Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

by Brian Shilhavy

The English words “secret” and “mystery” refer to knowledge that is “hidden”, and that needs to be discovered.

When dealing with the spiritual world, as opposed to simply the physical world, the method of discovering these “mysteries” or “hidden knowledge” is often referred to as “illuminating”.

It is like entering a dark room where one’s physical eyes cannot see what is in that room due to the darkness, so a light must be turned on in order to see everything clearly.

The English word most often used to describe the process of finding or discovering these mysteries or secrets, is “wisdom.”

The Bible clearly teaches that there are two categories of “wisdom” in the world: The wisdom of the world and the ruler of this world, and the wisdom of God, as revealed in Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. (1 Corinthians 2:4-7)

The secret societies such as Freemasonry have their own definitions of light, knowledge, and spiritual truth.

Masonic truth is a tad controversial.

When you enter the lodge, Freemasons believe you seek light as you are in the darkness and blindfolded due to numerous reasons.

In the Lodge, the term ‘Light’ has a different meaning. It is all about spiritual truth and knowledge.

First, let’s talk about knowledge. In this principle, Freemasons use knowledge to improve themselves, their families, and their communities.

You have to discover that knowledge on your own. You can’t stay ignorant or unaware. It is pertinent to uphold this principle while dealing with others and in your private life.

However, the ‘Spiritual Truth’ is something that particularly clashes with the teachings of Christianity.

If you are a Christian, and if you are in the lodge, you cannot talk of Christ or consider him as God. Freemasons believe G.A.O.T.U (Great Architect of The Universe) is the true God of the universe.

Freemasonry values freedom of thought, and for this reason, there is no particular religion a man must follow to become a Freemason.

Everyone is free to worship the God he believes in and to practice his beliefs.

This reflects the tolerance of Freemasonry and also is proof that Freemasonry is not a religion in itself.

It does not dictate which God members of the fraternity must believe in. (Source.)

This is the worldly wisdom that Paul writes about in his first letter to the believers living in Corinth at the time.

Both kinds of wisdom agree that this wisdom is discovered through spiritual wisdom.

Satan, or “the Devil” is the ruler of the current world system, and Satan is a spiritual being (fallen angel).

The whole world is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

Satan offered this world system to Jesus Christ when he came in the flesh, but Jesus refused to accept his offer.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” (Matthew 4:8-10)

So there are two currently existing spiritual kingdoms in the world we live in, one ruled by Satan, and one ruled by Jesus Christ, and these two spiritual kingdoms are only known and understood through spiritual wisdom, which unlocks the “secrets” or “mysteries” of each of these two spiritual worlds.

Satan’s kingdom is ruled from earth, and the Kingdom of God is ruled by Jesus who today is in heaven. The Spirit of God and of Jesus reveals these secrets to those who are born into the same Spirit. Everyone else who has not gone through the Spiritual rebirth, remains in the spiritual realm of Satan.

Without the Spirit of God, one cannot come into the true light, which is Jesus Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John chapter 1)

In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul further elaborates on this spiritual wisdom that comes from God, that those who are still in the world’s system run by Satan cannot understand.

However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?

In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:9-16)

What are the “Mysteries” of the Kingdom of God?

The Greek word translated into the English word “mystery” and sometimes as “secrets” is μυστήριον (mustērion) and is used 27 times in the New Testament portion of the Bible.

Its usage in the Greek language can be traced all the way back to the 17th Century B.C.

mustērion is found from the time of the Tragic Poets onwards, comes from muō, to shut (the mouth), and means that which must not or cannot be said. (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology – Editor, Colin Brown – translated from German, Vol. 3, p.501)

Jesus used this word in the Gospels:

He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'” (Luke 8:10)

The demons in the spirit world at that time apparently recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, the “Son of God,” but Jesus commanded them to be silent, as he apparently did not want this knowledge about him to spread, at least not until the proper time.

And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!”

But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. (Luke 4:41)

Why would Jesus want this truth about who he really was to be kept secret?

I think we get a good idea of why Jesus did not want his true identity revealed to the human rulers of the world at that time based on what Paul wrote in that first letter to the believers in Corinth:

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)

The whole point of why Jesus came to earth was to die, as a perfect human sacrifice to satisfy the judicial punishment against the sins of humanity, so that people could be truly free from the Satanic judicial system ruling the earth.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)

The Satanic Jews had no idea what he was talking about.

There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”

Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:19-21)

If the Satanic Jews ruling at that time had truly understood that not only was Jesus the prophesied Messiah, but that he must die, because his sacrificial death would pay the judicial punishment for the sins of the world, they most certainly would NOT have killed him.

Satan and his demons knew this, but the spiritually blind unbelieving Jews just could not comprehend this.

If they had, as Paul wrote, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

So the Satanic Jews had Jesus executed by nailing him to a cross along with common criminals.

The Trial Of Jesus

What is truth? Christ before Pilate. By Nikolai Ge – 1889.

The record of the court trials of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels is very interesting.

Jesus appeared before two different courts (actually 3 if we include the court before Herod).

The first one was the Jewish court, which was supposed to follow the Law as given to Moses, which is recorded in the first 5 books of the Bible in the Old Testament.

In this judicial system as given to Moses, a person could not be convicted of a crime that deserved a capital punishment unless there were “two or three witnesses” who testified to the person’s guilt.

On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. (Deuteronomy 17:6)

Here is the record of Jesus’ trial before the “Council” or “Sanhedrin” from Mark’s Gospel which included the High Priest, elders, and scribes (experts on the Law):

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.

For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.

And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”

Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.

And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”

But he remained silent and made no answer.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”

And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?”

And they all condemned him as deserving death. (Mark 14:55-64)

However, as the Gospel accounts record, the ruling Jews did not put Jesus to death after this trial, but sent him to Roman government officials to prosecute him in their court under their jurisdiction.

So Jesus had to go through a second trial in the Roman court, ruled by the Governor of Israel at that time, Pontius Pilate.

Why?

There are disagreements among Biblical commentators about this point.

In John’s Gospel record, he wrote:

So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.”

The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” (John 18:31)

But the Jews most certainly had the authority to put people to death with a capital punishment under the Law of Moses.

Some believe that it was the Romans who forbade the Jews to put people to death, but that would seem to contradict Pilate’s statement that they should “judge him according to your law“.

Also, the Jewish historian of that day, Josephus, wrote that the power to sentence someone to death by Jewish law was not taken away until about 40 years before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, which was decades after this event. (Josephus, Antiq., b. 14: John 10, Section 2; compare Jewish Wars, b. 6 chapter 2, Section 4).

No, the real reason why the Jewish court had to send Jesus to the Roman court appears to be because they could not find him guilty of a law  in the Law of Moses that deserved death, especially in the absence of “two or three” witnesses.

And remember, this was right after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem just before Passover, where almost the entire city of Jerusalem believed that Jesus was the Messiah. The Satanic Jewish rulers would have probably had a riot on their hands if they had murdered him simply because they accused him of “blasphemy”.

So they cooked up new charges against Jesus to hopefully persuade the Roman Governor to convict him:

Then the entire assembly of them set out and brought Him before Pilate.

And they began to bring charges against Him, saying, “We found this Man misleading our nation and forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” (Luke 23:1-2)

Notice the new charges? Under Roman Law, only the ruling Caesar was King, and all others who laid claim to “King” in the Roman Empire would be guilty of sedition.

But even Pilate saw through this, and found Jesus not guilty:

So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.

Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” (Luke 23:3-4)

But the Jews continued to accuse him:

But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” (Luke 23:5)

When Pilate heard that Jesus was from Galilee, he continued to try and get rid of this case:

On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. (Luke 23:6-7)

But moving Jesus to a new jurisdiction where King Herod had judicial authority didn’t work either, because Jesus “plead the 5th” and refused to testify.

This is the same “Herod” that had Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, beheaded. So he most certainly had authority to declare capital punishment and have someone murdered.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.

He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.

The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.

Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. (Luke 23:8-11)

So back to Pilate Jesus goes, where Pilate once again declared Jesus innocent.

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.

I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.

Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.

Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” (Luke 23:13-16)

But the Satanic Jews had gained control of the crowd by this point, and put incredible pressure on Pilate, who by law was commissioned to keep the peace in Jerusalem by the Roman Government.

With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.

But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.

So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. (Luke 23:18-25)

Can you see how incredibly difficult it was to kill Jesus?

An innocent man was then executed, while a guilty one was set free, while the “mysteries of God” revealed that this was symbolic for all of humanity.

That’s because Satan and the demonic world knew who Jesus really was, and that if he was convicted of crimes that he never did, that they were toast. Game over.

Their judicial power to convict and sentence humans to death based on the Law of Moses was now finished, because Jesus’ unjust death paid the judicial sentence of death for every human being on the planet; past, present, and future.

The Mysteries and Secrets of God are Now Available for Everyone to Know!

Today, most still follow the rule of Satan in this world while Satan waits for his own sentence of judgment to be fulfilled, because one cannot understand the mysteries and secrets of God unless one is born of the Spirit of God.

And the heart of this “mystery” or “secret” has now been revealed for anyone to read in the New Testament portion of the Bible, especially in the writings of Paul, the former Satanic Jew who became a Godly Jew through the Spiritual Rebirth.

And that “mystery” that has now been revealed, is that anyone, regardless of race, religion, nationality or any other classification of humans, can enter into the Kingdom of God and find true “liberty” in Jesus Christ.

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27)

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:2-6)

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the assembly.

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:24-27)

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)

Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

THIS is the “mystery”, now revealed, that brings true freedom and liberty to all people through Jesus Christ.

Any other claim to offer “liberty” is a different kind of “liberty” that leads to slavery to Satan and his kingdom.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36)

Are you truly “free” today, or are you still living in an illusion of “liberty” where you are actually a slave?

Read the Bible (skip church and religion), and discover the “mysteries” of the Kingdom of God yourself, so you can be truly free!