Let us now turn again to the
epistle of Paul to the Ephesians and chapter 3. This evening we'll
read verses 5 and 6. So the epistle of Paul to the
Ephesians chapter 3 and verses 5 and 6. Which in other ages
was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs and the same body and partakers of his
promise in Christ by the Gospel. The situation was of course a
wonderful change after so many years of the Gospel being reserved
basically for the Jewish people And now, after the Saviour had
died upon that cross at Calvary, the Gospel was then to be preached
to all the world, which of course included all the Gentiles. And in the third verse, as we
read last time, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. And then of course there's the
sentence in parenthesis, as I wrote it for in few words, whereby
when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ. And then he comes on to this
fifth verse, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men. as it is now revealed unto his
holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. And the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers
of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." So here we have the
change and The gospel was to be preached to all the world,
and the Apostle Paul was especially privileged, we might say, to
go to the Gentiles, as we read in that 26th chapter of Acts. Very specifically, the Lord spoke
to him. and told him that he was to preach
to the Gentiles, and as we read in the 18th verse, to open their
eyes, or sorry, the 17th verse, delivering thee from the people
and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that
is in me." So it was really quite an amazing change for the apostles,
who had been of course so used to receiving the Old Testament,
the truths wherein were all those ceremonial laws, and those things
which directed the believer to the Lord Jesus Christ, but they
were all shrouded, as it were, in a mystery. They really weren't
very clear. and what faith they needed to
behold the Lord Jesus Christ in all those, we might say, pictures
which were observed through their sacrifices, which were carried
out so regularly in the tabernacle and of course in the temple.
But the great thing was that, with just a few exceptions, these
blessings were reserved for the Jewish people. And when we try
and think of the Jewish nation in those years, it was relatively
small, and not all the Jews were believers, and therefore there
were many, many who lived throughout the world who had never heard
of these great truths, which we're privileged to read in the
Old Testament, notwithstanding we are so blessed today with
the New Testament. Well, we're thankful that here
really the Apostle is speaking to the Ephesians and telling
them how the Lord had blessed him and the Apostles to observe
and to see something of the great and glorious mystery, which of
course we are now so wonderfully privileged to observe. And when he tells them that those
things were hidden before, but is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by his Spirit. And what a mercy it is
for us today, if these mysteries, which really concern our souls,
to have it revealed to us. It's not something that you and
I can fathomed by natural learning, we can understand a lot and we
can learn a lot. But we need today, in exactly
the same way as the people needed when the Apostle preached to
them all those years ago, to have our hearts opened to receive
the great and glorious truths contained in the Gospel. And
if we think of the Old Testament, of course, It was shrouded in
mystery right from the very early days in Genesis and of course
in some of the accounts of David and Solomon. There were all those
references which were couched beneath of the coming of the
great and glorious Saviour. And then of course we read the
prophets and including the minor prophets and more and more was
really revealed in those prophecies, but nonetheless it was still
not easy to really comprehend. But now the apostles were wonderfully
blessed, of course, with the words of the Saviour himself,
and so are we, and also the great truths that were now revealed.
So all those prophecies of the Old Testament came to pass. and
they revealed so clearly the blessing of the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, in all his life, from the very beginning,
his birth, right through to the time when, of course, he was
crucified and then rose from the dead and ascended to his
Father. And now, today, we, by his grace,
have this wonderful privilege of beholding the great truth
of Scripture, contained in the whole of Scripture, and especially
revealed to us today are the blessings which are to be found
in Christ Jesus, how he did come, how he did live that perfect
life, how he did die that sin-atoning death, how he did rise from the
dead, a conqueror over sin, death, hell and the grave, and how he
did ascend into glory. And all those things were set
forth really in the Old Testament But now they've come to pass
and we can look back and we can bless God today for the great
truths they are. Because without those truths
coming to pass, as they did, we would not have any hope. But
let us remember today, our great God is faithful. It came to pass,
all those things that he had prophesied through the prophets,
not one thing failed. And so the apostle here, as he's
speaking to the Ephesians, it must have been really with great
joy that he was able to bring the good news of the gospel and
to explain what had happened and what a change had been. And
now they were blessed, he and the apostles, with this great
and glorious good news, as we read, and partakers of his promise
in Christ by the Gospel. Well, we perhaps fail to appreciate
the wonderful blessing which is ours today, the good news
of the Gospel and the truth of it explained to us by the Saviour,
by the Apostles. What a mercy it is to have such
revelation of his divine plan to encourage us today As we now
walk through this world, by faith we view the Saviour, the risen
Saviour. And that's really what the Apostle
comes on to tell these Ephesians and of course all those who are
in Christ Jesus. And so he tells us, which in
other ages was not made known unto the sons of men. How privileged
is our position. We don't thank God enough, do
we? for the great blessing which is ours. If we'd been living
all those years ago, those ages which were past, would we have
understood? Would it have been made known
to us? Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit. It was revealed to them by the
Spirit, and you and I need it exactly the same today. be revealed
to us by the Spirit. Otherwise it is just words, just
statements, which have no real effect upon us. They might influence
our mind, but they don't touch our heart. But bless God, if
through the Holy Spirit the Good News of the Gospel has reached
into our heart, so that we can praise God today, and that the
Gentiles, we are of course, should be fellow heirs, heirs of glory,
looking forward to that wonderful prospect which is to come when
Jew and Gentile are all joined together in one, that one family
in Christ. That the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel. Well tonight, may we rejoice
together in this good news of the gospel and be so thankful
if we have heard that good news and the Holy Spirit has applied
that good news to our hearts and we rejoice in what the Saviour
has done and by his grace look forward to that day when we shall
be with him in glory eternally. Amen.