2023-Q3-L06

2023-Q3-L06: The Mystery of the Gospel

Read for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 3; Job 11:5-9; Ezek. 43:13-16; Amos 7:7, 8; Rev. 11:1, 2

Memory Text: Memory Text: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20, 21, NIV).

Scriptures

Job 11:5–9 (ESV): 5 But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, 6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. 7 “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? 8 It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? 9 Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

Ezekiel 43:13–16 (ESV): 13 “These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; 15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad.

Amos 7:7–8 (ESV): 7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;

Revelation 11:1–2 (ESV): 11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

Mysteries

(1) Mystery of Christ. Ephesians chapter 3. The mystery of Christ is that the Gentiles are on equal footing with the Jews in the promises of God. In addition, the manifold wisdom of God may be revealed to us through the indwelling presence of the spirit of God through Christ.

Colossians 1:26-27: the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, 27 to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

John 10:16: I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.Isaiah 56:8 I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

(2) Kingdom of Heaven: A literal, physical kingdom

Matthew 13:11: He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

(3) Kingdom of God. A spiritual kingdom, Christ sitting on the throne of the heart

Mark 4:11: He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,

Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Luke 17:21: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

(4) Mystery of Godliness. A reference to the power that enables a Christian to live a god-honoring life in this world.

1 Timothy 3:16-17: Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated[b] by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

(5) Mystery of Israel's blindness (or partial hardening). Also see Luke 19:42 (chosen not to see)

Romans 11:25: For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,

(6) Mystery of His will. Ephesians 1:9-11. Revealed in the NT. To unity all things in Christ, things in heaven and on earth.

(7) Mystery of the Father and Son. The Incarnation of the Son into human flesh brought with it mysteries.

Colossians 2:2: that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,

(*) Boyd on Col. 2:2: our God and Father and of Christ 77.8% | God, the Father of Christ TH 0.6% | God, which is Christ NA SBL WH 0.3%.

(8) Mystery of the Faith. “the faith” can be understood broadly to mean the whole of the doctrines of the New Covenant or more specifically as the good news, i.e. the gospel of saving grace in Jesus Christ, upon which every doctrine of the New Covenant lies.

1 Timothy 3:9: holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience

(9) Mystery of Christ and the Church. As the bridegroom, Christ loves His betrothed bride (read: Are we the Bride of Christ now, or is that future?) with a sacrificial, undying, unrelenting, never-failing love, and so His bride should willingly submit to Him.

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

(10) Mystery of Iniquity (or Lawlessness).

2 Thessalonians 2:7: For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way.

(11) Mystery of the Resurrection. The change of mortal to immortal bodies at the Second Coming.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53: Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

(12) The Woman (the harlot). False religious system at the end of time.

Revelation 17:7: The angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

(13) Babylon the Great. Inclusive of universal religious, political, and economic power.

Revelation 17:5: And on her forehead a name was written, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

(14) Seven stars and Seven Golden Lampstands.

Revelation 1:20: As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Notes

Tricks: (1) Deception--believe the lie, (2) Bribe inducement, (3) Slander the person--if you can't attack the message, attack the person, (4) Use the mob to intimidate, (5) Imprisonment--restriction, (6) Death.

1. What is the mystery and revealed to Paul?

2. Paul's mission to develop the message

3. The mystery is motivating.

Mystery occurrences:

Romans 16:25: Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

1 Corinthians 2:7: But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

Colossians 1:26: the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Ephesians 3:9 (ESV): and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,

Ephesians 3:9 (KJV): and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hidden in God who created all things by Jesus Christ;

Textual issues: (1) all men, (2) fellowship [vs. administration], (3) by Jesus Christ

Fellowship (koinonia) vs. Administration (oikonomia).

Code (to access). You need a code to access your email. A code to enter a paid website. You need a code to access your bank account. Jesus is our code to Heaven.

Ephesians 3:12: In him [Or, in whom] we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

Notes (2)

Identity. What do you identify with? Do you identify with or against LGBT? I identify with the God of the Universe and in His Son.

Paul: Free on the inside; a prisoner on the outside.

Faithfulness in trial, hardship, imprisonment.

2 Timothy 3:12: Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Preconceived opinions insulate your minds against truth.

Why is indoctrination so powerful?

1. Because winning an argument is more important than being right.

2. If you lose an argument, your authority suffers and you are relatively worse than before.

3. Indoctrination teaches WHAT to think, not HOW to think. It imposes boundaries to our minds which imprison our ability to think for ourselves.

The hardest prison to escape is in your own mind.

Never let other people's thoughts limit your ability to think for yourself.

Thinking outside the box. Because something sounds rational and logical, does not make it true.

MB 110: If you have renounced self and given yourself to Christ you are a member of the family of God, and everything in the Father's house is for you.

Notes (3)

We ask for things we can see, we can think of. God says, I have thinks for you that you can't even think of.

1 Corinthians 2:9: But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”Isaiah 64:4

1 Cor. 2:9 (NIV): However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

This promise is vast. We limit God and we don't mean to. We don't have the slightest inclination of how much God wants to do through us.

Education 18.4: Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. Godliness—godlikeness—is the goal to be reached. Before the student there is opened a path of continual progress. He has an object to achieve, a standard to attain, that includes everything good, and pure, and noble. He will advance as fast and as far as possible in every branch of true knowledge. But his efforts will be directed to objects as much higher than mere selfish and temporal interests as the heavens are higher than the earth.

The advance is the advance of our character. It's not about our grades, our work, or our relationships. God doing the work, you working it out, that you could never imagine possible. I cannot overcome this. You're right you cannot. But Christ dwelling in us can give us that power.

The body is going to be remade, but our character, our choices, who we are, our identity is something that is worked out by God through our cooperation.

We ask for God's help and He starts there, but He continues to work on us on things we never thought was a problem.

God is still working on me.

Education 124.3: And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the spiritual nature. Man, created for fellowship with God, can only in such fellowship find his real life and development. Created to find in God his highest joy, he can find in nothing else that which can quiet the cravings of the heart, can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul. He who with sincere and teachable spirit studies God's word, seeking to comprehend its truths, will be brought in touch with its Author; and, except by his own choice, there is no limit to the possibilities of his development.

God's character is under attack. And it cannot be defended by what He says. It has to be demonstrated. And in no better way is it demonstrated than by what He does in us. God's character is revealed in us, by how it is worked out in us.

John 15:8: In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

Amen. It's sure, truly, settled, as it should be, trustworthy. Not because of you. Jesus will do this.

Indoctrination vs. Objective Reality

You are a social animal whose survival and reproduction depends on your successful maintenance of the relations between you and the others in your life support communities (family, clan, tribe). Aside from actually getting water and food, in that order, this is the most important thing for human animals to do.

You only have so much mental bandwidth. It takes a great deal of processing power to keep on top of all those social relations. One of the essential elements in this activity is a common or at least compatible set of heuristics among the group. In particular you need heuristics that will govern your behavior so you do not signal to others that you are "out", or "don't fit in", or worse yet are a threat or danger. You also need to know where others stand and whether you can reliably predict their behavior. Ideally the rules and a priori premises are so strong that no one will even contemplate breaking down the behavioral limits that sustain the community. In short, you and all the others rely on display of and adherence to these norms to clue you in that things are on track, and to identify defectors.

Group Identity Preservation. The more automatic and robust these are, the more effective you can be at working these interactions. So it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective that our neurology has selected for cognitive faculties which

(a) bias in us against information that conflicts with the beliefs and prejudices congruent with our communities, and

(b) favors information that reinforces those beliefs, prejudices, and biases.

SUNDAY. Paul: Imprisoned Apostle to the Gentiles

Ephesians 6:20: for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

MONDAY. The Long-hidden Mystery of the Gospel

TUESDAY. The Church: Revealer of God’s Wisdom

From the lesson: There is an interesting progression in Paul’s self-understanding that is discernible as we move through Paul’s letters in the order they were written. Early on, he lays claim to his status as a divinely appointed apostle (Gal. 1:1). Later, though, he introduces himself as “the least of the apostles” and “not worthy to be called an apostle” (1 Cor. 15:9, NKJV). Here in Ephesians he sees himself as “the very least of all the saints” (Eph. 3:8, ESV). Finally, he describes himself as the “chief” (NKJV) or “worst” of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15, NIV).

Perhaps this line of thinking here by Paul can help explain this famous quote by Ellen G. White: “The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature.” — Steps to Christ, p. 64.

WEDNESDAY. Christ, Dwelling in Your Heart

From the lesson: Behind the English translations of Ephesians 3:14, 15 is an important play on words. When Paul says that he bows before “the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (ESV), he is exploring the phonetic connection between the Greek word for Father, pater, and the Greek term for family, patria. In Ephesians, Paul celebrates the comprehensive nature of God’s plan of salvation, which involves all things (Eph. 1:9, 10) for all times (Eph. 1:21). And here he lays claim to “every family in heaven and on earth” as belonging to “the Father.” Every family (patria) takes its name from the Father (pater).

THURSDAY. Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus

FRIDAY. Further Thought: