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In the scripture, God has revealed seven New Testament Mysteries to the church. I’ve listed those mysteries at the end of this article for reference. In the scripture, a New Testament mystery is not something that we cannot know, but rather truth previously concealed in the Old Testament that is now revealed to the Church in the New Testament. God’s intention is that we understand the mysterys.

As disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, it’s imperative that we rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). It is in rightly dividing the word that we see how to rightly apply the word of God and properly harmonize the promises and covenants of the Old Testament to the nation of Israel, with the promises of the New Testament discerning the difference between the inheritance of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. If I have already lost you, don’t sweat it. When I first was saved, I didn’t understand the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament! God saved me anyway and used his Spirit and his church to gently teach me and grow me in grace and truth so I could fulfill my biblical responsibility to be a steward of the mysteries of Christ. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)

When we talk about mysteries and rightly dividing the word of truth, big words like “dispensations” cause some people’s eyes to glaze over because they don’t really see the relevance of those truths to their everyday life. I would submit to you that understanding the seven New Testament Mysteries offers us great insight and practical application of the scripture to our everyday lives. I don’t have time to cover all seven mysteries in this article but I will take one, that perhaps, is one of the more popular and widely quoted mysteries. The mystery of the body of Christ:

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:30-32

As I think about this mystery, I cannot help but think that God has a sense of humor. Many would agree with God that marriage certainly is a “mystery” as movies and sitcoms fill the entertainment media with examples of marriage relationships that range from comedic to tragic. The lost world portrays marriage as a mystery because they are in darkness. Christians are Children of the Day, we should not walk in darkness but sadly, we who should understand and model marriage most effectively are often as blind as the world to the mystery of what makes a marriage work biblically. This should not be the case. The man who led me to Christ used to say, “I believe any two Christians can be married and glorify God if they are in God’s will.” Today marriage has become so “mysterious” that I have to clarify, my discipler assumed two Christians who are of the opposite sex. The mystery and very definition of marriage has come under great attack in recent days.

What if I told you that God wanted to unravel the mystery of marriage by unveiling the mystery of Christ and the Church? Would you really believe there are keys to practically understand your biblical design in marriage? You would be surprised how practical the word of God is in clarifying how a biblical marriage should operate. The world, the flesh and the devil will mock you, but they aren’t doing so well either so who cares what they think? One of the reason we have an annual marriage conference is to help reveal, remind and refresh God’s people of the biblical mandate for marriage and clear up any “mystery” that can cause marriages to sputter, stall and fall short of the picture God has intended them to be. Amy and I have been married for 27 years and have participated in at least 12 HBF Marriage Conferences. After 12 years, we still look forward to the Marriage Conference to clarify any mystery in our marriage that would keep us from being a clear picture of Christ and his Church. We look forward each year to the Conference and hope you find it a great blessing as well.

Marriage Conference March 24-25

I want to thank those who have signed up so early for the 2017 Marriage Conference, March 24-25 This is the first year all our rooms have been booked a month in advance. That is a first for HBF! Typically, folks wait until the last minute to sign up so we are encouraged with your eager planning and participation. Those who still want to attend but missed the opportunity to sign up for our reserved rooms can still register for day sessions and make accommodations at the hotel or a nearby location. We do hope everyone can attend this conference as it will be a tremendous time for HBF, our sister churches and guests coming from all over the metro.

Mark Trotter and his wife Sherry of One Baptist Church in Douglasville, Ga, will be our guest speaker. Pastor Mark was a very influential in my formative years as he pastored First Baptist Church of New Philadelphia, Ohio. It was the zeal of First Baptist Church of New Philadelphia, along with the pulpit ministry of Pastor Trotter, that influenced missionary Jeff Barker to embrace a biblical philosophy of discipleship which drew us together nearly 17 years ago. It has been my great pleasure to reacquaint myself to Pastor Mark in recent years through our relationships with our sister churches in the Living Faith Fellowship. Today, Pastor Mark travels three or more times per year investing heavily in the saints of Malawi, Africa through the ministry of Pastor Pilira Chibwana. Many of you will remember being blessed by the ministry of Pastor Pilira the first Sunday of 2017 when he spoke eloquently of the reason why Jesus came. That was a great launch to the New Year! Those who attend the Marriage Conference will be in for a special blessing as the preaching of Pastor Mark is anointed in prayer and practical in application to our lives. He will also be at HBF the following Sunday, March 26, which will be a special blessing for the HBF church family.

If your marriage is a mystery, clear that up March 24-25 at the Annual Marriage Conference. You won’t want to miss out.

Seven New Testament Mysteries:

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 1: Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2: Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

  1. The Mystery of Godliness [Incarnation] (1 Timothy 3:16) 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.
  2. The Mystery of the Indwelling Christ (Colossians 1:27) 27: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
  3. The Mystery of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:31-32) 31: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32: This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
  4. The Mystery of Israel's Blindness (Romans 11:25) 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 fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
  5. The Mystery of the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) 51: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
  6. The Mystery of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:7) 7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
  7. The Mystery of Babylon the Great (Revelation 17:5) 5: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.