes of blind people, and they could see something they never saw before. And you suddenly see, boy, this is what the world looks like. Imagine a blind man suddenly having his eyes open, and he doesn't realize what the world is like. And suddenly he sees, revelation is like that. You suddenly begin to see things which maybe you've studied the Bible for 25 years, and you know all the verses. But one day you see something by revelation. That's what the Holy Spirit does when you're filled with the Holy Spirit. And we submit to Him and keep our conscience clear, particularly keep our conscience clear. And we walk in humility. God gives us not knowledge, not understanding, but revelation. And we must never be satisfied without revelation, because it's only by revelation that we can come to grasp and to be gripped by the truths of Scripture. So when we go to Scriptures, in the Old Testament, the important thing was meditation. Then you understand the Scripture, Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who meditates in the law of the Lord. And they understand something there. And they get a little understanding of God's laws. And the psalmist said, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. But in the New Testament, the word is revelation. Very important. And by means of revelation, God hides New Testament truths from certain people, from anyone who's proud. And He reveals it to those who are humble. And God sees among His people those who are humble, and He teaches them things that others never understand. Others will go and listen to a sermon in a church, or nowadays there are thousands of them on YouTube. And if it's very intellectually well presented, they absorb it, and they think, boy, I got it. In fact, many of them feel I've got it so well that I can now go and preach it to others. They're preaching it for honor. You know the number of people who go to the internet and listen to sermons only for the purpose of preaching it to somebody else to get honor. I remember someone asked me, Brother Zach, can I preach the things that I've heard from you on the internet? Somebody in our church. I said, sure, if you live it first, not if you just have it in your head, then you're a hypocrite. If it's not part of your life, or you're not even wanting it to be a part of your life, and you talk about some nice, clever thought that you've got, which you heard me say, it's only a clever thought. It won't help you. It won't help anybody else you tell it to. But I said, if you are living that and seeking to live by that sincerely, then God will back up what you're saying. Then by all means, share with others what you heard from me. We want to spread the truth. After all, I heard it from Paul. I heard it from Peter and John. I didn't get it straight from heaven. But I've sought to live what I read from Peter and Paul and John, and then only I preach it. It says, Jesus lived first, and then spoke. He did and spoke. Acts 1 verse 1, very important verse. He did, and then he preached. He never preached what he never did. There's a saying in English that you must practice what you preach. No, Jesus preached what he had already practiced. He practiced it first, and then Acts 1, 1. He did and then taught. That's how Luke describes his gospel. So that is the way we must preach. We do and preach. If I haven't done it, and I'm not interested in doing it, then I shouldn't preach that. I should leave. It's only theory. So here, Peter got revelation that Christ is the Son of God. And then Jesus said a verse that is much misunderstood. Matthew 16, verse 18. You are Simon Peter, and the word Peter is a word for a very small stone, Petra, Petros, small stone. But upon this rock, which is Petra, a much huge rock, in the original, you are Petros, a small stone. But on this Petra, which is a huge rock, which is not you, Peter, I will build my church. And what is that big rock? What he had just said, this revelation of Christ. He got a revelation of Christ. And he said, on that revelation, I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not overpower the church that is built on Christ that has come through revelation. So many people build thinking they're building on Christ. They haven't got revelation on who Jesus is. So this is very, very important. And the Apostle Paul spoke a lot about it. Let me show you in Ephesians, and perhaps first in 1 Corinthians, in chapter 2. We'll begin there. In 1 Corinthians, in chapter 2, it says in verse 9, he's quoting the Old Testament verse from Isaiah 64, verse 4. Here in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9, he says, As it is written, the things which human eyes cannot see. You read the Bible, but there's something there the human eye cannot see. You listen to a message, even from an anointed speaker. But it says here, the things your human ear cannot hear. And all that, even though you hear and you read it, it cannot enter into your heart. There are wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love Him. So this is reserved not for everybody, it's reserved exclusively for those who have a passionate love for God, who love God more than money, love God more than anything in their life, love God more than the honor of men and everything else that the world lives for. Who passionately love God, God has prepared certain things for them. And in the Old Testament it said, the human eye can never see it, has never seen it, the human ear has never heard it, and it's never entered into the heart of man. And a lot of people, when they read that, they think about heaven. It's not talking about heaven. It's talking about something right now that we can have on this earth, because it says in the next verse, It was not revealed in Old Testament times, but it has been revealed. Again, the word revelation, the same word Jesus used for Peter, it has been revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit who brings a revelation within us that Jesus Christ came to save us. His name is Jesus, because He came to save us from our sins. It's a revelation. For many years I just thought He came to forgive my sin, till one day the Holy Spirit revealed to me, I remember it so clearly, revealed to me that He came to save, not just to forgive. Now, a hundred people could have preached that to me. Okay, I would have agreed with that. But I still live a defeated life. I've seen that with a lot of people. They hear everything we preach about victory in the churches, but they're still defeated. They're defeated in their homes, they're defeated in their thoughts, they're defeated in their lives because they haven't got revelation. They've understood it. They understood so well, they can even explain to others what I preach. Yeah, God has revealed them through the Spirit. And I think part of the reason is they don't value the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their life. And the devil has done a tremendous work in confusing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, I would say, through the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. Now, I'm not against Pentecostal and Charismatic. I'm not against anybody. I'm only against the devil. But I have to say that group has taught a lot of false things about the Holy Spirit. They've not emphasized humility. They've not emphasized holiness. They've not emphasized fervency of love and building the church. They've emphasized speaking in tongues and healing the sick. People can do all those things and saying the final day to the Lord, Lord, Lord, we did miracles in your name. We cast out demons in your name. The Lord said, get away from me and go to hell. How is that? So we need to see what is it that the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit for. And I often use this expression saying, an unclean spirit makes you unclean. An evil spirit makes you evil. What does the Holy Spirit make you? Even a child can understand. An unclean spirit makes you unclean. An evil spirit makes you evil. So Holy Spirit should make you not speak in tongues, holy. That's what he sent the Holy Spirit for. That's some of the wonderful things God has prepared for those who love him. And that comes through revelation, through the Holy Spirit. It says here in 1 Corinthians 2, 10, who searches the depths of God and reveals them to us. That's really amazing. The Holy Spirit alone can reveal scripture to us. You cannot understand it in a living way by study alone. You have to come in humility. Then it becomes real. So many people who can know so much of the scriptures, but they have no revelation. So they never come into a godly life. Very important. I remember when one of the things that happened after some of the things that happened to me after I've experienced this fullness of the Holy Spirit was I suddenly saw that I could have victory. That Jesus came in just like me as a man and was tempted and overcame. And I thought I could have power over demons. See, until then, for 16 years of my Christian life, if a demon-possessed person came to me, I wouldn't know what to do. I would just ask somebody to take him out of the meeting. But once I got filled with the Holy Spirit, it's almost as though my eyes were open to another world, the spirit world, where there were demons. And how Christ had defeated all those demons and sat on the cross and had given me authority over those demons in the name of Jesus. Not because I'm special, but because I just believe that Jesus took me on the cross and I was crucified with him and he gave me his name and authority. That's for every believer. But it has to come by revelation. Obviously, I've studied the Bible for 16 years and I couldn't see it. That's what happens. We don't, you know, we can live our Christian life without any spiritual authority because we're satisfied with knowledge. I want to urge you, my dear brothers and sisters, please don't be satisfied with an academic knowledge of Scripture. It's good to memorize verses and all that. I'm all for it. I memorized verses too in my younger days. But I don't glory in the fact that I know where a particular verse is. I say I want revelation. My heart cries always for revelation. And I've been reading the Bible for 60 years now. But even now I pray for revelation. Lord, there are things in this book. This is like a well that never runs dry. And I'm sure there are things I still can learn from you because I haven't understood all of God's ways. So this is revealed to us by the Spirit. And this is the reason why he says God's given us the Holy Spirit. Now turn with me to Ephesians in chapter 3. There Paul speaks about this. Ephesians in chapter 3. If you turn to verse 3. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 3. Paul says, by revelation, again that word that comes often in the New Testament, by revelation, the mystery was made known to me. Not by study. Not by careful study. And how, Paul, did you get it? Paul is a brilliant scholar. I believe he was the cleverest among all the New Testament writers. Absolutely brilliant. But he thought Jesus was a deceiver. All those years when he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees and leading man among the Jews, he thought Jesus was a deceiver. In fact, he was so convinced about it that he wanted to kill the Christians. What happened on the road to Damascus? It's not that he began to study the Bible more. No, he got revelation. That this person I'm persecuting is actually the Son of God. So, his whole life changed. And he says, by revelation, that was just the beginning. And then we read in Galatians that he went three years to Arabia, to the desert. What is Paul doing in the desert for three years after his conversion? I have a theory. I feel that the Lord had to take out all the chaff in his mind. He had spent three years in a Bible college in Jerusalem run by a professor called Gamaliel. And he had got all that information in his mind. He was probably one of the cleverest scholars there who knew all the Old Testament. He asked him anything in the Old Testament, he would explain it. And the Lord knew that that's going to be a hindrance to you, just that academic knowledge. So, for the three years that he spent trying to fill his head with Bible knowledge of the Old Testament, the Lord took him for three years to Arabia and thrashed that out of his mind and gave him, replaced it with revelation. And then he came back. He saw things that others hadn't seen. And he says here in verse three, Ephesians 3.3, by revelation, what I never got in a Bible school or from any preacher, it was made known to me the mystery. And he calls it in verse four, the mystery of Christ. A mystery in the New Testament is a secret that only God can reveal to you. You may use a human instrument, but you can listen to that human instrument and still not get revelation. It'll just be in your head, information. There's a world of difference between information and revelation. Information just makes you proud that you know so much of the Bible or that you can preach it in such a wonderful way. Revelation changes your life. It changes your attitude to other believers. There's a complete change in revelation. Information will make you proud. Revelation will make you humble. Revelation floors you. You remember in the first chapter of the book of Revelation and John, who was 95 years old, and he's the one you remember at the last supper, he had leaned upon the breast of Jesus, the chest of Jesus. He was so close to the Lord and he felt he was so intimate that he could lean upon his breast. And when he saw the same Jesus in Revelation chapter one, he fell at his feet like a dead man. Oh Lord, how wonderful you are. Have you had moments in your life where you're simply floored by the amazing love and mercy of God? There's a song we sing, you know, about the majesty of God. Father of Jesus loves reward. The last verse says, what rapture will it be? Cross straight before thy throne to lie and gaze and gaze on thee. Now the average Christian would be bored gazing at God. What do you mean? Is that eternity? Gazing at God? That's boring because you say let's do something. Those are the people who have absolutely no understanding of revelation or of mystery. They drift through their earthly life, satisfied that they're sitting in some church, but never really accomplishing what God wanted to accomplish through saving them. The person who wrote that hymn said, my God, how wonderful thou art, thy majesty, how bright, how beautiful thy mercy seed in depths of burning light. He had seen something of the glory of God. So many people read the scriptures, they never see the glory of God because they don't come humility of a babe. So here, what is this mystery of Christ? I believe basically two things, which I want to just mention briefly, and you can ask God for revelation on that yourself, because I can't give you revelation, I can explain it. The first is, there are two places in scripture. The word mystery occurs many times in the New Testament, even the mystery of iniquity, it says about the Antichrist, in 2 Thessalonians 2, and the mystery of the faith in 1 Timothy 3.9. But there are two mysteries, which are called great mysteries, only two in the entire New Testament. One is in 1 Timothy 3.16. By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. Here is a mystery that is a great mystery. Among all the mysteries of God's kingdom, there are two which are called very great. The Bible says, I mean, if the mystery is a secret that God reveals, and which cannot come by human understanding, just like Peter got a revelation from God, and is given to the humble, given to those who come like babes, then it's something which God reveals to those who reverence Him. The humble person is one who reverences God. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him and reverence Him. It says in Psalm 25, verse 14. The secret of the Lord, that means the Lord whispers His secrets into the ears of those who fear and reverence Him. The others just hear what is spoken. There are truths which are publicly proclaimed. Christ died for our sins, and your sins can all be forgiven. Just confess your sins, the blood of Jesus cleanses you. That's not whispered in the ear, that's proclaimed openly. But there are other secrets that the Lord whispers in the ear of our heart. Like, you know, there are certain things you will tell openly with the public, but secrets you whisper only to those who are very close to you. You may whisper secrets to your wife or to your husband, but you don't tell others. So, the Lord has got secrets, and it says in Psalm 25, verse 14, the secrets of the Lord are for those who fear Him and reverence Him. So, if I have a tremendous reverence for God in my life, and humility, they usually go together. The fear of the Lord and humility go together. Then God reveals certain things to me, and one of them is this great mystery of Godliness, and that is that Christ came in the flesh. Now, you say, well, I don't need revelation for that. I know it. Even the Muslims say that Jesus came as a man. There's nothing so great about it, but there is, if it is to be something that changes my life. If it's just to be known as a fact, okay, you hear it, you believe it, every Christian believes it, and there are how many, a couple of billion Christians in the world, they all believe it. There are a couple of billion Muslims in the world, they believe it too, that Jesus came as a man. But to know that He came in the flesh and kept His spirit pure, that's what it says here. It was vindicated, the pure in the spirit is Lamar. It says, He came in the flesh and kept His spirit pure. That's the mystery. From the time of Adam's fall, in the entire history of the human race, for the entire 4,000 years, right up to the time of Jesus, nobody born of man, born of a woman, no human being could keep their spirit pure, nobody, because of the flesh. And you and I know how terrible the flesh is, and the moment we think we are most holy, some defilement comes in. It is impossible for man to keep his spirit pure. And that's why a lot of people among Christians say, no, Jesus did not come like us, He was still God on the earth, so it was impossible for Him to sin, and then, so He just lived through this life without sinning, because He was God. Well, if that was true, He is God, of course. Seven times in the Gospels, it says people worshipped Him, and He didn't lift them up like the angels would have done. He accepted it, because He was Almighty God. But what we see here is He did not use those resources as God when He lived on this earth, not one of them. That's what it means when it says, He came in our flesh and He lived like us, and He kept His spirit pure. In other words, He did not use one resource that He had as God to overcome sin. Otherwise, I can't follow Him. If He lived on earth as God and He says, follow me, I'd say, Lord, I can't follow you. You are God, and I'm not. I can use the example of an angel trying to, an angel flying across a swimming pool and saying, follow me. I'd say, I'm not even going to try. You, angel, if you want to teach me to swim, get rid of your wings. Get a human body like mine that is subject to gravity, get into the pool, then teach me how to swim. Otherwise, you can't say, follow me. You can say, admire me, not follow me. And a lot of Christians admire Jesus. Oh, what a wonderful life He lived, how much He loved, and how He loved man to die on the cross. It's all admiration. It's not following. They don't believe deep down in their heart they can follow. I want to ask all of you who are listening to me right now, tell me honestly, or you answer to yourself, do you really believe what the Bible says in 1 John 2, 6, that we can walk on this earth as Jesus walked? Not as perfect as He was, but to the measure of light we have. The Bible says anyone who says he abides in Christ, 1 John 2, 6, must walk as He walked. How many Christians do you think even consider that as a challenge they should take up? Most Christians read that verse and just ignore it. And because God sees they ignore it, He never gives them revelation on how they can get into that path. So here's the mystery, the great mystery that someone came in our flesh and did not use any of His resources as God and kept His Spirit pure, opening a way for us to go along that way. That's the first great mystery. The second great mystery, and there are only two in the New Testament, is in Ephesians 5, where it says again, in Ephesians 5, 32, this mystery is great. And now I'm not speaking about Christ. The first mystery was about Christ, who came in our flesh, did not use the resources as God, and kept His Spirit absolutely pure for 33 and a half years, and then ascended up to heaven. The second mystery is concerning Christ's relationship with us, the church. This is a great mystery. I'm speaking in relation to Christ and the church. What is that? Ephesians, the previous verse, he said this mystery is great. What is that? That a man should leave his father and mother, verse 31, in Ephesians 5, 31, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. He's speaking about a unity. This is referring actually to Genesis 2, when Adam was given a wife. This verse comes up there, a man should leave his father and mother and keep to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And he says this applies to us spiritually, that we become one spirit with Christ, and thus we become part of this church. So the first mystery is concerning Christ alone. And the second mystery is concerning Christ as the head of the church, because that's the theme of Ephesians 5. Christ, verse 23, Ephesians 5, verse 23, is the head of the church. So this is, the church is another mystery. The real church, I mean. Submitted to Christ as part of his body. The church is the body of Christ. That's another mystery. You know, the way a lot of people understand, a lot of believers, all our believers, we are all part of the church. They haven't understood the body. You know, if you understand, I'll tell you, just like if you understand the mystery of Christ coming in the flesh, you'll have a passionate desire to walk in his footsteps. And you will, little by little, you'll experience the power of the Holy Spirit enabling you to overcome sin and walk in Jesus' footsteps. You'll see his footsteps in your life. The same way, when you see the mystery of the church, you'll have a passionate desire to be a part of that church, even if it's a little finger. You will not want to be everything. Some preachers want to become so big that there's no place for anybody else in that church. No. You just want to be that one small part God has made you, and you will never have competition with others. I tell you, when I saw the mystery of the church, I have zero competition with anybody in the world. I'm not in competition with anyone in the world to be a better preacher or to serve God more or any such thing. I'm so happy to do my part and to help other people to do their part. Because I've seen the mystery of the church as a body of Christ of which he's the head. And I have to do my part by keeping connection with the head and cooperate with the other parts of the body who have seen the same thing. It's a lot of difference between just being members of one church on earth and working together and being good. That could be a nice club, you know. There are many clubs where people don't fight with each other, they help one another. In fact, there's the Masonic club where they care so much for each other, they even pay for each other's medical expenses. Imagine that. But it's a club. They don't have any faith in Christ. It's a club. So here, we see here, that's not the church. Like you've got that book there in your book table, the congregation, the club, and the church. You read it sometimes. Many churches are congregations. And many other churches are clubs. Nice club. There they love one another, care for one another. They come to the church because it's a nice place for my children to grow up or something like that. And they have their favorites with whom they will always mingle together. Because this is the one that's easy, pleasant to live with. And some other person is a little difficult to get along with, so I avoid him. They haven't seen the mystery of the church. So this is another great mystery, and God reveals it to those who fear him. And I believe that it's only those who have seen this who can really be co-workers with Christ in building his church. Jesus said in Matthew 16, 18, where he quoted that verse at the beginning, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I've often said, if I were living in the time of Noah, I would do everything to cooperate with Noah in building his ark. I would be the ninth person in that ark, without a doubt. And I would cooperate with him 100%. I would invest my time, energy, everything to build that ark. Because I know that's the only thing that's going to remain when the world is destroyed. But I'm not living in Noah's time. I'm living now. If you believe that the church that Jesus is building is the only thing that's going to remain when this world is destroyed, you commit yourself completely to building that. I decided that from the time I understood it. Everything, every fiber being in my body, as long as I live, even if I live up to 100 years, I'm going to devote myself to build the church, because I know this is the only thing like Noah's ark that's going to remain when the world is destroyed. And I would see the number of foolish Christians who never lived for building the church, who live their own selfish lives. I'm living a good life and I have enough. I just attend church. There's no such thing as attend the church. You have to be a part of it. And very few people have seen that. It's a mystery. I cannot force people to see it, because they have to come to the Lord in humility like little children. And I say with Jesus, I say the same words. I thank you, Father. You have hidden these mysteries from the clever and the proud and the intelligent. Praise God. I'm delighted you've hidden it when you revealed it to those humble, sincere seekers who are longing after you, who say like the deer pants for the water, so my heart longs for you, God. Those who cry out for the Lord in the hours of the night and, Lord, I want to know you better. God reveals to them. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. My dear brothers and sisters, time is running out and all these things that are happening in the world are to me an indication that the coming of the Lord is near. Make use of this time when you're locked up in your home to seek after God. Cry out to Him in the night hours when you're dead. Say, Lord, I want to know you. I want to know these mysteries, how I can live an overcoming life, and how I can build the church along with others. God bless you all. Thank you for listening. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we are nothing. We are nobodies. What mercy, Lord, that you care for sinners like us to reveal things that are hidden from the angels of heaven, to give us a part in the body of Christ. Bless everyone who has heard this message, Lord, and help them to seek for that revelation from heaven, to seek for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and to hunger and thirst for it, because you said, if any man thirsts, let him come to me. Yeah, Lord, we pray they come to you, not go to man, but come to you directly and receive as they hunger and thirst for those water from you that will finally flow out from them like rivers of living water. Hear us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/87WFmyBRN3E.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/hidden-mysteries-that-god-wants-to-reveal-to-us/ ========================================================================