Ephesians chapter 3, and I'll
read verses 1 through 13. For this cause 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 youward, how that
by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore
in a 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 Jesus Christ. to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers and 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 you faint not at my tribulations
for you, which is your glory. In these verses we see the Apostle
Paul acknowledges what he calls his tribulations. His tribulations
which he experienced because of his preaching the gospel and
especially preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. He does this
not to have a pity party, look at me and all that I have and
all that I am suffering for the gospel. He did this to encourage
these believers to be faithful, no matter how much he, or for
that matter, no matter how much they suffered tribulation, to
continue faithful in the things of God. If you keep your places
here, but turn back over to Acts chapter 14, We read here of the Apostle Paul
revisiting some of the churches where he had preached the gospel.
God had raised up churches and he is back again visiting them. And in verse 22, Acts 14, it
says, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them
to continue in the faith. And that we must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. We must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. And Paul knew something
about tribulation. That's what he's speaking of
in our text tonight. And he does so in hopes that
these believers would not become discouraged. I've always thought
that you can see the Apostle Paul was not a pastor. He was
an evangelist, an apostle. He had the care of all the churches,
he said, but he certainly had a pastor's heart. That comes
out in his epistles. He had a concern for the believers,
the children of God. He could experience the tribulation,
but he was concerned that when they saw him going through tribulations,
that they might get discouraged and turn back. So this is the
passage that we're looking at tonight, and I want to point
out these five things to us. First, Paul confesses to be a
prisoner of Jesus Christ. A prisoner of Jesus Christ. When he calls himself a prisoner
of Jesus Christ, this might be understood in either of these
two ways. First, every, now listen, every
true child of God is a prisoner of Jesus Christ. If you are a
child of God tonight, you too are a prisoner of Jesus Christ. If you look over to the next
letter, Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12, the apostle says
here in Philippians 3 and verse 12, Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect. But I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ apprehended
him, just like the police officers would apprehend someone that
they were looking for. So the Lord Jesus Christ apprehended
Paul. And from that moment on, he continued
to be a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. the Lord having
dispossessed the strong man armed, and that's the condition of all
of us by nature when we come into this world under the power
and strength and dominion of Satan, without the ability to
loose ourselves, to free ourselves, we are his prisoners until the
one who is stronger than him, that is the Lord Jesus Christ,
until he apprehends his people. And when a person is apprehended
of Christ, that person then becomes a prisoner of Christ. Robert
Hawker, in his comments on this passage, said, oh, the golden
chains. Prisoners, many times, were put
into chains. And Robert Hawker said, oh, the
golden chains. And that made me think of the
passage in Romans chapter 8, that is often referred to as
a golden chain, where the apostle said, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. God's golden chain. Don't you
want to be a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ? What a blessing
to be one of His prisoners. So the scripture might be understood
in that sense, but probably in this passage here, Paul was a
literal prisoner of the state of Rome. He was a prisoner of
the state. And we know that he had been
carried there as a prisoner by that Roman centurion, He had
been taken as a prisoner to Rome. So the first thing Paul confesses
to be a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Was he Augustus' prisoner? Yes. But he never thought of
himself as being the prisoner of Caesar. He was a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. And he knew that the only reason
he was in that cell in Rome under the authority of the Roman governor
was because that was God's purpose for his life. That was God's
way for Paul to take the gospel to Rome and preach the gospel
even to some among Caesar's household. The second thing we see, he was
a prisoner for a specific cause. You notice in verse 1 he said,
for this cause, for this cause. He was not a prisoner because
he had done evil. Wasn't like he was a murderer
or thief or something like that and was a prisoner. No, it was
for this cause. For this cause, Paul said, he
was a prisoner. And I believe this refers back
to everything that he had said in chapter two. Everything that
he had wrote, we've studied through chapter two, it was for this
cause. He preached the gospel freely
to all men, both Jew and Gentile. He declared how that they both
together make up one mystical body, that we are joined in union
to one another, to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the head of the
body, the church. The Gentile believers were believers. They were accepted in the Beloved. They were members of the body
of Christ. And circumcision had nothing
to do with it. Had nothing at all to do with
it. They were no more. Look back in chapter 2. This
is a cause, this is a reason he was a prisoner. Because of
the message that he had preached to the Gentiles. In chapter 2
and verse 19, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints and household of God. In other
words, the message he preached that included the Gentiles, brought
the Gentiles into the family of God, it was for this cause
that he was now a prisoner. Christ, he had preached, was
the end of the law for righteousness unto everyone that believeth,
Jew or Gentile. Christ is the end of the law.
That's what he said in Romans chapter 10. And of course, his
countrymen, the Jews, that's what they stumbled at. They stumbled
at that stumbling stone, he tells us in the letter of Romans. that
it is by faith in Jesus Christ. It's not by works, it's not by
being born a child of Abraham, but it is rather by faith in
the person and work of Jesus Christ, that a person is accepted
with God and part of the family of God. For this cause, for you
Gentiles, Now he's writing, remember, he's writing to the church at
Ephesus. Ephesus was the main city of
Asia Minor, capital city, I believe, of Asia Minor at that time. And
he's writing to the church at Ephesus, and it was the Jews,
now listen, it was the Jews from Asia that caused him to be taken
as a prisoner. Look back in Acts chapter 21. He had come to Jerusalem to worship
God. And the leaders of the church
there in Jerusalem asked him if he would take a vow with some
other men, other believers there, and he agreed to do that. And
in Acts chapter 21, beginning in verse 27, and when the seven days were
almost ended, to complete that vow, The Jews, now notice, which
were of Asia. Ephesus, the capital, the main
city of Asia. And the Jews, which were of Asia,
when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people and
laid hands on him, crying out, men of Israel, help. This is
the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people,
against the Jews. and the law, and this place. And father brought Greeks also
into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. For they had
seen before with him in the city of, the city Trofimus and Epheshun,
whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.
And all the city was moved, and the people ran together, and
they took Paul and drew him out of the temple. Forthwith the
doors were shut, and as they went about to kill him, tidings
came unto the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was
in an uproar, who immediately took soldiers and centurions
and ran down unto them. And when they saw the chief captain
and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. Then the chief captain
came near and took him and commanded him, and notice, to be bound
with chains. He became a prisoner because
of the Jews, mainly from Asia. For this cause, he's writing
to this church at Ephesus, he was now a prisoner. The third
thing, Paul was given the dispensation, back here in Ephesians chapter
three, Paul was given the dispensation of the grace of God to the Gentiles. We see that in verses 2 through
7. If you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you. This word which
is translated if can also be translated since. Since you have
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
me to you. How that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery. as I wrote afore in a few words
whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known under
the sons of men as it is now revealed under his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of the 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." He was commissioned. When he says here, since you
have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, this word
dispensation here, a commission, a stewardship, think of it as
a stewardship. He was given a stewardship. The gospel, he was given. And he was a steward of to preach
to the Gentiles. He calls the gospel here, the
grace of God, because as John Gill said, it's the means, the
gospel is the means of conveying the grace of God into their hearts. Paul was given this dispensation,
this commission. John Calvin translated this,
this ambassadorship was given unto him to be the apostle to
the Gentiles. Now, the other apostles, we know
that they preached the gospel to Gentiles. Peter did. He was
the first who took the gospel to the house of Cornelius. We
read that in Acts chapter 10, but it was Paul especially who
is set apart as the, and he called himself this, the apostleship
of the uncircumcision. To Peter was committed the apostleship
to the circumcision. In other words, Peter to the
Jews mainly, Paul mainly to the Gentiles. Look back with me to
Acts chapter nine. When the Lord saved Paul, called
him that day on the road to Damascus. Remember he, the Lord, God told
one of the disciples there to go and lay hands on Paul and
to baptize him. Here in Acts chapter nine, Ananias answered, Lord, verse
13, Lord, I've heard by many of this man, how much evil he
had done to the saints in Jerusalem. Everyone knows that Paul was
a hundred percent against Christ until the Lord saved him. And
then he was a hundred percent for Christ. There was no halfway with the
apostle Paul, whatever he was in, it was a hundred percent.
And when he believed that Christ was an imposter, that he confessed
to be the son of God, he didn't believe that. He believed he
was a liar and he was doing everything humanly possible in his hands
to exterminate Christianity, as we would call it. But when
the Lord revealed himself to Saul on the road to Damascus,
As we follow him through the book of Acts, we see that he
did everything humanly possible to make Christ known, to make
him known. Look here in Acts chapter 9,
verse 14. And here he hath authority from
the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said unto him, go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto
me. Now we know he's one of God's
elect, as all of God's children are, but he was chosen in another
sense as well. Notice, he's a chosen vessel
unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and
the children of Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. Paul was given the
dispensation of the grace of God to the Gentiles, to preach
the gospel to the Gentiles. Back in our text here, he calls
the gospel the mystery. Verse 3, how that by revelation
he made known unto me the mystery. You know, in the scriptures,
the term mystery is not to be understood like we know of a
mystery. You watch a mystery program,
a movie, it's a mystery, or read a mystery book. That's not what
is meant in the scriptures by a mystery. What is meant in the
scriptures by a mystery is a truth that man apart from the Spirit
of God could have never known. Man apart from revelation, the
Spirit of God revealing the truth, could never have known. And he
refers to the gospel here as a mystery. Remember in 1 Timothy
3, 16, I believe it is, he said, for great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The lost man, the natural man,
that can't be so. That can't be true. You tell
me that God Almighty, God who created the heavens and the earth,
that he came into this world made of a woman, in the likeness of sinful flesh,
that he's God? Absolutely. It's a mystery. And the natural man doesn't receive
that mystery. It has to be revealed. Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Notice Paul in this text, he
says, of the grace of God which is
given to me, you were, how that by revelation he, that is God,
made known unto me the mystery. Paul was an apostle, and to be
an apostle, he had to have certain signs. And one of those signs
was he had to have learned the gospel directly from Christ. But you say Christ was already
ascended into heaven when God called Paul. Yes, but Christ
revealed the gospel to Paul. Look back in Galatians. He makes
a very strong point of this here in Galatians chapter 1. verses 11 and 12, because in
the case here in Galatia, in these churches, the false teachers,
they were probably saying, well, Paul, who's Paul? You know, he
wasn't with the original disciples of Christ. He's got this second-hand
information, so to speak. Paul said, no, no. Galatians
chapter 1 and verses 11 and 12. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached to me is not after man, for I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but this is
the way that I received the gospel by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Back in our text, there are many
truths in the gospel which are called the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven. But Paul here has reference to
one particular truth. One particular truth that had
been a mystery. And what was that? That the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of
His promise in Christ Jesus by the gospel. Notice that in verse
six. Here's the mystery that was revealed
to Paul. And in other ages, he says it had not
been revealed as it was now revealed. Now it was revealed. Think about
it. that the Gentiles would be fellow
heirs with the Jews in the kingdom of God, in the body of Christ,
the church. The promise that God gave Abraham
was, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Those were Gentiles. They're all going to be blessed
in your seed, Abraham. That in itself told that there
was coming a day, yes, when the Gentiles would all be included. And there's a couple of places
in Isaiah, there's plenty of places, but for time's sake,
look back with me to Isaiah just a moment. When Paul says, he's
not saying it had never been revealed. He's saying it had
not been revealed as it was now revealed. The gospel itself had
not been revealed as clearly and plainly as it has been revealed
by the coming and dying of Jesus Christ, by his resurrection,
by his ascension. The gospel was revealed, but
not nearly as clear. Here in Isaiah chapter 11 and
verse 10, we read, and in that day there shall be a root of
Jesse. Who's that? He's both the root
and the offspring of Jesse. As God is Jesse's root, as man
is Jesse's offspring, the God-man. In that day there shall be a
root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign, an ensign, a banner,
a flag that's lifted up, and all the soldiers, they see that
banner. And all of God's chosen people,
Jews and Gentiles, When they see Christ lifted up, they're
gathered to Him. They're brought to Him. To Him,
Jacob said, to Shiloh shall the gathering of the people be. There's
many places in the Old Testament where this was foretold, but
not like it was after the coming of Christ, that the Gentiles
should be partakers of His promise in Christ. What is that promise?
It's God the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit was given
to them, just like he given to us Gentiles, just like he was
to the Jews. Well, let me hurry. I've got
two more points. Fourth, Paul confessed his nothingness
and magnified the Lord in verses eight through 11. Unto me who
am less than the least of all saints. How can something be less than
the least? In our money, the smallest coin
is a penny. Can anything be less than a penny? Not in our coinage. We don't
have a half penny. I believe they used to have a
half penny, but no longer. But Paul, what he's saying, I'm
less than the least. I'm less than a penny. I'm less
than the least of all the saints. That's what God's grace produces
in a man or in a woman. It doesn't produce pride. People
who hear that we believe in God's sovereign election, they automatically,
lost people say, well, that's, you must be awfully full of pride
to think you're one of God's elect, oh no. No, election is
the most humbling doctrine in the word of God, to think that
he would choose me. That's what God's grace does
to a person. It humbles a person. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He saw himself as nothing, and
in 2 Corinthians, he speaks about himself as like a clay pot. Not
much to a clay pot, is there? But oh, the treasure, the treasure
that he had. to preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ. His riches, the riches of Christ
are unsearchable. This has to be so because of
who He is. He's God. How can you put a limit
on God? He who was rich for your sakes
became poor, rich as God Almighty, poor as a God man. We're saying that hymn. the lowly
Jesus. He became the lowly Jesus, didn't
He? And He did that for our sakes,
for His people's sakes. Paul said He was given this grace
to preach the gospel to all. Notice that in verse 9, that
word all, to make all, that is both Jews and Gentiles, make
all 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, that is, angels in heavenly places, not only to
believers, but also to the spiritual beings, is made manifest the
manifold wisdom of God. Christ is both power of God,
and the wisdom of God. In the gospel, we see God's grace
and mercy magnified, but at the same time, at the very same time
that we see God's grace and His mercy magnified, we see His justice
and holiness magnified. The wisdom of God. Now that God
could justify the ungodly, not by overlooking their sins, but
by punishing our sins in the substitute, the wisdom of God. Mercy and truth are met together,
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And then the
last thing, the fifth thing, Paul rejoices in what we have
by faith in Christ. Notice he says, this is what
we have by faith in Christ. In verse 12, we have boldness
and we have access with confidence. We have boldness to enter into
the very holy of holies through the blood of Jesus Christ, our
Lord. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here tonight. make us more aware every day
of how God has blessed us in giving us the gospel and revealing
the gospel to us. Bill, if you will, come and we'll
sing a verse of the hymn and be dismissed.