Spiritual Aristocracy
Pastor Ricky Kurth
Pastor Ricky Kurth
Pastor
Stam used to call the Bereans “the spiritual aristocracy of their day”
because they “received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched
the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:10,11).
Knowing that he was a wordsmith who chose his words carefully, I looked
up “aristocracy,” and sure enough, one of the definitions is, “those who
rise above the rest of the community in any important respect, as in
wealth, knowledge, character, etc.”
I thought of all this when I recently came across Proverbs 25:2 again in my daily Bible reading:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”
It was truly the glory of God that He could conceal the Mystery from the devil. After all, it was said of the Antichrist, “thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee” (Ezek. 28:3), an arrogance he will learn from his master. Since that was Satan’s boast as well, imagine how humiliated he was when Paul went forth heralding “the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19), the secret of the gospel, and he learned that the Cross he thought spelled his greatest victory was actually the thing God would use to rescue sinners from his clutches!
Then, as the apostle began to unfold “the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles” (Col. 1:27), how Satan must have gasped as God’s secret plan to reclaim the rule of the heavens from the “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12) caused him to realize that there was a secret that had been hidden from him, one that spelled his complete defeat! No wonder Paul concludes his greatest chapter on the mystery by saying of the Father who concealed this matter, “unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:21).
But while it is the glory of God that He could conceal such a great thing, “the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” You may not be a kingpin in the world, but you prove yourself to be part of the spiritual aristocracy of your day when you search out the depths of the mystery that God concealed from Satan so effectively since before the world began. What an honor it is to plumb the depths of this great truth, and to “be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of that which “passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18,19), “that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”
.A Special Announcement: Transformed by Grace, the new weekly television program produced by the Berean Bible Society, has begun broadcasting across the United States. Visit the Transformed by Grace page on our website to find your local station and time.
(A 10 Minute Video)
I thought of all this when I recently came across Proverbs 25:2 again in my daily Bible reading:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”
It was truly the glory of God that He could conceal the Mystery from the devil. After all, it was said of the Antichrist, “thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee” (Ezek. 28:3), an arrogance he will learn from his master. Since that was Satan’s boast as well, imagine how humiliated he was when Paul went forth heralding “the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19), the secret of the gospel, and he learned that the Cross he thought spelled his greatest victory was actually the thing God would use to rescue sinners from his clutches!
Then, as the apostle began to unfold “the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles” (Col. 1:27), how Satan must have gasped as God’s secret plan to reclaim the rule of the heavens from the “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12) caused him to realize that there was a secret that had been hidden from him, one that spelled his complete defeat! No wonder Paul concludes his greatest chapter on the mystery by saying of the Father who concealed this matter, “unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:21).
But while it is the glory of God that He could conceal such a great thing, “the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” You may not be a kingpin in the world, but you prove yourself to be part of the spiritual aristocracy of your day when you search out the depths of the mystery that God concealed from Satan so effectively since before the world began. What an honor it is to plumb the depths of this great truth, and to “be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of that which “passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18,19), “that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”
.A Special Announcement: Transformed by Grace, the new weekly television program produced by the Berean Bible Society, has begun broadcasting across the United States. Visit the Transformed by Grace page on our website to find your local station and time.
How
God Saves Men
Believing
Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read
Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
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