Progressive
Revelation and the Revelation of the Mystery
“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, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” (Hebrews
1:1-2 AV)
Progressive
revelation
God
has revealed new information over time which has augmented and sometimes
superseded the information he gave out previously.
·
Adam had no real idea of the extraordinary consequences of
disobeying God and listening to his wife. God revealed them after the deed was
done.
“Unto
the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
(Genesis 3:16-19 AV)
God
revealed to Satan that the seed of Eve would bruise his head.
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
(Genesis
·
The law was not revealed in Abraham’s time. It was
revealed hundreds of years later through Moses. To Abraham it was revealed that
through his seed God would bless all the families of the earth.
“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3 AV)
·
Moses did not reveal the Messianic kingdom prophecies that
God revealed through later prophets like Isaiah and Zechariah. The law and the
coming of another great prophet were revealed through Moses.
“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of
thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” (Deuteronomy
18:15 AV)
·
The sufferings of a coming Messiah were revealed mostly
through the prophet Isaiah.
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5 AV)
·
The coming of
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and
it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel
·
The coming of the Holy Spirit was revealed through the
prophets Joel and Jeremiah.
“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the
servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” (Joel
2:28-29 AV)
·
The prophesied great Prophet, the prophesied Messiah, the
prophesied Redeemer, was manifest in due course. To Peter it was revealed that
he is more than all these things and is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
He is also the seed of the woman that bruises Satan’s head, the seed of Abraham
which blesses all the families of the earth and the seed of David that will
rule over
“For
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth:” (Job
“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered
and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew
16:15-17 AV)
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for
if I go not away, the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) will not come unto
you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John 16:7 AV)
“But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised
him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God.” (1Pet
·
Paul was trying to stamp out Peter’s little flock of
believers until the Lord revealed that he had other plans for him.
“Then
Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath
done to thy saints at
·
Peter was not keen on visiting the house of an ‘unclean’
Gentile (Cornelius) as late as Acts chapter 10. He agreed to go after God
revealed to him in a trance that the Gentiles had been cleansed.
“And
he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a
Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me
that I should not call any man common or unclean.” (Acts
The revelation of the mystery
God had the mystery in mind before
he created heaven and earth. It was a mystery in the sense that it was hidden.
It was not, and could not, be revealed to any prophet prior to the crucifixion.
If the devil’s earthly princes had known that God’s hidden (mystery) plan was
to offer salvation to the whole world by grace through faith in the death,
burial and resurrection of the Lord, they would not have crucified him.
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the
princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.” (1Cor 2:7-8 AV)
“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,” (Rom 16:25 AV)
During his first coming Jesus had declared that his
mission was to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark
But whenever he spoke of his forthcoming death and
resurrection to his disciples they were bewildered and didn’t know what he was
talking about. Though these things had been prophesied, they were hid from his
disciples (and Satan).
“Then he took unto him the twelve,
and said unto them, Behold, we go up to
My earlier understanding was that because Jesus was ‘God
manifest in the flesh’ he therefore knew everything the Father knew. This was
an incorrect understanding. The Son always does the will of the Father but told
us that there are some things that only the Father knows. For example, Jesus
declared that only the Father knows the day and hour of the great tribulation
and the Son’s second coming to restore the kingdom to
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
(Mark
The parable of the householder demanding fruit from his
vineyard makes it pretty obvious that the Son knew that the Father would “let
out his vineyard unto other husbandmen”. A small remnant of Peter’s little
flock were all that remained of
“But last of all he sent unto them his son,
saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they
said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us
seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the
vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what
will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy
those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which
shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” (Matthew 21:37-41 AV)
After witnessing the extraordinary faith shown by a
Gentile centurion the Lord had also declared that the children of the kingdom (
“The centurion answered and said, Lord, I
am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only,
and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers
under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he
cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he
marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not
found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come
from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew
8:8-12 AV)
It is now history that these warnings went unheeded by the
Jewish establishment. God’s Spirit-filled apostles persevered with trying to
persuade
“Be it known therefore unto you, that the
salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” (Acts
28:28 AV)
The
introduction of the mystery
Although the revelation of the
mystery came later, with the benefit of hindsight it is possible to backtrack
and see when the Lord actually started introducing it.
Acts 2 – the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ
I have labelled the mystery of the Lord’s oneness with his
church as the fourth component of the mystery revealed to Paul. Our Holy
Scriptures declare that the Spirit of Christ first descended on the believers
on the day of Pentecost and this is the point at which most Christians start
the Church, the body of Christ. Most Pauline Mid-Acts dispensationalists try to
start the Church with Paul’s salvation, thereby excluding Peter, Barnabas and
many others from the Church of the mystery.
It is most difficult to know the mind of God in this so we
must do our best with the scriptures. It is clear to me from the scriptures
that Peter and his little flock of Spirit-filled believers were Christ’s body
on earth – though they were not aware of the full implications of being indwelt
by the Spirit until these mysteries were later revealed to Paul. So Mystery 4,
Christ’s oneness with his Church, was first INTRODUCED on the day of Pentecost
in Acts 2 but was not REVEALED until much later.
There can be no argument against the words of the Lord himself.
He considered persecution of Peter’s little flock as persecution of HIMSELF.
“ And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4 AV)
“ And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I
answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of
“ And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking
unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” (Acts 26:14 AV)
Paul was given the revelation that all members of the
church are members of Christ himself. When any one of us is persecuted, God
considers that it is Jesus of Nazareth that is being persecuted.
“ Know ye not that ye are the
God’s PROPHECY program was still in effect in the early
chapters of the book of Acts. The introduction of God’s MYSTERY program did not
involve the wholesale annulment of everything involved with his prophecy program.
The spiritual things of God’s New Covenant with
“ It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles
have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.” (Romans
Acts 7 – the setting aside of Israel
Most mid-Acts
dispensationalists agree that God’s prophecy program was interrupted and that
his mystery program (the Lord’s hidden eternal purpose since before the world
began) began soon after Israel’s rejection of the Holy Spirit – made abundantly
clear by their stoning of Stephen, ‘full of the Holy Ghost’ (Acts 7). God’s
setting aside of
“Wherefore I say unto
you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” (Matthew
“But
Paul subsequently spoke
of
“I say then, Have they stumbled
that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall
salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing
of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” (Romans
11:11-12 AV)
Acts 9 – the
mystery apostle and the salvation by grace of an enemy
Soon after this the Lord saved his
mystery apostle Paul (Acts 9). I call Paul the Lord’s mystery apostle, not only
because the Lord revealed the mystery to him, but also because the Lord already
had his twelve apostles. Why did he need another one? I believe the precedent for this was
established during the Lord’s earthly ministry. His apostles and disciples were
selected because they had the potential to be filled with new teachings.
“And no man putteth new wine into old
bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the
bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are
preserved.” (Luke 5:37-38 AV)
To launch a new dispensation to
both Gentiles and Jews, the Lord required a new wine bottle. Paul was the
perfect candidate – staunch, young and highly educated in the scriptures,
fluent in the Hebrew and Greek languages and a Roman citizen. But he was also
the most energetic and aggressive persecutor of the Lord’s Spirit-filled flock.
So the Lord saved his worst enemy by his first exercise of irresistible grace.
Call me a Calvinist but what else was it? One minute Paul is breathing out
threatenings and slaughter and charging toward
“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And
desired of him letters to
This glorious manifestation from heaven
swamped Paul with an almighty fear of the Lord and he remained the Lord’s
faithful servant until his death.
“For though I preach the gospel, I have
nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I
preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding.” (Proverbs
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith:” (2 Timothy 4:6-7 AV)
Paul referred to his salvation as being
the first of its kind when he used the words “me first” in his first letter to
Timothy
“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who
hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained
mercy, because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and
love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I
am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a
pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” (1
Timothy 1:12-16 AV)
Taking note of the exact wording
around Paul’s “me first” pattern is critical. Paul’s salvation was not the
first example of Jesus Christ shewing forth mercy toward sinners. He could not
claim to be the first sinner to have obtained mercy from Jesus Christ. There
were numerous instances of the sick having their sins forgiven during the
Lord’s earthly ministry. After the Lord’s departure above eight thousand souls
had been saved prior to Paul, through the ministry of Peter’s Spirit-filled
flock, and they were all sinners because all have sinned.
“ Whether is it easier to say to the sick
of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up
thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know
that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick
of the palsy,)” (Mark 2:9-10 AV)
“Then they that gladly received his word were
baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.” (Acts
“Howbeit many of them which heard the word
believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” (Acts 4:4 AV)
“For all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God;” (Romans
Paul’s salvation is a “me first” pattern
of Jesus Christ shewing forth all longsuffering toward ignorant and unbelieving
sinners. Since the Holy Spirit was
first poured out on the apostles on the day of Pentecost, all who had received
it were believers who had gladly received – they had received voluntarily. They
had become believers and gladly repented and were baptised on the strength of
the preaching of Peter’s little flock and the wonders and signs that were
regularly occurring. They were not ignorant and they were not unbelieving. They
were deserving to a greater or lesser extent.
Paul was not a willing volunteer
but a rebel. Paul was a self-righteous Pharisee who thought he could see.
(Perhaps the Lord was making this point to Paul when he blinded him for three
days).
“And some of the Pharisees which were with
him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto
them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see;
therefore your sin remaineth.” (John 9:40-41 AV)
“Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most
straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.” (Acts 26:5 AV)
Yet the Lord saved him by grace
through faith, without works, because he rebelled in ignorance and unbelief.
(Don’t we all?) The thousands saved prior to Paul got saved by their choice and
works. Paul got saved by God’s choice in spite of his works. But God hath
chosen …..
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty;” (1 Corinthians
GRACE = UNMERITED FAVOUR. Paul’s
salvation is the first salvation by grace alone, without works.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 AV)
Ok. So the Lord saved Paul by
grace but where was the faith coming from? Paul was an unbeliever.
“Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor,
and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”
(1 Timothy
The answer to this seeming riddle
is contained in scriptures such as the following. (This important distinction
between faith IN Jesus Christ and the faith OF Jesus Christ has been lost in
many modern translations.)
“Even the righteousness of God which is
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” (Romans
“Knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ,
and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified.” (Galatians
Believers are saved by grace
through the faith OF Christ. But they must first be believers. At what point
did Paul become a believer? Paul became a believer when the risen and glorified
Lord appeared unto him. His ignorance of the deity of Christ was addressed by a
personal deific appearance. He became a believer on the road to
So the sequence of events in
salvation by grace through faith (based upon my own experience and to the best
of my understanding,) is as follows:
1. Ignorant and
unbelieving sinner (like Paul)
2. Ignorance is dealt to
(in Paul’s case by glorious appearing of the Lord). “T’was grace that taught my
heart to fear”.
3. The sinner, no longer
ignorant, is a believer, and is immediately (3 days later in Paul’s case)
indwelt by the Spirit of Christ and “in Christ”; justified by grace through the
faith OF Christ - the faith of he who died for his enemies (ignorant and
unbelieving sinners). “And grace my fears relieved”.
“For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.” (Romans
Other aspects of Paul’s salvation
were clearly not a pattern for us who
have been saved since. The Lord did not deal to my ignorance and unbelief with
a personal visitation or even a vision. He allowed my deceitful lusts to get me
into a “fine mess”, making my already bad situation a thousand times worse and
literally putting burning coals of fear and shame in my brain. I became
desperate enough to humble myself and seek prayer from Christian friends.
“T’was grace that taught my heart to fear”.
I did not receive the Holy Spirit
after three days of blindness through water baptism and the laying on of hands
(as Paul did). A week after my Christian
friends prayed for me I went along to their fellowship to thank them. The
burning coals had subsided. The Holy Spirit came into my heart during an
argument with their grace preacher – precisely at the moment I conceded that
perhaps PAUL WAS MY APOSTLE
(I should explain that I was saved
the moment I started taking Paul seriously, not because Paul is our saviour,
but because in taking Paul seriously I was implicitly taking the Lord’s
resurrection seriously. Paul never met Jesus during the Lord’s earthly
ministry. He only met Jesus during his present heavenly ministry - the risen,
ascended and glorified Lord.
“ But what saith it? The word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we
preach; That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:8-10 AV))
I had been seeking a long time,
and I had found. I had knocked a long time and the door was opened. I had daily
been asking God to “show me his will for me” for about three years prior to my
salvation. As the saying goes “be careful what you pray for”. His will was
done, not mine. I rarely used and didn’t understand the words ‘salvation’ and
‘saved’ prior to it happening to me. I had no idea what was required to be
saved and that I was saved purely by grace is proved by it only making sense
with hindsight - once I had ‘spiritual eyes’.
If you feel you are in darkness
then you must believe that he exists and SEEK, SEEK, SEEK. Check out the
meaning of IMPORTUNITY in your dictionary.
“
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend,
yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you. For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish,
will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:8-13 AV)
“But without faith it is impossible to please
him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 AV)
Acts 10 – Gentile inclusion and the power of the preaching
of the cross
“And the
voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call
not thou common.” (Acts
“Then Peter
opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of
persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with him.” (Acts 10:34-35 AV)
“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which
believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the
Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 10:44-45 AV)
“And
as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God
gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these
things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to
the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” (Acts 11:15-18 AV)
The above scriptures make it quite
clear that this was the first occurrence of Gentiles receiving the Holy Ghost.
I am speaking here of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, sent by the Lord from
heaven after his ascension, and first poured out on the Jewish believers on the day of Pentecost. To be baptised with the
post-Pentecostal Holy Ghost is to be baptised into the Lord’s death, burial and
resurrection – i.e. to be washed by the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection.
(Don’t be confused by the various names that the Holy Spirit is referred to.
Lots of names but the same Spirit – the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of
truth.)
“I indeed
have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”
(Mark 1:8 AV)
“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:” (Rom 6:3-5 AV)
“And
such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor
This was not the Holy Spirit’s
ministry in Old Testament times so if there were any Spirit-filled Gentiles
prior to
I am convinced that the Lord’s
timing of Peter’s visit with Cornelius, being right after Paul’s salvation, is
greatly significant. Paul was to become the Lord’s apostle of the Gentiles and
he would need the approval of kingdom-keys carrying Peter to give his Gentile
apostleship legitimacy. In due course Peter and the other apostles of the
circumcision gave their approval to Paul’s Gentile apostleship.
“But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision
was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto
Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the
circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James,
Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given
unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should
go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.” (Gal 2:7-9 AV)
The Lord went to great lengths to
arrange the encounter between Peter and Cornelius – as great as or greater than
any God-arranged meeting in the Bible. First he gave Cornelius a vision:
“He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel
of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on
him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy
prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men
to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one
Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou
oughtest to do.” (Acts 10:3-6 AV)
Then he gave Peter a vision to ensure
he would visit the house of an ‘unclean’ Gentile. Though Peter was initially
unclear as to what the vision meant, the arrival of Gentiles from Cornelius at
the gate helped him to understand it:
“Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen
should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry
for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,” (Acts 10:17 AV)
The risen and glorified Lord’s
direct interference in the course of events, as recorded in Acts chapters 9 and
10, was brief, concise and economical – he did only what was necessary to
ensure the establishment and spread of the Christian Church among the Gentiles.
Most mid-Acts teachers would
disagree with my introductory point for these mysteries. Their main objection
would probably be that Cornelius heard and believed Peter’s preaching -
therefore his salvation (which astonished the Jews who were present) did not
signify that anything new had started and that Cornelius and his gathering of
kinfolk and near friends were merely saved into Peter’s little flock -
believing Israel, not the body of Christ. Methinks that some get carried away
with dividing (rightly or wrongly). God at no time had two separate bodies of
believers. (See the study – ‘Rightly dividing Israel and the Christian
Church’.)
The mystery was not revealed to
Paul until much later but it seems clear from the scriptural evidence that the
revelation of the mystery lagged behind the actual introduction of the mystery.
At least two of the mystery revelations were introduced by the Lord with the
saving of Cornelius and his gathering; the mystery of the Gentiles being
fellowheirs of the promise of Christ, and the mystery of the gospel – the power
of the preaching of the cross.
Two chapters before in Acts 8,
Samaritans had required the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Ghost -
‘apostolic mediation’ as C.I. Scofield put it.
“Now
when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the
word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down,
prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was
fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy
Ghost.” (Acts 8:14-17 AV)
One chapter back in Acts 9 our
apostle Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost, through the laying on of hands and
water baptism, three days after his blinding encounter with the risen and
glorified Lord. (The three days have God-given death and resurrection
significance and mark Paul out as a very important servant of the Lord. Saul
the persecutor of the Lord died on the road to
“And
Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him
said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the
way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be
filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had
been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”
(Acts 9:17-18 AV)
No such mediation was required in
the saving of Cornelius and his gathering who were saved way before Peter could
get them into a tank of water or lay hands on them. Hands-off, dry baptism of Gentiles - things had changed; God’s
dispensation had changed. It is clear from the context that God was ‘ringing
the changes’. He had just recruited his mystery apostle Paul and his next move
was to bring his kingdom keys-carrying chief apostle Peter up to date.
Peter and the other believing Jews
with him were aware that they had just witnessed the first occurrence of
Gentiles receiving the Holy Ghost but they were not aware that they had just
witnessed the first occurrence of people being saved by the power of the
preaching of the cross alone. By
simply telling the story of the events concerning Jesus Christ, Peter had of
course told them that the Lord had been slain and had been raised up by God on
the third day, and that through his name whosoever believes in him shall
receive remission of sins. By simply relating to others the events that had
occurred, Peter had quite inadvertently ‘preached the cross’. Cornelius and his
gathering believed what they heard and were saved.
“How
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went
about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was
with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of
the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised
up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with
him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people,
and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge
of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:38-43 AV)
Peter’s tidings covered the same main points as what was
to become Paul’s gospel declared in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and also include an
account of the risen Lord being shewed openly by God to Peter and other chosen
witnesses, similar to Paul’s account in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. The Lord gave
Paul the full revelation of the mystery over the years leading up to the
writing of his epistles.
The components of the mystery
I have detected seven mysteries that
Paul spoke of. Combined they form the unprophesied arrangement which is
currently in place between man and God. I believe the heart of the mystery to
be what I have called Mystery 3 – the mystery of the gospel of Christ and of
Godliness.
Mystery 1: Israel
God’s holy nation
“For
they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth.” (Rom 10:3-4 AV)
“Even so then at this present time also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Rom 11:5 AV)
“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
Mystery 2: Middle wall of partition broken down. Gentiles
fellowheirs, of the same body, partakers of his promise in Christ
God has concluded his holy nation 
, so that he might show mercy to all. Through
“I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall?
God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto
the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be
the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the
Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” (Rom 11:11-12 AV)
“For
God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”
(Rom
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 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) 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; That the Gentiles should be
fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by
the gospel:” (Eph 3:2-6 AV)
Mystery 3: The mystery of the gospel of Christ, and of
Godliness
The mystery of the gospel is a
mystery indeed. The preaching of the cross alone is now the power of God unto
salvation. Through simple unfeigned belief we are gifted the earnest of the
Holy Spirit, righteousness, sanctification, justification, redemption,
glorification, eternal life – did I miss anything?
“Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also
ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Cor 15:1-4 AV)
“For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Rom
“And for me, that utterance may be given unto
me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I
ought to speak.” (Eph 6:19-20 AV)
“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 2:2 AV)
“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:” (
“And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory.” (1Tim
Mystery 4: Christ’s oneness with his Church
Each member of the body is a
member of Christ. It is not a human hierarchy or organisation but a Godly
organism. Our spirits are joined to his Spirit and our flesh has become his
flesh.
“
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the
members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God
forbid. What? know ye not that he which
is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:15-17 AV)
“For
no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as
the Lord the Church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his
bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be
joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery:
but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:29-32 AV)
“And
he is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (
“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:” (
Mystery 5: The mystery of iniquity – the spirit of
antichrist
Although iniquity has
been with the human race since the fall (and particularly since the murder of
Abel), belief or not, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is now the simple
means by which the human race is divided. It is the line in the sand that one
either crosses to be with Christ or stays put to be with antichrist and the
mockers.
The spirit of
antichrist did not waste any time. It got to work on the Church right from day
one. John also spoke of it in an epistle to the Hebrew believers. The unrestrained,
full manifestation of that Wicked awaits those who will experience the great
tribulation.
“For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until
he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming:” (2Thess 2:7-8 AV)
“And
every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not
of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard
that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1John 4:3 AV)
Mystery 6: The catching up of the Church mystery prophecy
We even have prophecy within
mystery – commonly known as the rapture.
“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.”
(1Cor
In Old Testament times the focus
of prophecy was earthly; the restoration of David’s kingdom to
The New Testament reveals that our
earthly bodies are not our eternal bodies but merely seeds that must die so we
can be transformed into our eternal, heavenly form. The whole focus of
Christianity is heavenly and the man Jesus Christ, God manifested among us,
declared the shift in focus and personally led the way from earth to heaven.
“Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his
life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it
unto life eternal.” (John 12:24-25 AV)
“Thou fool, that which thou sowest is
not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that
body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own
body.” (1Cor
Mystery 7: The dispensation of the fulness of times
The
Father’s ultimate purpose to gather all things in heaven and earth together in
Christ. There was first rebellion against God in heaven followed by rebellion
against God on earth. There will be war in heaven. The rebellious angels will
be cast down to earth and the glorified saints will reign with the Lord and his
angels in heaven. Then the Lord and all his saints and angels will return to
earth to overcome the god of this present evil world and all of his followers.
All things in heaven and earth will be gathered together in Christ and he will
present all things to the Father so that he is all in all and will dwell with
us evermore in the new heaven and the new earth.
“Then cometh the
end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But
when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is
excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put
all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28 AV)
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were
cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9 AV)
“And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power;” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 AV)
“And when the thousand years are expired,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the
saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven,
and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall
be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:7-10 AV)
“Having made known unto us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 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:” (Eph 1:9-10 AV)
“For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I
say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” (
“And I saw a new heaven
and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and
there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:1-3 AV)