The Fellowship of the Mystery of God: Not Your Everyday Mystery Story

By David H. Thompson

This book is written for inquiring minds that
really want to know the truth of who Jesus is, why
he came to earth nearly 2000 years ago, and why he
is returning to earth very soon.
During the first forty years of David Thompsons
walk as a professed Born Again Christian, he
believed the traditional answers proclaimed by the
Church that said Jesus came to earth to die for our
sins so we could go to heaven when we died in the
sweet bye and bye.
However, for the past seven years, God has
called David and many others into a closer, more
spiritual walk in which God the Father has clearly
revealed that the primary mission of His Son
Jesus and His saints is to proclaim and promote
God s Great Kingdom on earth in the sweet here
and now!
Jesus said the coming of God s Kingdom to
earth is a Mystery. He exclusively revealed this
Mystery to his 12 disciples in his interpretation of
his Parable of the Sower.
St. Paul speaks of the Fellowship of this Mystery as
he describes his God-given ministry to the Gentiles,
to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the
Mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath
been hid in God. Ephesians 3: 6-12

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 22, 2006
• ISBN: 9781465329554

David H. Thompson

The author of this book, David Thompson ( [e-mail]), is not a newcomer to understanding the difference between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel that is preached in churches today. (There is a huge and significant difference!) This is the second book he has written and published about the coming of God’s kingdom to earth. His first book (published 2007) is entitled, The Fellowship of the Mystery of God. Excerpts from this book may be read at www.thefellowshipofthemysteryofgod.com. David continues to reside in West Palm Beach, Florida , where he teaches earth science and social science in the public school system. He holds a BS in geology from the University of Florida (1982) and an MBA from CBN (now Regent) University (1988).

Book preview

Copyright © 2007 by David H. Thompson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

Publisher’s Web Site

www.xlibris.com/TheFellowshipoftheMysteryofGod.html

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

34505

Contents

synopsis

Introduction

The Mysteries of Life’s

So Many Questions

A Mysterious Tale of Two Cities

The Mysterious Messenger of the

Covenant Suddenly Appears

The Mysterious Messenger Lays

Down His Life in a Mystery

Extra, Extra, Read All about It! God Is Restoring His Kingdom on Earth!

God Has Declared the End

from the Beginning

Finishing the Mystery of God

The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts

Will Perform It

The Battle Engages in the Hearts

and Minds of Mankind

Spring Up, Oh Well!

What God Is Doing to Complete

His Kingdom on Earth

The Days of Elijah: Prophets

and the Prophetic Movement

Turning the Hearts of the Fathers

to the Children

Understanding God’s Purposes

Revealed in His Mysteries

The Apostles’ Knowledge of the

Mysteries of God

God Is Shrouded in a Cloak of Mystery

Close Encounters with the Living God

Man Plans, God Laughs

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

and His Righteousness

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done

on Earth As It Is in Heaven

The Kingdom of God is Come Upon You

The State of the Kingdom of God on Earth

The Mystery of Man

The Mystery of Christ in You

Having the Mind of Christ

God’s Riches in Glory

What Is the Fellowship of the Mystery?

The Mystery of the Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God

Is Not Meat and Drink

The Mystery of God’s Times, Seasons, Systems, Processes, and Opposites

The Mystery of God That Overcomes

a Troubled World

The Commandments

and Testimonies of God

Planning in Accordance

with God’s Perfect Will

Human Relationships in the Advancing Kingdom of God

Spirit-Directed Redistribution of Wealth

The Mystery of Iniquity

The Mystery of Self

Examples of Selfish Mind-Sets

in Today’s World

God Is Not the Author of Confusion

The Foundation of God Stands Sure,

the Lord Knows Who Are His.

Effective Personal Testimony

The Iniquity of Tithing Teaching

in the Body of Christ

The Working of Iniquity Has Wreaked Havoc in Nature

The Working of Iniquity Causes Wars

The Mystery of the Seven Stars

and Seven Candlesticks

The Mystery of the Church

The Mystery of Babylon

The Mystery of the Gospel

The Apostasy of the Church

In God’s Master Plan, Man’s Will Is Eventually Submitted to God’s Will

Jesus Practiced What He Preached

Jesus Taunts the Hebrew Religious Leaders

God Exposes Satan and His Minions

and Deceives Them with the Truth

Life Is a Bitch and Then You Die

The Mystery of the Wheat and the Tares

The Secret Things of God

The Mystery of Blindness in the Part

That Has Happened to Israel

God Speaks to Man in Various Ways

Fulfilling Daniel’s Seventy Weeks’ Prophecy

The Mystery of Harvest Time

These Are the Times That God Is Completing His Kingdom on Earth

synopsis

This book is not your ordinary easy-to-read mystery story. On the contrary, it is a very difficult-to-read, real-life mystery of how the God of heaven is restoring His righteous kingdom on earth.

Not only is this book difficult to read, for many, it will be next to impossible to understand because it is based upon Holy Scripture that cannot be properly understood without illumination of the Holy Spirit of God who inspired all Holy Scripture.

The title of this book, The Fellowship of the Mystery is taken from Holy Scripture where St. Paul writes that he was chosen by God "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ".(Eph. 3:9 KJV; italics mine)

For those who are hungry and thirsty to taste and drink of the depth of the word of our Almighty Lord, I quote more of the complete text from which these words were taken:

That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ (italics mine): To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Eph. 3:6-12)

If you are already straining to understand what this is all about, don’t feel bad! Even St. Paul’s contemporaries found his writings difficult to understand. St. Peter writes,

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood (italics mine), which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. (2 Pet. 3:14-16)

St. Luke writes in the book of Acts that St. Paul was a specially selected vessel of God.

But the Lord said unto him [Ananias], Go thy way: for he [Paul] is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. (Acts 9:15-16)

St. Paul was one of the most learned men of his day. He was well studied in the laws and literature of the Hebrew, Roman, and Greek cultures. He was a citizen of Rome. Moreover, his writings are considered Holy Writ that are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when St. Paul speaks of his ministry to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery, we should pay attention and try to understand what he is talking about. But for some reason, very few people are even aware of the Fellowship of the Mystery, nor do many understand much, if anything, about the mysteries of God that are addressed at length in the Bible, such as:

the mystery of the kingdom of God

the mystery of Christ and His church

the mystery of God

the mystery of godliness

the mystery of the Resurrection of the dead

the mystery of marriage

the mystery of the Gospel

the mystery of faith

the mystery of iniquity

the mystery of blindness in the part of Israel

the mystery of Babylon

Does God have some purpose for these mysteries? The answer is yes! This book reveals the answer.

Through His prophets, God declares that His thoughts and ways are higher than the thoughts and ways of man. Because of this, His thoughts and ways are hidden from the eye of natural self-centered man. From the viewpoint of self-centered man, everything God thinks and does is a mystery. How often have you heard someone say, God works in mysterious ways!

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa. 55:8-9)

Ever since our original parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, mankind has lived in a state of self-centered rebelliousness separate from God. The Bible implies this is a state of living death.

Not only has our self-centered way separated us from God, it has also separated us from members of our own families and has given rise to disputes and rivalries and that have often escalated into civil and international wars.

But there is good news to report. God is now at work reconciling human relationships with God and among all human beings as the final phase of completing His righteous kingdom on earth.

The Bible indicates that God carries on His work in secret under the cloak of mystery.

But St. Paul declared almost two thousand years ago that God’s master plan for earth calls for God’s mysteries to be revealed in these end-times in which we now live.

This was why St. Paul was so zealous to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery.

Today God is opening the spiritual eyes of many to partake of the Fellowship of the Mystery.

These people are seeing and understanding what God is doing today to restore His kingdom on earth just before Jesus Christ returns the second time to receive the restored kingdom and to rule it with his saints for a thousand years and forever.

The people of the Fellowship of the Mystery do not concern themselves with made-made religious ritual and dogma focused on a futuristic heaven pie in the sky after you die in the sweet bye and bye.

The people of the Fellowship of the Mystery are only concerned with and focused on what God is now doing to advance and complete His kingdom on earth. They listen intently for God’s daily instructions about what they should be doing to assist in this most noble of all endeavors. As members of this exclusive Fellowship of the Mystery, they process world news of the day to discern the spiritual news behind the news. The spiritual news is the good news of what God is actually doing today to finish His mysterious work of transitioning the kingdoms of this world into the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ as revealed by His holy prophets! The seventh angel is now sounding, and the events prophesied are now coming to pass!

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 11:15) But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Rev. 10:7)

Introduction

This book reveals the mysteries of God that are set forth in the Bible. In so doing, it answers many questions of life such as, Why are we here? What is our purpose? What does the future hold? Is there a God? And if so, what is God doing?

It is not a work of fiction nor does it have anything to do with Tolkien’s allegory, The Fellowship of the Ring. But it does have a lot to do with allegory and metaphor.

This book, The Fellowship of the Mystery, unlocks the mysteries of biblical prophecy that are communicated through allegory, metaphor, type, and parable. Allegory is one of the primary methodologies God uses to explain and depict spiritual things to our rational, logical minds that are designed to process information received through our five natural senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.

The revelation of a mystery is a mental/spiritual unveiling or uncovering. Spiritual revelation is the uncovering of the secret knowledge of God within our spirit. This is consistent with what St. Paul writes.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:9-16)

Notice that St. Paul says, We have the mind of Christ. With the mind of Christ, we have the memory of Christ so that we are able to remember all things that Christ has ever experienced that are stored in his memory.

Therefore, in a very true sense, revelation might be considered a remembering. The whole purpose of the Holy Spirit’s moving upon us in this life in the flesh is to cause us to remember the realm from whence we came, who we are, what our purpose is—so that we might know and agree with what God is doing as He directs us to complete our journey and fulfill His purpose in our lives. This is the mystery of our existence that is revealed in this book. But in order to fully understand this revelation requires a renouncing and dying to our self-centered will and perspective.

Moreover, the Bible warns that no proud, self-centered flesh shall glory or even exist in the presence of God.

But God welcomes humble and contrite hearts into His presence. Such yielded hearts are a sweet-smelling fragrance to God. Actually, the spirit of God seeks out and is drawn to humble and contrite hearts that have taken up their own crosses and follow Jesus in self-denial and giving up of self-will and self-perspective.

In God’s master plan for earth, the blood of Jesus mysteriously covers and protects humble and contrite hearts from the consuming fire of the wrath of the Almighty God in whose presence no self-centered, proud flesh shall glory or even exist.

Mysteriously, God has provided that all who follow Jesus by submitting to Him and presenting their bodies to Him as living sacrifices will return to the holy state in which Adam and Eve existed before they disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

God’s prophets have long ago prophesied that there will come a time of judgment when God will separate those who follow Jesus from those who don’t.

Moreover, it is prophesied that as this time approaches, God would be shaking all the foundations of man-centered governmental structures and man-centered belief systems and philosophies that control the nations of the world. Haggai 2:6-7 says,

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

The desire of all nations is of course Messiah Jesus, the righteous Son of the Living God!

St. Paul warned Timothy of how people would think and act during the last days.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their’s also was. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim. 3)

I have been aware of these prophecies for over forty years, but I did not know until about seven years ago that these verses applied to me, a professed Christian believer who was carried away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. But praise God! In His mercy, He has renewed my mind and brought me to a higher plain of understanding God and what He is now doing on earth. Now I know what He wants me to do. For starters, He has called me to write this book to let all men know what He is now doing to restore His kingdom on earth.

For me, there is no doubt that we are now in the final end-times of God’s prophetic time line. We are in the days of the final war and of the final harvest depicted by the prophet Joel with multitudes in the valley of decision awaiting God’s decisive judgment.

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. (Joel 3:9-14)

But for now as I write these words, we are still in the acceptable year of the Lord as per Isaiah 61:2 during which time God is calling all men everywhere to repent, to deny themselves, and to take up their crosses to follow His Son Jesus. In so doing, we will overcome the world of Satan and transform it into the kingdom of God on earth.

Now we have reached the prophesied time in which the rest of Isaiah chapter 61 is being fulfilled. The day of the vengeance of God is nigh upon us, to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations (Isa. 61:2-11).

These verses depict the coming of the kingdom of God to earth. Jesus calls this coming the mystery of the kingdom of God. He revealed this mystery through his interpretation of his parable of the sower that reveals that the kingdom of God arises secretly within the hearts of men.

This is not eschatological pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die speculation. It is actually happening. It is tangible and down-to-earth! The kingdom of God is here. You can feel it in the atmosphere!

All to whom God will grant the grace to be born again of the Holy Spirit will be renewed in mind and heart and will then be able to see God’s kingdom and will understand the fullness of these things. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Eph. 3:20).

Many people today all over the world are discovering that God is available for direct, one-on-one, two-way communication with Him like never before in history. Now is the acceptable year of the Lord (see Isa. 61:2)!

God is empowering more and more people today to be able to experience the simple truth of what God requires of man: to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God (see Mic. 6:8).

The Mysteries of Life’s

So Many Questions

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

—John 16:13

The many scriptures cited in this book are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. For many, the King James English is not easy to understand. But whatever the translation of the Bible, the spiritual wisdom contained in the Bible, especially the mysteries of God, are not easy to understand because the language, analogy, metaphor, and the cultural backdrop in which the Bible is written is not easily translated into modern language.

In God’s master plan for earth, He confounded the language communication of man at the Tower of Babel just after the flood of Noah. His purpose in so doing was to disperse mankind throughout the earth and to keep them from being unified in their sinful self-centered thinking that is separate from God’s thinking.

But with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that began on the day of Pentecost as recorded in the book of Acts, God has reversed the confounding of languages thereby removing the language barrier that has separated mankind for so long.

Now the Holy Spirit will translate God’s truth and reveal His mysteries in the minds and hearts of God’s people regardless of what language they speak and understand. This is reflected in what St. Luke wrote about the events that occurred on the day of Pentecost:

And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? . . . we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. (Acts 2:7-11)

Therefore, it does not much matter what Bible translation I use or the style or manner in which I write. If readers truly want to know the true interpretation of the scriptures I cite and comment on in this book, all they need do is seek illumination by the Holy Spirit. God has ordained that the truth of Holy Scripture may not be found by seeking signs and wonders as the Jews of St. Paul’s day did or by seeking the wisdom of man compiled in the libraries of the world as the Greeks did and modern-day intellectuals still do.

Life is full of mystery. Life itself is a mystery. Why are we here? Where do we come from? Did we evolve from monkeys?

We all experience the same planet with its universal natural laws. Why can’t we agree on the matters and issues of life? Why can’t we all get along? Why is there so much selfishness and prejudice that divides us as individuals? Why does this individual selfishness and prejudice escalate into ethnocentric cultural attitudes that divide families and nations and cause wars? Why are people killed and maimed every day in Iraq and other places? Will there ever be any letup to this violence? So what is our porpoise? Can porpoises communicate with us? Do porpoises have purposes or do porpoises only have porpoises?

Why do we have a sense of humor? What would Jesus think is funny (WWJTIF)? Why do we have imaginations? Why do we like mysteries? Is it because reading mystery novels stimulates our minds and offers escape from the often-boring humdrum of our predictable everyday lives? Why do we get bored? Why do we sometimes feel we want to escape and take a vacation?

Do animals get bored? Does God ever get bored? Can we communicate with God? Why are squirrels so nervous and, uh, squirrelly?

Who do you trust? Who can you trust? What is success in life? What’s my purpose? Does God have a purpose for each individual human being? What is it?

If God is all-powerful and can do anything, can he make a stone so heavy that even he can’t lift it? What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Why does the Bible say all the trees in the field will clap their hands when we know that trees do not have hands like human beings? Is this nonsense or what?

Why did the apostle Paul write to young Timothy saying,

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Tim. 3:16)

Why does St. Paul think this is without controversy? Maybe because it’s obvious and self-evident to him?

It all seems so very mysterious!

This book is focused on the mysteries of God that are found in the Bible.

The Bible reveals that God is enshrouded in a cloak of mystery because of the sin of mankind. This is depicted in the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy that says, Though the darkness hide Thee / though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see.

God’s people, His called-out ones, known as the church, have likewise been enshrouded in a cloak of mystery. St. Paul speaks of the mystery of the church when he writes about his God-given mission to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery. In Ephesians 3:8-11, St. Paul writes,

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church (italics mine) the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I was a Christian for twenty years before I had any clue about the mysteries of God. But in 1980, God began to draw my attention to His mysteries that are revealed in the Bible.

I looked up the word mystery in Strong’s Bible Concordance and found twenty-seven verses in the New Testament where the Greek word mysterion is used to describe the works of God! The following mysteries are specified in the New Testament:

the mystery of the kingdom of God (Matt. 13:11, Mark 4:11, Luke 8:10)

the mystery of Christ and His church (Col. 1:26-27)

the mystery of God (Col. 2:2)

the mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16)

the mystery of the Resurrection of the dead in Christ (1 Cor. 15:51)

the mystery of marriage (Eph. 5:32)

the mystery of the Gospel (Eph. 6:19)

the mystery of faith (1 Tim. 3:9)

the mystery of iniquity (2 Thess. 2:7)

the mystery of blindness in the part of Israel (Rom. 11:25)

the mystery of the seven stars (Rev. 1:20)

the mystery of Babylon the Great (Rev. 17:5-7)

In the Old Testament, instead of mysteries, King David speaks of the secrets of God in the book of Psalms:

He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. (Ps. 18:11)

The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. (Ps. 25:14)

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. (Ps. 27:5)

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. (Ps. 31:20)

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps. 91:1)

I have studied these secrets and mysteries of God to determine if there is any useful purpose, rhyme, or reason that may be derived from such a study. I wanted to know if human beings are relegated to simply saying that God works in mysterious ways, with no hope of understanding why.

My study began by asking the following specific questions that I felt might arise in the minds of any rational person that studies the Bible in depth:

1. Is there any evidence that there is a creator God? If so, what is it?

2. What is God’s purpose in creating the earth to be inhabited?

3. What is the kingdom of heaven that the Bible talks about and where is it and how does it operate? Is it different from the kingdom of God?

4. Why does God operate in a cloak of mystery?

5. What is Bible prophecy all about? Has it really foretold world events before they happened?

6. What, if anything, has God hidden from past ages and why?

7. What future events are prophesied to take place at the sound of the seventh or last trumpet?

8. What is taking over the entire world without being noticed?

9. Is there a right religion, and if so, what is it?

10. Does God communicate with man? If so, how and to what extent?

11. How did Abraham and Moses know it was God talking to them?

12. What does God require of man?

13. What is faith, and how does it operate?

14. Is faith opposed to rational thinking?

15. What is God’s will, plan, and perspective? Can we even know it?

16. What does it mean to deny our self and take up our cross to follow Jesus?

17. What does the future hold?

18. What is mankind’s role, if any, in what the future holds?

I believe God wants His children to know and understand the answers to all these questions and more. This is why Jesus left us his Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.

The Holy Spirit has directed certain faithful people throughout human history to write down what God wants His children to know about Him and His plans and purposes. These writings have been compiled into the book we today call the Bible.

St. Peter writes that God has given us, in the Bible, a sure word of prophecy… as a light that shines in a dark place! (2 Pet. 1:19)

This sure word of prophecy foretold the coming of Jesus Christ in great detail. The event of Christ’s first coming has come to pass with an effect that has literally changed the world!

Jesus’s ministry was all about the coming of God’s kingdom to earth, which is also clearly foretold in God’s sure word of prophecy.

Most Bible prophecy says something about God’s kingdom coming to earth.

The prophet Daniel depicts the kingdom of God being set up and completed in the end-times of the earth (Dan. 2:44). The prophet Isaiah describes what the kingdom of God on earth will be like (see Isa. 65:19-25).

St. John’s Revelation reveals when God will finish His mystery to complete His great kingdom on earth! (Rev. 10:7 and 11:15)

The completion of God’s kingdom is depicted as a time of great excitement and rejoicing in both heaven and earth because it is the time that the kingdoms of this world [hell on earth] become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever!

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Rev. 10:7)

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 11:15)

This preaching of the kingdom of God coming to earth was the primary theme of Jesus’s ministry. He called it the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus called the coming of the kingdom of God a mystery. He revealed this mystery to his disciples privately through his interpretation of his parable of the sower.

In this parable, the seed is the Word of God, which spiritually is Jesus, the Word of God that was made flesh as per John 1:1. This seed is planted into fertile (humble and contrite) hearts of men (and women) where it grows into the fullness of the stature of Christ in each individual child of God.

The interpretation of this parable also correlates with and reveals another mystery that St. Paul sets forth in his epistle to the Colossians, which is the Mystery of Christ in you the hope of glory (see Col. 1:27).

In these mysteries of God, we see the spiritual beginnings of the kingdom of God on earth in the hearts and minds of God’s children. These are the sons and daughters of God who are being manifested in the real world today to complete God’s kingdom on earth. They were created with the spiritual DNA of Christ Jesus.

Indeed, it can now be clearly seen through the eyes and ears of those who are spiritually mature or born again that the kingdoms of this world are rapidly being transformed, like never before in human history, into the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ.

During Jesus’s earthly ministry, he continually pointed out to his twelve disciples how he was fulfilling prophecy concerning his first coming to earth as the anointed Messiah, the suffering servant, who heralds the restoring of the kingdom of God on earth.

Jesus declared the nature of God’s kingdom and how and when it would come on earth. He did not equivocate in presenting himself as the prophesied Messiah of Israel who is the Anointed King of God’s kingdom on earth! He told Pontius Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. He said his loyal subjects were mysteriously in the world but not of it.

During the ministry of Jesus, most of the Jewish leaders were looking for the prophesied Messiah. They seemed to understand what Jesus was saying and they witnessed the miracles he performed but they could not accept him as the promised Messiah because he did not at that time seem to be fulfilling their expectations that the Messiah would overthrow the Roman Empire and set up God’s kingdom on earth. They understood the substance of God’s prophecy concerning the coming of Messiah but they were blinded to the prophetic fact that there would be two comings of Messiah, first as the suffering servant of God depicted in Isaiah chapter 53 and next as the conquering Son of God of Isaiah 9:6-7 who would indeed overthrow Rome and the entire world and set up God’s Kingdom on earth. They were afflicted with another mystery of God, which is blindness in the part of Israel. St. Paul discusses this mystery in Romans chapter 11, where he writes,

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. (Rom. 11:25-26)

Most of Jesus’s teachings and parables were about the kingdom of God coming to earth; but mysteriously, Jesus revealed this to only his chosen twelve disciples, who became his twelve apostles.

It seems these apostles were part of a select secret inner circle that St. Paul described as the Fellowship of the Mystery! St. Paul uses this phrase the Fellowship of the Mystery in his epistle to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 3:8-9, St. Paul seems very zealous to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery.

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

There are many current events taking place today that are mysteriously consistent with the prophesied events that will occur in the generation that immediately precedes the completion of the kingdom of God on earth.

Jesus said that during this time, the Gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world (see Matt. 24:14).

To reiterate, this is the time of the sounding of the last trumpet depicted in St. John’s Revelation when voices in heaven are saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ.

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 11:15)

This is the time of the finishing or completing of the mystery of God, which is the mystery of the kingdom of God that Jesus taught his disciples.

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Rev. 10:7)

And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? (Mark 4:913)

Do You Get the Picture?

A Mysterious Tale of Two Cities

The Bible depicts a mysterious tale of two cities: one an earthly city dominated by the perspective of self-centered man and the other a heavenly city dominated by the perspective the Lord God Almighty.

Cain built the first city mentioned in the Bible. He built his city after he went out from the presence of the Lord because he had murdered his brother Abel.

And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. (Gen. 4:16-17)

This was the first city built by man. It was built from a murderer’s self-centered point of view, out and away from the presence of the Lord and His righteous perspective.

After the murder of Abel, God replaced Abel with Seth. Seth had a son named Enos; and then, as the Genesis record says, men began to call upon the name of the Lord.

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. (Gen. 4:25-26)

It would seem that the lineage of Abel-Seth might be considered the godly lineage of man.

But mysteriously there is no indication in the Genesis record of any city built by man in Seth’s lineage. Perhaps this is because in Seth’s lineage, godly men would expect God to build His own city according to His plans and specifications.

This is reflected in what St. Paul says of a city Father Abraham was looking for. It was a city whose builder and maker was God.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place, which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (italics mine). (Heb. 11:8-10)

While Abram was looking for this city of God, he came into a country in which he sensed there was no fear of God.

This country was no doubt dominated by the perspective of self-centered man that was passed down through Noah’s family to Nimrod, the mighty hunter before God, who built the city of Babylon.

In the course of time, God has provided us with a prophetic glimpse of this tale of two cities in a dream He gave to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

God’s beloved prophet Daniel interpreted this dream and recorded it as follows:

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Dan. 2:31-35)

In this dream we see the city (or kingdom) of man depicted as a great image of a man that has a head of fine gold that represents the kingdom of Babylon, breast and arms of silver that represent the empire of Media-Persia, belly and thighs of brass that represent Greece, and legs of iron and feet of clay that represent the Roman Empire.

The stone cut without hands represents Jesus Christ, the King of God’s holy city, which is the kingdom of heaven that manifests on earth. Jesus and His army of saints destroy the cities (or kingdoms) of man and replace them with a great mountain that fills the whole earth, which is God’s kingdom on earth.

St. Augustine writes about the history of these two cities in his epic work of the fourth century entitled The City of God (see books 16 and 17).

The history of the city of man is also well documented in the often-conflicting accounts of man’s own history. Such accounts of man’s history are doomed to conflict because of the different viewpoints that have arisen from the self-centered nature of fallen man.

In Marxist ideology, the word revisionist is used to describe those who would see history differently from how Karl Marx viewed the history of man.

In a true sense, one might say that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their oneness of conscience with God was shattered into separate individual consciences each having its own self-centered viewpoint. They became like little gods. These individual self-centered perspectives immediately created an atmosphere of competition and strife in which differing viewpoints vie for dominance.

History shows that by might and power, some viewpoints of men like Nimrod, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Saddam Hussein have overpowered the viewpoints of others and have been able to dominate and rule large numbers of people.

Self-centered perspectives are reflected in the literature of the city of man such as the short poem Invictus and the Humanist Manifesto:

Invictus*

by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

The definition of humanism by the American Humanist Association reflects the human centered perspective of humanism:

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

The Bible reveals the death-dealing fallacy of man’s self-centeredness as follows:

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Prov. 14:12, 16:25)

The Bible reveals God’s mysterious life-giving perspective as follows:

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the