All right, Ephesians chapter
3, the fellowship of the mystery. In verse 1, Paul writes, For this cause I,
Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, Paul calls himself an elder, He calls himself an apostle.
He calls himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ. A believer. But here he calls himself the
prisoner of Jesus Christ. Why would he call himself a prisoner
of Jesus Christ? Now he's in prison up in Rome.
Let me read you a little bit about that prison. The last chapter of Acts, 28. Paul spent two years under house
arrest. That's when he wrote this epistle.
He was in prison in Rome when he wrote this epistle. In Acts
28, isn't that the last chapter? Yeah, 28 verse 30. And Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house and received all that came into him. He was
under guard. He couldn't leave there. He was
in prison. But it was in his own hired house. And he spent
that time preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no
man forbidding him. Paul was in his sixties. You
don't know exactly how old he was, but he was in his 60s. And
a lot of people talk about how Paul died, but nobody knows,
to be honest with you, almost nothing. And I've tried to find
it, but it's not there. They say he was beheaded and
all sorts of things, but almost nothing is known about Paul's
death. But he was in prison when he wrote this, and he called
himself the prisoner of Jesus Christ. offhand remark. He uses it five
times in his epistle. Five times he calls himself the
prisoner of Jesus Christ. He spent a lot of time in prison,
like John Bunyan. John Bunyan spent twelve years
in prison with the author of Pilgrim's Procrastination. Twelve
years in prison. And Paul spent much time in prison. But what he's teaching here Now
these Romans put him in prison, the Jews had him put in prison,
and the Roman Emperor put him in prison, but he's saying here,
I'm not their prisoner. I'm here by the will of my Lord.
That's what he's saying. There's nothing they can do to
me that he didn't will and purpose. That's what he's saying. And
he's telling us that where we are and what we are and what
we have is not determined by men, if we're God's children,
but it's determined by our Lord. That's right. Our Lord said that
to Pilate. You remember, he said, he was
standing before Pilate, and Pilate asked him a question, and he
didn't answer it. And Pilate was angry, and he
said, Answerest thou not me? Are you going to be silent when
I ask you something? Don't you know? that I have the
power to crucify you or let you go." Our Lord replied, listen, you
could have no power over me at all, except it was given you
by my Father. That's what Paul said. I'm sitting
here in this prison, but I'm here because God wills that I
be here. Actually, he was a great witness
to the to the court and to the palace of Caesar when he was
imprisoned there. And he said in Philippians, he
said this, not that I speak in respect of want, I have learned
in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. He said, I know
how to abound. I've been up there. I know how
to be a base. I've been there, but I'm not
speaking in respect of war. I'm the prisoner of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what's this? Verse 1, For
this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles,
for you Gentiles, I'm here for this purpose, the pledge of the
gospel. I preached the funeral of a pastor's
wife. both of whom are very special
to me, and she was quite young. And I made this statement. I don't understand why the Lord
brings things like this to pass, the death, a young woman, death
of a young pastor. and the mother of several children,
and a tremendous person. I don't understand that. But
I do know this, it'll serve for the furtherance of the gospel
in some way. I do not know how, but it will
serve the purpose of Christ for the furtherance of the gospel.
And I read that to you in Philippians 1. In Philippians 1. And Paul was talking about these
inconveniences and persecution and troubles and trials and disappointments. He said, I'm cast down, but I'm
not destroyed. But he says in Philippians 1.12,
I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which
happen to me have fallen out rather unto the
furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds, my chains, in
Christ are manifested in all the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren, other
preachers in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much
more bold to speak the word without fear. God Almighty has me here
in prison, but it's to accomplish his purpose and to further the
accomplish his purpose in the presence of the gospel. So these
things that come to pass in the lives of God's preachers and
God's children are not by accident. They're not by the will of man,
which is always the second cause. They're by the will of God. And
Paul said this over in 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse
9. You look at this, 2 Timothy 2,
9, wherein I suffer trouble, and a whole lot of it. Sometimes
you read the 2nd book of Corinthians and all the things that man suffered.
I suffer trouble as an evildoer. That's what they think I am,
an evildoer, even under prison. But the Word of God is not bound.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake. that they
also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. That's right. That's the reason
he calls himself the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Now in verse 2, he says, Now
if you have heard, if you have heard, and they have, if you
have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given to me to you Now here's what Paul's saying. The word
dispensation means stewardship. You know what a steward is. He
has a stewardship. A steward's in charge of a certain
responsibility. Like on a great ranch, he's in
charge of all the horses. That's the steward. He's in charge
of the home, the feeding of everybody, the preparing of the meals, the
cleaning of the properties. He's a steward. He works for
somebody, and he's a steward. He has an assignment. He has
a stewardship. And that's what Paul had. God
gave him a stewardship. And he said, you heard of it.
What was it? Well, turn to Acts chapter 9.
God gave Paul an assignment. That's right, he had an assignment.
He had a stewardship, he had a responsibility, he had a ministry.
That's another word for dispensation, a ministry. But Acts 9, verse
10, listen. Acts 9, verse 10, And there was
a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananas. And to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananas, he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
The Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the street which
is called straight. and inquired in the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus. But behold, he is praying. And
he hath seen in a vision a man called, named Ananias, coming
in and putting his hand on him, that he may receive his sight.
Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, Saul
of Tarsus, how much evil he hath done to thy people in Jerusalem.
And here in Damascus, he has authority from the chief priest
to bind all that call on your name. I've heard about him. He's
dangerous. But the Lord said to Ananias,
you go your way now. He's a steward. He's a chosen
vessel. unto me. He has an assignment
to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children
of Israel. That's his assignment. That's his stewardship. And that's
what Paul is saying to them in verse 2. You've heard. That swept
over the whole land. Saul of Tarsus has been converted.
Saul of Tarsus knows the Lord. Saul of Tarsus is now one of
us. And God has assigned him. the responsibility of preaching
the gospel to the Gentiles. That's my stewardship. That's
my assignment. You know, the Lord assigns people
to certain responsibilities. Let me just read you two or three.
Don't turn to these. I can turn quickly and you just
listen. He said, Jeremiah, before I formed
you in the belly, Jeremiah was a very young man, but the Lord
said, before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. And before
you came forth from your mother's womb, I sanctified you and ordained
you a prophet unto the nations." That's your assignment. And then
what Brother Dale read a moment ago, you remember Paul said this
in Acts 20, verse 24, listen. None of these things, you know,
he said, you've heard how I go to Jerusalem and Great danger
awaits me there. But these things don't bother
me. None of these things move me. I don't count my life dear
unto myself. So that I can finish my course with joy and the ministry which
I have received of the Lord, I want to finish that. I want
to accomplish what He put me here to do. And these other things
don't bother me, Sid. my determination to do what he
assigned me to do. And he said over here to young
Timothy, he said this to young Timothy, he said in 1 Timothy
1.12, he said, I thank God, Christ our Lord, I thank Christ my Lord
who enabled me, he counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry. What's the chief assignment of
a steward? Just take any steward, any person
on assignment, any person with a ministry, what's his chief
requirement? Let's look at it, 1 Corinthians
4. All believers have a stewardship now, not just the pastors and
preachers. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, what
is the chief requirement of one of God's stewards? Paul tells
us in 1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 4, 1, let a man so
accountable as the ministers of Christ, as the stewards of
the mysteries of God, men who handle the gospel, men who feed
the sheep, men who set the table, men who minister to others. Moreover, it's required in a
steward that a man be found faithful. And that's what Paul's final
word was to these elders. I've kept back nothing profitable
unto you. Nothing. Secondly, I have not
shunned or declared unto you all the counsel of God. I haven't
kept back anything. I've told you everything he said. And why do you mean all believers
have a stewardship? Well, let me show you that in
1 Peter 4. There's an assignment. Everybody's here on assignment. Every one of us serves the purpose
of God. God has made all things for himself,
even the wicked for the day of evil. But I don't want to serve
evil. I want to be a minister of God. I want to be used of
God for the furtherance of the gospel. to bless his church,
to bless his people. Well, listen, 1 Peter 4, verse
7. Now, the end of all things is
at hand. Peter writes, this is a general
epistle to all believers. The end of all things is at hand.
It's getting close. So be ye therefore sober, serious,
watch unto prayer. Above all things have fervent
love among yourselves, for love will cover a multitude of sins.
Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man
hath received the gift, whatever gift God's given you, even so
minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold
grace of God. If a man speak, let him
speak as the oracles of God. If a man minister, Let him do
it as of the ability that God gives him. Mike just ministered
to us and so on. The men who take care of this
building minister to us. Those who teach the classes,
those who teach the children, those who do whatever you do
in the kingdom of God. Whatever the gift is, whatever
God's, the place He has entrusted to you, Let him do it of the
ability God gave him. Don't wish for something else.
Do what your hands find to do. That God in all things may be
glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. Now that's verse 2. You've heard of the ministry,
stewardship, the assignment, the grace of God which was given
to me for you. to serve you, God gave me this
assignment. And when Paul came to die, he
said, I'm ready to be offered, the time of my departure is at
hand, I've kept the faith, I've finished my course, finished
my course, finished my assignment. All right, verse 3, get into
this mystery thing a minute. You heard how that by revelation,
God made known unto me the mystery. Now, the parenthesis is open. He's going to explain what he's
saying. As I wrote afore in few words, whereby when you read
you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. You
know, the scripture often uses the word mystery in reference
to our Lord Jesus Christ, his person and work, often. I think
it would be worthwhile to read some of these references to the
mystery. The mystery of Christ. In this
world of religion, there are no mysteries. There are no deep
things of God. It's just a shallow, a shallow
religiosity or something. But the gospel is a mystery.
The personal work of Christ is a mystery. His very incarnation
is a mystery. The scripture says without controversy,
without debate, without argument, great is the mystery. of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
seen of the angels, justified in the Spirit, preached to the
Gentiles, believed on in the world. That's a mystery. Now,
let's hunt a few up. In Ephesians 1, verse 9, speaking
about our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1, 9, "...having made
known unto us the mystery of his will." according to his good
pleasure which he purposed in himself. He's the only one who
can make known this mystery. He's the only one. No man has
seen the Father at any time. The Son reveals Him. Christ said
no man knows the Father but the Son, He to whom the Son will
reveal Him. All right, look at Ephesians
5, verse 32. Ephesians 5, 32. This is a great
mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the Church. This relationship between Christ
and the Church is a mystery. It's a great mystery. And then
Ephesians 6, verse 19. Pray for me, pray for me, verse
19, and for me, that utterance may be given to me that I may
open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel."
Well, Paul has nothing to it, son. Just get up there and pop
off. There's nothing to preaching.
Just get up there and start telling a few stories and tell them a
few doctrines that you learned in the seminary. Now, here's
Paul, the apostle. Man's seen the Lord. Man's been
to the third heaven, heard things that's not lawful to utter. Emanuel
13 of the books of the New Testament, asking this church down there
at Ephesus, pray for me. Pray for me that God will give
me utterance, that God will give me wisdom and understanding and
words to say. Pray for me. I don't have them. God will have to give them to
me. That God will open my mouth boldly. and make known the mystery
of the gospel. They don't know it. And they're
not going to know it, not through me, unless God uses the Word. And to hear a man, but to hear
God as that man, you've got to hear the Spirit. They don't know
it. That's just so. Look at Colossians
1. just over a couple of pages, a mystery, Colossians 1, verse
25 and 27. Listen to this. Whereof I made a ministry according
to the assignment, dispensation, stewardship of God, which is
given to me for you to fully preach the Word. What Word? The mystery, even the mystery
which has been hid from ages. and from generations, but is
now manifest to whom? The whole world? No, to his saints.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you. Christ
in you? The hope of glory. Mystery. The mystery. But no man can enter into the
mystery of Christ apart from revelation. And that's what he
says in my text, in Ephesians 3, verse 3, how that by revelation
he made known to me the mystery. By revelation he made known to
me. And that's how he makes it known
to you. Here are some of the mysteries.
Who is this man Jesus Christ? God? Man? Divine nature? Human nature in one person? Made
of a woman whom he made? He made his mother. That's a
mystery. How can God be just and holy
and justify a sinner like me and you? The angels desire to look into
it. That's what Scripture says. How can God die on a cross and
lie in a tomb? How can He be clean and not guilty
who is born in sin? That's a mystery. How can He
be actually clean and not guilty who is born in sin? If a man
dies, he dies and goes back to the dust. And in 500 years, you
can't find a trace of him. Tell me, shall he live again?
That's what Job asked. Shall he live again? That's a
big one, isn't it? How can heaven and earth, which
has been from the beginning, suddenly be no more? Scripture
says heaven and earth shall pass away. I mean, the people that
observe the heavens tell us it's so many miles out there, you
can't even estimate it. There's so many stars and planets,
you can't even number them. God numbers them and calls them
by name. But they're just going to, whoosh, like that, disappear,
pass away. Heaven and earth. And suddenly,
in their place, a new heaven and a new earth, wherein is perfect,
immaculate, eternal righteousness, inhabited by pure spirits and
pure people, ruled by a sovereign redeemer, and death and evil
shall be no more. Now that's awesome to me, and
that's a mystery. And our Lord Jesus Christ said
to his disciples, over here in Matthew 13, he said this, in
Matthew 13, verse 10. He says, in verse 10, they said
to him, they said, Why do you speak to the people in parables?
He answered and said, Because it's given to you to know the
mysteries. of the kingdom of God to them
is not given. Now, they're religious, and they're scribes and Pharisees
and rabbis and lawyers, and they go about all the ceremonies and
sacrifices and holy days, and they're priests clad in the garb
of a priesthood, and they offer sacrifices and keep holy days
faithfully and keep the Sabbath day, but they don't know the To you, it's given to know the
mysteries. What I've just been talking about,
the kingdom of God. To them, it's not given. It's
a gift. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Turn to 1 Corinthians
2. Mystery. The mystery of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 6, he said, we speak wisdom, what
I'm preaching is wisdom among them that are perfect, mature,
taught of God. It's not the wisdom of this world,
nor the princes of this world that come to know it. We speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery. even the hidden wisdom of God,
which God ordained before the world under our glory, the everlasting
covenant, which none of the princes of this world knew. Who are the
princes? Caesar and Nero? No! The leaders, the religious
leaders, as well as the political and social leaders. They don't
know. Had they known this mystery,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Who cried crucifying? The Pharisees,
the chief priests, and the elders, religiously. Crucify Him! We will not have this man reign
over us. That's the Son of God. That's the Redeemer. That's the
Messiah they've been looking for for 3,000 years. He was in the world and the world
didn't know Him. He came to His own and they didn't receive Him.
They said, Crucify Him! We wash our hands of this imposter. It's a mystery. But as it's written,
verse 9, in Isaiah, I have not seen. A preacher, anybody can
see that. Can they? Not really. Why don't
they believe it? Eyes not seen, ears not heard,
it hasn't entered the heart of man to think God's prepared in
this mystery, this covenant, this kingdom, this glorious kingdom
of the Son for them that love Him. But God. You'll find those two words in
some mighty wonderful places. But God. I'll tell you this. I don't know how many folks are
here tonight, but everyone's got a different story. But every
one of you, go back to two words. You were a mess, but God, who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved you,
quickened you in Christ. You were without hope, without
help, without God at your wit's end, without Christ. But God
commended His love for us. He said, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died. But God, that's what it says
here, but God hath revealed them to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit of God searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. He preaches the gospel,
I heard a man say one time, so simple that a little child can
understand it. If he does, he doesn't preach
any gospel at all. That's right. No man can understand
the gospel, child or old man, except God reveals it. That's
what the scripture says. No man knows the Father, but
the Son, he to whom the Son revealed. No man comes to me who's not
taught of God. If he's taught of God and learned
of God, he'll come to me. Paul's going to, in the Bible
school, Pastor Paul Mahan's going to teach the children in the
opening exercises The names of Jehovah, the seven names of Jehovah. And the scripture says, he that
knows my name will trust in me. And you won't trust him until
you know his name. And if you know his name, you'll trust him.
Mystery. He revealed him unto us by his
Spirit. Look at verse 5 of our text. Chapter 3, verse 5. Which in
other ages... Now what's Paul talking about?
He's talking about the Old Testament days. He's talking about days
of Malachi just 400 years ago, before his time. The days of
Isaiah, the days of Jeremiah. Which in other ages was not known
to the sons of men. as is now revealed under his
holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." This gospel of Christ, this mystery,
it was known by the Old Testament prophets. Now listen to me just
a minute. Abel knew something about the Lamb of God, didn't
he? By faith he brought a lamb. But Abel didn't know Paul said, as it's now revealed,
the Lamb was promised, the Lamb has come and died. That's different. Even Abel didn't know what you
know. Abraham, Christ said, he rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. But Abraham
didn't know what you know. In ages past it was not known
to the sons of men, this mystery, as is now revealed unto the apostles
and prophets, and through them to us by the Spirit." Moses wrote
of Christ. Moses esteemed the reproach of
Christ's greater riches in the treasures of Egypt. David said,
the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. Isaiah
wrote, he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities. But Isaiah didn't see what you see. They knew God, they believed
God, they walked with God, they wrote of Christ, they wrote of
his sufferings, they looked for him in type and shadow, and they
saw him in those pictures, but not like he's revealed now. Like he's revealed in 1 John.
Turn to 1 John. 1 John chapter 1. Look at this, 1 John chapter
1. That which was from the beginning,
which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've
looked upon with our hands of Hamel. Abraham couldn't say that.
Isaiah couldn't say that. Moses couldn't say that. I've
seen him. I've heard him speak. I've held
his hand. Who's he talking about? The Word
of Life, Jesus Christ, Son of God. For the life was manifested,
we've seen it. And we bear witness and show
to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested
to us. And that which we've seen and
heard, declare we unto you that you may have fellowship with
us. The fellowship in the mystery,
the fellowship in who He is, what He did, why He did it, where
He is, that's a fellowship. That's not a religious fellowship,
that's a spiritual fellowship. That you may have fellowship
with us. And listen, and our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Fellowship in the mystery. Back to my text, and I'll quit.
Ephesians 3. And here's another thing that's
revealed to us that wasn't revealed to those Old Testament preachers
and prophets. Verse 6, that the Gentiles, oh,
that Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers
of the promise of Christ. This was especially not understood
by these Old Testament prophets, especially. That the Gentiles
should be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, the same as
the Jews. That the Gentiles should be partakers
of the promise made to Abraham regarding Israel, the Messiah.
The Messiah to them was a Jewish Messiah. Even the Apostle Peter
had a struggle with that after Christ died. that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs in this fellowship of the mystery. No,
no. It's all right for them to come in the side door, but not
in the front door. It's all right for them to sit
over there in the corner, but not at the table. They just didn't
see it. Just didn't see it. Didn't see it. Well, but where
have I made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given to me by the effectual working of His power. That's
right. God makes a man a minister. I'm
made a minister. Paul says that a dozen times.
I'm made a minister. I'm made a minister. Not according
to my natural gifts, but according to the gift, the grace of God
given to me. And God's minister is a humble
man. I'm less than the least of all
the saints. That's who I am is this grace given that I should
preach among the Gentiles. one message, the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship
of the mystery. 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. Now here's a mysterious
verse. to the intent that now, under
the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the Church
the manifold wisdom of God. Now that, I won't show you one
verse and then we'll close. 1 Peter 1.12. Let's tie these
two verses together. God is going to use you and me
in this gospel and his revelation of Christ to our hearts to demonstrate
to the angels the manifold wisdom and grace
and mercy of God. It says in 1 Peter 1, 12, talking
about these Old Testament people, prophets, under whom it was revealed
that not to themselves, But unto us they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel to you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into." Mysteries of God, of Christ,
of the kingdom, of the covenant, of God's grace and mercy, salvation,
eternal life. These things the angels desire
to look into. They can't comprehend them. They've
never been lost. They've never been a sinner.
They've never been a rebel. And they sure wouldn't associate
with them either. And yet God is going to demonstrate to them
His wisdom. is infinite wisdom in redeeming
a people that enables him to be God and yet a Savior. God
is a Savior, my God and my Savior. The mystery of Christ and His
church, one. The mystery of God loves us just
like He loves Christ, mystery. God incarnate, God crucified,
God risen. Angels are going to look at us,
and when they look at us, they're going to look into those things
and see God's going to reveal His wisdom. That's a mystery.