Ephesians chapter 3. I want to
read this chapter. For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward, how that
by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote afore
in few words. whereby when ye read, ye 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, that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body,
and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. whereof
I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God,
given unto me by the effectual working of his power, who in
less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and 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, to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known
by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom
we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Wherefore, I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you,
which is for your glory. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
length, depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, that
ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him
that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto
Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen. Now, Paul speaks about here a mystery. And this mystery that he is speaking
about is that which he has set forth in chapter 2 And I want
to go back and read chapter 2 having read chapter 3. And you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
time passed, ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature the children of wrath even as others. But God, who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember that ye 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, and
that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world." Now that is a
pretty bleak picture. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off or 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, or of two, 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 came and preached
peace to you which were far off, and to them that were not. For
through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye are also built together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit." Now, the mystery of which Paul speaks here, and
he says, that has been hid from the beginning. to the intent
that now and to the principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God according
to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord." Now, it is a blessed truth to come to an understanding of
the place to which the children of God have been called. Now,
if you read the Old Testament, you cannot read the Old Testament
without a clear and very present understanding of the fact that
the Lord chose a people and He set His love upon them and He
made them a peculiar people in the earth. He said to the nation
of Israel, I have chosen you not because you were more than
the other nations, but I have loved you because I have loved
you." Now, it is amazing to me that many have no problem at
all recognizing the election of God of the nation of Israel
as a people who at the same time will grow angry at the notion
that the Lord has chosen a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. The mystery that Paul speaks
about that was hidden from the beginning is that the Lord has
only ever had one elect people. Now, He chose the nation of Israel
Not because he loved Israel more than he did any other nation
per se. Now he did love Israel more than
any other nation. But the reason that he chose
Israel out of all the nations of the earth, because keep in
mind that he chose and manifested this selection after the creation
was made. But the true election of grace
took place before the creation was made. We don't read about
the nation of Israel per se being chosen before the foundation
of the world. But you do understand, and we
see from the Scripture, that the elect nation of God has been
chosen from before the foundation of the world. And so the nation
of Israel as a people were chosen by God for this reason, and that
is that He might show forth the manifestation of His grace unto
a people that He might manifest when the time came of how His
love to His people was set forth. This was Hid. Because from the
beginning, that's what Paul said, this was hid from the foundation
of the earth, from the days of Adam, even unto the present time,
this could not be seen. The nation of Israel was convinced
that they were the people of God. They still are. In fact,
a lot of people who claim to be Bible believers still believe. that the nation of Israel is
somehow or other the nation of God. Now, according to what the
Lord Jesus said, He said that His kingdom was not of this world. It is not a kingdom of flesh
and blood. So what the Lord may yet do with
the nation of Israel as a people, I don't have a clue. I mean,
there are some things that I can't fully, totally explain, some
language in the Scripture, and the Lord may yet do something
with the nation of Israel as a nation. But that doesn't change
anything about what I'm saying here that the mystery that was
hid was. Because if the Lord does anything
with them as a nation, He will do so according to his sovereign
purpose, but the mystery that was hidden from the foundation
of the world doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with Israel
as a nation. But the mystery that was hid
from the foundation of the world is that the Lord has had a people
in Jesus Christ, and He has manifested that they are Jew and Gentile
alike. And when we read in the book
of Revelation, those that John saw, he said, were from every
nation, tribe, and kindred on the face of the earth. And so
the manifestation of the mystery is that the Lord would manifest
the people that He chose in Christ from before the foundation of
the world, and that there is not a separation between Jew
and Gentile in Christ. The Jews cannot be saved any
other way than through the blood of Jesus Christ. A Gentile cannot
be saved any other way than through the blood of Christ. But it is
that mystery that the Lord would show that He would bring together
those whom He had chosen in Israel, because they are not all Israel
which are of Israel. Everybody that is born of Abraham's
natural seed are not the elect of God. Scripture plainly says
that. And he is not a Jew which is
circumcised in the flesh, but is one which is circumcised in
the heart. And this is exactly what Paul
is setting out here. He said, for we are his workmanship.
created in Christ Jesus unto good works which He hath before
ordained that we should walk in Him. Wherefore, remember that
ye were in time past Gentiles in the flesh who were called
the uncircumcision by those which are the circumcision." Now, we can, I guess, give the
Jews some leeway here. We can kind of give them a little
bit of excuse. that they would think that they
have the upper hand and that they would think they have a
special place, because the Lord did choose them out as the means
whereby to manifest the glory of His grace in the unfolding
of redemption. Paul said, what advantage then
hath the Jew? He said, much in every way, because
unto them was committed the oracles of God. And is that not what
he says here? What are the oracles of God?
The prophets. I mean, that's what an oracle
is. An oracle of God is a prophet. And so the prophets of God didn't
go to the Philistines, did they? I mean, they didn't go to the
Amorites and the Perizzites. Now, isn't it amazing that those
that oppose election in the present day, they have no problem at
all with that. The fact that the nation of Israel had the
Word of God and all these other nations just perished in the
deadness of their sin, they don't have any problem at all with
that. Paul said, I'm going to show
you a greater mystery. I'm going to show you something
that's greater than the natural selection of the nation of Israel
as a nation in the earth. And he said, here it is. He said,
remember that you were in time past Gentiles in the flesh who
were called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision
in the flesh, and that at that time you were without Christ.
Now, he said, keep this in mind. Now, while this is a true thing
that the Jews had the oracles of God committed unto them, though
they did not listen to them, what did they do? They killed
the prophets, didn't they? I mean, that's what the Lord
said. He said, you killed the prophets. I committed the prophets
to you out of all the nations in the earth, and yet you killed
them. You wouldn't listen to them. You didn't pay heed to
what they had to say. But think about the Gentiles. I mean, here's the Jews. They
had the Word of God and rejected it. He said, you weren't even
in that good of shape. He said, you were Gentiles. He
said, you didn't have anything. He said, at that time you were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
You were outside looking in. You didn't have any hope at all. Strangers from the covenants
of promise. Covenants of promise that was
given to Abraham and the nation of Israel. You were outside looking
in. You didn't even have the benefit
of that. Having no hope. What kind of hope did Goliath
have? Not a bit. Now, did Goliath care? No, he didn't care. All he wanted
to do was kill the Jews. He didn't care anything about
hope. Hope? What are you talking about? See,
the man that doesn't want hope, he's never going to have it.
I mean, apart from the grace of God awakening him to see,
but I'm saying a man's going to die as he lives there, brethren.
The Scripture says these all died in the faith. If a man's
in the faith, he's going to die in the faith. If a man is not in the faith,
he is going to die outside of the faith. Goliath was a stranger
and an alien to the commonwealth of Israel and he died without
hope. Just like all those Philistines who were in that temple when
Samson stood between those pillars. And he pushed the pillars apart
and the thing fell. How many of those Philistines
do you think had any hope? None of them! They perished!
They were destroyed! Without hope. Strangers from
the commonwealth of Israel. And he said, that's the exact
same place you were. He's talking to these Ephesians.
He says, you didn't have one leg to stand on. You didn't have
any hope at all! Without God in the world, Now see, people think they've
got God, don't they? I mean, isn't there a natural
part of a man that just thinks God has just taken care of him?
I mean, Goliath figured his God was with him, did he not? I mean,
the prophets of Baal, when they went up to Mount Carmel, they
didn't expect to be humiliated, did they? I mean, they figured
God was with them. I mean, they even showed how
much they believed it. They cut themselves, and they
said, What's going on? Why ain't He listening to us? But they were without hope. They
were without God in the world, because brethren, it doesn't
make any difference how many false gods you might have, or
how strong your faith in your false god might be, to be without
the God. See, that's what he says here.
You were without the God in the world. The Philistines were not
without God. Do you remember? They had Dagon.
And they enjoyed going down to Dagon's house until the Ark of
the Covenant came down there. And then they said, Wait a minute,
what's going on down here? But they were without God in
the world. And he said to the Ephesians, but he said, In Christ
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood
of Christ." He said, you were far off from the commonwealth
of Israel. You were not and you could never
be a part of the commonwealth of Israel. You could never have
what the Israelites had because you weren't born. into that tribe. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For He, speaking of Christ, He is our peace, who hath made both
one. Made both what? Both what one? Jew and Gentile alike. Because
you see, there's not two fashions in which men would come to Christ.
The Jews can't come to Christ because they're Jews. They can't claim special privilege
because they're Jews. Because in Christ there is no
Jew and there is no Gentile. And that's what he says here.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition." Now what was the middle wall
of partition? He just talked about it up there.
He said, you were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel. You
are aliens. But he said Jesus Christ has
broken down that barrier and he said there is no more any
difference between Jew and Gentile insofar as the grace of God is
concerned. And if a man is in Christ, then
he has all that Christ ever purposed to give. to the sons of men. You see, the blessings of God
have not been treasured up for some earthly nation. The blessings
of God have been treasured up to those who were given to Christ
before the foundation of the world. Before there was ever
a Jew or there was ever a Gentile, the Lord loved His people in
Jesus Christ. And He is our peace who hath
made both one. How did He make both one? He
split the veil of the temple, did He not? He showed that the
way into the holiest of all was made plain. It was made open. The law was forever satisfied. for those for whom He came to
perform that work. It is exactly what He says. For
He is our peace who hath made both one. He hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us. You see, there was
an inner and an outer court in the temple, and the Gentiles
could never go into that inner part of the temple. They always
had to stay out on the porch. But in Christ, That middle wall
of partition is no longer there, dear brethren. And if a man being
a Jew thinks that he has some inside track to God, he's wrong. Just like if a man is a Gentile
and thinks that he has to be a Jew, he's wrong as well, because
you see, in Christ is where our hope is. This is the mystery. He has abolished in His flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments." What was it that made the Jews
different from the other nations? The law of God. They were given
the law of God by Moses. They were written in tablets
of stone. They were set forth. And there was an enmity there.
The Jews said, well, we have the law. Now what good is having
the law if you don't keep it? You're actually worse off. See? That's what the Scripture says.
To him that knows to do good does it not. To him is sin. So the Jews had the advantage
of having the oracles of God, but then on the other hand, they
had the disadvantage of having the oracles of God. Because to
whom much is given, much is required. And they had the truth of God,
but they heeded it not. The Gentiles did not have the
truth of God, had no hope, and were cast out to the loathing
of their flesh apart from the grace of God. The Jews had the
law, could not see it, could not embrace it, and were perishing, even though they had the very
truth of God in their midst. Because they stood in need of
the same grace. Because you see, it's not two
different things, dear brethren. It's one grace. And it's found
in Jesus Christ. contained in ordinances for the
making himself of twain, one new man." Who is the new man
that he's speaking about? And I know there's a new man
and an old man spoken of in the Scripture. We're not talking
about that. But this new man he's talking about here is that
there is a new man in Christ that is not the man who is Jew
or Gentile. But it's one man. See, we're
either in Christ or we're not in Christ. There's no middle
ground. There's no different little groups of people to get
into. And we can't go along and say,
well, we're Gentile Christians, or we're Jewish Christians, or
we're this or we're that. We're either in Christ or we're
not. Making peace, and he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby. There is no enmity between Jew
and Gentile. Now some try to make it out,
and of course, there is racism. I mean, there is a racial divide
between a lot of people despise the Jews because they seem to
have the ability to make money or whatever. And people say,
oh, that's a bunch of Jews. And you know, people even use
the term, viewing somebody down on the price of something. But that doesn't make any difference
because that doesn't have anything to do with us because the enmity
between Jew and Gentile has been taken away. Yet the Jews, some say, well,
the Jews took Christ and they crucified Him. The Gentiles crucified Him as
well. And what would you have done
if you'd have been there? The exact same thing. You'd have
been in the group saying, give us Barabbas. We want Barabbas.
That's where you'd have been. But it's in Christ, having slain
the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you who
were far off. Listen to this now. He came and
preached peace to you that were afar off, you that had no hope,
you that were without. the promises of God's strangers
to the commonwealth of Israel. This man came preaching peace
to you, he said. But he said he didn't just come
preaching peace to you, because he came preaching peace to them
that were near as well. Those that had these things,
on the day of Pentecost when Peter stood up and he preached,
Most all of those that were there that day were Jews out of the
twelve tribes. And the peace of God through
Jesus Christ was preached both to those that were near and those
that were far. For through Him we both have
access by one Spirit to the Father. Now listen to what he says here. Ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints." You are not
on the outside looking in anymore, he said, because in Christ you
have been made near. You see, in Christ we have been
brought together. In Christ we have been manifested
as the chosen people of God. There is no Jew and there is
no Gentile in the kingdom of God. Now therefore you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation.
Now look at what the foundation is. The apostles and the prophets. Now, the prophets, of course,
having reference to the Old Testament, and the apostles being those
to whom the Word of God was given in the New Testament. And so
he said the foundation rests on both. See, you don't throw
the Old Testament out. Because the Old Testament is
that which bears witness of the grace of God through type and
foreshadow. But it doesn't supersede that
which came as the manifestation. And that's what Paul says, I
came to preach. He said, I didn't come to just tell you what Moses
said. I didn't come to tell you what
Jeremiah said. I didn't come to tell you what
Isaiah said, as glorious as that was. But what I came to preach
to you is the mystery that was hid from the foundation of the
world, and that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the hope
of Jew and Gentile alike. Because he said that's the message
of the Gospel. He said it is not about this
or that or what the Lord is going to do with the Jews or here is
the chosen nation of God over there and all of these political
ideas that people have about this, that and the other and
some nation over here in the Mideast calling itself the nation
of Israel, that this is somehow the Israel of God. Dear brethren,
the Israel of God are those who are in Christ. He is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly. but that one who is circumcised
in the heart. And we have no enmity towards
those who are of the tribe of Abraham. There is no enmity among
the saints of God toward them as a people. Why? Because we
know this, that they, just like us, if we enter into the kingdom
of God, it will be because of the grace of God set forth in
the blood of Jesus Christ. for he hath broken down that
partition, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and the prophets, the New Testament and the Old Testament, Jesus
Christ Himself being the head of the corner. Jesus Christ is
the headstone of the Old Testament. He is the headstone of the New
Testament. Now, there is a mystery that was hid. See, it wasn't
seen. That's why the Scripture says
that there has not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptist. See, John the Baptist was the
last of the Old Testament prophets. He came preaching the only thing
that he knew. He was the forerunner of Christ.
But he didn't know who he was except as the Lord revealed him
to him. And he didn't know what Christ
would do. He said, there's one coming, one who's shoelatched,
I'm not worthy done loose. But he didn't know that Jesus
Christ would go to the cross. He didn't know that he would
rise from the dead. He didn't know what it was that
Christ came to do because it was a mystery that was hid until
such time as God was pleased to reveal it. in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the gospel as it set into
the earth with this declaration. Jesus Christ Himself is the chief
cornerstone. You see, we can see and understand
that. There has not arisen among men a greater prophet than John
the Baptist, but I tell you, he that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than John the Baptist. That is, we can see
more clearly than John the Baptist ever could. Paul said, I am declaring
you a mystery that John the Baptist never understood. "...in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom ye also are built together for the inhabitation of God through
the Spirit." Oh, this is the building of God. He dwells not
in temples made with hens. But He dwells in the midst of
His people. He said, where two or more of you are gathered in
My name, there I am in the midst of you. You see, the manifestation
of the glory of the grace of God is not in temples made with
hands, but it is in those that God is pleased to call together
by His grace. And He said He would send His
Spirit to dwell in us. He said, I won't leave you comfortless.
that He says, I will send Him. And when He has come, He will
testify of me, in whom ye also are built together for an habitation
of God through the Spirit. You see, we are built together,
Jew and Gentile alike, for a habitation of God through the Spirit. The
Lord would inhabit His people, regardless of their nationality,
because it is by the grace of God. And that number which is
known unto him have been his from the beginning, and he manifests
them through faith and through the presence of his Spirit. How
can a man know that he is a child of God? We sang about it a moment
ago. Election is a truth divine. Small
comfort there I see, unless the Lord has testified to me that
I am of His. So you see, just knowing the
truth is of no value, I won't say it's of no value, but it
is of little value compared to that which Christ has manifested
in the mercy that He has shown unto His people in the giving
of Himself, breaking down the middle wall of partition. and
setting forth himself as a Savior of sinners. And it is there,
dear brethren, that all who have been given faith rush. To whom else shall we go? Are we not like Peter? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You see, that
is the hope of God's people. Jew or Gentile alike. Absolutely
and unequivocally.