This is our third study on this
chapter, and I want us to begin back in verse 1 and read a few
verses in this chapter. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse
1. For this cause, after all he
said in chapter 2, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace
of God which is given me to you, now that the revelation He made
known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words,
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, 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. Unto me, who am 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 Christ Jesus. The title of my message this
evening is found there in verse 3 of chapter 3. He made known by revelation,
by revelation, He made known unto me the mystery. And that's
the title of this evening that I want us to think about. He
made known unto me the mystery. And Paul never got over that.
And I think when we see that he never got over that, it causes
us to appreciate more what the Lord did for him and
to this great man. And I think we have to remember
especially what he was before. This is one of the things that
may amaze the apostle Paul, that the Lord would call someone like
him to salvation, and then send him to be an apostle. You remember
how he often said it about himself, I was before a blasphemer, a
persecutor, I was injurious, I sought to do many things contrary
to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. You remember the first martyr
in the book of Acts? was Stephen and Saul of Tarsus. Paul was responsible for that.
That those men were under his authority. They laid down his
coat at his feet. He said, I sought to destroy
the doctrine of the gospel. I wanted to stamp it out. I didn't
want anybody to even hear about the name of Christ and redemption
by him. And then in Acts chapter 9, the
Lord appears to him and saves him on the road to Damascus.
He never got over that, did He? He talked to prisoners, He preached
it to slaves, and He preached it to kings. Christ stopped me
on the road to Damascus, and He saved me. He revealed Himself
to me. He said, I was before a blasphemer,
but I obtained mercy. He never got over that. The grace
of the Lord Jesus was exceeding abundant with faith and love. That's in Him. He was writing
to Timothy about this very thing. And he said, Timothy, God has
saved us. And He's called us with a holy
calling. Not according to our works. Look
at our works. They were awful works. Dead works. But according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
ever began. God has saved us. And it was
God's will to call this man to be an apostle. We read that in
chapter 1. He was an apostle of Christ.
And He gave him the gift. to being an apostle. Gave him
the ability to be an apostle and to go about preaching the
Lord Jesus. But one of the things that was
just as wonderful to this apostle was this, that he not only called
him to being an apostle, but he called him to being an apostle
to the Gentiles of all people. Why, he looked down on his own
Jewish brethren, his Jewish nation that didn't live up to his self-righteous
standards. And then God saves him and sends
him to dead dog Gentiles to preach Christ to them. One of the most
wonderful things Paul ever said. And he said this, he never hesitated
to say this. He wasn't ashamed. He said this
unafraid. In Romans chapter 11, I am the
apostle of the Gentiles. He wrote that and said, I want
you to know that. I'm proud of it, he said. I thank
God for it. Not only for saving me, but for
making me an apostle of the Gentiles. And notice this about this apostle. He learned to ascribe all the
glory to God for everything. He learned that. Every ability
that he had, every gift that he had, His ability to preach
Christ and to stand against the opposition. He attributed all
the glory to the Lord. I will remind you of what he
says here again in verse 7. I was made a minister. I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me. And he makes this
wonderful statement by the effectual working of His power. He takes credit for nothing.
All His abilities, all His gifts that He has. He said, it's for
this cause, the working, the effectual working of God's power
in me. The Lord Jesus was teaching His
apostles about bringing forth fruit. And He says, My Father
is glorified that you bring forth much fruit. And then He turns
right around and says, without Me you can do nothing. You can't
bring forth fruit. In other words, what he's teaching
them is, you will bring forth fruit. And when you do, you'll
give me all the glory for it. You'll ascribe all the glory
and the honor to me. Your fruit is from me. That's
what he told the old prophet. Paul said, I can do all things. Then he quickly asked through
Christ. I labored more abundantly than
they all." And then he stops and says, now wait a minute.
That's true. But he said, not I, but the grace
of God, which was in me. It's God who worketh in you,
both to will and to do. That was Paul said that. You
have a will to do anything, that's God working in you. Our fruit
is from Him, the effectual working of His power. That's what Paul attributed it
to. Aren't you amazed? Aren't you amazed that you believe
the gospel? Aren't you amazed you understand the gospel? How
long were you in darkness that Larry talked about this morning?
Aren't you amazed that you see? You see spiritual things, you
understand. Aren't you amazed that you hope, that you follow, that you love,
that you obey? Aren't you amazed at that? Aren't you amazed at yourself?
And you do all of these things through much infirmities. We
do everything that we do through much weakness. They're nothing
perfect, but you do it, don't you? And why do you do it? How do you do it? Well, we trace
it right back to verse 7, what the Apostle Paul said about himself,
the effectual working of his power. That's the way we do it. That's the way we do it. One
of the most cheerful things, one of the most encouraging truths
that you and I can ever come to the knowledge of as believers.
that everything we do that's right and acceptable to God is
because of this, the effectual working of His power. Every desire
that we have, exercising faith, living upon hope, every sigh,
every turning of the sad eye to Him for help and strength,
it's because He put it there to begin with. Can you imagine the possibilities
this opens up to us as Christians? Look what he said again over
in verse 16 of that chapter. Paul said, I pray for you that
God would grant you according to the riches of His glory to
be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. And he goes on in verse 20, unto
him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all we ask
or think, according to the power that worketh in us. You and I should learn more about
this and we'll never get over it. We'll never get over it.
The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, Mary, you're going
to have a child. He's going to be called the Son of the Highest.
He's going to be great. And God's going to give to him
the throne of his father, David. And Mary said, how can this be? She and I know not a man. How
can this be possible? She said, I don't know a man.
And Gabriel said, why, the power of the highest shall overshadow
thee. With God, all things are possible. When God is pleased to work in
a man's soul, the possibilities, that opens up. Brothers and sisters,
I don't understand it all, but I believe it. Mary said, how
can this be? And he said, it's the mighty
power of God. And you know what she said? I believe it. I believe
it. Just believe it. Just believe
it. The working of His power. Never
doubt the amazing ability and power of God to work in you and
upon you and with you. There's nothing God cannot do
with a man when He sets that work in his heart. Paul, how
do you do this? You're an apostle. Look at all
your labors. How do you find the inward strength
to go and do in the face of all this opposition? He says, this
is it. This is it. The effectual working
of His mighty power. That's the only way any of us
can do anything. Do you know that? Ain't this a blow to self-righteousness and free will? We hear a lot of people talk
today about the power of free will. I used to go to jail with
some preachers, and one of them was always telling those men
to exercise the power of your free will. Just exercise the
power of your free will. Free will don't have any power.
It's in jail. It's in bondage. Well, how are
we going to believe, Paul? Here it is, by the effectual
working of His power. There are people that earnestly
believe that God has just sent out a general influence over
this world. Sure, we have His work. But it's
just a general influence that's went out over all the world.
And it's your responsibility to react to this general influence. And really and honestly, God
doesn't do any more for one than He does another. What makes the
difference is your reaction to this general influence. They
say, well, it would violate man's free will. If God did a mighty
work in one man's heart, that he didn't do in another man's
heart. God could never do that, they say, and they try to justify
God, you know. No, it's all up to you. God is
just set up there in heaven, and he's given to everybody faith.
But now he's just waiting to see if you have the ability and
the will to exercise that faith. And when you exercise it, that
changes everything. But God has nothing to do with
it. Don't they tell us that? And they call it free will. What
a blow this verse is to people. Paul, how do we do anything?
The effectual working of His mighty power. Thy people shall
be willing." Thy people shall be willing to what? To come to
Christ on His terms. To forsake their sins. To cast
their souls upon Christ. To be saved by Him. To follow
Him. To obey Him. Your people shall be willing.
But when? Well, when they exercise the
power of their free will. When they finally come to realize
the power that's in their wills. No, no, no. Hasn't God taught
us better than that? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. You know how you know you're
one of His? You felt something of that power,
haven't you? You felt it in your heart, in
your soul. You hope. You cleave. You follow. What makes you stand in the time
of severe trials and temptation? When you fall, why do you get
back up and go on? Why do you keep hoping and waiting?
Why don't you leave Him like so many have? Leave their profession
of Christ. There's this power, isn't there?
Working in you. Peter said you're kept by that
power. You're brought to faith and repentance by that power.
And you keep on going by that same power. You're kept by the
power of God. Don't you thank God for that?
Can't you feel this working in your soul? Man is so sinful. Man is so fallen. He's such a weak creature. There's
a vast difference, brothers and sisters, in what God commands
a man to do as opposed to what a man can do. God can command what's right
and just, and He can command no less. But there's a vast difference
in God commanding and us doing it. God commands us to be perfect.
God commands a man never to sin. God commands a man to love Him
with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and his neighbor
as himself. God commands all men to repent
and believe the gospel. God commands all men to come
to Christ. But can you come to Christ? Without divine aid? Without this
power working in you? The Master Himself said, no man
can. But Lord, don't you demand it?
Yes, I demand it. You demand something we can't
do? Why can't you do it? You're fallen. You're weak. You're sinful. Yes, He commands things. But
if you don't give grace, we can't do it. I realize that now, don't
you? There was a time I didn't realize
that. But here Paul says, I'm not an apostle. I go preaching
the unsearchable riches of Christ. Look at my labors, he said. They
speak for themselves. Paul, how in the world are you
doing all you're doing? Well, he says this way, by the
effectual working of His mighty power. I've continued to this
day, brothers and sisters, and I ascribe all the glory to God
for it. I take none for myself. To God
be the glory. Lord, not unto us. Not unto us,
but unto thy name give glory and strength. Salvation is not only a gift
of God, but the grace to believe it is a gift. That strength that
it takes to reach your empty hands out, and embrace Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior. That strength comes from a source
outside yourself. The power of God. Stretch forth
your hand, he said, to that man with a withered hand. Stretch
it out. Lord, that's impossible. No. Not when this power works
in that hand. It will stretch out. Come to
Christ. Cast your soul upon Him to be
saved by Him. Trust Him with all your heart.
That's impossible for a dead sinner. Not when the Lord gives
grace to do it. By the effectual working of His
mighty power. And in verses 3 and 4 here of
Ephesians 3, Paul does something else. First of all, he ascribes
all the glory To the power of God for His being an Apostle.
For His ability to preach or do anything else. The effectual
working of His mighty power. This ministry. This preaching.
It's by His power. But in verse 3 and verse 4, He
tells us how He knew what to preach to begin with. Paul, you
are a preacher. You're an Apostle. But what are
you preaching? What are you preaching? And He
tells us there in verse 3. By revelation he made known unto
me the mystery. The mystery. He preaches a mystery. Paul uses this word so often. It's one of his favorite words.
It's mystery. He made known unto me the mystery. See, he won't take credit for
anything. He's not about to glorify himself or honor himself. He
says, I do this by the effects of the work of His power. Well,
Paul, what do you preach? He says, I preach this mystery.
Well, how do you know it if it's a mystery? By revelation. He
made known unto me the mystery. And he uses this word all through
his writings. In chapter 1 of this book, he
talked about the mystery of God's will. God has a will. That's a mystery. This world
is ignorant of that, isn't it? That God has a will, and that
He does according to His will? In 1 Corinthians 15, He speaks
of the resurrection of the body as a mystery. I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In Ephesians chapter 5, he talks
about this union of the husband and wife being one, and he said,
this is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the church. In 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, he
talks about the mystery of the incarnation. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was made flesh, manifest
in the flesh. What a mystery, Paul said. And
then in 1 Timothy 3, verse 9, he talks about the mystery of
the faith. Holding the mystery of this faith
in a pure conscience. The grace of it. How did we come
to believe? Ain't that a mystery? How we
keep believing. How we can't help but not believe.
What a mystery faith is. He even talks about the mystery
of iniquity that doth now work. Paul, how do you know all of
this? He made known to me. He made known to me the mystery.
He mentions a mystery here three times in this chapter. In verse 3, he talks there about
this mystery, and that's the mystery of the Gentiles and the
Jews. You read the context there. You
read it in verse 3, how that by revelation he made known unto
me the mystery. He said, I wrote about it before
in few words, and we read about it in chapter 2. The Gentiles
are now fellow heirs with the saints in the household of God.
He tells that in verse 6. The Gentiles should be fellow
heirs unto the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel. That's the mystery that God revealed
to the Apostle Paul. And then in verse 4 he talks
about the mystery of Christ. That's what he preached, the
mystery of Christ, His person, His work, His purposes. And then
in verse 9 he says this, look what he says in verse 9. To make
all men see, what is the fellowship of the mystery? To make all men
see. That's the purpose of his preaching.
To make all men see. That word see means to shine
upon, to send rays upon, to brighten up. And Paul is saying here,
I preach these unsearchable riches of Christ that all may see. That all may be enlightened and
obtain grace and may share in the fellowship of this mystery
of Christ. The mystery of this gospel. This
is what happens in conversion. A person begins to hear of this
mystery. I tell you, it's an amazing thing,
brothers and sisters. I've never seen anything like
it in my whole life. A person comes in here in this
setting, and they're dead in sin. They're in darkness. They
never heard before. And you're just up here talking
about these things. And suddenly they begin to hear.
They begin to see as they've never seen before. There's these rays, this light
that begins to shine in their conscience, their heart. And
they begin to hear as they never heard before about this Christ
and salvation by Him. Oh, they've heard His name before.
They've heard grace before. They've heard salvation before.
Oh, they've never heard it like this before. It gets into their
heart. And they begin to listen. They
begin to believe it. And they begin to share, begin
to partake of this mystery of Christ, the mystery of His gospel. Ain't that the way it happened
to you? And they begin to fellowship with the Father. They actually
begin to come and pray to Him. And they begin to love Him. And
when they go home from the services, their fellowship doesn't stop.
They read their Bibles and they fellowship with the Father and
His Son. And they seek out those of lack-mindedness and fellowship
with them. Fellowship in this mystery. What Paul says here in verse
8-9, should be our aim, to make all men see. That should be our
aim, brothers and sisters, to make all men see. Holding forth the Word of Life,
Paul said. Hold it out there. Thy Word is a lamp. It's a light,
he said. Hold it out there so men can
see. Tell men about this mystery,
this Gospel, this Christ. The entrance of Thy Word giveth
life. And when it shines into a person's
heart, they'll begin to fellowship with the Father and with His
Son. The mystery. That's Paul's favorite
word. The mystery. What is a mystery? Well, it's not something that
can't be known. We've heard people say, well,
that's a mystery. You can't know it. But that's not what a mystery
is. Paul said, He made known unto
me. The mystery. So it's something that could
be known, but a mystery is something that can't be known apart from
divine aid, apart from divine teaching. By revelation, He made
known to me the mystery. Look over here in Galatians,
just back over to your left, just a little bit. Look in Galatians
chapter 1. He talks about this revelation
again in Galatians chapter 1. And look in verse 11. Galatians chapter 1 verse 11.
Paul says here, I certify you, brethren, I'm telling you the
truth about this, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after men. For I neither received it of
man, Neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ." Why does he always mention this? He mentioned it in our
text there in chapter 3 of Ephesians. By revelation, he made known
to me the mystery. And now he comes back here again.
I didn't learn this of men, he says, but by revelation of Jesus
Christ. Throughout his epistles, he's
always telling us I haven't learned this from my natural abilities. I haven't learned this because
I've read many books about it. These things were a mystery to
me, he said. But God revealed these things
to me. The Son of God revealed them
to my heart. Why does he keep saying that?
Let me give you two or three reasons right quickly why he
keeps saying that. He wants us to know the importance
of the gospel. It is indeed from heaven. It's of God. The Gospel is a
wonderful thing. It's a glorious thing. The blessings
of God are wrapped up in it. And Paul says, one of the ways
I can tell you that it's a glorious thing, it has nothing to do with
man. It didn't originate with man
in any degree. It was in the heart of God. Its origin is there in this triune
God, and the natural man knows nothing of it. It's in God. It's here, there. He has to reveal
it to you. That's the first reason. When
you realize that something's of God, I mean, something's really
of God. One hundred percent of God. It
originated with Him. And if you ever know it, He has
to make you know it. Because it has nothing to do
with you. It's so contrary to your own nature. You say, boy,
this must be something glorious. If it originated in the heart
of God. That's why Paul keeps reiterating this. This gospel,
this revelation. But He does it for this reason,
that you and I may know what's in the heart of God. What in
the world is in the heart of God? Wouldn't you love to know
the heart of God? I mean, He fills heaven and earth.
What's in His heart? Well, He opened up His heart
and He showed this apostle what was in His heart. It was a mystery
before. It's a mystery to us. We're afraid
of God. We don't want to know anything
about Him. What we knew about Him we were afraid of. Don't
let God speak with us lest we die. I wanted to know no more
of Him than I knew already that I was condemned in His presence. I was afraid of Him. And here
comes this apostle now and he said, God has opened up His heart
to me. Oh, my soul, Paul, does that
make you afraid? Oh, no, he said. When God opened
up his heart, I saw the redeeming love of God that was in Christ
Jesus, my Lord. Redeeming grace and mercy and
goodness beyond comprehension. Jesus Christ who is in the bosom
of the Father. That's what's in the heart of
God. Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, the gracious Savior. He's in
the heart of God. Paul wants us to know this, but
he didn't learn this. He didn't learn this from second
hand. It wasn't some rumor that he had heard and wrote down.
Wouldn't that be so discouraging? If Paul wrote to us and he said,
you know what I heard? There's this rumor floating around
People saying this about what's in the heart of God, oh, wouldn't
that discourage you to death? This is a rumor? This is second-hand? No, he said, not at all. I got
this straight from the heart of God. By revelation, He made
known unto me. I like things first-hand, don't
you? Things always get crooked when somebody says, somebody
says, somebody says something. We used to play that game. You
remember, you had a little game? We used to play it down in Tennessee
all the time. We didn't have anything else to do but play
games. And somebody would say something, they'd tell it to
somebody else, whisper it in their ear, and they'd tell somebody
else, and they'd tell somebody else. By the time he got back
to the original one, he was completely different than what he said.
It's not that way with us. Paul, this apostle, got this
message. He got this gospel. from the
heart of God. He opened up his heart and said,
Paul, here's what's in my heart. Now you write it down and go
preach it to these Gentiles. And they'll believe it. They'll
be saved. Thirdly, Paul knew his own depravity. He never gloried in his flesh. He never gloried in his ability.
He never gloried in his learning. God forbid that I should ever
glory, he said. And he goes on here in Galatians
chapter 1 and verse 13. And you notice how he puts these
together. He said, in verse 12, he said, I didn't receive this
gospel, this revelation by man and from man. He said, Jesus
Christ revealed this to me. And then he goes on in verse
13 and says, for, he links this together. And he said, for you've heard
of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion. I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. I profited in the Jews' religion. He said, I'm nothing but a wretch.
I don't know this on my own. I'm unworthy to even hear His
precious name. I'm unworthy to know this. I
have nothing to do with this, he said. This was made known
to me by a gracious God. It's not my learning, it's not
my ability. It's Him. And while we're here
in Galatians right quick, here in Galatians 1, notice something
else about this gospel which was revealed to Paul. It's not
only infallible, but it's immutable. It'll never change. And that's
another thing about revelation. It never changes. having made
known unto me the mystery." And you know something? Once that
mystery is revealed, it will never change. Truth never changes. Thy truth endeareth to all generations. It never changes. And this gospel
that was revealed to Paul, the mystery of the gospel, it is
not here today and gone tomorrow. Some tell us it's going to change.
God's going to change it. He's going to set aside Paul's
gospel and they're going to preach another gospel. Well, what does
Paul say? Paul says in verse 6, I marvel
you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ and to another gospel, which is not another, but there
be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed." Paul said, I received this gospel by revelation, and
revelation never changes, does it? Revelation is truth. Look at all the false gospels
that have come and gone throughout the ages. They just pop up out
of nowhere, but they fall just about as fast. all the man-made commandments
and traditions. Look at Rome. Look at the popes. Luther said this so well. He
said, you'll have a pope that rises up, and he'll get together
with his cardinals there in the Holy See, and they'll write down
these commandments and force them and bind men's conscience
to obey them. And with the threat of excommunication
if they don't obey it, This is infallible, they say? The Pope
has received this from God and you're commanded to obey it?
And Luther said the next Pope will come along and out of his
own convenience, he'll write another commandment
and make void the first Pope's commandment that he said was
infallible. Revelation is not that way. What about this gospel of Paul
that was revealed to him? It's still standing. It's withstood
the test of time. Here I am, a poor old hillbilly,
a prisoner to you. And how do I know it was revealed
to me? See what God does? He reveals
truth. And He says this truth is not
only infallible, it's unchangeable. It will never change. It will
never change. The Word of the Lord endeareth
forever. Everything around us is changing.
We're changing. But revelation never changes.
By revelation He made known unto me the mystery. Oh, thank God. Thank God. We
couldn't have known it. You're here this evening. You're
in the Gospel. You can open up the pages of
this book and read these divine, unchangeable truths. because
of this verse right here. He made known to me the mystery. God opened up His heart and sent
His Son. And His Son opened up His heart
and gave us His blood. And now He opens up our hearts
and makes us understand the Scripture. God is an opening God. He's always
opening up. Thank God for it. One more verse
in closing. Look on to your left in 1 Corinthians
2. Look what he says. 1 Corinthians 2. Paul says in verse 6, chapter
2 of 1 Corinthians, We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,
mature, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor the princes of
this world, the rulers of this world, that come to naught. But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,
which God hath ordained before the world unto our glory, which
none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it,
They would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it
is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him, but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we may know the things that are freely given to us of God, which
things also we speak. not in the words which man's
wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. Oh, but this natural man, he
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned." So when we say the Apostle Paul knew what he knew
by revelation, we do too, don't we? We do too. He didn't need
this. He didn't need this. Oh, he read
it. And he never said a thing. Never
received anything contrary to this. But he got what he got
directly from the heart of the Lord. You and I need this, you
see. We need this. But we can't understand
it apart from the Spirit to aid us and teach us. Let's pray.