Romans 16:25 says, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel, that is, the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept in silence in the times of the ages.” In the foregoing messages we have covered seven mysteries and the divine revelation. Here in this verse we have a phrase that combines the mystery and the revelation. This phrase is “the revelation of the mystery.” In the New Testament the word revelation is used mainly with respect to the mystery of God. It does not refer to the ordinary things of human life.
The Bible contains many doctrines, teachings, histories, and stories. All these things are related to the basic revelation either directly or indirectly. Take a large painting as an example. The painting has a focal point, the central figure, and all the other items in the painting are related to the central figure either directly or indirectly. To isolate any item from the focus is to cause it to be meaningless. The same is true with our physical body. The body is the focus. Although the fingers, the feet, and the toes are not the focus, they are related to the focus. If you isolate these parts from the body, they will become meaningless. The arms are directly related to the focus, but the thumbs are indirectly related to it. If you cut off your thumbs, they will be isolated from the focus and become meaningless and useless.
Often when we meet one another, we shake hands. Suppose you cut off your right hand and present it to me. How horrible that would be! When the right hand is properly related to the body, it is lovely, but when it is detached from the body, it becomes grotesque and frightening. In like manner, to detach any doctrine, history, or story from the focus in the Bible is to render it ugly and terrible. Nevertheless, this is exactly what is taking place among Christians today.
Some Christians have isolated foot-washing from the basic revelation in the Bible. No doubt, foot-washing was taught and practiced by the Lord Jesus Himself, for He washed the feet of the disciples as an example for them. Foot-washing is related to the basic revelation, but if you isolate it from the basic revelation, it is like cutting off your feet. When the feet are attached to the body, they are lovable, but when they are detached from it, they are horrible. Likewise, when foot-washing is related to the basic revelation, we can appreciate it, but when it is detached from the basic revelation, we cannot appreciate it.
The same is true regarding head covering. The matter of head covering is taught in 1 Corinthians 11, a chapter related to the headship of Christ. Paul says that God is the head of Christ, that Christ is the head of the man, and that the man is the head of the woman. Therefore, it is important to care for the matter of head covering because it is related to the headship of Christ. However, to separate head covering from the basic revelation in the Bible is like cutting off your head and handing it to someone. Today, many Christians separate the matters of foot-washing and head covering from the basic revelation. In doing this, they do not care for the Body.
The basic revelation in the Bible is the unveiling of God’s mystery. For this reason, the Bible speaks of the revelation of the mystery. The revelation of the mystery is the unveiling, the opening up, the bringing to light, of God’s mystery so that we may see the central focus. This central focus is nothing less than Christ and His Body, the church.
A number of times I have been questioned by those who have detached certain doctrines and practices from the focus of the basic revelation. In 1963, after a certain meeting, a brother said to me, “Brother Lee, according to your ministry, it is apparent that you fully believe in the Bible. Since you care so much for the Bible, why do you not follow a certain matter that is clearly revealed in 1 Corinthians 14? Your sisters are very active in the meetings. This indicates that you do not follow the teaching of 1 Corinthians 14 that women ought to be silent in the meetings.” I told him that I had known these verses for many years and that I had ministered on them many times. Then I asked him, “Does your group have meetings?” When he said that they did, I replied, “Don’t your sisters sing hymns in the meetings and don’t they pray?” When he acknowledged that they did, I said, “Then in your meetings the sisters are not silent either. This is altogether a matter of different interpretations and practices.” This illustrates the fact that if we neglect the focus, the central figure of God’s revelation, we shall find ourselves in difficulty. However, if we direct our sight on the center of God’s revelation, we shall have no problem. The focal point of God’s revelation is not a matter of whether or not women should be silent in the meeting of the church.
Some have made an issue concerning whether we should be noisy or quiet in the meetings. To be either noisy or quiet does not mean anything. We do not care for silence, and we do not care for noise. I have received a bad name for advocating shouting in the meeting. However, I have been very careful not to isolate the matter of shouting from the focus of God’s revelation.
There is no doubt that the body needs the thumbs. However, to cut off the thumbs is not as serious as cutting out the heart or the liver. This illustrates that certain things in the body are crucial. Likewise, what is crucial in the Bible is the focus, the basic revelation of God’s mystery, not the doctrines of foot-washing or head covering or the way of meeting.
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