MYSTERIES

Text: 2 Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Intro: mysteries = Silence imposed by initiation into religious rites. The world can't see the truths of the kingdom but WE can.
John 3:3 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.

Let us examine some of these things which are ours to see if we will.
I. The mystery of the cutting off and restoration of Israel.
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 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

II. Mysteries of church truths..
1 Cor 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

We are NOT obligated to share the truths with the lost of the world but only with those who have been saved and have submitted to baptism..

III. The mystery of the resurrection.
1 Cor 15:51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
The lost are not looking forward to it, and will not understand it when it happens.

IV. The wonderful mystery of future things.
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 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:

V. The mystery of the incarnation.
1 Tim 3:16 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.

VI. Mystery- Babylon.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

VII. The Mystery of Iniquity.
2 Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
A. It is to the Lord's Churches that this hidden rebellion is revealed..
It is no secret that sin and crimes of all kinds are rampant across the world. It is the hidden rebellion that the harlot of Babylon has planted in the Lord's Churches which does the damage.
Our F.B.I and C.I.A. are in a position to know more of the hidden works of organized crime and terrorism, but only those who are close to the Lord in His Churches, are in a position to know the danger, as error and moral degradation gnaw away at our glorious liberty we have in Christ.