I. The revelation of "Christ in You" 195
II. Mystery hidden…NOW is made manifest 195
III. Three necessary elements to the mystery being made manifest 197
IV. Commentary regarding The Mystery of God Made Known… and The Mystery Seen 200

I. The revelation of "Christ in You" is the key to spiritual life and full salvation.

Gal 1:11-16
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

II. Mystery hidden since "The world began", but NOW is made manifest…

"The mystery which hath been hid [in types, shadows, patterns, things seen, utterances, and promises] from ages [the Old Covenant world "aion"] and from generations [Adam to Christ] is now made manifest ["phaneroo"-"to render apparent…: appear, manifestly declare, (make) manifest (forth), shew (self)" (Strong's <5319>)] to his saints" (Col 1:26; emphasis added). This mystery is Christ! "…To the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ" (Col 2:2).

III. There are three elements necessary to the mystery being made manifest:

IV. Commentary regarding The Mystery of God Made Known... and The Mystery Seen

Consequently the Truth is Christ revealed in His death, His burial and His resurrection. Therefore it is at the Cross, the Person of Christ crucified, that you and I are brought face to face with the Truth. We must see all things in their relationship to Christ crucified. We must see all things of the Old Covenant and all things of the New Covenant as they relate to Christ crucified. We must comprehend all things in relationship to His death, burial and resurrection.

If you and I are brought face to face with Christ crucified (that is face to face with Him in a relationship with Him in His death, burial and resurrection), if we are brought face to face with the Truth, then we will begin to bring all things into the Truth. We will begin to comprehend all things from the standpoint of our relationship with the Truth in our hearts. They will be judged there, measured there, and one will be divided from another there. For if you and I have come to the Truth and if the Truth is reigning in us, then all things will be judged in the Light of that Truth. And there, the living shall be separated from the dead in our hearts. I want to emphasize this: You can see nothing, you can comprehend nothing in relationship to His death, burial, and resurrection until you yourself are comprehending Him for yourself in His death, burial and resurrection. Until you and I find our relationship with the Truth, we can bring nothing else to the Truth. No, we are the first ones who must come.

Let us bring the Mystery of God to the Truth. We will see the Mystery of God in its relationship to Christ through His death, His burial, resurrection. We will bring it to the Truth - the Mystery of God made known by and in the Truth. And the emphasis that I want to put upon this is THE MYSTERY OF GOD IS MADE KNOWN! Both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of a mystery. The mystery of the Old Testament is made known in the New Testament. Most people do not comprehend this. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Everything that is hidden or shrouded in the Old Covenant - either by promise or prophecy, or by commandment - is personified in the New Covenant. The Mystery of the Old Testament is completed, fulfilled, and made known in the Person of The Lord Jesus Christ.

References:
1Cor 2:7-10
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery <3466>, 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. But as it is written, Eye hath 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.

Online Bible Greek Lexicon definition for "mystery":
3466 musthrion musterion moos-tay'-ree-on
from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth); TDNT-4:802,615; n n
1) hidden thing, secret, mystery
…1b) a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding
2) in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense
2a) of an OT saying
2b) of an image or form seen in a vision
2c) of a dream

Thayer's Greek Lexicon definition for "Mystery":
3466 musterion-
"…2) in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense: of an Old Testament saying, of an image or form seen in a vision, of a dream"

Vine's definition for "mystery":
musterion ^3466^ "…In the NT it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the Eng. word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit. In the ordinary sense a "mystery" implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed. Hence the terms especially associated with the subject are "made known," "manifested," "revealed," "preached," "understand," "dispensation." The definition given above may be best illustrated by the following passage: "the mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to His saints" <Col. 1:26>, RV."
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
(pg 424)

The Old Testament and the New Testament, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, are NOT two different Bibles. The New is simply the fulfillment of the Old. If you take away the Old, the New doesn't make any sense. And if you take away the New, the Old doesn't have any fulfillment. There was a Mystery hidden in the Old that is made known in the New. There is no Mystery in the New! The Mystery is MADE KNOWN in the New. There are people today who preach that there is a Mystery of God, that there is still something hidden of God. But as I said before, the Mystery was hidden in the Old Covenant; it's revealed in the New. God doesn't create another Mystery in the New Covenant to be revealed in some other future Covenant, because there is no other future covenant! There is an Old Covenant and there is a New Covenant; a first one and a last one; the first one and a second one. There is no third one. There is no future one. We have it all NOW IN CHRIST. We may be ignorant of it, but if we would open the eyes of our understanding and allow the Spirit of God to lead us and guide us and direct us, we would see the greatness of all that God has both finished and revealed in His Son. Do not be deceived into thinking that there is still a mystery out there somewhere that God has not revealed. There very well may be a Mystery you and I have not understood, but it's not another mystery. It's the same Mystery that the Old Testament hid. And the reason we don't understand it is because we haven't learned Christ!

We will now look at the following New Testament scriptures concerning the Mystery, and we will see for ourselves that the mystery of God has been made known.

References:
Mrk 4:11
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:

Rom 11:25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Rom 16:25
Now to him that is of power to stablish 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,

1Cor 2:7
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Cor 15:51
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Eph 1:9
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Eph 3:3-4
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Eph 5:32
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Eph 6:19
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,

Col 1:26
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

Col 2:2
That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

Col 4:3
Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

Rev 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Mark 4:11, "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" (emphasis added). "It is given to know" - He is speaking to His disciples, and He is speaking to you and I who are in Him.

Romans 11:25, "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this MYSTERY, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (emphasis added). God does NOT have a Mystery that He has not revealed in His Son.

There is NO Mystery that has not been fully finished, fully completed, fully revealed in Christ Jesus, if we simply turn to see Him. But because many believe that there is a mystery yet to be revealed, they are still looking for the fulness of the Gentiles to come in. Many preach that the fulness of the Gentiles is yet to come in, and that there is still another separate Salvation for national Israel, as if Full Salvation does not NOW exist in Christ! But people believe that because they don't comprehend the Mystery which is summed up and set forth in One New Man.

Look now at Ephesians 3. Let's look at the fulness of the Gentiles. What Paul is talking about in Romans he's also talking about in Ephesians. He doesn't change his story in every letter that he writes. Ephesians 3:3, " How that by revelation he made known unto me THE MYSTERY; (as I wrote afore in few words" (emphasis added). He didn't make known unto me that there was a Mystery. Paul says that he knew there was a Mystery. Everybody knew there was a Mystery because nobody understood. Paul would say, (we had promises, but we didn't understand how they were going to be fulfilled. We had prophecies, but we didn't know the who, what and where of them. We knew the prophecies were true, but we didn't know the time. We knew the promises were true, but we didn't know the fulfillment. We had the commandments, and we couldn't keep them. And yet we knew that they suggested and pointed to a righteousness, but we had no idea how or by whom that righteousness would come). It was a Mystery. But Paul found the answer to THE MYSTERY in THE PERSON OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! He found the Who, the What, the Why, the When, the Where. He found the fulfillment to the promises. He found the finish to the prophecies. He found the realization of the inheritance. He found the why and the how, the where and the who of THE MYSTERY OF GOD! He found it IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST!

Reference:
Eph 3:3-4
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

And for Paul every prophecy and every prophet was answered; every promise and every part of the inheritance was found. For Paul the commandments, which once were commandments unto men, were now a working of the Spirit of Christ in His body; working the things in a people that were once commanded to a people. Paul found the Mystery! It's a shame that most theologians and all dispensationalists have not found the Mystery yet! But the real shame of that is not the theologians nor the theoretical dispensationalists. The ones who are paying the price is the Body of Jesus Christ, the Church of the Living God who are kept in the dark, who are kept under a shadow, and who are not having ministered to them the Mystery.

Ephesians three again: "How that by revelation he made known unto me THE MYSTERY; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in THE MYSTERY of Christ" (emphasis added). Paul isn't trying to keep anything hidden here. "Which in other ages ['Other ages' here is a Biblical term for Old Covenant times] was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." There is the fulness promised to the Gentiles, and it has come for them in Christ Jesus. There's nothing off out in the future that is greater than what we NOW HAVE in fulness in the Person of the Lord Jesus! We are His Body! We are His Body, the fulness of Him, Who filleth all in all! There's your "fulness" for you! Romans 16:25-26, "Now to him that is of power to stablish 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, But now is made manifest..." (emphasis added). How is the preaching of Jesus Christ? It is according to the revelation of THE MYSTERY. "Now to Him that is of power to establish you..." how? "According to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ." But what is the preaching of Jesus Christ according to? According to WHAT do I preach Christ? According to WHAT is my gospel? "According to THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY!" (emphasis added).

References:
Eph 3:3-4
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Eph 3:5
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

Eph 3:6
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Eph 1:23
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Paul preached what God revealed in him in the Person of His Son. He didn't keep it back; he had found the Mystery. He found the Mystery in Christ and he declared that Mystery openly to all who would hear. "...which was kept secret, 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" (Ro 16:25-26, emphasis added). The Mystery, which was one time hidden, has NOW been made manifest IN CHRIST. The New Covenant does not declare another Mystery that is yet to come, that is yet to be seen. No, there's only one Mystery. It was declared in the Old Covenant. It was hidden from generations and from ages in times past. But 2,000 years ago, according to the reality of Christ and the reality that is finished and revealed in Christ, HATH now made this Mystery known to His saints! "But now is made manifest": that which the prophets had said and was hidden, is now made known. That which the commandments of God determined, is now made known. And it is now made known for the Salvation of the nations. Oh, how dare that we have theologians today who, because of their own ignorance and refusal to know Christ, continue to preach that there is a Mystery yet to be revealed, a mystery that we cannot yet know. That is simply not true, according to the very scripture of your Bible.

Reference:
Rom 16:25-26
Now to him that is of power to stablish 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, 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:

1Corinthians 2:7, " But we speak the wisdom of God in a MYSTERY, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory" (emphasis added). Notice he did not say that we speak OF or ABOUT a hidden wisdom or mystery. No, he says that we actually speak that Mystery. What we teach, what we preach, and what we speak IS that Mystery. And what has he just said before that? And this whole study is going to come to this: that THE MYSTERY is made known in THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH is made known in CHRIST CRUCIFIED, and that we understand all things, even the mystery of God through our relationship with Jesus Christ in His death, His burial and His resurrection. Look what is said at the beginning of the chapter: "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save JESUS CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED" (emphasis added). Look at that! "But we speak the wisdom of God..." What is he speaking? What is he preaching? "For I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." Now don't misunderstand that for speaking nothing among you but to let you know that Christ was crucified. No, not that Christ WAS crucified: "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ AND Him crucified" (emphasis added).

References:
1Cor 2:7
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Cor 2:2
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Jn 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Eph 4:21-23
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

It's a living reality with Paul. Paul isn't talking about an historical date when Jesus was nailed on a Cross. To Paul the term "Christ crucified" means Christ in His relationship with His people through His death, His burial, His resurrection. What Paul is saying in Romans 6 is basically this: That the saints in Rome don't understand that their relationship with Christ is through His death. They don't understand that as many of them as have been baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death. They don't understand that their relationship is right now with Jesus Christ as those who were buried with Him; buried with Him by baptism unto death. They don't understand that their relationship with Jesus Christ is right now as those who are raised up with Him to walk in newness of Life. They don't understand that even as He was raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, even so they should walk in newness of life. They don't understand that as Christ died once unto sin, that He is dead unto sin; that death hath no more power over Him; and in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Now verse 11 goes on to say, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

References:
1Cor 1:23
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1Cor 2:2
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Rom 6:3-11
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul's idea and Paul's term "Christ crucified" was not dealing with an historical fact or an historical event, but an ever ongoing, present reality of a relationship with Christ in His death to sin, in His burial in the earth and to the world, and in His resurrection by the Spirit. And that everyone who has come to Christ, and who is His Body, is NOW in a living relationship with Him in His death, burial and resurrection. Yes, this is the Truth. And so when Paul says in 1Cor 2:2, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified," he is saying I will preach nothing among you save THE CROSS! And I know there are a whole lot of people who are afraid of the Cross, but the Cross is central, it is the backbone, it is the standard, it is the Truth of God revealed in Christ. The Cross is central not only to the Person of God, not only to the Person of The Lord Jesus Christ, the Cross is central to the Eternal Plan and Purpose of God called Salvation. You are not going to get away from the Cross because the Cross is not an historical event. The Cross has been personified in the Son of God. The Cross is The Son of God in His death, in His burial, in His resurrection. The Cross is that power of God, that reality and wisdom of God, that operation of the Spirit of God whereby you and I have relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY FROM THE CROSS!

Reference:
1Cor 1:23
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

With reference to this same mystery (1Cor 2:7), Paul writes in 1Cor 15:51, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," (emphasis added). The word "shew" as used here is the Greek word lego, Strongs # 3004 and means "to speak…to teach…to point out with words…". It was Paul's intention to "point out" that the mystery of God, fulfilled in Christ through His death, burial and resurrection, had nothing to do with physical death or life but rather a new life in Christ Jesus. "…We shall all be changed"-from what to what? (1Cor 15:51). We will be changed from the old covenant body of Judaism to the new covenant Body of Christ. This will happen by the power of the resurrection. This statement includes the old covenant saints who died in faith waiting for the "better resurrection" (Heb 11:35-40) along with the new covenant believers to whom this letter was written. Christ is "the resurrection and the life" (Jn 11:25). Both those who had died physically and those who had not died physically had part in this resurrection. One need not die physically in order to have part in this resurrection for "…we shall all be changed" (1Cor 15:51, emphasis added). Again in Eph 2:4-7, "…Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…And hath raised us [all] up together, and made us [all] sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…" (Eph 2:4-7). Paul is declaring the same mystery as in 1Cor 15:51-57. To Paul, the resurrection was a present reality which came in the Person of Jesus Christ. "…We shall all be changed" (1Cor 15:51), all caught up together, seated together in the same reality of the same Christ, in the same spirit, as the same temple, in the same mountain, resurrected as the same body-the Body of Jesus Christ.

References:
Online Bible Greek Lexicon: 1Cor 15:51, "shew" <3004>
3004 legw lego leg'-o
a root word; TDNT-4:69,505; v
AV-say 1184, speak 61, call 48, tell 33, misc 17; 1343
1) to say, to speak
1a) affirm over, maintain
1b) to teach
1c) to exhort, advise, to command, direct
1d) to point out with words, intend, mean, mean to say
1e) to call by name, to call, name
1f) to speak out, speak of, mention

Heb 11:35-40
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Jn 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Eph 2:4-7
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

1Cor 15:51-57
Behold, I shew 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 have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O 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.

1Cor 2:7
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Joh 11:25-26
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

In 1Corintians 15:51 he says I am showing you a Mystery. How is it then that most preachers today, most denominations today, and most theologians today still preach this as a future mystery, a mystery to be realized at some future time? How is that, when Paul said 2000 years ago in this letter, "Behold, I SHEW you a mystery" (emphasis added), that there are those who think that there is still an unknown mystery? The word "shew" means I openly declare it to you, I take the mystery out of it, I plainly show to you what has certainly been a mystery. The Resurrection was certainly a mystery to Old Covenant Israel. It's a shame that it has been kept hidden and it has been made to be a mystery to the Church! Oh, but that's a false mystery. That's a mystery that can only be perpetuated by a lie. It is perpetuated when man-made doctrines are being forced upon groups of people who are too ignorant to search the scripture for themselves. And it's a shame that those things have been allowed to become what most people claim Christianity is all about. When in fact, the reality of Christ is what Christianity is all about.

Reference:
1Cor 15:51
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

The very Mystery of The Resurrection finds its summation in One New Man. And the whole Mystery of God comes together in just this way: The Mystery of God is revealed, is openly set forth; The Mystery of God is One New Man that is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free, but CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL. That is the summation of it. Yes, there are many facets to this Mystery, but when we pull them all together, they all amount to just this: The Mystery of God that is revealed in Christ through His death, burial and resurrection is set forth and openly displayed, openly made manifest as One New Man. That takes a good deal of commentary, but you can see it all along the way here. The Mystery of God as it involved the Resurrection is settled and is understood in the Person of One New Man, because that's where the Resurrection is fulfilled.

Reference:
Col 3:11
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

The Resurrection with Israel was a mystery. They knew there was going to be one, certainly. Such prophets as Ezekiel with his valley of dry bones, Jeremiah with his teaching on restoration, and Isaiah with his house declared there would be a resurrection. The prophets declared a resurrection, but it was a mystery as to how, what, when, where? So they simply materialized it. And when the Lord Jesus came, they were looking for Him to perform a resurrection upon a natural Israel, and create natural Israel into another natural kingdom that could defeat all of its enemies as it had done in the Old Testament times.

References:
Eze 37:11-14
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

Jer 16:15
But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

Jer 30:3
For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

Jer 31:8
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.

Jer 31:11
For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

Jer 32:37-39
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

Jer 33:7
And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

Is 2:2
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Is 37:31
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

Is 56:7-8
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

Is 60:7
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

Is 66:1
Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

Is 66:18-20
For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

The Lord said, "My kingdom is NOT of this world" (Jn 18:36, emphasis added). He also said, "Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world" (Jn 8:23). And also, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (Joh 3:3, 5-7). His Kingdom is from above! So then, those who would be of His Kingdom must be born from above! When He made these statements, He was speaking of the Resurrection. But they wouldn't receive that because they wanted a Resurrection of materialism, and I'm afraid that's the same thing that has crept into the Church today! The Church wants a Resurrection of materialism; they want a material resurrection. They just want to go to a "better place" - not a different place, not a place that is totally other than the earth, the world - they just want a better place. They want one where there's no pestilence and no war and no disease. But they think of it as another material place, when in fact the Resurrection has nothing to do with materialism at all! Oh, He takes us from one place to another; He takes us from one realm to another realm. He takes us from all that is flesh and fleshly into the reality of all that is Spirit and spiritual. He takes us from all that is temporal and shall always be temporal, into that which alone is eternal, and shall always be eternal. Oh yes, He raises us up IN HIMSELF, and brings us unto Life Immortal and Life Eternal and Life Incorruptible, but it has nothing to do with the concept of materialism.

1Cor 15:51, "I shew you a MYSTERY" (emphasis added). Ephesians 1:9, "Having made known unto us THE MYSTERY of His will..." (emphasis added). There it is again! There aren't different mysteries: there's only one Mystery referred to in the Bible. It has facets, it has parts because it involves the whole of Salvation, but it's one Mystery. And it is REVEALED IN ONE SON, One Man, One Lord and Savior. And it's made MANIFEST IN ONE NEW MAN. Ephesians 1:9 again: "Having made known unto us the MYSTERY of His will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself." Ephesians 3:3,4, " How that by revelation he made known unto me THE MYSTERY; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in THE MYSTERY of Christ)" (emphasis added). And the end of this is that the Gentiles are members of the same Body. Well certainly, because that Body is neither Jew nor Gentile, but One New Man! How does it get that way? That was the Mystery, but that Mystery was not only finished and completed in Christ, but was openly made manifest through Christ to all New Testament saints. And certainly through the letters and teachings of Paul: that nothing be kept back from them, nothing be held as a mystery to them.

References:
1Cor 15:51
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Eph 1:9
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Eph 3:3-4
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Paul's relationship with the Church through his understanding of the Church as being the very Body of Jesus Christ is expressed in Col 1:24. Paul's relationship with the Church was not as a bunch of people in a congregation; his relationship with the Church was based upon his understanding that the Church was the very Body of Jesus Christ. Now his understanding of the Body of Jesus Christ is what he referred to as the mystery which hath been made known. He understands that the Body of Jesus Christ is One New Man. And of course the One New Man and the understanding of that One New Man is central to the Cross. Colossians 1:25 says, "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God." Now, "dispensation" should be translated "administration" because it's not talking about a number of years here, but a working administration of the Spirit. So he had been given an administration of God. "...which is given to me for you, [and here's the point] TO FULFIL THE WORD OF GOD; even THE MYSTERY..." (emphasis added). Paul's whole ministry, his whole calling was to fulfil the Word of God. What does that mean? To bring the Word of God; and at that time the Word of God was from Genesis to Malachi, the Old Covenant; to bring the Word of God - every scripture of it to fulfilment. How did he bring it to fulfilment? How did he fulfil the Word of God for the saints? He presented it fulfilled IN CHRIST! He presented it finished in Christ.

Reference:
Col 1:24-26
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

Colossians 1:26, "Even THE MYSTERY which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints" (emphasis added). Now even that Mystery that had been hidden is fulfilled, because you see, the whole Word of God was the hiding place for the Mystery. The Word of God continually spoke of these things, all of which would be fulfilled in Him and by Him through His death, His burial, His resurrection. That is, by the Cross. And that's what I mean when I say the Cross is central to the Mystery. It is by Christ through His death, burial and resurrection that the Mystery of how and what and when and where God would do all that He said He would do was accomplished. Paul saw that the fulfilment of that Mystery and the revealing of that Mystery was in the Lord Jesus through His death, burial and resurrection. And in this lesson we are endeavoring to bring the Mystery into the Truth.

Paul has related this Mystery in Ephesians 3 to the Gentiles being part of the same Body of Christ. This is the Mystery of God made manifest in One New Man. In Ephesians 5:32 Paul teaches about the marriage of Christ and the Church. He also brings into that the marriage of believers: that believers, as husbands and wives may manifest in the earth the realization of what has been kept hidden as a Mystery. He explains that our own lives should be open manifestations of Christ's union with the Church. He says that we who are the Church should so conduct our lives that our lives themselves, in our relationships one to another, be in and of themselves a manifestation of what has been a Mystery but is now a REALITY concerning our relationship with the Lord Jesus. The verse reads "This is a great MYSTERY: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (emphasis added).

Revelation 1:20, "The MYSTERY of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches" (emphasis added). In the language of the book of the Revelation what we are seeing here is the completeness of the Church. Seven means the Church brought to its completeness; a seven fold Church, a seven fold ministry with a seven fold message. With all those sevens we are seeing the completeness of the Church. It starts off in Revelation 1 where we are seeing a breakdown of what John first described as "I saw… in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man" (Rev 1:12-13). And this is a direct reference to the golden candlestick of the Old Covenant, not only of the Tabernacle, but to the candlestick of the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah 4:2, "And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof."

Zechariah is seeing here in prophetic type and vision what John is declaring as a reality of Jesus Christ in the midst of His Church, dwelling in His Church in the book of Revelation. Because that's what the book of Revelation is: it is a revelation to the Church of THE REALITY of Jesus Christ. And though there are many things taking place during the time the book of Revelation was being written, and just after it was written, with regard to national Israel being destroyed and taken away, and the Church coming forth out of the heaven visible upon the earth as the manifestation of the sons of God, the message there is unmistakably the revelation of Jesus Christ to the Church. The message there is that the Mystery of which Zechariah spake is now revealed - it is Christ in the midst of you, and it is you as His Glorious Body! And so when Paul is saying "This is a great MYSTERY: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church"(emphasis added), it's the same declaration, it's the same union, it's the same realization that John is seeing in the first chapter of the book of Revelation. And in fact, the whole book of Revelation is an enlargement upon this fifth chapter of the book of Ephesians, and Paul's declaration concerning the relationship of Christ with His Church, which had been in Old Covenant times a Mystery.

Reference:
Eph 5:32
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Ephesians 6:19, "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" (emphasis added). It was a dangerous thing in that time to open your mouth and make known the Mystery of the gospel because the Jews wanted to kill you when you did that, because the Mystery of the gospel was that the Body of Christ, the Body of Christ in Resurrection, the Body in which Christ now lives and dwells, the Temple of the Living God - is not Jew, and it's not circumcised. It's not Gentile, and it's not uncircumcised. It is One New Man who is born from above! In that day and time it was dangerous to speak of the Mystery. It wasn't dangerous to declare that THERE WAS a Mystery. National Israel would probably make you a rabbi because they all believed there was a Mystery. What was dangerous was to declare the Mystery was solved, the Mystery is fulfilled, the Mystery has been made manifest through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

When I speak, when the Bible speaks, when Paul speaks about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, we are not talking about a 2,000 year ago historical event - that Christ died, was buried and that He did come forth from among the dead, that He was resurrected. We are talking about the present reality of Christ first in His death: that His death, for you and I who are baptized into Him, His death is a PRESENT REALITY. We are by Him made dead - dead to sin, dead to ourselves, dead to the world - dead! "For he that is dead is free from sin" (Rom 6:7). Secondly, there is the present reality that we are buried with Him; "…your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:3). And what a tremendous realization that burial is! Because it is there that in our hearts and minds we are literally transformed from one body, the Old Covenant body, to the New Body, the New Covenant Body of The Lord Jesus Christ. The transition, the very transformation takes place in our souls. And finally, the reality of the resurrection: the realization that He lives in us. He is our Life. He Who is of the Endless Life is my Life, and I live only by Him! "…Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…" (Gal 2:20).

References:
Rom 6:4
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Col 2:12
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

When I speak of His death, burial and resurrection, I speak of it as a present reality. It is a PRESENT reality, and we must understand that. It is sure and it is certain that 2,000 years ago this great reality was made manifest on Golgotha's hill - but it didn't stay there! That's what Paul is saying, he is saying it HATH been made manifest to His saints. It's already happened! The Mystery that was hidden is already finished and already fulfilled, and it's for all who would know. It is for all who would see IN CHRIST JESUS. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness HATH shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (emphasis added). There is nothing hidden except it be hidden by our own carnality, by our own fleshliness, by our own ignorance, by our own refusal to turn our hearts and see the Truth as the Truth is in Jesus.

Reference:
Col 1:26
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

So you see, in Paul's time it was a dangerous thing to speak plainly of the Mystery. Among the established religion, the preaching of the Truth, the declaring of the Mystery, is no more popular today than it was when Paul preached it. That's a shame, because when Paul preached it, it was the Old Covenant people rather than the Church who denied the truth. They denied that the Cross was the finish of everything. They denied that Jesus Christ was come in the flesh. They denied Him in His death, burial and resurrection. They who denied that He had brought into reality through His death, burial and resurrection all that their prophets had said. They denied that He was the Living Temple of the Living God, and that they could be the Living Temple of the Living God by being members of Him, members of His Own Body. It was those who denied the reality of Him, that sought Paul's life, that stoned him. The Church was that which was birthed in the knowledge of the Mystery. The Church was the vessel that was giving manifestation to the Mystery! Today the great shame is that because of the loss of the Truth, and the loss of the vision of God, the very vehicle, the very vessel, that is to be a manifestation of the Mystery has been robbed of reality, and is now still looking for a mystery. It is believing that there is a mystery yet to be known, and wondering what it is when in fact the Church, from its very inception, from its very creation in Christ Jesus, has been the proof of, the realization of, and the manifestation of THE MYSTERY itself! THE MYSTERY OF GOD IN CHRIST IS THE CHURCH! But it is the Church as understood in the Truth, the Church as understood through its relationship with Christ crucified. the Church, not as congregations; the Church, not as denominations, but the Church as the One New Man whose fulness is Christ. Oh, believer friend, let us set our hearts together to know Him, and to know the Truth as the Truth is in Him, and to bring all things into the Truth. And most particularly to bring every element of our Salvation into the Truth. Let us comprehend every element of our Salvation through its relationship to Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

Reference:
Eph 4:21
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

If you're going to pray for me pray, that I may open my mouth boldly and make known the Mystery of the gospel, and that the Father, by the Spirit may give unto me the utterance. Pray that I may speak the Truth as the Truth is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. And pray for us as a corporate voice that we will take up the standard, will stand boldly in all of its parts and all of its pieces, bound up not as parts or pieces, but bound up as one standard, as one vessel, as one vehicle, as one voice for the Truth as the Truth is revealed in Christ. That to us would be given utterance - utterance beyond anything we have now, that unto us as a fellowship may be given utterance that we may boldly speak The Mystery of the gospel through the Church and unto the ends of the earth! If you pray - pray that way.

The MYSTERY which was hidden is now made manifest. We're not waiting on a mystery: The Mystery has been solved, the Mystery has been finished and is now revealed in Jesus Christ! "...but NOW is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:26-27, emphasis added). This letter was written 2,000 years ago concerning a REALITY that is still ongoing this very day, and will be ongoing throughout endless eternity! Now, Christ is NOT a hope of FUTURE glory. Look at what Paul is saying here: That the Church of that day may make manifest. Paul is talking about the Church that had been born, the Church that had started out as all Jews and now Gentiles were being brought into it. And when he talks about "Christ in you, the hope of glory", it is the Old Covenant hope he speaks of. The hope of glory was that which was given to Israel; Israel had a hope of glory. Just like they had a hope of resurrection, a hope of restoration, and a hope of reconciliation - they had a hope of glory - that hope is come. That hope is Christ in you. It was fulfilled in Christ and the riches of that expectation was Christ dwelling in them, that they might make this Mystery known among the Gentiles, among all nations. The glory of which is Christ in you, the hope of Israel - fulfilled!

It's not a hope of some glory given to the Church today. The Church doesn't have a HOPE of glory - THE GLORY OF GOD DWELLS IN THE CHURCH! It was the Old Covenant Temple that had the hope of glory; the New Covenant Temple has the Glory of God Himself! There isn't another glory, and there isn't another Temple yet to come. No, YE are the Temple of God. You are the lively stones. You are that which God has raised up, has fully restored, has reconciled unto Himself, unto His purpose, unto His Eternal Plan. You are that Temple in which Jesus Christ now dwells as the High Priest and minister of the sanctuary of God. THE GLORY OF GOD IS COME! You will either see Him or you won't. You will either look into His face and behold there the light of the knowledge of the glory of God or you won't. That will not change the fact that the Glory of God is come and He NOW dwells in His Temple. We are not given a hope of glory; we are given the Glory for which Israel hoped! That hope has come. It has come and has been fulfilled in the Person, in the Spirit, of The Lord Jesus Christ Who now dwells in His Holy Sanctuary, which sanctuary you are. Thank you, Jesus!

References:
2Cor 6:16
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

1Ptr 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Eph 2:4-6
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

1Cor 3:6-17
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1Cor 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Colossians 2:2, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the MYSTERY of God, and of the Father, and of Christ" (emphasis added). You and I should live in the acknowledgment of the Mystery, and as manifestation, as expressions of the Mystery of God in Christ made manifest in the earth. That's how we should live, and that's how we do live if we live beholding the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It's a shame that religion has been allowed to put a veil back over our hearts that was done away 2,000 years ago in the death, burial and resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ. Will you turn to see Him as never before? Will we stand together to declare Him as never before? Dear friends, we are bound together in nothing other than, and in nothing less than, the revelation of God's Own Son in Whom the Mystery of God is fully made known. There is no future mystery. There is no mystery yet to be revealed. The Mystery has been made known. It has been made manifest by the Cross. Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection made it manifest. Paul says it HATH been made manifest to His saints. It has already been made manifest. It will be revealed in anyone who will turn their heart to see Him in the Truth.

References:
2Cor 4:6
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Col 1:26
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

Now I know it sounds exciting and mysterious for people to still preach to you about a mystery that is yet to come, that's just because we don't want to pay the cost to turn and see Him now! That's because we have not come to a relationship with Him that allows God to reveal that Son in us in His death, in His burial, in His resurrection. We want to get on beyond the Cross, and yet we want to know the Mystery of God. You can't do that, so we're still preaching there's a mystery to come. We are preaching that one day God's going to do something; one day God is going to have..., one day God is going to do..., one day this..., one day that... . Listen, He already has everything He's ever going to have in HIS SON! When is somebody going to turn and see the Truth as it is in Christ and become a living manifestation of that Truth in the earth? That's the only question that I can see that is left to us by the Spirit of God: When will we see Jesus? Because the fulness is in Him. The Mystery is solved and finished in Him. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in His face! The only question then is: When will somebody turn their heart to see Him? When will we see Him in relationship to the Truth; in relationship with His death, His burial and His resurrection? Immediately upon doing that we become an expression in the earth of the Truth, and that includes the Mystery of God which is finished in Jesus Christ.

References:
Col 1:19
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Col 2:9
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

2Cor 4:6
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 4:3, " Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak THE MYSTERY of Christ, for which I am also in bonds" (emphasis added). This is the same thing that we just got through saying. Paul doesn't change his story. "To speak the mystery of Christ." He does not say to speak about there being a mystery still, but he says "to speak the Mystery of Christ" (emphasis added). It is not to preach on a mystery, but to declare openly what has been a Mystery, fully - IN CHRIST, and to set it forth in front of the Church. It must be declared that the Church may know Him, see Him as He is, and live as an expression of that Mystery in the earth.

Revelation 1:20 speaks of the Mystery of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks which is Christ dwelling in the midst of His Church, "The Church which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." What a statement, what a reality! These statements are not simply statements of theology, but they are statements of RELATIONSHIP! And you and I are never going to understand as a statement "The Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him, that filleth all in all" until we comprehend the Truth of that statement in relationship to Christ. The whole of the New Covenant is voicing a relationship - a real, an eternal, an ever ongoing relationship. We try to make scripture statements out of the New Testament, but every letter that Paul writes is a declaration of relationship. He is seeking to show believers the reality of Christ that they may walk in that same relationship. He's not out to produce bigger, better theologians, but a people who are IN RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST - knowing Him, walking in the Truth as the Truth is in Jesus.

References:
Rev 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Eph 1:22-23
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

And this is what you and I are called into, dear friends. We are called into RELATIONSHIP. You can only know the Truth in and as relationship, because the Truth has to it a nature. The Truth is not bound up in a study or a fact or a subject. The Truth is bound up in A PERSON. To know the Person is to know Him in relationship. The Truth is not a lesson we learn, but a relationship in which we live, in which we walk. The Truth is a relationship with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. And by that we have relationship one with another. May that be our relationship, and may it ever abound! AMEN.

***

We are speaking of the term "Great Salvation". The definition of salvation is: that which is exceedingly, abundantly above - MUCH MORE! Much more than what? It is MUCH MORE than even it has been said to be! It is MUCH MORE than the administration of angels could describe it as being! The whole eternal plan of God has to be seen from the centrality of the Cross. If you take the Cross out of God's Eternal Plan, it ceases; it vanishes. Everything is tied to, predicted by, and fulfilled in The Work of The Cross with regard to the eternal plan of God. The Cross is His death, His burial, His resurrection. It is distinctly HIS. It is not simply some death, some burial, or some kind of resurrection. No, it is HIS death, HIS burial, and HIS resurrection. That is the work of the Cross, and it is central to the eternal plan of God.

The Necessity of Seeing

Now we will go to Hebrews 1:2 and deal with the Mystery made manifest: the necessity of seeing. Paul's epistles to each church is along the line of the necessity of seeing with the eyes of our understanding. Paul starts out each of his epistles: "A servant of", "An apostle of" in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul never speaks except out from his relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that! He never speaks, writes, or does anything except out from a relation with the Lord Jesus Christ - a distinct, a particular, a peculiar relation with the Lord Jesus Christ. And whatever relation he is comprehending, that is the tenor of that letter. That letter is going to express Paul's relationship with the Lord. He states a particular relationship: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel…" (Rom 1:1). Based upon that beginning, we might as well get ready for the rest of this letter to present Christ as the gospel. It is this way in each epistle. In whatever manner Paul identifies himself to Christ (and all that greatness of Christ) the rest of that letter will express Christ in that way. Within three chapters of each letter, we will find Paul saying, "..[we] do not cease to pray for you, and to desire…" (Col 1:9), and expressing God's will for us to come and see, that "the eyes of your understanding be enlightened…" (Eph 1:18), and that we see the mystery which hath been made manifest (Rom 16:25-26). All of those things come from a root word meaning "see, shown, revealed, given sight, made plain, exhibited". That you see: the necessity of seeing.

References:
Col 1:9
For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

Eph 1:16-18
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Rom 16:25-26
Now to him that is of power to stablish 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, 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:

The great difference comes in that many have HEARD, but few have SEEN what they have heard. So they have substituted their own imagination for seeing, and their preaching becomes an expression of that. Someone camped out alone in the woods at night cannot see outside the circle of light of the campfire. He hears a sound, and what he heard was real. Whatever made that sound was true; a true sound was made. But without seeing, he does not know what it is. He knows that he heard something, and what he heard was true. But he cannot see what he heard. So he begins to wonder what he heard. Soon he begins to imagine what he heard. That is everything from spooks to grizzly bears, depending upon where he is. If he hears it again, it only fortifies his imaginations. Then he KNOWS that is what he heard! And the more he hears, the more his imagination is fortified. He is blind as a bat; he has not seen anything, but he has heard. Without seeing, you will inevitably substitute your imagination. It is automatic as breath. Then you will fortify your imagination and swear you heard such and such. You will say it!

Someone might ask him, "Did you see it?" He would say, "I did not have to see it. I heard it!" Somebody could take him out and show him what he heard, and nine times out of ten he'll say, "No sir, that is not what I heard. I know what I heard." We can be shown the truth, after the fact, after the imagination has already set in, and after we have already preached it. We can be shown the truth, but we refuse to believe it. That is the course of things. That is how we can hear terms, and hear things, and still come up speaking something other than Christ. Sight is necessary to the mystery being made manifest, made known. That means that the mystery is seen and shown. The mystery was heard for years. The mystery was heard from all the prophets. They all spoke, and what they spoke was true. But what they spoke was not seen. It was HEARD but NOT SEEN. In the course of time, imaginations replaced it so that when He of whom they spoke showed up and came in all the fulness of what they said, those to whom the prophets spoke looked at Him and said, "No sir, that is not Him!" And they became blind leaders of the blind. They were not deaf; they were BLIND!

I used to wonder how people can hear the truth but come up with some of the things that they say. It is because they do not see! They hear, but they do not see. They hear all the terms. They hear "in Christ", "Sonship", "Body ministry", "We are the House of God." They hear all these things, but they are blind. They never see these things in the face of Jesus Christ. The only place we can see God's Word is in the face of God's Word. "God who, commanded the light to shine out of darkness..." (2Cor 4:6). It does not say, "Shined into darkness, but shined out of darkness. "...to give THE light of THE knowledge of THE glory in THE face of Jesus Christ." (2Cor 4:6, emphasis added). We must see what we hear of God in the face of the Lord Jesus. If we do not, we will substitute our own face, our own seeing, and our own imagination. And we will begin preaching an imaginary city, an imaginary place, an imaginary life, an imaginary this and that. The more we hear that word the more we imagine what it is. UNTIL that word comes to be realized in Jesus, in His face, it will be that way. It is the same way with holiness. There are many holiness preachers, but how many preach the same thing? To one, holiness is not watching television. To another, holiness is a woman not having short hair. To another, holiness is a preacher not wearing a necktie or a ring. To yet another, holiness is not going to the movies. Everybody has heard of holiness, but we are shown many, many different things.

God says HOLINESS and points to HIS SON! Holiness is in His Face! God says RIGHTEOUSNESS and points to HIS SON! The only problem with that is that the eye cannot see, and the ear cannot hear; the heart can not understand, in the natural, the reality of those things in Christ. It is a spiritual realization to which we must come (1Cor 2:9-10). We all want to substitute natural realization for spiritual reality. We say, "Show me how to be holy. Do not show me Who my Holiness is. Just show ME how I can be holy." That is what the Law wants. That is what we want. We just want ten things to do! We do not want to be shown Holiness that demands everything and replaces us. We will substitute imaginations. I regularly hear people say, "Oh, so-and-so preaches the same things. I have heard him." However, from experience, I have found that those who are hearing, seeing and speaking are few and far between! It does not make any difference what words you are hearing - unless you are seeing. Unless your speaking is a combination of both hearing and seeing, then it is not true. It is simply a figment of your imagination. You are saying the terms, but you are looking at something else.

Reference:
1Cor 2:9-10
But as it is written, Eye hath 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.

Hebrews 1:1-2, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son..." The original translation reads: "...hath AT THE END of those days..." What days? - the days in which He spoke in sundry times and diverse manners. Hath at the end of those days...done what? He has spoken IN SON. It is just that way in the original - hath spoken in Son. The scripture says He hath gathered all things up in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth, hath set them forth in Him - hath spoken in Son (Eph 1:10). All things that had been spoken previously in time segments and in different ways through types and shadows, through holidays and festival days, through times and through objects, He hath said IN SON. He has summed it all up, and has said it in His Son. It took all of the vastness of the types of Salvation - from Adam to Noah, from Abraham to Jacob, from Israel through all of its administrations of Kings, Priests, Prophets, etc. All of that God used to speak at different time elements and time bytes. He spake in days: Holy Days, High Days, and Sabbath Days. He spake in weeks: Festival weeks and Feast weeks. He spake in months. He spake in years: Sabbatical years and Jubilee years. He spake in time. And with every time, there was an object to point to. Every day had an object to point to. If it was a Feast Day, there was a sacrifice to point to and a Priest to offer it. Everything was in a time and in a picture. That is how God spoke.

Reference:
Eph 1:10
That in the dispensation of the fulness 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:

But at the END of those days, He hath spoken in Son. He has said in Son what He could not perfectly say before. Why could He not speak perfectly in the Testimony? Because He could not show THE ONE of Whom all these things were speaking. It was not that He did not speak: "...hath spoken...sundry times...diverse manners" (Heb 1:1). God did speak. However, what He said could not be seen except in a type and in a shadow. Therefore it could not bring to perfection. God could say "Holiness", but He would have to show a type of it. But at the end of those days, He said "Holiness", AND HE REVEALED HIS SON! It is a shame that most people still say 'holiness" and look for a type and a shadow. We have just created our own types and shadows out of the imaginations of our own hearts. We have created these things. It is as though God had never spoken IN SON at all. We have substituted types and shadows, and we have brought them over. We have substituted our imaginations. Why? Because in most cases we still have not seen WHOM God hath said. That is the reason why all of Paul's epistles are on the necessity of Christ being revealed, Christ being seen, the eyes of understanding being enlightened. It is always along that line. He knows they have heard. He just knows they have not seen WHOM they have heard. So they have substituted their own imagination for it. It is as automatic as the sun coming up. We will do that! And the more we hear the thing preached, the more we will reinforce our imaginations. One would say, "Don't tell me. The Bible says this!" Then he would read the scripture that says, "...Be ye holy...I am holy" (1Ptr 1:16) and say, "See, here it is!" And he would preach that scripture without ever having seen the Holiness of The Lord! He simply knows it is holiness. But when we see the Holiness of the Lord, it is not our televisions that we get rid of. It is not a necktie we get rid of. We fall down on our faces as dead before the Holiness of the Lord! And we do not stand back up except in the knowledge of Him! All self-righteousness stays there along with the rest of the types and shadows, because what The Lord has SAID is finally now SEEN. Then we stand up SPEAKING nothing but CHRIST!

That is what I am talking about. That is the idea. God had spoken in all those ways using picture objects to illustrate His Words, but we know that what He spoke was not able to make perfect. He would say "glory", the glory of the Lord, and He would point to fire and smoke. There are people to this day who think the glory of the Lord is fire and smoke, because that is the object He used in the Testimony. Smoke filled it; fire came down upon it and The Lord said, "My glory!" But at the end of those times, He has spoken in Son, and He hath said "My glory", and HE REVEALS THE SON IN YOU! It does not have anything to do with fire and smoke now. It is THE SON HIMSELF! MY GLORY!

However, we still have people in the Church who will say, "The glory of the Lord came down!" Where did it come from, down from where? That is the type and the shadow. HE IS NOW IN YOU! The glory that Israel expected is in you. Christ in you is the expectation of glory (Col 1:27). It is not your expectation: It is Israel's expectation fulfilled in you! It is the glory that has been expected, the glory that has been spoken of. That glory is come! Behold Him! See Him! Behold the glory of The Lord! He hath spoken IN SON! If the Son has not been revealed in you, you still have not seen the glory of The Lord. You only know there is one, so you add your imagination to it. Then all of a sudden the glory is something you feel, or the glory is some place you are going, or the glory is this, that or the other. And you will preach the glory, but you will have no idea what you are preaching. Glory is preached all the way through the Old Testament, but it finally comes to be fulfilled in The Person of Christ. It is not seeing glory. It is seeing Him Who is The Glory! It is seeing all things in the face of Jesus. That is the only thing that will transform the soul. Hearing will not do it. Seeing transforms the soul. "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed..." (2Cor 3:18). That is the only thing that will transform.

References:
Col 1:27
To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

2Cor 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

You can hear until your natural ear or spiritual ear falls off. Except you turn to see what you have heard, except you turn to see Him Who you have heard, except you turn to see The Voice that spake, you will never understand. You do not turn to see WHAT He said. You turn to see Who said it. You turn to see The Person of The Voice. It is not what He said. You have heard what He said. You want to see Him Who said it, because you will never understand what He said until you see Who said it! Never! Because what He says and Who says it are always the same! There is but One Word of God! He never says something and then shows up to be something else. No, He is always the seeing of exactly what He says. There is only One Word. In Him, hearing and seeing agree in One, and then we who have both heard and seen, speak the same thing and have the same judgment. We speak The Truth as it is in Jesus.

That is the only way it can happen. One might say, "I can hear it and preach it." No, he can hear it and preach his imagination of it. That is what we will always do. A large part of The Church today is following after the imaginations of some preacher, because he is saying the right words, but he has not seen The One of whom he is speaking. He is preaching a glory and yet has not seen Him. He is preaching a relationship and yet has not seen Him. He is preaching an anointing and yet has never seen Him. So he just imagines what the anointing is, and gullible Christians, because they hear the word "anointing", say, "This is of God. After all, he is using every scripture in the Bible. Is that not wonderful?" Yet nothing is said about Christ. Nothing is realized in Christ. Nothing reaches out and changes lives. Nothing! Only SEEING can do that. If you can hear this, it may cause a heart to turn to see.

I am not saying that you have not heard anything. I am asking, "Have you seen what you have heard?" You can not hear without seeing and keep from substituting imaginations. You will imagine something unless you have seen what you have heard. If you have not seen, then you will set out in the scriptures to fortify your imaginations and to find a theology for it. And being the imagination of the heart of man, it is always something that will cater to man and to the flesh to please man. That is what man's imagination does! Finally he imagines himself to be God, and shows himself to himself to be God! That is the end of imagination. The end of Truth is Christ in the midst of the Throne ruling in the Kingdom of God. That is the end of all Truth. The end of all imagination is man in the temple of God showing himself to be God. The end is either Christ or man. It is Christ exalted, or it is man imagining that he is and showing himself to be. And it begins with hearing The Truth.

I have often said of this gospel that, except Christ be revealed, it is the most dangerous thing that exists. The truth being heard without being seen is the most dangerous thing in existence, because automatically the truth heard and not seen will produce perversion equal to itself. People who are bound up in what we call "denominational" stuff do not bother me, but those who claim to have the truth (and there are many different movements of them) are the ones that bother me, because they have all the right words but have never seen Christ. They are perverting multitudes! They are fortifying multitudes in imaginations, to the point that if you could show them the Truth, they would still say, "No sir!" Why? It is because of imagination. Henceforth God has allowed the imagination to carry them away.

We can see the corruption of that beast nature that comes out of imagination just in the verses of the epistles that we are talking about now. The imagination is the most wicked thing on the face of the earth. What men do in their imagination is absolutely unspeakable! But the point is that it never remains unspeakable. Sooner or later it is spoken, and it is spoken as truth, because imagination has convinced the deceived that it is so. Why? It is blindness - hearing but not seeing. "I certify you brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man." (Galatians 1:11) It is God revealing His Son in us that we might preach Him (Gal 1:16). With Paul, it was not a message heard but a PERSON SEEN. That is what it has to be. It can not be a message heard in any respect: Sonship, Kingdom, this or that. No, it can not be a message heard. It must be a Person seen! WE ARE THE BODY OF A PERSON! We are the House of a Person! Salvation is a people involved in a relationship given of God, worked of God, with a Person, in a Person, by a Person! It can not be a message heard on Spiritual Life, on heaven, on this or that but a Person seen. Herein the mystery, which was hidden (not unspoken - but hidden), is made manifest to His Saints! We have seen Him! I can not impress upon you enough the necessity for Christ being revealed in you. Only then are word searches worth anything. Otherwise word searches only fortify the imagination. Greek and Hebrew just fortifies the imagination. Except Christ be seen, hearing fortifies the imagination. We must see this! Oh - "...hath spoken in Son" (Heb 1:2).

References:
Gal 1:1-12
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace [be] to you and peace from God the Father, and [from] our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Gal 1:16
To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

He would say, "My dwelling place" and point to a tent. He would say, "My Sanctuary" and point to a room behind the veil. "…Hath in the end of those days spoken in Son" (Heb 1:2). He says, "My Sanctuary", and He reveals The Son! "At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." (Jn 14:20) What day is He referring to? It is the day that He says "house" and reveals The Son! It is the day that He says "dwelling place" and reveals The Son! "At that day you shall know…." (Jn 14:20) Day means seeing; day means light. At that day you shall know! You have heard, now you shall KNOW - at that day!

That is the difference between hearing about a day and seeing Him. Everybody has heard about a day, and everybody preaches one. But God would show you one! He would show you the Day. By the light thereof, He would show it to you in the face of the Son. You will find everything in that Day that the scriptures declare that Day to be. You can go through a scripture search on "that Day", but except you see it in the face of the Son, all you have done is a word search on "that Day", because that Day comes in the revealing of the Son. That Day comes with the revealing of The Son! The Father says "day", and He reveals the Son! He does not reveal the Sabbath anymore or Saturday anymore or a third day or an eighth day. Now it is only the One Day! He says "day", and He shows you The Son! This is the glorious Day!

Until you see, it is just a word, and you will to imagine it to be all kinds of things. You will to have your doctrines on this day and that day. And every definition of that day is going to be another day, rather than just an expanse of the nature and Person of Christ in that day; such as "The Great Day", "The Day of Judgment", "The Day of His Coming", "The Day of His Wrath" It is all the same day! How many days do you think there are? You are children of The Day (1Thes 5:5). The Day is the Lord. He is the Light of the Day, and in that Day, you will face Him in all the facets of His character and in all the finished work of the cross. So to some, it is "this day" and to others "that day", but to all, it is "the day of the Lord". If you continue to learn Him, sooner or later every facet of it is going to be faced in Him. It is the Day - glory to God! That mystery is NOW made manifest (seen). The law and the prophets were IN PART until the vision, the seeing, the thing spoken of should come. 1 Corinthians 13:9 and 10 says that which is "in part" shall remain until that which is perfect is come. And we do not have to speculate at which in the scripture is perfect there, WHO is perfect there.

References:
Jude 1:6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

2Ptr 3:7
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Mal 3:2
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he [is] like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:

Rev 6:17
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

1Thes 5:5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

2Ptr 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up

1Cor 13:9-10
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

Peter picks it up in 2 Peter 1:16 where he says we are not standing here declaring to you cunningly devised fables. We are declaring to you that we have seen what the prophets said. Therefore Peter says we have a more sure word of prophecy. That does not mean they have another prophecy that is better than what Isaiah gave. We have the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos etc.) made more sure, made more certain (Vines). How could the prophets be made more certain? It is in the seeing of HIM of Whom they spoke! We heard. NOW WE HAVE SEEN! And in seeing Him, what we heard is made more sure! We heard about a city. Now we see the reality of it and the light of it in the face of Jesus Christ! We have the prophets made more sure! We have not devised imaginations, fables, and cunningly devised stories. We declared to you what the prophets said, because we have seen Him!

References:
2Ptr 1:16
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

2Ptr 1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Vine's definition: 2Ptr 1:19, "sure" <949>
2. bebaios ^949^, …(i) the word of prophecy, "made more sure," <2 Pet. 1:19>, RV, KJV, "a more sure (word of prophecy)"; what is meant is not a comparison between the prophecies of the OT and NT, but that the former have been confirmed in the person of Christ… (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Until we have seen Him of Whom they have all spoken, to you and I they are yet "in part". "But when that which is perfect is come…" (1Cor 13:10), "…but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son…" (Gal 4:4). HE IS COME! The prophets in HIM are fulfilled, and when He is come in you, the prophets will be made more sure. I never appreciated the scripture until God revealed His Son in me. I thought I did, but I did not. When He revealed the Son and I began to see Him, THEN the scriptures were made more sure to me. When the Son is revealed, the whole Bible comes alive because now I am not reading it in Braille. Now I am seeing by the Light of God. I am seeing what He hath said! Now there is no room for the imagination, because we are clearly looking into the face of truth.

So all the law and the prophets were in part, until the vision, the seeing, the thing spoken of should come. IN CHRIST IT HAS COME! To understand what God says, we must see what God says - not in type, but in reality of Person. It is the same thing in any spoken language. We know the principle that applies to this. Even in the learning of something, we can listen to a tape, but if we can also read along with it and at least see the words that we are hearing, how much greater is the comprehension of the thing? That is so in the natural. We can hear what is being said, but so often we are not seeing the point of reference. We can look at one thing, and others are looking at something else. We describe it, and the others do not understand because it is not fitting what they have been taught and what they are looking at. When we all see the same thing, all of a sudden we turn to see and realize, "Dear Lord, that is what that scripture meant! How did I not see that before?" We finally turned to see what the Lord was saying. We finally turned to see HIM in Whom God hath spoken! He in Whom God hath spoken must be SEEN to be understood. Then, we speak.

In Habbakuk we read, "And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (Hab 2:2-4). Then in verse 14, "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Hab 2:14). The word "vision" here involves the act of seeing (Strong's). What has been said will be seen. What has been heard and seen will speak. The seeing shall come; wait for the vision! The vision here means seeing that which has been said, seeing that which has been written. In the end, the vision will come. In the end, the seeing will come. He hath at the end of those days spoken in Son (Heb 1:2) to whom this mystery has been made manifest. Therefore Paul says that seeing we have such ministry, we speak plainly and with boldness, declaring these things, because we have both seen as well as heard (2Cor 3:12-4:4).

References:
Strong's Hebrew Lexicon: Hab 2:2, "vision" <2377>
2377. Nwzx chazown khaw-zone'; from 2372; a sight (mentally), i.e. a dream, revelation, or oracle:- vision.

2372. hzx chazah khaw-zaw'; a primitive root; to gaze at; mentally, to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); specifically, to have a vision of:- behold, look, prophesy, provide, see.

Heb 1:2
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

2Cor 3:12-4:4
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

I want us to consider: HEARING - SEEING - SPEAKING. The Mystery of Great Salvation - God hath spoken. Now if you are hearing a word and seeing nothing, you should be quiet. You should not jump up, run out, and preach, teach, or form another denomination or movement. If what you are hearing is God, He will reveal the Son to those who wait for Him. If what you are hearing is the Lord, then what He is saying is the Son. But until He reveals, until He shows IN SON what He hath said, you will substitute your imagination. Look at James. He describes a man who goes to the place of seeing. He goes to the looking glass, the mirror, the vision. But this man will not wait there; he will not abide there. He runs in and he runs out (Jas 1:23-24). A true translation of the Greek there says the problem is he misses the most excellent man (Strong's). He misses the man most excellent and sees himself. He deceives himself and goes out his own way. Now something had to get him to the mirror. Hearing gets our attention, but seeing transforms our souls. Then we speak - not as of ourselves but out from that which we have both heard and seen. After all, God is not trying to give us a message. His whole purpose with His message is to transform our souls into that same image. He does not care that I have a new sermon to preach. He does not care that I have found another verse in the Bible that has another word in it that I can build my imaginations upon and get another Bible conference out of.

References:
Jas 1:23-24
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Strong's Greek Lexicon: James 1:24, "what manner of man" <3697>
3697. opoiov hopoios hop-oy'-os; from 3739 and 4169; of what kind that, i.e. how (as) great (excellent) (specifically, as an indefinite correlative to the definite antecedent 5108 of quality):- what manner (sort) of, such as whatsoever.

About what does He care? He is not giving us messages. "God, who at sundry times…" (Heb 1:1) gave messages. He has now spoken IN SON. It is not so that we would merely hear something, but that at the end of hearing, we would see, and in seeing we would be transformed into that same image - that our speaking would actually be the conversation or manner of our life rather than our Sunday morning sermon. So if you hear a Word and you do not yet see anything, BE QUIET! Just be quiet, because it is going to happen to you. If you have ever, truly been dealt with by the Lord, this will happen to you. The Word will begin to come, a thought will begin to come, and it is so easy to build upon it. "Man, I have a sermon this morning!" But the whole point of the Word is that we might wait for the vision, that we might wait to see Him, that we might turn to see the voice (Rev 1:12). Look at it in the pattern in that book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It first was heard and then was seen. Then, it was spoken. That is a true pattern. That is the way it is in The Son.

Reference:
Rev 1:12-13
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Many times I will hear a thing in the very depth of my soul, and I have learned by God's omnipotent grace and mercy to wait until I understand, until I see what I am hearing. (Understanding comes by seeing.) Many times the Lord will capture me in a verse. Well, the first thing you do is look it up in the Greek or the Hebrew and you do all the word searches. That is okay to do, because you are hearing. But then you have to say, "Okay, now what?" Then you begin to say, "Oh Father, just show me Your Son!" Then the scales come off, and you see Him! You see Him, and now you can speak. You are not just quoting a verse; you are not just saying what Paul said. No, you have SEEN what Paul SAW. You have seen Him! You are in agreement because you have seen Him. We can say that we saw what Paul saw. There is a real thrill to this! This is the thrill Peter had. Peter said, in effect, "Oh, my God! I saw what Isaiah talked about! We have seen Him; we have seen what Isaiah said; we have seen what Jeremiah said - we have seen HIM!" (2Ptr 1:16-21)

Reference:
2Ptr 1:16-21
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.

This is what has happened. We lost sight. Hearing was reduced to doctrinal statements, which were reduced further to traditions of man, which were reduced farther to denominational divisions and finally reduced to sermon material. That is what happened to hearing. Vision was lost and never regained. Along that line, the reformation came, and there was some improvement on hearing, but that reformation was NOT in the face of Jesus Christ. It was against the Catholic establishment; it was against traditions and doctrines. Some hearing was restored, but that is all that was restored - hearing, and that, not perfectly. They heard the word "faith", but they never SAW faith. They heard "…the just shall live by faith" (Gal 3:11), but they never SAW faith. They only HEARD faith. Even great warriors such as Martin Luther had acute hearing. They turned their attention, and it cost them denomination ties. It cost them, because hearing will cost you. But seeing has an altogether different cost to it. Hearing might change your mind and change your viewpoint. It might change your doctrine and get you kicked out of a congregation, but SEEING will cost you the very life of your soul! So during the reformation hearing was improved, and they began to speak what they heard. However, look at the result of those movements - the Wesleyan Movement, the Episcopalian Movement, etc. It is scarcely more than the thing that they rebelled against! Hearing without seeing - still no revealing of the Son. You can trace the Pentecostal Movement from the early 1900's the same way. This is where we gained all our cockeyed ideas about holiness. Again, it is hearing. They heard some things, but HIM in Whom all these things are heard, must be seen.

Any time God begins to improve hearing, it is for the purpose of giving full vision. He wants to give sight. We are hearing now, but if we will just turn to see, we will experience the transformation. We do not need to hear any more until we see what we have heard. Too often I have heard people say to me, "Good Word, Brother." That has always bothered me, but I never knew why until the Lord captivated me in this. It is all reduced to a thing HEARD. And everybody has heard something different depending upon what they are seeing in their imagination. "Good Word, Brother." If they have not seen the Lord, they just hear a good Word. It is not that we should not congratulate one another, but there is always something that has pierced when I hear that in meetings. We are full of hearing; we are just not seeing. And we do not see because we have substituted imaginations and reinforced them to that point that now we cannot see! Because we have presented our imaginations as the truth, we cannot see. Let us not get that way; let us wait until we see what we hear.

If it costs us our life, then it costs us our life. What does it matter? Let us wait to hear; let us wait to see, because it is the seeing that transforms. It is in beholding that we are changed. It is not in hearing the glory but BEHOLDING the glory that we are changed. This is the coming of the Lord. This is the Lord in His coming. This is the Lord in His appearing. It is The Lord Who transforms. We should hear, "Behold, He is come!" Yes, we should hear, but now we must turn to see HIM WHO IS COME or immediately we will substitute an imaginary object for His coming. Hearing becomes a matter of fact. Seeing becomes a matter of Person. Speaking becomes a matter of Spirit and Truth. One can be convinced of a fact by hearing, but it must move from fact to PERSON. It must move from principle to PERSON. It must be the revealing of the Son, the necessity of seeing.

So the three elements of the mystery made manifest are: HEARING, SEEING what we hear, and SPEAKING (making manifest) what we have both heard and seen. You will find these elements in all of the teachings of Paul, and you will find them in this order. I will not delve deeply into the negative side of this: hearing but no visions, resulting in imaginations which bring about the seeing of images; images which are worshiped by, supported by, and given voice by false prophets, etc. Hearing becomes tradition: blind leaders of the blind (Mtt 15:14). In place of vision and speaking truth, is a substitution that maintains a lie.

Reference:
Mtt 15:14
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

We can go through the scriptures and see. I am amazed to see the necessity of this. Hearing produces waiting. We wait until the coming of the Lord. When the Lord is come, we speak. HE IS COME! These elements are essential, not to the mystery, but to making MANIFEST the mystery! The mystery is there in Christ whether we ever see it or not, but in making manifest the mystery these elements must come together in One. These elements must come together IN SON.

"Father, we thank you for your multiplied grace and mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have redemption, even forgiveness of sin, the love of God without bounds. Oh, the work of the Spirit unto full realization of Christ, in Whom we have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the fulness of the Godhead bodily; in Whom we have the complement and the completement of our very salvation. We thank you for Your Grace." Amen.

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