Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians 3. The Lord willing,
we're going to be in this chapter for both the Bible study and
the morning message. Ephesians chapter 3. Let's begin
with verse 1. For this cause, the Apostle Paul
said, for this cause, for the cause of everything that he said
throughout Ephesians chapter 1 and Ephesians chapter 2. We
love Ephesians chapter 1, don't we? Don't we love it? And don't we love Ephesians chapter
2? You call out that scripture. Let's all turn to Ephesians chapter
1 or Ephesians chapter 2. Everybody loves it. Everybody
knows what's there. They're anticipating it. I started
reading through this chapter because of a message a few Wednesday
nights ago with a whole family of God. And I read the whole
chapter and I thought, it's time we get to know Ephesians chapter
3. It's absolutely glorious. And
he said, for this cause, for everything that he mentioned,
how God the Father chose a people in Christ, chosen us in him. And for this cause, because those
people were quickened together with Christ, that's what Ephesians
chapter two says, because they were raised up together with
him, quickened with him in his death, raised up in his resurrection,
because God's Holy Spirit has called those people near by the
blood of Jesus Christ and notified those people of everything Christ
already accomplished for them. He said in verse one, for this
cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ. I love that. He didn't say I'm the prisoner
of Rome. And oh, may the Lord apply this to our lives. May the Lord apply this to today.
Paul said, I'm the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is
keeping me here. That's what he's saying. I am
right where he would have me to be today. There he sits, and
that's what he writes. I'm sitting exactly in the spot
that Christ would have me to be in right now. The prisoner
of Jesus Christ. For you Gentiles, if you have
heard of the dispensation, that means the stewardship, the ministry. He goes on to say, of the grace
of God, which is given me to youward How that by revelation,
by actual revelation, the Lord appeared to Paul. And that, we're
not gonna look at it, but it's in Acts 22, you can read about
it. The Lord appeared to Paul many
times. He saw him face to face. And he goes on to say, verse
three, how that by revelation, he made known unto me the mystery. as I wrote afore in few words."
Chapters 1 and chapter 2. Whereby when you read, and I
love how he said that, because we're in chapter 3. In order
to get to this place, they've already read chapters 1 and chapter
2. He said, when you read, you read it again, and read it again,
and read it again. Whereby when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, 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."
I titled this, The Mystery. The Mystery. He said, God revealed
to me the mystery. At the end of verse 4, He called
it the mystery of Christ. This great mystery of Christ.
Back in chapter 1, verse 9, he called it the mystery of His
will. What His secret purpose is. His secret desire. And back in
chapter 3, he said this is it. Chapter 3, verse 6, this is the
mystery. That the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel. What a glorious mystery. What
a glorious mystery. In verse 9, he called it the
fellowship of the mystery. To make all men see what is the
fellowship of the mystery. which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. What a glorious mystery that
has been revealed to us. Now this mystery has not been
revealed to everybody. Look with me at Matthew chapter
13. Matthew chapter 13 verse 3. And He spake many things unto
them in parables. He always spoke to them in parables. Without a parable, He didn't
speak to them. And then in verse 9, He ended the parable He just
gave by saying, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the
disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them
in parables? And he answered and said unto
them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven. But to them, it is not given. It's not given to them. It's
given to you, but it's not given to them. Now my question is,
you who? That's my question. If it's not
given to everybody, then how can I know if I'm a you? Well,
turn with me to Romans 16. Now, tell us the answer before
we read it. It's to whoever he gives eyes
to see this scripture, what it is truly saying. It's to whoever
he gives ears to hear this scripture, whatever it's truly saying. Whoever
he gives a heart to believe it, and cling to it, and love it,
and need it, and follow Christ in it. That's who it is. He reveals the mystery through
His Word. Romans 16 verse 25 says, Now
to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of
the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now
is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to
the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith." So the entire Old Testament,
the scriptures of the prophets, the entire Old Testament was
pointing to the revelation of the mystery, the whole Old Testament. The mystery which was kept secret
since the world began. The mystery that is only revealed
to those that God quickens to see and hear the Word of His
truth. So that's who it's to, and that's how it comes. All
right, now let's look at the mystery. Go back to our text,
Ephesians 3. Verse 6 says, that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs. Paul told the Ephesians in chapter
2 what the entire Old Testament law had to say about them. Look
at Ephesians 2 verse 11. Wherefore remember that you being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world." While I was studying
this, I thought about, in the Old Testament, all of these nations
that God sent Israel against and slew them. You remember those
kings that brought his armies and God said, kill them all. You are not my people. I will
not be your God. And it made me realize we're
Gentiles. We are Gentiles. We are not Jews. The promise, according to the
law, was not to us. Take it for granted. He's speaking
to us. He's talking to us. Listen to
the promises to us. Whole nations of people. God
said, my promises don't apply to you. America, you are not
my people. And I'm going to wipe you off
the face of all existence. What a glorious thing. to know that God purposed to
send the gospel and salvation to the Gentiles. You were not
the people of God. Not the people at all. God said
you were an outcast. You had no right to the promises. No claim by birth, by nativity,
by nature. Not owed to you. But this is
what Paul told Timothy. Great is the mystery of godliness. Okay, now you had no right. You
should have just been wiped off the face of the planet. But great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. John said the Word was made flesh. and dwelt among us. And Paul
said he was justified in the Spirit. He lived perfectly for
his people as an heir, as the elect. Behold mine elect. He walked this earth as God's
elect. The promised son. Paul told Timothy
he was seen of angels. The day he was born they all
appeared crying glory to God in the highest. The day he died,
there was silence in heaven for the space of about a half an
hour. Can you imagine the place where rejoicing in glory and
holiness has cried out since God made angels and seraphims?
And all of a sudden, all of heaven goes silent. He was seen the day He arose. They went and rolled that stone
away from the tomb. Oh, they're so thrilled to see
the Lord of glory walk out. They told everybody who passed
by, He is not here. He's risen. Now Paul said he
is preached unto the Gentiles. Because of that, he is preached
unto the Gentiles. This is the great mystery of
godliness. Verse 13 right here in Ephesians
2, But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are
made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances. For to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby, and then came and preached peace
to you which were far off, and to them that were nigh, for through
him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God." Look back at our text, Ephesians
3 verse 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of
the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel. That's the mystery that was hid
in the Old Testament scriptures. Every promise that was made was
to a chosen people. He chose the seed of Abraham. Why Abraham? Why did he choose
Abraham? The reason is because he believed
God. God gave him faith to believe
on him. God gets all the glory for it.
God did all the work. But it gave him faith and caused
Abraham to believe on him. And God said, Abraham, because
of that faith and that believing, I'm going to count it for righteousness
to you. And this promise of my covenant
is going to come through you. The promise is going to be to
your seed. You're heirs. All right. Well, now here's the question
that I would have. Did God go back on his promise by giving
it to the Gentiles? Not at all. We just didn't understand
the promise of the covenant, the mystery of his covenant.
Not until Christ came. Look with me at Galatians chapter
three. Galatians 3 verse 6, Even as
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness,
know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. You see that?
The Old Testament, all the Old Testament. The scripture foreseeing,
through all those prophets and everything that was said, the
scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through
faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham. Abraham had the
gospel preached to him. Saying, in thee shall all nations
be blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. It's written, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God, it's evident. For the just shall live by faith.
And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. Verse 16 says, Now to Abraham
and his seed were the promises made. He said, Not into seeds
as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. It's coming through the seed,
Abraham. which is Christ. All the earth
is going to be blessed through Christ. And if you look at verse
26, For you are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ, immersed into Christ by God's Holy Spirit,
have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female,
you are all one in Christ Jesus. That's what he was saying in
the text, one body. Fellow heirs, partakers of one body. Verse
29, and if you be Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise. Here is the mystery. The promise
is to the circumcision. But that circumcision is not
outwardly in the flesh, it's of the heart. It's a work that
God does on the heart. Every recipient of faith Every
soul that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is an heir of the
covenant. Every single one. Fellow heirs
and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel. Every bit of it comes through
the preaching of the gospel. All right, now let me close by showing
you this. The mystery is not quite over. I'm not into mysteries. I'm not
into anything but Jesus Christ. But the mystery is not over for
me, and I would say many people. The mystery of the Old Testament
was that the saving message of the Gospel was going to go to
the Gentiles. There was a great separation
between those people. A great, great separation. Those people were cast off in
the mind of the Jews. Just heathens. Heathens. Now, for the most part,
I thankfully don't believe completely, but for the most part, the gospel
and salvation has left the Jews and come to the Gentiles. Our Lord has declared some things
in the New Testament that are still quite a mystery. I'll show
you one of them. We'll close. Let me show you
one of them. Romans 11. Romans 11 verse 1 says, I say then, hath God cast away
his people? Now Paul was the apostle sent
to the Gentiles. He was a Jew. But he was sent
to the Gentiles. And he's saying to the Romans,
has God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. I actually
am. I was born into that. God hath
not cast away his people which he foreknew. Know ye not what
the Scripture saith of Elijah? How he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed the prophets
and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they
seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so then, at this present time also, there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is
no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it,
and the rest were blinded. According as it is written, God
hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should
not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day. And David
saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling
block, and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened,
that they may not see, and bow down their back always. I say
then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But rather, through their fall,
salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the
riches of the world, if their fall sent the gospel to the whole
world, And the diminishing of them, the riches of the Gentiles,
how much more their fullness. Verse 25 says, For I would not,
brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part
is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. You see that? Until the fullness
of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. Meaning, all of the elect shall
be saved. He's not a Jew which is one outwardly
in the flesh. Circumcision is of the heart.
Okay? All the elect shall be saved. As it is written, there
shall come out of Zion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto
them, when I shall take away their sins, as concerning the
gospel they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election
they are beloved for the Father's sakes. For the gifts and calling
of God are without repentance. For as you in times past have
not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their
unbelief. Even so have these also now not
believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all." It's like they've
all become heathen now. There's a great separation between
us and them. It's like they have left God. I mean, they are heathen, outcast. But God has done that so he can
have mercy on them. Every soul in glory. This is
just, this is beautiful. I mean, He's put them in the
same position we were in, so He could have mercy on them.
Every soul in glory, every single soul is going to cry, we were
outcast, every soul. We were at enmity with you. We did not deserve it. But He
had mercy on us. That's what happened. Every soul's
going to cry, He just had mercy on us. Now, somebody's going
to ask, are you saying you believe the Gospel message and salvation
is going to go back to the Jews? That's what it sounds like to
me. But it's God's mystery. Only God knows His mystery. I'm
not here to predict mysteries. I'm just here to read God's Word
to us. But it appears that he might be merciful. His gifts,
his calling, he said, I'm going to be merciful to Israel. I'm
going to be merciful to my people. They're not all Israel, which
are of Israel. He's not talking about a physical nation. But
verse 33 says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out? That's where we leave that. All
of his mysteries, they're just unsearchable. And that's going
to lead us into our message here in just a minute. All right,
you're dismissed.