The Mystery in Spiritual Warfare

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Ephesians chapter six, verse 19. Ephesians 6:19, and the title for today's message is "The Mystery in Spiritual Warfare."

The great message of the Bible is Jesus Christ crucified. In fact, Paul made that clear in 1 Corinthians chapter two when he said, "For I have determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." That's 1 Corinthians chapter two and verse two. And as you're going through life, spiritual warfare is going to come because you've clarified Christ. And as you clarify Christ, others will come against that message. In Acts chapter five, the apostles were preaching Jesus. And as they were preaching Jesus, it was for that very reason that they were stoned and run out of town. And so if they only would have stopped clarifying Christ and preaching Jesus, they would not have been stoned and run out of town. And here in Ephesians chapter six, this is a great passage on spiritual warfare. In verse 19, the Bible says, "And pray on my behalf, that the words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel."

Pause with me if you would and pray for just a moment. Dear God, reverently we come to You and we ask You for help to understand this mystery in the gospel. This mystery, dear Jesus, I pray that You would help us to truly apprehend this knowledge and not only to know it but to live it out and have conviction enough to stand upon it, to the point to where we would even be stoned for it and run out of town and perhaps be scattered like the believers in 1 Peter chapter one, verse one. I pray, dear Jesus, that we would endure spiritual warfare as faithful Christians who clarify You and Your deity. I pray, dear Jesus, that we would see the sufferings we incur because of being identified with You as a true blessing. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

So again, the great message of the Bible is Jesus Christ crucified, and all of hell hates this message. All of hell wars against this message and tries to silence it and tries to silence you. And so therefore we must proclaim it. We must be ones who explain it. We must be ones who perfect it. I want you to be able to be focused today on this mystery and ask the question, "Why is this mystery of the gospel being brought up in the middle of spiritual warfare?"

First of all, you need to identify the fact that prayer is part of spiritual warfare. We've already gone through all of the detailed pieces of armor in your spiritual armor in Ephesians chapter six, verse 10 and following. And then it is capped off with prayer. Prayer is part of it. Some theologians separate prayer apart from the armor, and I don't separate that. I know that prayer activates the armor, and by prayer we win spiritual warfare. But when Paul is asking for prayer to be able to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel, then we see therefore that this request — the mystery of the gospel, to be clarified — is part of why Paul preaches. And it is the reason why he is enduring spiritual warfare, because he is clarifying this mystery.

Now just as a little bit of background information: Paul founded this church in Ephesus, and we see that in Acts chapter 18, verses 19 and 21. He founded this church on the second missionary journey. Not only this, Paul also spent over two years there teaching them. Turn to Acts chapter 19. I want you to see that Paul spent a good amount of time in Ephesus teaching them. This is important for you to be able to see why I am going to lean in on this mystery of the gospel today.

In Acts chapter 19, verses 1 through 10, it talks about this time that he spent there, but in verse 10 it says that it took place for two years. Acts 19:1, "Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. And he said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'" Now he goes on to clarify baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And verse nine it says, "But when some were becoming hardened and were not believing, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years." So two years Paul was there in Ephesus reasoning with them in and out of the synagogue. Everywhere and at all times, even in the school, he was reasoning and teaching. And you have to think — do we have all of Paul's teachings recorded for those entire two years? No, we don't. We have a letter to the Ephesians and we have some of the information.

I make the case that Paul most certainly clarified what the mystery of the gospel is at this time to the church in Ephesus, because during the spiritual warfare series right here in Ephesians chapter six, he mentions this briefly. Back to Ephesians chapter six, and notice with me Ephesians chapter three, verse three, where he mentions the mystery briefly. This is to presume that those in Ephesus know what Paul's talking about, because he is able to mention this phrase — "the mystery of the gospel" — in brief. In Ephesians chapter three and verse three it says, "That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief." And so Paul has already written before in brief of this mystery of the gospel. He's already explained it to them. And you see that Paul has been there for an extended time, and this is most certainly something that Paul clarified.

And so what is this mystery of the gospel? In Paul's letter to the Ephesians from this Roman prison, he speaks of this monumental, mind-boggling mystery briefly — like briefly. It's like dropping a bomb on someone who is new to church and saying, "What is Paul talking about with this mystery of the gospel?" And he says it briefly. And so Paul clearly had already explained this mystery and now brings it up as part of the spiritual warfare.

In Ephesians chapter six and verse 10, it's almost like a ramp as he is building up to it. In verse 10 he starts the spiritual warfare instructions. Look with me in brief. Ephesians chapter six and verse 10 is our instructions: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength." That is instructions. And then in verse 11 you also have instructions on how to win against your enemies and what your strategy is — how to win, and your strategy is putting on the full armor of God in verse 11, "so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." That is a spiritual warfare strategy. And then in verse 12 he rules out major distractions. What kind of distractions are going to keep you away from Christ and away from being able to win the battle? If you're in a fierce battle and you get distracted, you're going to get shot, I don't know, stabbed. You can't be distracted in war fighting. It says in verse 12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood." Don't get distracted with focusing on flesh and blood. People are not the enemy. The enemy is the enemy. And the enemy wants you distracted upon people. People are not the enemy. The enemy is the enemy. The enemy works through people. We've discussed this. And so "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and against the authorities and against the world forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." And so the enemy operates in these spiritual realms, spiritual forces of wickedness.

In verse 13 through 17 it explains each piece of your armor for winning, along with your fighting strategies, which are resisting and standing and proclaiming. I won't read verses 13 through 17 for the sake of time, but it ends with this mystery here. And I would like to read verse 19 again with you: "And pray on my behalf, that the words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel."

This wasn't the first time it was brought up in the book of Ephesians. He brought it up several times, several times, even in the first chapter. Chapter one and verse nine, "Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him." What is this mystery? Why is it requiring boldness? Why is Paul asking the Ephesian church to pray for him so that he can clarify this mystery? Why is boldness required in explaining it? Well, it's because clarifying this mystery requires him to completely assault Judaism in all of what the Jews stand for, which would ignite their fury.

How many of you like sticking your hand in a mousetrap? Right? How many of you like pain? How many of you know something is going to hurt and you just want to walk right into it? Nobody! Paul knows that clarifying the gospel is going to be painful, and so he must therefore assault anything that rises up against this mystery. He must defuse. He must assault. He must tear it apart and show that it is futile, and build up this mystery. In fact, in Acts chapter 18, verse 28, it shows us that by proclaiming this mystery it landed him in jail. And so nevertheless, Paul is actually in jail because he has been proclaiming this mystery.

Point number one is this: God wants you to understand this mystery. God wants you to understand this mystery. Mystērion — mustērion in the Greek. This word means a hidden thing, a secret thing. It's not obvious. And so this mystery is a hidden purpose of God's will. This mystery is hidden, but God grants understanding to some people to understand this mystery. Some people really understand this mystery, and some people are still in darkness. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 11 says, "Jesus answered them, 'To you it has been granted, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.'" And so if you understand what this mystery of the gospel is, it's been granted to you to understand. It's been illuminated by God to your mind. And so this mystery is hidden, and God wants to grant it to you to understand.

In Romans chapter 11, verse 25, it says this: "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery." And so it's God's will that you not be uninformed. He wants you to be educated in regards to this mystery. Paul informed, and so now we therefore inform. In fact, it's more than just having the option to inform someone. It is your duty to inform others of this mystery. We have to clarify what it is. We're called stewards of this mystery. In 1 Corinthians 4:1 it says, "Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." And so you have a stewardship issue placed upon your Christian life to clarify the mystery of the gospel.

Colossians 1:26 says, "The mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations." And so think of yourself as blessed and highly favored to have a Bible in your hands and to have such bright clarity as to what this mystery is. You don't have to look through all of the types and the shadows and the law to see Christ. You have been able to see Christ clearly from a past perspective. You can look back on Jesus and see it all clarified. It's so bright. It's so beautiful. It's so detailed. And we are held accountable to the amount of light and illumination that God has given us. But in the Old Testament, it wasn't like that. It was different. They had to see Christ through these things.

Read with me in Ephesians chapter three, verses 1 through 12. And I want you to see just how blessed you are and that we must go through the Old Testament to see that this mystery is gradually revealed through God's one single plan through the ages. And they were responsible, just like we're responsible, to understand this mystery.

In Ephesians chapter three, verses 1 through 12, the Bible says, "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner" — he's reminding them again, "I'm in jail because of this mystery" — "I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief, about which, when you read, you can understand my insight of this mystery of Christ" — oh, verse five — "which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, that the Gentiles" — okay, here's the clarification — "that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise" — that word "promise" referring to all the covenants that accumulate in Christ. We are, as Gentiles and Jews, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel. This requires clarification to be able to understand this.

And in verse seven it says, "of which I was made a minister, according to God's gift of grace which was given to me according to the working of His power, to me, the very least of all the saints. This grace was given to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light for all what is the administration of the mystery, which for all ages has been hidden in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places." You see in verse 10 that this mystery is now made known through the church. If you've been saved by the grace of God, you are in the church. You're part of the church and you have a stewardship issue of clarifying the gospel, clarifying this mystery to people who do not know that. In verse 11, "This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my afflictions on your behalf, which are your glory."

This is a biblical worldview of suffering, because he is embracing and enduring suffering for Jesus because he is clarifying this mystery — which is Christ — to both the Jews and the Gentiles. The Gentiles have access to Christ to be saved, and so do the Jews, but they have to repent and believe the gospel. And so throughout all the past ages we see that this is being gradually revealed and it is for us to understand.

This mystery is at the same time both simple and very complex. It's simple in that you know that you're a sinner. You've been born with this sin-depravity issue and you cannot save yourself, and so we must recognize that our sin is against God. God has the right to determine what our punishment is for the sin that is against Him, and He has deemed from the very beginning that that is death. Sin equals death from the very beginning, and knowing that death resides upon us as the punishment for our sin, and we are guilty — no matter how young or how cute you are, you still are a filthy sinner. And you need Jesus. Knowing that God sent His Son — this is all His plan — He sent His Son to die in your place as a substitutionary death. He paid the penalty of death on your behalf. And as you believe that God sent His Son and poured out His wrath — the punishment for sin — on His Son, as you believe that, you repent of your own sin because it makes you feel so guilty. You're just ashamed of your sin because it forced God to have to pour it out on Jesus in order for Him to pay your debt. My debt, my payment — He took it on. He was beaten, battered, and bruised because of the things that I did, the things that I thought. I'm guilty. Praise God that He did that, because His merit makes it something that is done. It's a done deal. My merit would leave it undone. I could never do it. I could never accomplish the forgiveness of my own sin. And so praise God — by His mercy He sent His Son to take on the holy wrath of God to pay for our sin. And when we repent of our sin and believe in that, you can be saved.

Now, point number two is that human beings would never conceive of this mystery. The Bible is a divine document, and it would never have been conceived by human beings, much less the gospel, much less this mystery of the gospel. The Ephesian church prays faithfully that Paul would be able to proclaim boldly and clearly this mystery of the gospel. The Jews and the Gentiles are to hear the gospel clearly. In Ephesians 3, clearly explained, that the doctrine of our union in Christ is for both the Jews and the Gentiles — that means everybody. And so now everybody has access to be able to understand this mystery when they repent and believe the gospel. And so the gospel call is for everybody to come, taste, and see that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

Human beings would never conceive of this. All human-made religions are man trying to work their way up into deity or godhood or achieve their salvation or expunge their guilt or whatever the case might be. Whatever religion it is, whatever false -ism there is, they're all trying to work their way up. Christianity is the only religion, the only one where God sent His only Son — coming down to rescue us. Human beings would never, ever have comprehended, much less derived, these things when it comes to the mystery. The mystery must then be divinely imparted to you to understand. You would never conceive of it. And so it needs to be explained to you so that you can understand it. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God," Romans 10:17. We have to explain this mystery. We have to show people the way, the truth, and the life.

I want to prove to you that human beings would have never conceived of this mystery of the gospel. And within the mystery of this gospel, it includes all of the wonderful doctrines that we believe, and some of them are such that the human mind would never conceive of.

The doctrine of the incarnation — in John 1:14 it says, "And the Word became flesh." Human beings would never have conceived of deity being wrapped in flesh. The conceiving of that is far beyond the human mind.

The human mind would never have conceived of God who would die for sinners. Who would ever create such a religion where a holy and pure, powerful God would actually sacrificially give Himself for filthy, undeserving, wretched sinners, peasants? But that is the doctrine of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 3:18 it says, "The righteous for the unrighteous." You think about that — I guarantee you it'll bring you to tears. The righteous for the unrighteous. "All of your filth He takes on, and all of His righteousness He gives to you." What a glorious exchange. But Christ gives us Himself in this.

The human mind would never conceive of a God who would personally and painfully endure the punishment for wretched lawbreakers such as us. This is the doctrine of propitiation, where God sent His Son to take on the wrath of Himself. In Romans chapter three, verse 25, it says this: "Jesus Christ, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood" — He took on our payment to the point to where it required His blood. This was what it required — a brutal beating and death of His Son. Propitiation means satisfaction. And so this is God's wrath against sin and sinners being poured out completely on His Son on the cross, which satisfied His wrath. Why His wrath? Well, if you do not understand why God had to pour out His wrath, you do not understand the extent of His holiness. And so for a high and holy and just God to be holy and just, He must maintain justness. And so those who have unjustly broken His law — in order for Him to maintain His good name, in order for Him to maintain His holiness, in order for Him to be able to exercise who He is — He must therefore punish the lawbreakers to the just extent.

The problem with weak Christianity today is they minimize the payment for their sin. They think that they can flirt with sin and the consequences aren't going to be that much. But even just a mere thought of adultery, just a mere thought of murder, just a mere thought of jealousy breaks the whole law and deserves all of God's holy wrath. And so comprehending the highness of God and the lowness of man is part of what we need to explain when it comes to this mystery.

Not only that, the human mind would never have conceived that God would send His Spirit to apply the pure righteousness of Christ to filthy hearts and men. I briefly touched on that already. This is the doctrine of imputed righteousness. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 it says, "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." This is incredible, mind-blowing. You never would have conceived such a mystery.

The human mind would have never conceived that God would also give you a new heart. You see, mankind believes that they are good. Essentially, we've got a good heart, right? Essentially, you're born good. Essentially, you have well intentions. Essentially, human beings are good — we just need to bring the goodness out of them and moralize them and compel them to be gooder instead of badder. That is the false gospel of the day.

You can't do that. That is not the gospel. That nullifies the gospel, in fact, because if we are good of ourselves, then Christ died needlessly. But if we truly understand the depth of our sin, the penalty, and the punishment, the condition of the human heart, we would know that we need a new heart. But the human mind, outside of Christ, would never conceive of the fact that you need a new heart. In fact, an unregenerate lost person would say it like this: "You mean I need a heart transplant? A new heart? Need to take my heart out, put it on the table, and put what — a baboon heart back in? What are you talking about?" It is inconceivable to the lost person that we need a new heart. But you are given a new heart. This is a mystery. This is something that the mind doesn't comprehend. This is the doctrine of regeneration. In Ephesians 2:4 it says, "But God, being rich in His mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive with Christ." He made you alive. He gave you a new heart. In Ezekiel 36:26–27 He gives you a new heart. This is the rebirth, and this is a mystery. It's about the power of the gospel in Romans 1:16. It's the power of the gospel unto salvation. The human mind would never conceive of such things.

Christ is the mystery. He is the mystery. He is the answer. He is the everything, even from the beginning.

Point number three: Christ is the mystery. He is the mystery from the beginning. The mystery is Christ, and the Bible really is all about Christ from the beginning to the end. In John chapter one, verses 1 through 3, Christ was there before the beginning. Let me prove it to you. Turn to John chapter one. I want you to see the past-tense words here — "was," referring to Christ, being in existence from before the beginning.

In John 1:1 it says, "In the beginning" — okay, that's a reference back to Genesis 1:1, a timestamp there. So go back to the beginning of creation. Before God created the heavens and the earth, before anything was created — that is the time in which we're talking about. "In the beginning" — okay, that's the time God is referencing in Genesis 1:1. But before that time, past tense, look with me in John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word." It's already been in existence. Jesus has always been. He is the eternal deity. "And the Word was with God. And the Word was God." And so don't be confused at all. Was Jesus there? Of course He was there. Jesus is God. And then in verse two, "He was in the beginning with God." Who's He talking about? That's Jesus. Jesus was in the beginning with God. "And all things came into being through" — who? Through Christ.

Colossians chapter one, verses 15 through 20, clarifies that Christ is the Creator. Christ is God. And so right here in verse three, "All things" — okay, we're still talking about before creation — "all things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." And in Him, verse four, "was life, and the life was the light of men." Christ not only is life, He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is not only salvation, He is not only our life and gives us eternal life, but He is also, according to this verse, the one who gives light to men. He gives Himself to you as an illumination. He helps you to comprehend Scripture. He, by His powerful Spirit, the Holy Spirit, helps you to understand what the Scriptures say — this mystery of Christ. He helps you to ascertain it. And once you know it and own it, you fall in love with it, and you must tell the whole world because it is all-consuming. It is Christ.

And so we see in John 1:1–4 that Christ was there before the beginning, and He is the life and the illuminator.

Now turn to Genesis chapter one, verse one, and I want you to see further evidence of this mystery, which is Christ, from the beginning. And this Paul most certainly would have clarified to the Ephesian church as he was there for two years reasoning with them from the Scriptures, teaching them about the mystery of Christ. He would have had to have spent long hours with the Jews who were convinced of Judaism — a false religion that works its way up to God — rather than seeing God sending His Son as the mediator and the sacrifice and the atoner and the Savior of repentant souls. They see themselves as keeping the law and earning their way to God. So Paul had to undo their perception of the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul had to convince them, "You have had the prophets and you have had the holy Scriptures, but your preconceived ideas have made a false religion." And he had to undo that, and this would cause hostilities. This would cause them to hate him.

Can you imagine meeting someone in the streets and meeting a really cool guy and saying, "Hey, let me come over and let's study the Scriptures together." And some Judaizer would say, "Absolutely. I have copied parts of Isaiah by my own hand. My rabbi has an original copy — he traveled all the way to Jerusalem and one of the scribes copied it. And all of the effort to copy a part of Isaiah, I've seen it with my own eyes and I have written down God's holy words. Come to my house, let's study the Scriptures together. I not only have some of Isaiah, I have some of the Torah." And Paul would be like, "This is going to be great — and bad. Great and potentially bad. Really good, maybe painful. I'll sit in your house close to the door," Paul would say in his mind. "Let me sit right here where I can position and grab my stuff and run if need be, because when I start to reveal this mystery, when I start to share with you that you are self-sufficient rather than seeing sufficiency in the Scriptures, instead of seeing Christ, instead of seeing the mystery of the gospel, instead of seeing that you are wretched and undone and filthy — you're going to think that I'm accusing you. You're going to hate me. You're going to hate the fact that you gave me some of your bread. You're going to hate the fact that you let me touch your holy Scriptures. You're going to hate that you have me in your house." And so Paul going into these whole meetings and reasoning with them — not only in the synagogues, but also for two years to establish Christianity — he would be doing these things. And he would start in Genesis 1:1, no doubt. "In the beginning, God." Pretty easy to start there, right? Judaizer would say, "Yes, I totally agree." Well, explain to me what God is in Hebrew. Oh, I know what God is in Hebrew. That's easy. God in Hebrew is Elohim. And then Paul would say, "Is that singular or plural?"

And that Judaizer would not respond. And so — "What are you trying to imply? That our God who is one is like all the pagan gods around here who are many?" And Paul would say, "Hmm, there's an indication here that our God is one God, but maybe it's a hint that He perhaps could be more than one. Could He be He and His Son?" Oh, no. "Well, could He be He and His Son and Spirit?" Oh — now you're getting close to me throwing you out of my house. "Well, then, okay, let's continue in the Scriptures. Let's look at verse 26 together." Verse 26 says, "Then God said, 'Let'" — you say it — "Us."

You mean to say the holy Scriptures are referring to God in a plural form. Could this be a hint at the Trinity? And oh, the indignation could start to flare up inside of this good, faithful, self-righteous Judaizer. You see, he would have Psalm 92:12 memorized in his heart and mind, and he would say that the righteous will flourish like the palm tree. And he could beat his chest and point to Lebanon and say, like they always said, "On a clear day, my heart is as clean as the snow-capped mountains in Lebanon." And from Jerusalem, they could see these mountains, and they could see the snow, and they would compare the inner hearts of themselves and their motives to the pureness of the white snow on top of the Lebanese mountains.

And yet now, as this Judaizer is becoming more and more indignant with Paul, he gets to the point to where he is ready to kick Paul out of his living room as he gives him evidence that God is more than one. "If you think that's something, wait until you get to Genesis 2:16. Hold on." And so now in Genesis 2:16, it's talking about how Yahweh, our God, commanded the man — being Adam — saying, "From any tree of the garden you may surely eat." He's like, "No problem. I get God's command. I understand His rules. No problem at all." And then Paul would say, "Well, this man Adam was more than just Adam. Yes, Adam was Adam, but Adam was a representative for all of humankind. In fact, as he fell, all men fell. Adam is a type of —"

"Don't throw me out yet. You can open the door and creak it open if you would like, but please just hear me out." Paul would say to the Judaizer, who's gritting his teeth with anger and fury, and he pulls down his glasses and looks him straight in the eyes and says, "What?" And Paul says, "He's a type of Christ, a type of the Messiah."

"Whatever you're talking about, you must explain right now — you've got five minutes." Paul would be like, "Okay, let's continue in this thread and think it through." It's called typology. The theologian Paul — who would have the equivalent of like three PhDs, the equivalent of three million dollars' worth of education in today's estimation, who used to be a Pharisee, who knows Judaism — would say typology is a pattern in Scripture, and it is verified by Scripture. Adam is Adam, but his life is typology. And I'm not looking into this. I'm not making more out of this than what it is. This is not apophenia. This is reality. Only what is shown in Scripture to be a type is a type, and this is exegetically from Scripture — to see that Adam is a type, and types are tied to the future promises of God.

And so think of Adam's life as representing all of humanity, and that his life represents, as the federal headship of humanity, that God has to provide for the atonement for his depraved state. The promises of God are going to be fulfilled in Christ. He would say something like this: "I've already gone to this place called Corinth and I've shared with them that all the promises of God are in Him, yes, amen." That's a quote from 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse 20 — if you're interested to see that the promises of God all throughout the Scriptures are fulfilled in Christ.

And so Paul would say in the living room of this Judaizer, "Just hold on, I'm going somewhere with this idea and I want you just to hear me out." And he lived more than five minutes. These promises from God are fulfilled in Christ. These types, they're predictive. They utilize prophecy. "I know you know the prophets and of the prophets, and you have some of their scrolls and you have some of these prophecies. You said you've got Isaiah 53 — this is pointing to Christ as well." And so types are predictive and they're giving us clues, and they're talking about people — Adam and people like Noah and people like Abraham and people like Moses and people like David — as a means to show us a greater fulfillment, a greater reality. All of these clues in their lives, all of this foreshadowing, is going to be drawn out of Scripture and pointing to Jesus. And it's important to you today that Adam is a type of Christ. Types foreshadow and predict the greater reality to come. It's symbolism. It's rich and it's wonderful.

And so as a type, Adam is humanity's federal head. Adam represents all of humanity. And when Adam sinned, we all sinned. None are good. In Genesis chapter three, verses 6 to 7, Adam and Eve disobeyed and they ate and sin entered in. So now we have sin. In Genesis 3:16–17, the curses and the consequences are on all of humanity. That is evidence that Adam, as our federal head, represents that sin has spread to all men.

So follow me. Paul would be begging the Judaizer — "Just listen. Just follow the Scriptures. Train a thought and think with me on this" — and that the curses listed in Genesis chapter three, verses 15, 16, and 17 have now been applied to all of humanity. All women will have pain in childbirth and all men will work by the sweat of the brow. These are just some of the curses listed, but they are applied to all of humanity. And proof of that, evidence of that, is that it worked its way out in Genesis 4:8, where Cain rose up and killed Abel. You see that sin has now tainted humanity.

Turn to Romans chapter five and verse 14, and I want you to see how Paul clarified this for the Romans. And if he clarified this to the Roman church, to the Christians in Rome, and he had all kinds of time with the believers in Ephesus — you know that by mentioning it briefly in Ephesians he would have also clarified it to the Ephesian church within the two-year plan, because it is such a big biblical idea. Truly the entire word of God culminates in Christ. Truly the big message is Christ crucified.

And so in Romans chapter five and verse 14 it explains this — that through one man sin entered the world, and the consequences of sin are eternal death, and death spread to all men because all have sinned, and death through sin has spread from Adam on. But just as by one man, Adam — and here's the good news — I'm so glad Paul would say to the Judaizer, "I'm so glad that you have not thrown me out yet, because here's the good news. I've told you the bad news. Now I want to tell you the good news. The good news is just as by one man, Adam, sin spread to all humanity — everybody — likewise, through one man there has been salvation, salvation provided."

Read Romans chapter five, verses 12 through 15 with me. Romans chapter five, verse 12 and following: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world" — would you agree that Paul is referencing Adam right here when he says one man? That is true. "So just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin" — would you agree that Paul is referencing the sin curse from Genesis in that sin equals death? The reason why he knows that is because he knows Genesis 1:1 — death through sin. "And so death spread to all men, and so we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God because all have sinned."

Now at this point you say, "Well, duh, I get that, I know that." But I'm going to ask you within this message — if you are a steward of that, do you know how to explain that? There's a difference between knowing that and being able to say that. Do you know how to lead someone out of a self-righteous religion, where they feel like they are able to earn righteousness in any way, shape, or form? Do you know how to lead them out of that and show them the hope that is in Christ? You have to be able to defuse those things, apologetically defend your faith, and show them that the sentence of death is for all people. It spread to all men because all have sinned.

In verse 13, "For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Basically, you show them the law and it convicts their heart. It imputes to them conviction. In verse 14, "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses." That's a long ways for sin to reign. And it continues, right? "Even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam." Just as Adam sinned — you have not sinned in a similar fashion. You did not deny God's word in the same way that Adam did. But the sin that you have committed is just as damning.

And then here's the kicker. As he told the church in Rome that Adam is a type of Christ, and so he would be explaining it here: "Who is a type of Him who is to come." And as you see this subject of types in the Bible, it should perk your interest because, oh, are they so interesting — in how God alludes to the things to come, and how He gives promises of the things to come, and how He mysteriously puts out some of this truth and is drawing the net. You see, Jesus is a brilliant teacher. He is a master communicator and He knows how to get you thinking.

Let me read this again in verse 14: "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, and even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam, who is a type of Him who is to come. But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound to the many."

And so now Paul sitting in the living room of this Judaizer — think with me — of how this guy has probably gritted his teeth flat with fury and is deciding as to whether or not he is going to continue to listen to this guy as a false prophet, or whether he has some type of merit, some type of truth. Is he onto something here? And you too have to decide the same. Is Adam an antitype, a lesser type — of the greater type, of Christ — in the fulfillment of that being Jesus Christ? Is this mystery Christ? Is the mystery of the gospel Christ? Is the mystery of the gospel Jesus Christ crucified? Are all the promises in Christ? Yes, amen. Are all the promises leading up to Christ?

Do you see how the Bible has one grand plan and how this mystery is going to be better clarified as we continue to clarify what the gospel is? Do you see how the gospel would cause hostility? Do you see how the gospel, in clarifying the deity of Christ, would cause people to see that if they are not in Christ they have the wrath of God upon them? Do you see how clarifying the gospel would cause some people to say, "I'm self-righteous and I want to keep my life. I want to stay in my sin. I like my life. But I don't want to change. I don't want to repent. I don't want to submit to a holy God. I don't want to believe what you're saying is true. I'd rather persecute you. I'd rather attack your character. I'd rather slander you. I'd rather tell the world on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram all about you and your filthy life and make up a whole bunch of lies. I'd rather build a case against you and keep my life."

Do you see how the gospel — just the gospel, the beautiful gospel, the clarity of Christ — can bring such hostilities upon not only your life but also those who have gone before you and proclaimed Christ? In Matthew chapter five, Jesus clarifies that if you are persecuted for His name's sake — being Jesus — you are blessed and you are in the lineup with the prophets. You are doing the same thing the faithful prophets did — all the prophets in the Old Testament, Moses as well, Abraham as well. You're in the lineup as you see this one grand plan unfolding.

This mystery I grant you, like Paul granted to the Ephesian church — it's great, it's great. It's not a small mystery. In Ephesians chapter five, verse 32, it says, "This mystery is great, but I speak of Christ. This mystery is great, but I speak of Christ." This is huge for us to be able to ascertain.

Paul didn't stop with the Ephesian church. He didn't stop with the church in Rome. He didn't stop with Judaizers. In Colossians chapter two and verse two it says, "God's mystery, that is Christ Himself." Turn to Colossians chapter two — see for yourself that this is what Paul is proclaiming, "that God's mystery, that is Christ Himself, so that the hearts may be encouraged, having been held together in love, even into all the wealth of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of God's mystery." What is the mystery? That is Christ Himself. Christ is the answer. Christ is the gospel. Christ is the mystery, and therefore we must remember that our battle strategy in spiritual war fighting is proclaiming Christ. It's clarifying Christ. That is what will bring the battles to the hottest points — clarifying Christ.

You can have a false sense of fellowship with all kinds of different denominations if you don't talk about the deity of Christ. But as soon as you talk about Jesus, then it separates the sheep from the goats. And we need to be the ones who are willing to be agents of God, ambassadors of God, to clarify the great message of the Bible which is Jesus Christ crucified for the sin of mankind, for those who would repent and believe the gospel.

In Ephesians chapter six, this spiritual war fighting — the two strategies that we have are resisting and standing and then later on praying. But the resisting is for self-preservation. I bring that up because you are also called in spiritual war fighting to stand. Not only resist, but to stand — which is forward movement. And the word of God is offensive. That is, to proclaim Jesus Christ in the mystery of the gospel. Proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As you're marching forward, you're using the word of God, which is Jesus Christ. You're using the shield of faith, which is His righteousness. And so your main offensive weapons — the sword especially — the sword is the word of God, which is Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God," John 1:1. And then in verse 14, "And the Word became flesh." That's Jesus. And so the sword is Christ, and we proclaim Christ and we reveal Christ.

And so spiritual war fighting is not just protecting yourself. It's not just survival skills. You don't have armor so that you can survive. Christ has given you armor to win battles. And the way that you fight is that you proclaim Christ in every way. And so spiritual war fighting is both protective and salvific — it is for the salvation of those who are opposing you. Paul sitting in the living room of this Judaizer would say, "Listen, your eternal life is dependent upon your comprehension of Christ. Christ fulfilled the law. You don't have to live up to it. Christ fulfilled all of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Believe in Christ. God sent Christ." And as Paul is pleading and persuading and communicating Christ, he is revealing the mystery that from all the past generations has been trying to be seen through types and shadows and prophecies and allusions.

All of these ways to see Christ — Paul is saying, "Do you see Him? Go back and reread all of the Old Testament anywhere and you will see it pointing to this mystery. Who is Christ?"

Some of us just want to survive in life. They just want to get through and make it to heaven. That's not living. That's not living. That's surviving. I want us to have a victorious mindset, to lock in and win battles. And how you do that is by proclaiming Christ. Listen, you don't want to be one who is just merely surviving, arranging all of the furniture on this Titanic deck called life to fulfill your daily whimsical comforts. We don't live for the temporary. We live for what's eternal. And so as we set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth, you realize that you're a steward of this great, mysterious gospel — and it's mysterious in the minds of those who do not know — and you've got to clarify that and you've got to help them to understand and see Christ wherever they're at.

Our commissioning orders from Christ are to go, make, baptize, and teach. This is Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20 — the Great Commission. Four verbs right there: go, make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teach them all that I've commanded you. These are our marching orders.

And so now I have some take-home questions for you. Normally they're take-home truths, but I have some questions for you today.

Number one: how are you stewarding this mystery? Write down the reference — 1 Corinthians 4:1. Stewards of the mystery. How are you stewarding this? If God gave you ten million dollars and said, "You're a steward of my money, use it wisely," you'd be like, "Wow, that is a lot to be responsible for." And yet that pales in comparison to being a steward of the priceless blood of Jesus. And so take it seriously that we are stewards of the gospel. We are ambassadors for Christ. We've been commissioned to go and tell.

Number two: do you understand Adam as a type of Christ? Romans 5:14 says, "Adam, who is a type of Him." And this is the tip of the iceberg. The entirety of the Old Testament will be revealed and understood to you in a greater light as you see Christ as the fulfillment of these types. And Adam is just the start.

Number three: do you see that God's promises are fulfilled in Christ? Ephesians 3:6 says, "The promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." This word "promise" is talking about the covenants in the Old Testament, it's talking about the prophecies, it's talking about all these promises of God. All of the promises are revealed and fulfilled in Christ Jesus through the gospel. As we proclaim the mystery of the gospel, we are making known that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Just as Adam is the start of all the types in the Adamic Covenant, you also have the Noahic Covenant, and the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Mosaic Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant, all accumulating in the New Covenant.

Number four: do you see that the armor is about Jesus? As we're talking about this mystery that Paul brings up right here in the spiritual warfare, do you see that the armor is all about Jesus? The belt of truth — who is the way, the truth, and the life? Jesus. Do you see that the helmet is salvation? Who is our salvation? Jesus is our salvation. Do you see that the sword is the word of God? Who is the Word? Jesus is the Word. Do you see that the feet are prepared with the gospel, and the gospel is about Jesus Christ? Do you see that the breastplate of righteousness is ours to have, and Jesus is our righteousness? All of the armor is about Jesus.

And so it's very clear — Romans 5:12 talks about that through one man sin entered the world, and that death through sin, and that death now has spread to all men. And yet Romans 5:8 says that "Christ died for us while we were yet sinners." And that is great, because in that passage it says much more — in verse nine. What could be more than saving grace? What can be more than you being saved? Christ died for you so that you could be saved. "It says much more than" in Romans 5:9. What is this talking about? We talk about being saved — repent and believe the gospel. The most important thing for you is to be saved. What else is there?

There's much more to this salvation than just being merely declared just. We have the righteousness of Christ, yes, but furthermore — much more than just being saved. Verse nine talks about this: we're saved from the wrath to come. This is really good news. It's not just good news — this is like really, really good news. Because yes, you're saved from eternal death and separation from God in an eternal hell, but you're saved also from the eternal destruction of your flesh. You're saved from the eternal punishment of your sin. You're saved from the ongoing destruction of your mind — the agonizing guilt, the fury and the confusion and the regret that's going to go on inside of your heart and soul for eternity. You're saved from all of that. Not just saved as in justified, but much more than that. You've been saved from the wrath of God upon you.

And so think of the different elements in your salvation. Yes, you've been justified, but you've also been gloriously saved from the wrath to come. God sent His only Son to save sinners by dying for them and to save them from His eternal torment.

Hebrews explains this wonderful mystery. Hebrews 10:10 says that "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all." Verse 12 then says, "One sacrifice for sin." And verse 14 says, "By one offering."

Now I pray that you could take some time to reflect upon these truths, transitioned into a time of invitation. I invite you to think upon these wonderful truths of the Bible and to clarify in your mind what is the mystery of the gospel — and that is Jesus Christ Himself.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You for this time to be able to feast upon Your word. And I pray that You would save souls, lead them in sanctification, help them to be baptized biblically, to belong to godly churches — especially this one if possible. And as well, Lord, they would know how to study Your word and then to go and to make disciples. I pray this all the time for our saints, that they would continue in the word and so prove that they are disciples of Yours. And I pray, dear Jesus, that we would understand this mystery that Paul brought up to the Ephesians in brief — because they had already had it explained to them — that we too would be able to apprehend the wonderful plan that You have in all of Your word revealed. We love You. We ask that You would save souls and sanctify them and see that they could glorify You brightly. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.