Ephesians chapter 3. Wilma Warda got out of the hospital
this afternoon. She had the flu, she was very
sick, had pneumonia, and I'm glad she's getting better. Very thankful. Ephesians chapter
3. I've entitled this message, The
Fellowship of the mystery. The fellowship of the mystery. Verse 8, Paul says 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
Jesus Christ. You see where I got that title?
The Fellowship of the Mystery. The Gospel is a mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the Church. And the Bible does
not mean by this word, mystery, knowledge concealed, but it means
truth revealed. Something we wouldn't have known,
we couldn't have possibly known unless God was pleased to make
it known. Trinity. How would we know that
the living God is God the Father, God the Son? And God, the Holy
Spirit, unless he was pleased to make it known in his word.
This is a mystery that has been revealed. It's not something
we could figure out. It's something he has revealed
in his word. How would we know anything about
the attributes of God unless he was pleased to make them known
in his word? We couldn't really know the character
of God. How would we know that God chose
a people in Christ before time began if the Bible didn't reveal
that to us? How would we know about faith,
actually trusting somebody else as our salvation before God?
How would we know that unless this mystery had not been made
known? How would we know about being
saved by somebody else's righteousness being imputed to us unless the
Bible revealed this to us? This is a mystery that we would
have never known unless God was pleased to reveal it. There are
so many things that could have never been known. unless God
made them know. That's what the Bible means by
mystery. Now, the Bible is not mystical
in the sense that mystical bypasses revelation, a direct revelation
apart from the revelation of Scripture. Now, this is we're
not talking about mysticism, but we're certainly talking about
a mystery. The Bible is a book of mysteries. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
a mystery religion. If there's no mystery, it's not
the truth. And did you notice how Paul spoke
of the fellowship of the mystery? That sounds powerful, doesn't
it? The fellowship of the mystery, the fellowship we have with God
and one another in this mystery. Fellowship means a sharing in
common. It's taken from the word that
means common, ordinary. That which is general to all,
as opposed to that which is peculiar to the few. We read in the scriptures
of the common salvation. It's the salvation that all of
God's people share in common. We read of the common faith.
You know, believers all believe the same thing. The common faith. The believer has fellowship,
a sharing in common. with the Father, with the Son,
with the Holy Spirit, and with every other believer. There is a true fellowship, a
sharing in common. Now, this word is also translated
communion. Fellowship is communion. It's translated contribute, distribute. The fellowship of the mystery.
Now, here's an example of this fellowship while we're here in
Ephesians chapter four. Let's read this passage, a few
verses out of Ephesians chapter four together. I, therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you. That you walk worthy. Of the vocation or the calling
wherewith you are called. And what is this worthy, worthy
walk? Walk with all loneliness and
meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There's one body. There's one church. That's the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. One body. Only one. And one Spirit,
even as you're called in one hope of your calling. We all
have the same hope. We've all been called the same
way. There's one Lord. There's one faith. There's one
baptism. You see this sharing we have
in common, all this? One God and Father of all who's
above all and through all and in you all. Look over in Philippians
chapter 2, a few pages over, Philippians chapter 2. If there be therefore any consolation
comfort in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship, there's
the word, fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies fulfill
ye my joy, that you be like-minded. Having the same love, being of
one accord and of one mind, let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. But not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you." Which was also in Christ Jesus. This fellowship
is with God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, and one another. You know, the scripture says
we have this in common with God. I don't understand this. I'm
just going to quote the scripture. No way I can understand it. It
says we're actually partakers, 2 Peter 1, 4, partakers of the
divine nature. Now, somebody says, you're not
God, are you? Of course I'm not. That's a no
brainer. That's obvious. But the scripture
still says we're partakers, sharers of the divine nature. You see,
when someone's born of God, that's born of God, born of the spirit. It's not a natural birth. It's
a spiritual birth, actually being born of God. And we're said to
have the very mind of Christ in 1 Corinthians 2. Paul said,
now we have the mind of Christ. He doesn't say we think like
he thinks or we think real close to the way he thinks. He says
we have his mind. We have the very mind of Christ. Now that's a sharing in common,
isn't it? We read of the fellowship, the communion of the Holy Spirit. If I'm a believer, I have fellowship. I have communion with God, the
Holy Spirit. And you know, this fellowship,
a sharing in common, because Christ shares in common with
us. He was made flesh. He became a partaker of flesh
to be one with us. You see this sharing in common. It's a supernatural thing. It's
a glorious thing. Turn to first John, chapter one. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life
for the life. I love the way he calls the Lord's
life, the life, the life. That's my life before God. This
is the life. The life was manifested and we've seen and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father
and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with
us. And truly, our fellowship is
with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Well, I want
to enter into that fellowship, don't you? Fellowship with the
Father and fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, let's
go on reading. And these things write we unto you, that your
joy may be full. Now, this then is the message
which we've heard of Him and declare unto you that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all. Now, first of all, this
is a fellowship of light, not of darkness. but of light. God is light. Now let's go on
reading. Verse 6. If we say that we have
fellowship with him. A lot of people make that claim,
don't they? You talk to just about anybody.
Well, I pray to God. He hears me. He answers my prayer.
I speak to him and he speaks to me. We have fellowship. Not
everybody makes some kind of claim like that. But John says
if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
we lie. And do not the truth, it's all
hot air. Now what's he talking about?
God is light. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the light of the world. Now I love why he said that. I'm the light of the world. It's
right after he looked at that woman who was taken in adultery. in the very act, caught red-handed,
guilty. And he looked at her and he said,
woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? Neither do I condemn thee. She
said, no man, Lord. He said, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. Now, Christ is the light as to
how God can look at that person who's guilty and say, you're
not condemned. That's the light of the gospel.
That's the light of having God save sinners by Christ. You see,
this light, the light of the Lord Jesus Christ tells who God
is, tells me who I am, tells me how He saves sinners by His
grace. That's the light of the gospel. God is light, and in
Him is no darkness at all. Now, if we say we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, contrary to the gospel of light,
we lie and we do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light, We have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Now, you show me somebody
who's walking in the light. He really believes that Christ
is His righteousness before God. He really believes that. He really
believes He's a sinner. He really believes His need of
the Lord Jesus Christ. fellowship of that person. I
mean, we got something in common. We got something truly in common.
There's a true fellowship. We're fellows in the same ship.
We really are. We have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Now, if we say we have no
sin, And there, that's a noun talking about a sinful nature.
At all times, I have this sinful nature. But if I say, I've got
no sin, we deceive ourselves. Truth's not in us. I can't have
fellowship with that person who says something like that. Now, if
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I fellowship with that person.
If we say we've not sinned, we make him a liar. And his word
is not in us. There's no fellowship there,
is there? It's the fellowship of the light of the gospel, and
this is a fellowship we're called to. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. God, verse 9, is faithful. He's utterly reliable. He can
be trusted. God is faithful by whom You were
called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Turn to 1 Corinthians 10. Verse 15, I speak to wise men.
You know, every believer is a wise man. Truly wise. Not the world's
wisdom, but truly wise. I speak to wise men. Judge ye
what I say. The cup of blessing which we
bless. He's talking about the Lord's
table. Is it not the communion, that's the same word translated
fellowship, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread
which we break? Is it not the communion of the
body of Christ? For we being many are one bread
and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Now, what fellowship we have,
even in taking the Lord's table. Here's something you can't do
by yourself, can you? If you ever tried it, you certainly
shouldn't. That's something the body does together. What communion
there is in the body and blood of the Lord. That's my salvation. His broken body. His shed blood. That's my salvation. And we have
communion in that. We have union in that. We have
fellowship in that. Now, what do we have in common
with God? Now, if you're a believer, you've
got something in common with God. You know what that is? Christ. Partakers of the divine nature. God the Father sees Christ as
all. We see Christ as all. This is what the new birth is.
It's not the old nature. Listen real carefully. The new
birth is not the old nature being improved or enlarged. It's being
born of the spirit. Jesus Christ is in God and the
Lord Jesus Christ is in us. We have that in common. Colossians
127 says Christ in you, the hope. Of glory. And this is God's agenda,
the glory of His Son. That's God's agenda. And you
know what? Only the Lord knows whether I'm
telling the truth. But that's my agenda, too. And I don't care
what happens to me. I don't care what happens to
me if Christ is honored and glorified. It really doesn't matter. And
if you're a believer, you feel the same way. Whatever happens
to me is fine as long as Christ is honored and exalted. Now Paul
spoke in Philippians 3.10 of the fellowship of his sufferings.
He said, I want to know him and the fellowship of his sufferings.
And Peter said in 1 Peter 4.13 that you are partakers of Christ's
sufferings. You had a share in it. You have a common interest
in it. We were crucified with Christ.
When Christ was crucified, I shared in that. I was right there with
him. I was in him. I was nailed to the tree with
him. I was in him. I had a share in that. But if
I have a share in his sufferings, that means I have a share in
his salvation. If I have a share in his sufferings,
I have a share in everything else about him. I have a share in
his righteousness. When he kept God's holy law,
I did too. That was me doing that. You know,
remember when the Lord said to John the Baptist, thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. It becomes us. So when Christ
fulfilled all righteousness, I did. When he was raised from
the dead, I had a share in that. I was too. As he ascended back
to the Father, you know who went back with him? Me too. You know,
he's called the Lord of Hosts. Look up ye gates and ye everlasting
doors. The Lord of Hosts is coming in.
That's talking about the Lord and all the company of his elect.
When he ascended back to the Father, every single one of them
came with him. As he's seated in heaven right
now, I'm right there with him. Really? Really. That's what the
Bible says. Turn to Ephesians 2. Verse 4, 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
you are saved." Now look at verse 6, "...and hath raised us up
together." When Jesus Christ the Lord was raised, I was raised
with him, "...and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus." That's where I am right now. I'm in heaven in Christ
Jesus. I tell you what, people, I've
said this before, people say, I'm not sure for heaven, if I'm
already there, I'm better than that. I'm already there. In Christ,
I am already there. That's how secure I am. That's
how sure I am in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn
to Philippians chapter 1. Paul says in verse 3, I thank
my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer
of mine for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship,
your partnership, your communion in the gospel from the first
day until now. Now, what fellowship there is
in the gospel? Being confident of this very
thing that he which had begun a good work in you will perform
it into the day of Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for that verse.
He that's begun this good work in you. He'll carry it out. He'll perform it into the day
of Jesus Christ. Verse 7, Even as it's meet for
me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart,
inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel, you are partakers, fellowship, same word, partakers
of my grace, partakers of grace. I love thinking about this. I'm
a partaker of grace. You know, people who don't know
what the grace of God is, look at it as an offer, as a commodity. Here it is. It's offered. You
can accept it or reject it. It's up to you. Now, if you accept
it, it'll benefit you. If you reject it, it won't do
you any good. They look at grace as something to use, but we don't
use grace. Grace uses us. We don't accept
grace. Grace accepts us. Ephesians 1, 6 says, He hath
made us accepted. And that's literally, He hath
graced us. He hath graced us in the belovedness. Paul said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. Now, here's something we have
some fellowship in. Every believer, I am what I am by the grace of
God. I'm a sinner. And the only reason I know that
is by the grace of God. There was a time when I didn't
have any understanding of that. I do now. I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I know that. And that's
by the grace of God. But I'm a chosen sinner. God chose me before time began
and I know That's by the grace of God. He didn't look at me
and say, well, Todd's going to make a preacher. I think I'll choose
him. He didn't say Todd will do this for me. I think I'll choose
him. He didn't say Todd will believe. Therefore, no. His choice
was a gracious choice. I say, why me? Why me? Why would the Lord look down
in mercy on me? I'm a justified sinner. You know
what that means? That means I don't have any sin. I'm justified. I'm not guilty. I have no guilt. I'm sanctified,
declared by God himself to be holy, and if God says I'm holy,
if God calls me Saint Todd, I'm Saint Todd. I'm holy Todd. Every
believer is a saint, and that's by the grace of God. I believe,
and that's the gift of His grace. I know that. It's not the product
of my free will. He gave me the faith that I have.
I repent, and I know that came from Him. We have communion. in grace. You know, His people are grace
people. You ever heard that phrase, common
grace? There's no such thing. No such
thing as common grace. But all God's people have grace
in common, don't they? We're grace people. Turn to Colossians 1. Verse 12, giving thanks unto
the Father, which hath made us meet, to be partakers, fellowshippers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now, what a thought! The saints in light. And I couldn't
help but think about our dear sister Donna. She's in that heavenly
choir right now rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. She's
a saint in light. What a fitness she has. Perfectly
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. She's a saint in light.
But you know what this passage of scripture says? It says he
had made us fit. It doesn't say he will make us
fit. He said he hath made us fit for the inheritance of the
saints and light. You know what that means? That
means there's nothing I need. I'm already fit right now for
the inheritance of the saints and light. I got all that I'm
going to have in heaven. Now I'm going to get rid of this
sin. I'm going to get rid of this mortal sinful body, but
all that God requires. I have perfect righteousness.
I have holiness. I'm perfectly conformed to the
image of Christ. I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have all that I need right now. I'm fit for the inheritance
of the saints in light now. That saint in light, no doubt,
is a whole lot more happy than I am. I have no question about
this. I still have this flesh, but
that saint in light is not more saved, and is not more secure,
and is not more holy. We have a fellowship, a communion.
We're partakers with the saints in light. Already made fit. That's fellowship, isn't it?
I have fellowship with those people in heaven. Look in 1 Peter
chapter 5. I know I'm asking to turn to
a lot of scriptures, These are good scriptures. Verse one, the elders which are
among you, I exhort who am also an elder and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ and also a partaker, a sharer having fellowship
in the glory that shall be revealed. You know, the Lord said in John
17, 22, the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them and thou
in me that they may be made perfect in one. Now that's sharing in
common, isn't it? Sharing in the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now these are things that we
just believe. Says it in the word of God, we
believe. Turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Verse 41. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized. That's the way you receive the
word. Gladly. It's good news. It meets your
need. They that gladly received his
word were baptized in the same day. There were added unto them
about 3,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles'
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers. And fear came upon every soul,
the fear of God. And many wonders and signs were
done by the apostles, and all that believed were together and
had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods and
parted them to all men as every man had need. And they, continuing
daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from
house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness
of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And
the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved."
You know, there's another scripture where Paul said we over in Acts
where he said we extended the right hand to fellowship. And
whenever somebody believes the gospel, we extend the right hand
to fellowship to those people, don't we? Because they're our
brothers. And I mean, it's a it's a unity. Listen, grace is more thick than
blood. It really is. This is our true family. Grace
is more thick than blood. And Paul also spake in 2 Peter
1, verse 8, of being a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel.
Now, I've been talking about blessings. Oh, what blessings! We've been thinking of being
fit to be an inheritor of the saints in life and all the blessings
of grace and so on. But along with that, there's
the afflictions of the gospel. If I stand for the gospel, I'm
sure not going to win any popularity contest. I'm going to make some
enemies. And Paul said, don't be ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of the gospel,
but you be a partaker, a sharer in the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now, the outcome of this fellowship,
this word is also translated communicate. Contribute. Distribution. Those you have
fellowship with, you give yourselves to. You communicate to. Paul said, or whoever wrote Hebrews
said, but to do good and to communicate. To have fellowship. Forget not,
for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Now, what we're doing right now,
fellowship isn't necessarily, although that's certainly part
of people getting together and having fellowship and enjoying
one another and having fellowship in the gospel. But what we're
doing right now is the closest thing there is to fellowship.
Hearing the gospel, believing the gospel. That's truly fellows
in the same ship. That's fellowship. And what fellowship
we have, that's the same Savior. Do you see the Lord Jesus Christ
as altogether lovely? I do, too. Do you really believe
that his righteousness, his obedience, his law keeping is your righteousness
before God? Me, too. Do you really believe that his
shed blood has such power that it makes you perfect before God?
I do too. Fellowship. Do you really believe
that his intercession keeps you? I do too. Do you really believe
salvation is all of grace? I do too. You see, we have fellowship,
truly fellows in the same ship, isn't it? Fellowship in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's true that you and I
are unique individuals. I've said this several times
in the last couple of weeks, and I'm looking at some very unique
individuals. Nobody like you. Nobody like
you. Nobody like me. I'm the only
taught novice in the world. Ain't nobody like me. Same with
you. We're unique individuals and
the Lord has made us so. But it's also true. We are one
in Christ, incomplete without each other. Members of the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Called to fellowship with Christ
and called to fellowship with each other while we're here and
then in glory also. Now with such a calling, truly,
all is well. Let's pray.