Let's Get the Mystery to Shine On

Thank you, Mr. Critch, for your presentation. Happy Sabbath to everyone. Happy Sabbath! And happy Sabbath as well. Bonne Sabbath, Feliz Salvador, and Shabbat Shalom. What a blessing to be here again after a couple of years. My wife and I had the opportunity to attend the GCE back then. And what a blessing to see friends and part of my extended spiritual family here in Cincinnati again, and to see other international areas as well. I bring you to everyone who is watching this webcast a warm greeting along with a big hug from our family in Mexico and all of Latin America. Please join me by opening our Bibles in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 29.

Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 29. It's a very familiar verse. Familiar verse. Verse 29. It says, The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. This is one of the verses that contrasts things covered by God, which are not meant to be revealed. And on the other hand, we see things that are meant to be solved. Sometimes God does not reveal certain things. Like when the Apostle John was about to write down in the book of Revelation chapter 10 and verse 4. He was about to write down something and he was told, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them. So we can relate this with a, we can say a secret. We can relate this with something that is not meant to be solved, that is not meant to be revealed so far. But we do know something that it was meant to be revealed. I'm talking about the mystery of godliness, the mystery of godliness. So let's analyze this mystery of godliness and see how we can make it shine. How we can make it shine. The title of the split sermon today is, Let's Get the Mystery to Shine On. Let's Get the Mystery to Shine On. Talking about mystery, let's go to the first letter to the brother in Corinth, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verses 7 to 8.

1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verses 7 to 8. 2 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. Verse 8, Which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. So we see here something which was hidden here, the wisdom of God. And because people, the rulers at that time of Jesus Christ, did not have this heavenly wisdom, what happened? They crucified Jesus Christ. So this mystery is tied to the knowledge of the Messiah. But also, it is tied to something else too. If we jump to the verse 10 here, let's read the verse 10. It says, But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. The ancient mystery which is meant to be revealed, it shall be revealed to someone, first of all, by God's grace. But that person should consider two key elements here. The first one is Jesus Christ, his testimony, his knowledge, plus Holy Spirit. So we have these two key elements here, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We can see something, we can see a connection between these two key elements. And let's go to 1 John 4. 1 John 4, verse 2 and 3.

We will see a connection between those two key elements. 1 John 4, verse 2. By this you know the Spirit of God, every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every Spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. It's very simple. Continuing on, it says, And this is the Spirit of Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. We are reading one of the last, very last, greeting advice to the church from the apostle John. He said to us, never leave Christ out of the picture, and don't look at things from a fleshy point of view, but spiritual. In other words, with the Holy Spirit. So remember, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Probably one of the most notable verses that Paul uses the word, it is in the first letter to Timothy chapter 3. Let's go to read this verse. First Timothy chapter 3.

First Timothy chapter 3. First Timothy chapter 3.

And then verse 16.

First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, it says, And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. Scholars believe that this was part of an ancient hymn, Christian hymn. Whatever the case may be, let's see the list. It says, So this is the mystery of godliness. In a nutshell, we can say that. Actually, we can have we can have six different sermons from just one verse from here. Six different sermons. This is the mystery of godliness. It was meant to be revealed. And it is something that has been hidden since before the beginning of time. And now we see this is a monumental revelation that by God's grace you and I can understand. And also because we are considering these two factors, which is Jesus Christ, his testimony, his knowledge, and also the Holy Spirit within us, guiding us. Is this mystery of godliness a big thing? Yes, it is. It is really such a big matter. Of course, it is. Because we are talking about the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God. Of course, it is something astronomical. It looks like a rockin' science, isn't it? The apostle Paul says in Romans 11, verse 13, All the death of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.

But how Paul, the apostle Paul, presented this mystery of godliness to the church in Corinth. So this is a very interesting passage that we are going to read in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Let's go to the first letter to the brother, to the church here, 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And we'll see something very interesting because we have been talking about this huge thing, which is the wisdom of God. And now in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verses 1 to 5, let's see how Paul presented this wisdom of God to the Corinth. It says, verse 1, For I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. So we see here the wisdom of God, the testimony of God, another approach. Verse 2, for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in what? Weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preach were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your faith should not be in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. So Paul, the Apostle Paul, talked about Jesus Christ with what? With weakness, with fear, with trembling, allowing them to grow their faith in the power of God. One of these two key elements, the power of God.

Nowadays, there are so many ways to learn public speaking. There are thousands of free videos on YouTube that we can watch, we can learn how to put the right structure to a speech, how we can use our voice correctly, even how can we translate to another language our knowledge and more and more speaking techniques we can find on YouTube or whatever place. We ourselves have the teaching of Dale Carnegie in our history of the church. We have a lot of techniques we can learn, but that's not all. Paul revealed the mystery of God to the Corinthians in a godly manner. In a godly manner. I brought this prop to illustrate the mystery. The mystery that we have been talking about. So what we have in our hands, so to speak, is the mystery of God. God has called us and we have the knowledge and the testimony of Jesus Christ and we have the Holy Spirit within us, guiding us. So what should be the outcome of this? What should be the outcome of this mystery? What must be the outcome of this?

It is not just having the knowledge, it has something to do with godliness. Godliness comes from the Greek word eusebia. That's a beautiful name. Eusebia. It can be translated as holiness, sanctity, purity, even religion, even a spiritual mindset. Let's see a couple of verses that talks about this concept, godliness. Let's go to Titus. Chapter 1 and verse 1, 2, 3.

Titus chapter 1 and verse 1, 2, and 3. Paul, a bone servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. So we see this in this verse. Verse 2. In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. But has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior. So if there is no godliness, there is no acknowledgement of God's true either. Godliness is also a must. Let's see another example. Let's go to, and again, 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 3, 2, 5. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 3, 2, 5.

It says, if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent the wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness. Again, we see the same word. Verse 4.

From such, withdraw yourself. Foremost, we see that the truth of God, His teachings, His doctrine, should be in accord with godliness. Godliness. And also, we read something which is a little bit concerning, because godliness can be used in a wrong way, in a very wrong way. How? We just read it in verse 5 as a means of gain, as a source of income. Like Simon, the magician, in the book of Acts chapter 8, he was using it in a very, very selfish way. Similar to godliness, there is a concept from the business world that we can use here. Familiness. When a family business is driven by the desire to succeed, intangible assets, such as values, royalty, ethics, leadership, and commitment, all of these factors contribute to strengthening the business. It's pure synergy in a family business. So we are using this concept as well. A God-centered or family-centered concept is something that we see all the time in the Bible.

As a matter of fact, in chapter 5 of 1 Timothy, the apostle Paul teaches to Timothy something about relationships within the church. If we take a look at verse 1, it says something regarding an elderly man.

Treat him as your own father. Continuing on, he says, older woman should be cared for as your own mother. Younger man as your own brother. Younger woman as your sisters with all purity. Do we see a pattern here? What's the pattern? Family. It's very clear. It's very clear. Undoubtedly, we see here a vivid concept of a family. And this is not an instruction only for ministers, but for everyone in the church.

For instance, in verse 4, it says, to the children and to the grandchildren's widows, her family, because there was an issue with the true widows and the false widows. So it says, let them first learn to show pity or godliness at home and to repay their parents. For this is good and acceptable before God. This is what? This is pure godliness at home. Verse 8, it says, but if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and his worse than an unbeliever.

This is a very strong verse, very strong words. Verse 16, if any believing man or woman has widows, let them rely on them and do not let the church be burdened, that it may rely on those who are really widows. So here we see a very interesting way that the apostle Paul was trying to fix this problem, this issue with widows. And we see godliness should rule both in the church and within the family as well. It's everybody's business. And this is not a new statement, not at all. However, nowadays we see a lot of new stuff.

Everything is changing so quickly in this world, like AI. Tomorrow we're going to talk about AI. Last night we were talking about AI, the powerful AI. But you know what? The day that I was studying this topic, I thought, AI will never be able to practice godliness. AI will never be able to practice family-ness, never. Why? Because AI can have countless knowledge, but does not have a heart.

Godliness should sustain our hearts to care our congregations as if they were our own families. Families. Everybody knows that blood is thicker than water. My wife and I moved 4,000 miles away from our home more than 10 years ago. We moved to a place where there was no father, no mother. There were no uncles, no aunts, no brothers, no sisters, no cousins, no cookies from grandma. After all, what have we gained? What's the answer of that? A much bigger family. That's certainly the case. We have gained a massive spiritual family. If we continue reading Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6, let's just read that verse.

First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6, it says, Now godliness, we contentment, is great gain. This is a very different approach to the concept of gain. Very different from the verses 3 to 5. It's very different. I like the Bible, the expanded Bible version, how it translated this verse. It says, Serving God does make us very rich if we are satisfied with what we have.

If we are satisfied with what we have. So we have been called by God. The mystery is in our hands. We have the mystery in our hands. The Messiah, the first key element, unlocks it. We have the knowledge. We have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And we have the Holy Spirit within us. So let's get the mystery to shine on, shall we? If we serve God and His people, being grateful with what He has given us, the solved mystery of godliness will shine. And we will realize that we have gained far more than we deserve. In conclusion, we read the first verse that we read. It was the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 29, verse 29, where it says, Those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

This is another way to see how the mystery can shine. Because God's intention in revealing His wisdom is that we and our children, our families, should keep His commandments as well. This is another approach to see how the mystery can shine. Let's go to Matthew. This is the final verse. Matthew chapter 19, the final script here. Matthew chapter 19.

And verse 29. Matthew 19 and verse 29. It says, And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. So, fellow elders, let's not forget how important it is to develop, to maintain, to exercise a family-centered ministry within our churches. As the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, exercise yourselves toward godliness. If we consider our families, if we consider this beautiful, huge, large family we have, if we consider that we are able to understand the no more hidden wisdom of God, if we are considering Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, needless to say, we are very, very rich. Aren't we? So let's hang on to our calling. Never give up our service to God and his people, our family. Let's get the mystery to shine on. Game not over. Yet.