HOW TO FELLOWSHIP THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITYby Chaplain Ray
It is commonly believed that the Apostle Paul was the most highly educated of the early apostles. And there might have been a short period of time when he was a cynical and violent Jew as he sought to destroy the early church. But from the day that Saul of Tarsus met the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus, he lived a life of endless wonderment as he encountered one after another of the many mysteries of God.
In fact, as the elder mentor of his disciple, Timothy, the Apostle Paul declared these words in I Timothy 3:16: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
It is very clear that, in describing the mystery of godliness, an attribute of God, he was speaking even more forcefully of the Godhead!
It is abundantly clear that, as the Apostle Paul pursued the many mysteries of the Kingdom of God, his ultimate goal was to persuade all Christians to fellowship in the mystery of the Godhead. This goal he pursued even from his prison cell in the Mamertime Prison in Rome. From this prison Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus in Asia Minor, now known as Turkey. Ephesians 3:8,9: "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."
One of the primary meanings of the word fellowship is this: "A friendly acceptance"
When Jesus Christ began His public ministry to Israel, He urged the leaders of the Jews to recognize and accept and fellowship the mystery of the manifold manifestations of the Godhead! How did he do this? He reminded them of what God had revealed to King David in the Psalms. Jesus quoted King David in Matthew 22:41-46:
"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying What think ye of Christ (Messiah)? Whose son is he? They say unto him. The son of David. He saith unto them. How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." The Pharisees were speechless! Jesus presented to them the mystery of David's Lord becoming David's son, but they could not fellowship this mystery of the Godhead!
What was the final result of this spiritual blindness on the part of the Jews?
The Apostle Paul answers that question in Romans 11:25: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of
the Gentiles be come. in."
What a penalty Israel has paid for refusing to fellowship the mystery of the triune God! Two thousand years of darkness, dispersion and degradation. But the day is coming, and possibly coming very soon, when a regathered Israel will become a restored Israel!
This restoration was prophesied by the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah 12:9,10: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
Zechariah 13:6: "And one shall say unto him. What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which ? was wounded in the house of my friends."
What a dramatic moment in history and in prophecy when Israel recognizes Jesus Christ as deity and begins to fellowship the mystery that they had denied and rejected many centuries before!
For believers to fellowship the mystery of David's Lord who entered into the human race as David's son, Jesus Christ, is so vitally important that all three evangelists (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all report the face to face encounters when Jesus challenged the Pharisees with the question, "If David then called him Lord, is he his son?" You will find the records of Christ's encounter with the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46, in Mark 12:35-37, and in Luke 20:39-44.
On the day of Pentecost, when speaking to a very large audience of Jews in Jerusalem, the Apostle Peter made one final appeal to the Jews to believe in Jesus Christ because it was He who had been David's 'Lord before He became David's son.. 2:29-36. This was the climax of Peter's sermon at Pentecost, Most Jews did not "believe and receive, but the results were measured in Acts 2:41:
"Then they that gladly received his word ware baptized; and the same day there were addad unto them about three
Mysteries are something, hidden and not known to all, but usually known to some.
When Jesus began His public ministry in Israel, He very quickly let it be known to His hearers that He wanted them to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
After Jesus had spoken to the multitude about the Parable of the Sower who went forth to sow, His disciples came to Him and asked, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?"
"He answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given." Matthew 13:11.
And there are many more mysteries in the Bible, such as the wisdom of God is a mystery (I Corinthians 2:7); the mystery of resurrection (I Corinthians 15:51); having made known unto us the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:9-14); the mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3:1-11); the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:25-27); and Colossians 2:8,9: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
And finally, the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy that even the deacons in each local church, should be qualified leaders in the church, "Holding the mystery of the faith in pure conscience." I Timothy 1:9.
One of the most hopeful signs of advancement in the Christian Church in America is found in the wonderful growth in the Fellowshipping of all of the Biblical Mysteries as we come nearer to the Blessed Hope of the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(From the book God's Prison Gang)
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