Mystery Revealed

Romans 16:25-27

Mystery Revealed

Romans 16:25-27, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began ²⁶ but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— ²⁷ to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Romans ends with a doxology.

The word doxa means praise or glory or honour, Ology, from logos, a saying. It is a praise saying. Paul uses a praise saying or a doxology to bring this great epistle to a conclusion. The Word of God is filled with many doxologies.

There are many times when the writers of Scripture just stop in the midst of all that they are contemplating and lift their hearts to God in praise. Psalms was the hymn book for the Hebrews. 150 Psalms recited, read, studied, and sung.

Book of Psalms divided into five books. There are 150 Psalms but there are five separate books of the Psalms. ✓ They speak about the attributes of God. ✓ They speak about the work of God. ✓ They speak about the power of God.

✓ They speak about the wisdom of God. At the conclusion of each book there is a doxology. Book one ends at Psalm 41.

Psalms 41:13, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. Psalm ⁴² begins Book Two of the Psalms. Book two ends in Psalm 72.

Psalms 72:18-19, Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

Psalms 72:20, The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

The third book begins in Psalm 73 and ends Psalm 89.

Psalms 89:52, Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen.

The Fourth book begins in Psalms 90 ends in Psalm 106.

Psalms 106:48, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!

The book Five begins in Psalms 107 ends at Psalm 150. The whole Psalm of 150 is a doxology.

Psalms 150:1-6, Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! 2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! ³ Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! ⁴ Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! ⁵ Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! Doxologies are a very important part of the life of the people of God.

In the New Testament we find that at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ the angels appeared and a doxology.

Luke 2:13-14, And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill[toward men!” In Luke ¹⁹ as the Lord Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem as the Messiah.

Luke 19:38, saying: “‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Matthew 6:13, For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The epistles of the New Testament.

Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen."

Hebrews 13:20-21, Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you

what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Romans 11:33-36, Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counsellor?” ³⁵ “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” ³⁶ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Revelation 5:13-14, And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honour and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

Revelation 19:1-2, After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honour and power belong to the Lord our God! ² For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”

Now in the end of Romans we come to another one of these praise sayings. Paul takes his pen back from Tertius, his secretary, who wrote himself in verse 22, greeting, and he wants himself to add a final word. And he gives this marvellous doxology.

This doxology captures the three major themes of the entire Roman epistle. Romans divided into three parts. Romans 1 to 3:20 man's sin.

Romans 3:21-8, Salvation through faith. Romans 9-16 Implication of salvation in Christian life and ministry and relationships.

We note in this doxology the same is expressed. There is a parallel between the closing doxology and Romans 1:1-11. The parallels are very apparent.

• The word "establish"in verse 25.
• Romans 1:11 speaks about strengthening.

• The word "my gospel,"in verse 25.
• Romans 1:1, the gospel of God.
• The word mystery that is hidden, in verse 25.
• Romans 1:2, the gospel promised beforehand. The Scriptures of the prophets, in verse 26. ❖ The preaching Jesus Christ, in verse 25. ❖ Romans 1:3, concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ➢ The obedience of faith in verse 25. ➢ Romans 1:5, the obedience of faith.

Romans 1:2 the sacred Scriptures.

• The word of all nations in verse 26.
• Romans 1:5, all nations coming to the gospel.

The same truth with which he introduced this great epistle. It is introduced, and concluded with elements that summarize all that is in between.

Three main truths

1. Gospel to establish to men. 2. Gospel concerning Jesus Christ. 3. Gospel revealing mystery.

1. Gospel to establish to men. V 25, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began It is a gospel that is able to establish men.

Paul offers his praise to God for the saving gospel of Jesus Christ establishes men. Now to Him who is able to establish you God is able to establish. God is powerful enough. God is wise enough. God is mighty enough to establish men.

The word "establish"simply means to set steadfastly in an immovable position. To settle somebody. To root somebody. The word striz basically carries the idea of being mentally settled.

We know how it is before we become a Christian. You know how it is before you have turned your life over to Jesus Christ you were unsettled. There is an unsettled attitude in the world today. Not the turmoil on the outside but the struggle for truth on the inside. Men and women are not mentally settled.

But the gospel is able to settle the mind on what is the truth. To settle the mind on a right and true path. The saving gospel is able to make us firm. It settles us. It establishes us. It grounds us solidly in the mind.

Once we have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and commit then we know the truth that sets the path for your life. No one in the world is more settled than a Christian. We know what we believe, and we thank God for that.

We believe the Word of the living God and we are settled, and it is the gospel that has allowed us to come to a settled conviction about truth and behaviour, about duty, life, and every aspect.

Paul calls it "my gospel." He is not being particularly possessive. It's the gospel that I preach. it's the gospel that was given to me. The Gospel had been given to him by direct revelation from God. He didn't learn the gospel like we do, from hearing someone preach.

Paul didn't learn the gospel by reading about it. He learned the gospel because Jesus Himself gave it to him. Gospel unique.

Galatians 1:11-12, But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. ¹² For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:2, And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. Paul preached was that God has the power and God has the wisdom to take a vacillating, fallen, drifting, shiftless,

misunderstanding, chaotic mind and settle it once and for all on the truth. Without the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, man has fallen, and he is crushed under the weight of sin. He is ignorant of truth, and thereby unable to do his duty before God.

The man without God is not established. The man without the gospel has no footing. They may be ever learning but Paul says he is never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, The purposelessness and meaninglessness of life is sucked out of life in the chaos of misunderstanding.

Fallen man doesn't know what to believe and he doesn't know where to stand. He tries maybe to drown that in activity or in his work or in sex or drugs or materialism or whatever. God is able to take that fallen man, lift him up and set him on his feet.

Romans 1 to 3 The theme fallenness of man> How does Paul describe man before he was stood firm by God?

• a) Under the wrath of God.

Romans 1:18-23, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [g]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Man must worship somewhere. If he doesn't know to worship the true God, he will make a God that he can worship.

• b) Idolatry leads to inevitable sensuality.

Romans 1:24-29, Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of

God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this

reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. ²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, The predicament of man before he is established in the truth.

No wonder in the doxology Paul praises God that He has the ability to establish us. Paul doesn't want to leave man in that predicament and neither does God. So, he goes on a search really to find a power that can establish man, lift him up from his fallenness and set his feet down.

Romans 2:11-12, For there is no partiality with God. ¹² For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law

The ignorance isn't going to be the issue.

Isn't special forgiveness because of ignorance.

Romans 2:28-29, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. A truly righteous person is not one who does external religious things, but whose heart is changed.

When we are looking for deliverance from the fallenness of man, we don't find it in special favour given to special people. We don't find it in special forgiveness given to those that are ignorant. We don't find it in some religious rites that people perform.

What about super good works? Romans chapter 3. V 10, there is none righteous, no not one.

Romans 3:20, Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Nobody is going to be right with God by what they do in terms of their self- righteousness.

What is that power?

Romans 3:22, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

It is the gospel of Christ that is able to establish us.

Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

The gospel alone. The good news from God through Christ that there is power for a transformed life. V 25, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel Because nothing else could do it! The gospel alone establishes us.

Jude had that in mind in his doxology.

Jude 1:24-25, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Saviour, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

God is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless. No wonder he praises God for the gospel that establishes a fallen man that picks him up and sets him on his feet. 2. Gospel concerning Jesus Christ. V 25, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began Proclamation of Jesus Christ.

Public preaching of Jesus Christ. A major theme in Romans.

Romans 3:21 - ⁸ Paul delineates the gospel, the theme is ever and always Jesus Christ. Paul, that was his life commitment.

1 Corinthians 1:23, but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

2 Corinthians 4:5, For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.

1 Corinthians 2:2, For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Paul's great theme was Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing a message about Jesus Christ." Paul praises God for the preaching of Jesus Christ. Paul throughout all of that he delineates every single feature of Christian living that comes as a result of the wonderful work of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:22-24, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus came, went to the cross, died for our sin, providing the salvation for us. That is why Paul praises God because Christ is the theme of our salvation. Jesus took our punishment. By faith we receive the gift of salvation.

What is it that Christ gives to us? He starts to recite that in chapter 5.

Paul spends the time discussing about what saving faith is all about. In Romans 5 he says we have peace with God. Then he says we stand in grace, verse 2. Then he says we rejoice in hope. Preaching of Jesus Christ brings us all of that. It brings us peace with God, grace to stand in, hope to rejoice over.

Paul goes into chapter 6 and he says, because of the work of Christ, when we put our faith in Him, we have died to sin. Sin no longer can punish us. Sin no longer can judge us. Sin no longer can condemn us.

Why? Because Christ took our condemnation, and we died in Him, and we rose in Him, and we walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:16-22 he says we are now servants of God. You were the servants of sin but now, having obeyed from the heart the truth that was taught to you, you have been made free from sin and become the servants of righteousness. All of these are the blessings that came to us in the preaching of Jesus Christ.

Paul goes into Romans 7 and we are free from the law. The law can no longer condemn us since it only has dominion. When you put your faith in Christ you died. Because you died in Him, He bore your death. The law has no more claim over you. Its penalty has been paid.

Romans 7:14-24 he describes our new nature.

We love the law of God. We long to do what’s right. Our hearts hunger to honour God and serve Him. Because of the preaching of Jesus Christ

• We have peace with God,
• Grace to stand in,
• Hope to rejoice over,
• We have died to sin,
• We have become servants of God.
• We are free from the law.
• We have received a new nature.
• New nature is a glorious new nature.
• New nature delights in the law of God.

The law of God is no longer a threat to us but a delight. Romans 8 says another thing that comes to us through the gospel of Christ is the indwelling Holy Spirit.

V 2 he talks about the law of the Spirit. V 4 he talks about walking in the Spirit. V 9, He talks about possessing the Holy Spirit. V 11, He talks about the life the Spirit gives us. V13, The Spirit to kill the deeds of the body.

V 14, The leading of the Spirit. V 16, The Spirit makes us we are the children of God. V 23, The guarantee of the Spirit. V 26-28 The interceding work of the Spirit as he prays on our behalf. V 29-32, the eternal security of the believer.

V 1, "There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." V 18 he talks about our future glory. V 28 all things work together for good, nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. We are going to glory because God will never lay any charge to His own elec. Finishes all those wonders that come with salvation together.

All those flows out of the work of Christ. All that flows out of the preaching of Christ.

We possess a gospel that establishes fallen man, and we possess a gospel that is provided by an unfallen man, the God- Man, Jesus Christ. 3. Gospel revealing mystery. V 25, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began When Jesus Christ came and brought the saving gospel, something that had never been seen was seen or fully known.

It had been predicted. V 26, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— The prophets had talked about it.

They had written about Messiah. Ezekiel had written about the fact that someday God would come and save His people and take away their stony heart and give them a heart of flesh. He would write His law in their hearts. He would give them His Spirit. He would wash them with water.

The prophets had said that a Saviour would come, a Messiah, a deliverer, a King. The Scriptures of the prophets predicted it. But it was never made manifest. It was always hidden. It was always veiled. It is called a mystery.

A mystery is something that was hidden in the Old Testament and is revealed in the New. The gospel was the unfolding of a mystery. A mystery kept secret since the world began and now made manifest and by the Scriptures of the prophets.

It was by the commandment of the everlasting God that it would now, on God's schedule, be made known. By the commandment of God, it was made known in all its fullness. Because we know the gospel. Because we have the epistle to the Romans, we know the mystery that all the saints of the past looked for.

1 Peter 1:10-12, Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would

come to you, ¹¹ searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹² To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

Peter says they searched diligently to see what manner of person and time these things they wrote spoke about. Hebrews 11, tells us that without us those old saints were not perfected, because the gospel is the full unveiling of what was a mystery in the Old Testament.

What is that mystery?

Ephesians 3:3-5, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, ⁴ by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), ⁵ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy

apostles and prophets

Something is revealed in the New Testament that was not fully revealed in the Old, even though the Scripture may have prophesied it. The mystery was hidden but is now revealed.

What is this mystery of which Paul speaking?

Ephesians 3:6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

With whom? Jew and Gentile would be one in Jesus Christ. We have seen that happen through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:26-27, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. ²⁷ To them God willed 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.

The wonderful, unveiled secret is that Jew and Gentile possess the Saviour and are one in Him. The sacred secret is the union of all believers in the body.

The prophets prophesied that. In Genesis 12 it was through the Abrahamic covenant, which gave us the nation Israel that God says whoever blesses you will be blessed. Through the channel of Israel God's intention was to bless the whole world and embrace them in His salvation.

But these truths, though the prophet spoke of them frequently, these truths were locked in a cloudy until Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the New Covenant and drew to Himself Jew and Gentile as one in Him. This is the mystery was revealed according to the commandment of the everlasting God. The saving gospel should be made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.

I do my praise saying, I give my doxology, because we have a gospel that lifted us up and established us in righteousness. Because we have a gospel that is a mystery revealed, that is the revelation of a hidden secret and that hidden secret is that God would want the salvation that He desired to be made known to all the nations, that they all might be obedient to the faith.

How marvellous.

Romans 9, 10 and 11 is all about the fact that Israel has no corner on salvation.

Romans 9:6, But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

They don't have exclusive right to salvation.

Romans 9:24, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Aren't they also called by the commandment of God in the unveiling of the mystery to obedience to the faith?

Romans 9:25, As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” Isaiah said the same thing that the Gentiles who followed not after righteousness would attain to righteousness, the righteousness of faith.

The mystery of Jew and Gentile, one in Christ, salvation extended to the ends of the earth, is Paul's major theme even here.

Romans 12 Paul talks about the relationships that those Jews and Gentiles have in the church. Romans 13 he talks about how this new body of Jew and Gentile, one in Christ, are to respond to the society in which they live.

How they are to be submissive to that society, paying their taxes. How they are to be marked by love and love is the fulfilment of the whole law. Romans 14 and 15, You don't offend each other. You don't cause each other to stumble.

You don't judge one another. From Romans chapter 9 on it's all about how the Jew and the Gentile kind of get along in the church. How they are to share with each other, serve each other, minister to each other. Paul has managed in that doxology to capture the essence of a review of the whole of Romans.

V 25-26, the reader is swept through the whole Roman epistle to review quickly the gospel which brings praise to God. The gospel which causes the doxology.

➢ It is a gospel that establishes men in righteousness who formerly were fallen in sin. ➢ It is a gospel concerning Jesus Christ who has provided for us all the necessary elements of Christian living. ➢ It is a gospel that is a mystery revealed that Jew and Gentile are one in a great fellowship of love which fellowship is regulated by the principles.

What a glorious gospel. "To God only wise." Why doesn't he say only powerful, or only loving, or only gracious? Because only an infinite mind could ever have designed such a plan. God only wise. There is no one who would be wise enough to ever accomplish such a saving work.

Ephesians 3 Paul says that God saving men and the main point the fellowship of the mystery. That mystery is Jew and Gentile loving one another in the church of Christ. So that the principalities and the powers in the heavenlies might know the manifold wisdom of God.

V 27, "O God, only wise to You be glory through Jesus Christ forever, amen." God, then, is the object of the doxology. God is commonly the object of a doxology. Though Christ could as well be the object, God is here.

Galatians 1:5, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

God is the object of the doxology.

Ephesians 3:21, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Philippians 4:20, Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

God is the object of the doxology.

1 Timothy 1:17, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.

There again God is seen as wise because he's just described His saving work and only great, infinite, supernatural wisdom could have prepared such a work.

1 Peter 5:11, "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

What does this say to us?

Unbeliever

If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then you have never been established. You have never been lifted up from your sin. You are in a situation of alienation from God, of fallenness. You are in a situation of heading for the judgment of God.

It says to you is that turn your eyes to Jesus Christ and look at the work that He did for you and believe in that work that you might be established. You might receive all the things that come to you because of your faith in Jesus Christ and enter into this fellowship of love of all those who embrace the Saviour.

Believer

Our hearts ought to be filled with praise. It ought to be that it spontaneously rises from our lips that we praise God. It ought to be that as we would come to the end of any thought about the gospel we would launch into the same kind of praise and doxology that Paul does.

It causes us to remember that Christ didn't do this wonderful work so that we could continue to live in sin. So, the very reminder of this work calls me to a renewed commitment to holiness. The Lord didn't do all of that for me so that I could serve Him with a half of a heart.

God saved us to put us into a great fellowship and that I want to give all to that fellowship that is in me to give. I am a part of the unveiling of the mystery hidden from ages past and now revealed.