OF THE DIVINE MYSTERY IN GENERAL.
James Dodson
DISCOURSE I.
“For I would not, Brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
ye should be wise in your own conceits.”
This clause of the verse contains Paul’s account of the nature of his subject—it is a mystery. He was now to give them information
[Page 8]
concerning a matter that was wonderful and mysterious; a subject which had been, in a great degree, hidden and secret; and of some Divine operations which were most interesting.—The text also contains the name by which he addresses them—he calls them Brethren. He employs this appellation to point out their high dignity as the members of Christ, his strong affection for them, their duty to love one another, and to bespeak their attention to what he was now to suggest to their consideration.—In these words we also find his concern that they should receive instruction about this mystery—“For I would not that ye should be ignorant of this mystery.” It is not my desire that ye should be uninformed of those mysterious operations of God, concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. It is my earnest concern that ye should possess a clear and satisfactory knowledge of them.—There is likewise, in the text, a reason assigned for his concern about it—“Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits.” The Apostle’s design was to remove their ignorance, which would be hurtful to them; and to convey to their minds that knowledge which would promote their good.
In discoursing on this part of the subject, we shall,
I. Mention some parts of this mystery.
II. Show what kind of a mystery it is.
III. Explain the reasons of the Apostle’s concern that they should not be ignorant of it.
I. I am then, in the first place, to mention some of the things which are contained in this mystery.
1. This mystery contains the Divine rejection of the Jews from the honour and felicity of membership in the Church of God. This rejection supposes their call into this happy state, and their enjoyment of it for a time. When God called Abraham, and established his covenant with him, his seed were included in the merciful dispensation: “That I may be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” To promote the glory of his name, to save many Israelites, to preserve the knowledge of Divine truth on the earth, to symbolize the work of the glorious Redeemer, and to prefigure the privileges and blessings of the gospel church, it pleased God to make choice of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their seed, to be his peculiar people, the worshippers of himself, and the repositories of his revealed
[Page 9]
will, till the coming of his Son in the flesh. To them were committed the oracles of God. But when the Messiah appeared among them, instead of believing in him, they said among themselves, “This is the heir, come let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.” For this unparalleled wickedness, in killing the Prince of life, the King of kings sent forth his armies and destroyed these murderers, and burnt up their city. This dispensation of God to the Jewish nation is a prominent part of the mystery; for the Apostle says, in giving an account of it, that blindness in part is happened to Israel. They were cast out of the Lord’s vineyard, separated from his Church, given up to their own hearts’ lusts, and suffered to walk in their own counsels. Of this they were faithfully warned; for Jesus had publicly declared, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.” What Christ’s words declare in the way of prediction, the words of Paul and Barnabas relate as matter of fact: “But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things that were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, Lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Being covered with spiritual darkness, they were cast out of their own land, and scattered among the nations. In this situation it was impossible that they could observe the ceremonies, attend the ordinances, or keep the solemn feasts which were essential to the religion of their ancestors. On this account they were reduced to the situation of the Gentiles in their state of heathenism; and they “were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”
2. This mystery comprehends the calling of the Gentiles to the faith of the gospel, and to membership in the Christian Church. This is mentioned in different parts of the ninth and tenth chapters; and it is particularly stated in the chapter where our text is found.
[Page 10]
The apostle says, verse 11, “Through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles;” and in verse 24, “If thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree.” In the verses in which our text is contained, this part of the mystery is declared. “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Since God has fixed a time for bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, the Gentiles in part must have been formerly brought in. Not to prove the calling of the Gentiles, for this has been known in the Church for almost eighteen hundred years; but to show that their calling forms a part of this mystery, those words of the Apostle have now been mentioned. Of it we, indeed, may say, “This is a great mystery.” That the Gentiles, who had been so long ignorant of God and of his will, estranged from his service, and enemies to the true religion established among the Jews—that the Gentiles, who had been so deeply sunk in idolatry, worshipping the work of their own hands, overclouded with unbelief, and living in the practice of all immoralities—that the Gentiles, who had surrendered themselves to such a degree, and for so many ages, to the service of the god of this world, that they should obtain mercy, that salvation should come unto them, that they should be united to Christ, should believe in him and be saved, is a great mystery and a wonder, for which Gentile christians of the present day cannot be sufficiently thankful to that God whose gifts and calling are without repentance.
3. This mystery contains the ultimate conversion of the Jews to the faith of Jesus, and to the fellowship of the Christian Church. In those verses, the Apostle speaks not merely of the Jews’ unbelief and rejection, but also of their conversion and re-instatement into the church of the living God. “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. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. That through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” This is a glorious part of that mystery, in the knowledge of which, the Apostle instructs the Christian Church. He would not that they should be ignorant of this mystery, that though the Jews must be rejected and cast out for their unbelief, the time would come, when salvation, through Christ, should be brought to them also, when they should be partakers of precious faith in Jesus, when they should believe in him
[Page 11]
as their Saviour, and when they should celebrate his glory, saying, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen.”—The Jews’ conversion and salvation will be a great mystery. That they, who have so long rejected the Saviour, contradicted his Gospel, and blasphemed his name, should fly to him as a cloud, and as doves to their windows,—will certainly be a marvellous work, and a wonder.—That the merciful God and the compassionate Saviour should send the Divine word and Spirit on them, who have all along maliciously opposed Christianity, that they may be guided into all truth, and saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, will be truly admirable. In those dispensations of grace and providence to the Jews, with what grandeur and majesty will God and the Mediator appear unto men! O how glorious will that operation of Divine grace be, when the seed of Jacob shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. O how mysterious and delightful, both to Jews and Gentiles, will it be to behold the lost sheep of the house of Israel flocking to Jesus’ fold, and to discern the Great Shepherd perfecting on them that work, which he has, in our day, so conspicuously begun.
4. This mystery includes a more abundant conversion of the Gentiles. The Apostle announces this part of the mystery in the following words, “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Of the two following truths, this apostolic declaration warrants our belief. That in the past ages of Christianity the fulness of the Gentiles has not come in; and that when the Jews’ blindness shall cease, God will accomplish a mysterious work, in bringing into the Christian church the fulness of the Gentile nations. Though the Gentiles, ever since the days of the Apostles, have still been coming into the church of Christ, their fulness has never been brought to the knowledge and belief of the Gospel. Even at the time when the Church enjoyed apostolic labours, and when the Gospel was preached by them and others throughout all the world that was known to them, it was only a small part of the inhabitants of any land or city, who embraced Christianity. Notwithstanding the number of their converts in every place, the national systems of Heathenism were still con-
[Page 12]
tinued, and the great body of the people remained in the state of pagan ignorance and idolatry. If we take a view of the Gentile nations for fourteen hundred years, we will find that their situation, relative to Gospel light, the christian profession, and the evidence of personal godliness, has been truly deplorable. Even since the light of the Protestant reformation shined on various nations, and has continued to our own time, many Gentile nations are still under heathen darkness and idolatry, others are beclouded with mahometan absurdities and delusions, and not a few are involved in antichristian errors, superstitions and wickedness. How much need then have the Gentiles of the fulfilment of this part of the mystery, when their fulness shall come in! This Divine work will be a glorious mystery. What joy and wonder will fill the minds of christians, when they shall hear of heathen kingdoms and empires casting their idols to the moles and the bats, and submitting themselves to the sceptre of Jesus! Equally amazing and delightful will it be to the church of God, when the eastern Antichrist, whose dominion extends over almost all the places mentioned in the Old Testament, shall perish from the earth, and his votaries shall embrace the religion of our Redeemer! Mysterious, solemn, and joyful to the church, will that operation be, by which Babylon the great shall fall, and when the Spirit of Christ’s mouth shall consume, and the brightness of his coming shall destroy that Man of sin, and Son of perdition. All these must be overthrown before the fulness of the Gentiles can come in; for when this part of the mystery is fulfilled, “the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea, and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.”
5. The universal union of both Jews and Gentiles in the Christian Church is also a part of this mystery. This is a necessary consequence of the other parts of the mystery, and it is evident from some of the Apostle’s statements in this chapter. It is evident from the other parts of the mystery. Since the Jews, who have been rejected for their unbelief, shall be restored to the privileges of the Church of God, and since the fulness of the Gentiles shall then come in; it must follow, that both Jews and Gentiles, at this happy time, shall, “through Christ, both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” This blessed and mysterious union is proved by
[Page 13]
some things which the Apostle states in this chapter. The condition of the converted Gentiles, in the Apostolic age, is thus represented, verse 17. “If thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.” If the converted Gentiles were graffed in among the believing Jews, and with them partook of the root and fatness of the olive tree, there must have been at that time a happy union, and a blessed fellowship subsisting between Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ. If this was their blessedness when only a few of the Jews and the Gentiles had believed; how much more will it become their happy attainment, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be come in, and when all Israel shall be saved. If the manner of the Jews’ conversion, as stated by the Apostle, is considered, it will demonstrate the same truth. “Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy,” verse 31. The Jews were the instruments whom God employed in the primary conversion of the Gentiles, and every one of them who believed was made one with the Jewish believers. The Gentiles must be the agents who will be active in the commencement and progress of the Jewish conversion, and all of them who believe will become one with the Christian Church. The Apostle’s most comprehensive account of the blessedness both of the Gentiles and the Jews, is given in the same words. Of the former he says, “Yet have now obtained mercy,” and of the latter, “That they also may obtain mercy.” If their state and privileges are the same, there must be an entire union betwixt them. When Paul, writing to another Gentile church, speaks of this union, he gives it the name of a mystery. “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel,” Eph. iii. 4, 5, 6. If this union between Jews and Gentiles, when it was, as to numbers, in a very imperfect state, was a mystery of Christ; how glorious will this mystery be when all the house of Israel, and the fulness of the Gentiles, shall be joined to the Lord Jesus, and united to one another by the faith and profession of his name.
These are the parts of that mystery concerning which Paul writes
[Page 14]
to the christians at Rome. It contains the rejection of the Jews, the calling of the Gentiles, the conversion of the Jews, the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, and the happy union which shall subsist between Jews and Gentiles in the latter days.
With some reflections from what has been said, we will now conclude this discourse.
1. Salvation is of grace. What merit was found about the Gentiles when they were brought into the kingdom of Christ? Gross ignorance, abominable idolatry, and every kind of immorality prevailed among them; yet they were called out of darkness into light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive an inheritance among them who are sanctified through faith in Christ. Their salvation was of sovereign and free grace. What worthiness will be found about the Jews when they shall be graffed again into their own olive? Until the day that Divine grace arrests them in their progress, they will persevere in their ignorance, unbelief, obstinacy, and sin. Their salvation, therefore, will also be of grace. It is true, indeed, that all the Jews and the Gentiles, who have really believed, shall be made holy; but this is the effect, and cannot be the cause of their conversion. Let us, therefore, believe in the glorious truth,—“By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
2. Sin leads infallibly to punishment and misery. Though our own righteousness, on account of its many imperfections, cannot procure for us everlasting salvation; yet our sins, by reason of their infinite demerit, subject us to eternal punishment. It was the rebellion of the house of Judah against their God, which caused their expulsion from the Church, the destruction of their city and temple, the desolation of their land, and their dispersion among the nations. This truth will be verified on every sinful nation, and on every rebellious individual. National sins procure, from the Divine hand, public judgments; and the sins of individuals will be punished with personal sufferings. O, how ought we to abhor and avoid that abominable thing which God’s soul hates! The enjoyment of God’s regenerating grace, and an interest in Christ’s righteousness by faith in him, are necessary to relieve us from a state of spiritual death and legal condemnation, and to introduce us into a state of purity and acceptance
[Page 15]
with God, without which we cannot serve the Lord Christ. A clear knowledge and love of the Divine law, and of the gospel motives which enforce our obedience to it, are needful to keep us out of the paths in which destroyers go, and to guide our feet into the ways of holiness and peace. As the shadow moves with the body, so punishment accompanies sin; for God hath said, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
3. The dispensations of God’s providence, which fulfil his purposes toward his Church, in this world, are a great mystery. They could not be at all known were they not revealed. After they are revealed we cannot fully investigate them. “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” Neither can we fully understand the mystery of his works, though they are revealed to us in his word. The operations themselves, when they are fulfilled, we may know in part; but the reasons of them cannot be fully understood. “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.” The ends which God accomplishes by his mysterious works are various and important. Some of them belong to his people, others of them relate to his enemies, and all of them have a respect to himself. The general designs of his mysterious providences are the edification of his Church, the punishment of the wicked, and the glory of his name. But in what manner these precious ends are attained by those mysterious means surpasses our comprehension. How the unfulfilled parts of the mystery will be brought to pass will never be exactly known till the day declare it. What he has revealed is sufficient to direct our knowledge, to support our faith, and to encourage our hope, and this is all that is profitable to us. To gratify our curiosity or to foster our pride, this was never intended. Let us, therefore, think soberly, and reason with humility, concerning the mysteries of Divine providence.
4. The present state of the Christian Church, and the nations of the earth is still very low. The last three parts of the mystery are yet unfulfilled. The Jews in general are still sitting in darkness and unbelief. Many Gentile nations are till this day under heathenism, mahometan delusions, and antichristian errors and idolatry. While so many of the world’s inhabitants remain in this condition, the
[Page 16]
Church can neither be comfortable nor prosperous. She cannot be comfortable—Before these changes are produced, judgments from God, bringing calamities on men, must be inflicted on the nations. While these judgments are abroad in the earth, they will, in some degree, affect the members of the Church. In the peace of the city where the Church resides, she will have peace; but in the calamity of the nation where she dwells, her members will have distress. Besides, how can the Church be fully comforted, when so many parts of the earth are in darkness, and are the habitations of cruelty. Neither can the Church, in the present situation of the world, be very prosperous—That season in which the stone that the builders rejected, will, in a glorious degree, become the head-stone of the corner, and when multitudes will cry out, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” will be the happy time, when the Church shall obtain from God a very remarkable answer to that prayer, “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.” Till this blessed season arrive, the Spirit will not, in an extraordinary degree, be poured out on the Church, to bestow on her the precious privilege of life from the dead.
5. How encouraging are some of the signs of our times! It is true, the Jews generally are in a state of unbelief; but how numerous and suitable are the means which are now employed, with vigour, perseverance, and increase, to effect their conversion! With what success has the application of those means been attended, and what effects have they, by the Divine blessing, produced on many of the lost sheep of the house of Israel! Not a few of them have been convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; have believed on his name, and have taken on themselves the profession of his religion. By a life of holiness, by an attendance on gospel ordinances, and by a zeal for the conversion of their brethren, they have exhibited the best evidences of the reality of their religion, and the sincerity of their christian profession. Nor is the prospect less cheering, when we contemplate the means that have been put in motion, and the happy effects which they have produced, both among the ignorant parts of the christian world, and the darkened nations of the Gentiles. By the circulation of the Scriptures, the preaching of the Word, the means of education, and the distribution of religious tracts, almost every part of the world has begun to hear the joyful sound, conveying to their ears, and, we hope, also to their hearts,
[Page 17]
the good tidings of salvation. Though the labourers have met with things trying to their faith and patience, yet the effects of their works are glorifying to God, comforting to themselves, refreshing to the Church, and beneficial to those for whose instruction and salvation they travail as in birth.
6. How consoling is the prospect of an universal and perfect unity in the Church of Christ. The last part of the mystery exhibits to our view this precious privilege. If the Jews and Gentiles shall be harmoniously united, Jewish professors must be united among themselves, and Gentile Churches also must become cordially one. How different is the situation both of the one and the other, at the present time. The Jews are divided into a variety of sects, among which there exists an inveterate antipathy. But this will be removed, when they are brought to believe in him who is Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The Christian Church is also divided into various sections. But the spirit, and power, and illumination of that blessed era, will bring them together in faith and love, in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bond of peace. Jews and Gentiles, being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, will be reconciled to one another, and will harmoniously sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.
7. This subject furnishes a solemn warning to Gentile Christians. The rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles are contained in this mystery. The Apostle improves the former of these dispensations, to caution the Gentiles who have been privileged with the latter. Although we have no reason, in our day, to fear the rejection of Churches, as we hope they will be increased rather than diminished; yet the warning applies, with great force, to the condition of individuals. It is to them, indeed, that the Apostle makes the application. He improves the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, to warn us against self-confidence, “Boast not against the branches; but if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” To warn us against unbelief, “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.” To warn us against spiritual pride and presumption, “Be not high-minded, but fear.” To caution us against groundless assurance of safety, “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” And to caution us against departing from
[Page 18]
the Lord, or leaving our first love, “Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God; on them that fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness;—otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” Beware, O Christians, of those great sins and sore evils. They have been the ruin of the comfort and usefulness of many true believers. They have also led many nominal professors to unexpected destruction. Beware of them. Indulge them not. Seek the mortification of them in your hearts. Cry to the Lord to give you the principles of saving grace, and to maintain the exercise of them in your souls. Watch over your own spirits, and endeavour to keep yourselves from those heart plagues. Though you have succeeded to the privileges of the ancient Jews with great enlargement, what will it avail you in the end, if those evils which procured the rejection of their posterity, rule secretly in your hearts. That this may not be your final doom, remember daily, and live habitually under the impression of those alarming words: “Take heed lest he also spare not thee; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”