We speak a secret wisdom, says Paul, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. The English word mystery comes from a Greek word, which is almost the same word.
Are we more glorious than people who were saved in the Old Testament? No, but we do have a glory they did not have, a privilege, if you like, a commission. We do have a great wonder that they did not know, the full light of gospel day. ‘What a privilege is mine’, the apostle almost tells us. ‘What a high commission is mine: to preach the gospel. Dare anything equal this in my view, the task that is been given to me?’ That is how we ought to think, how we ought to go about our daily business. I am earning money for my keep, for my family, for my home. I am training up children; I am doing all kinds of important things. I pray for God's help to honour me in all these things, but the greatest privilege of all that I have, the greatest commission, is to be entrusted with the secret of the gospel, to make it known. That is how the apostle thinks.