If you will, then please go ahead and turn to Ephesians chapter three, Ephesians chapter three, as we continue in our expositional study through Ephesians. And it is a wonderful epistle, this letter that we have from the apostle Paul to this church. And there's always so much to learn here in the word of God. But Ephesians chapter three, and I'll be reading verses one through 13. Hear you then the word of the Lord. For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation. as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations that has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Father, we do thank you for thy holy word. We do pray grant us illumination and understanding by your Holy Spirit. We might hear and heed and walk according to your word and will. Father, we do ask, we do thank you in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Now, of course, I don't know about everybody, but it seems like most people do enjoy having a good mystery once in a while. And I know that the mysteries abound in the movies and the books. And some of you may be fans of Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes and the mysteries that are there and many great works that he has. Ragatha Christie and some of her works as well. Who doesn't like reading about Inspector Poirot, or for the kids today, seeing it in the movies about Inspector Poirot, okay? You may have to ask mom and dad about who that is, but perhaps you enjoy the movies a lot more, but the best part of Mysteries is that the mystery has to be solved. And it is solved by the end of the movie, unless you guessed it somehow. If the solution was simply blurted out to you from the very beginning, of course, it would probably ruin the movie or the book for you. And you might be upset with whoever ruined it for you. But here in our passage before us, we learn of another mystery, another mystery indeed. And now we consider the mystery in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. It does not refer to something that is purposely hidden, such as in the cultic mystery religions that when they join them, they may give them some secret knowledge that they didn't know before, but rather, it refers to something that was unthought of and has now been revealed. something that was once unfollowed but now revealed. Dr. Hughes said this, the word mystery in the original language, which basically is word mysterion, so mystery, right? But the word mystery refers to something that is beyond natural knowledge, but has been opened to us by divine revelation through the Holy Spirit of God. is not something that the unregenerate can grasp, but it must be given by the Holy Spirit of God. It is something unknown but now known, previously veiled but now unveiled. Okay, in other words, it was there in the Old Testament, though they did not see it or understand it, but it was veiled, if you were, and now it is unveiled. And so we have the great mystery of the ages here before us, and indeed, it has been unveiled by the Spirit of God to the Apostle Paul coming to us as well today. A little bit of background for you. Last time you saw how Christ took both Jewish and Gentile believers, Christians, and united them together as one body in Christ through his cross and the shedding of his precious blood. Now, the Gentile Christians were no longer strangers. They were no longer separated from God, but they are now indeed fellow citizens and members of the household of God. And so they're brothers, brothers and sisters in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, those who hold to the mystery of God and Christ and had their faith in Jesus Christ. And they are being built together into a dwelling place of God by the spirit. And we will consider this great mystery of the ages under these headings. Number one, the preacher of this gospel mystery. Secondly, the gospel mystery unveiled And third, the eternal purpose of this gospel mystery. And I do pray we'll rejoice in this great work that God has done for us in Christ to bring in the Gentiles, and that is you and me. It automatically applies to every single one of us, Jews and Gentiles alike, it applies to you and me, and we are made fellow heirs and partakers of the promise. in Christ Jesus. So let's consider our first heading here this morning, the preacher of the gospel mystery in verses one through three. Now in verse one, we read these words right off the bat, for this reason, Paul says, and for what reason would that be? That would be for all that Christ has previously done already that he's spoken about to make the two peoples one. making peace between Jewish and Gentile brothers. And so because of what Christ has done to redeem and to save and to reconcile his people, because of this, Paul is a prisoner for Christ Jesus. Notice this, he is not bitter. but he's actually rejoicing in the Lord. He is exactly where Christ wants him to be. And so he has no grumblings, no complaints. But look at verse one, Paul says, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles. And he is a prisoner, of course, since he was called by Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles, he is a prisoner. And it was his glorious task, his work, to go and to take the gospel of salvation to these people. Okay, the Gentiles here, the Ephesians, right? Now, literally Paul is in a Roman prison at this time. And from this Roman prison, he's writing this letter to this Ephesian church. He was at one time under the authority of Emperor Nero, all right? I don't know if he was basically under Nero, but rather than saying that, he says, I am Christ's prisoner. I don't care what Nero might say. Nero may think I'm his prisoner, but I am Christ's prisoner, and I am here, and I'll be here as long as Christ wants me to be. And he knows it's God's will. Why is this? He is there by the divine power and will of the Lord. It is a mark of his apostleship. It is a mark of his calling. Is he fettered in Roman chains? Yes, he is. But he is held there by his master, by his Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, not Caesar. Jesus rules and reigns, even though Caesar may think he does, but he is there by Christ's appointment. And so he's under Christ's rule and calling. And Paul remains there until he is summoned. Why was he in prison? He says, on behalf of the Gentiles, because of the call of Christ and his preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. It is a little bit warm in here. We may need to bump it down. So if you see me doing, You know, you'll know. But as such, he is the preacher of the gospel mystery to them. In verses two and three, I read this again. Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. Now, as an apostle, he is part of the foundation of the church. He is a steward of the grace of God. He is overseeing his master's church. And in 1 Corinthians 4.1, he actually describes himself and Apollos as the stewards of the mysteries of God. Of course, applying to all the apostles as well. But why was he a steward? Well, a steward is basically a servant who has been given the care and he's also been given the oversight of his master's estate. Okay, he's in charge of his master's estate. Paul's task is to oversee the grace of God that's been given to them. Okay, given to the Gentiles, given to the Ephesians. He stresses the revelation of the gospel mystery given to him by divine revelation for the Lord has called him and instructed him for this glorious task. Remember, Paul was taught that he was trained by the Lord himself in those three years. But he was not yet identified here at this time, the mystery of what he speaks about, not yet. But for now, he stresses his stewardship of this grand mystery. Certainly this mystery had to be revealed or opened to Paul as well, as he was to proclaim this mystery unveiled to the Gentiles. So he must know and see and understand this unveiled mystery to proclaim it to them. So why was it unveiled? Well, as a strict Pharisee, that's what Paul was before, he never possibly could ever imagine that God's grace would also go to the Gentiles. No, it belongs to the Jews, belongs to us, Jews from the Lord, you know, that kind of thing. But he was called to go to the Gentiles. He would not be able to fathom, you know, this call while he was still a Pharisee or in Pharisee of Pharisees at that. And never would he have entered his mind to think such a thing, nor would he have conceived of such a thing. It was simply, as some might say, simply would not compute for Paul before this calling of Christ, okay? But God has unveiled the glorious mystery to Paul, all right? He certainly has, okay? Then of course, also to Peter and all the other apostles, but they were all stunned by this revelation. All the apostles were stunned by this. And so divine revelation of this was absolutely necessary for them to know and understand. And Christ gave it through his apostles, through the prophets, And of course, we praise God for that because he even included you and me, leading to our second head. Look at verses four through six. Here we see this gospel mystery unveiled. In verse four, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ." Meaning here, this particular letter, this epistle was going to be read before the congregations, okay, the churches, and they would be able to clearly see Paul's ability to understand, to declare, and to make known the mystery of Christ. What is here the mystery of Christ? Well, it sounds different. It's not. This refers to the mystery in which Christ himself is the source and the substance of it. Now, a great scholar, William Hendrickson, said this. He said, the mystery is, in a sense, Christ himself, that is Christ and all his glorious riches actually dwelling through his spirit in the hearts and lives of both Jews and Gentiles, united in one body, the church. And so this is the mystery of Christ. And so the mystery is of Christ himself, his person and his work. In verse five, I read, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. So the ministry was not really known before. And so the other generations were essentially oblivious to this mystery, but not anymore. It has been revealed by the Lord through his appointed, through his call, through his sent apostles and prophets. Were the, may I ask this, were there references in the Old Testament to all this? Yes, they were. All over the Old Testament, there are references to all this. There were scriptural references to the blessings coming to the Gentiles. There are references to the Gentiles being brought in and included with the Jews. And you can look at Leviticus 19, 34, Deuteronomy 10, verses 18 and 19. And a promise is seen in Genesis 12, three. Remember God told Abraham, and you shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Okay, a promise to take the good new, the promise to the world, okay? But the revelation of Jew and Gentile becoming one people, one body in Christ was not clear, was not understood. It was veiled, of course, okay? But have no fear, this veiling was only temporary. We have the revelation of the mystery of the ages has now been unveiled through the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, called and sent out to do so. And we see, of course, the gospel going around the world today as well. So what then is the content of the mystery of the gospel? The inclusion of the Gentiles. Look at verse six. Pretty clear, this mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The same body, Jews and Gentiles together. So they're not just included, but they are fellow heirs with the Jews. Okay, there are fellow heirs. We have been made members of the same body because of Christ. We're heirs of the great inheritance that we have in Christ. We have forgiveness, eternal life, we have salvation, and we have the joys of heaven forever, forever and ever because of Christ. We have been made children of God, okay, by faith in Messiah, children of Abraham because of Christ. The promises in Christ are all ours as much as they belong to our Jewish Christian brethren. And like I said, that was shocking to the apostles at first, they did not know that. And together, Christian Jews and Gentiles make one true body of Christ. The promises are ours, the blessings are ours, not because we deserve it, Not at all, but because God has shed his love abroad in our hearts through his only begotten son. Why? We are truly united. We are truly united to Christ and we are united to our Jewish Christian brothers and sisters. They are one body, whether Jew or Gentile, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. as we are in Christ. We don't need, like I said, I've said this before, we don't need to have messianic Jewish churches where only ones that attend are Jews. We don't need Gentile Christian churches. We are one church, one body made up of both Jew and Gentiles. We are a dwelling place of God as are all those in Christ, one body. Remember that of your Jewish Christian brothers and sisters. Galatians 3.29 says this, in Christ we are all Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Like I said, because of Christ, we are fellow heirs with the Jews. We are children of Abraham. because of Christ. So what we need to do, we need to stop at the separation of Jewish and Gentile churches. And we need to gather together once again, as truly as a one body, Jews and Gentiles worshiping together. And of course we don't have that many here, but they do. It's like the areas in New York and all that, but they have whole churches are divided and split up because of Jewish or Gentiles. But I do believe most of my Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ, I would certainly welcome any Gentiles to come there, but I think the way it's advertised, I think they fail in that perhaps. But we are to love one another. We know as Christ has said, and they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we are theirs, and we must always remember that. But we are to love one another as Christ has loved us. And talking about our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether it's you or Gentile, all of them are a part of your family all around the world. Some of your brothers and sisters in Christ, you have brothers that may be in Pakistan, they may be in Ukraine, they may be in Gaza. There's the Christians in Gaza, pray for them and love them. There are your brothers and sisters in Christ wherever they may be. leading us here to our final heading in verses seven through nine. Here we see the eternal purpose of this, really the eternal purpose of the gospel mystery. And Paul starts off this section with a really great, great humility. Look at verses seven through nine again, and I read seven through nine. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace. which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, okay? Very, very gracious, very humble words that Paul has shared. He says that this gospel has made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, okay? He was only made a minister strictly by the grace of God. He didn't deserve it. He was pretty wicked. And when you get down to it, what he did to the church, that God worked grace in Paul. God enabled him by the Spirit to repent and to truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows this, Paul understands this, and he wants them to know that too. He said, hey, but for the grace of God, I would be here. I wouldn't be in Christ. I would be lost as anybody else, but God showed me grace. And so he's very, very humble. Every minister of the gospel should really feel somewhat inadequate for the task that we have as we are to proclaim the word of God. But we learn to rely upon God's daily grace. We seek His face day by day, and we know that it's all by the power of God. It's not something of my own choosing, not something of my own doing. but Christ has done it for us and through it. Paul still considered himself to be the least of the apostles at this time. He still considered himself the least of the apostles as he's there in that prison, but why? Because in his sinful ignorance, he severely persecuted the church. He actually thought he was doing a good thing as a Pharisee at that time, but he was persecuting the church and Christ made it clear, you're persecuting me, all right? He had men, women, and children hauled off to jail. Who might ever call upon the name of the Lord? Some would rot in jail. Some might die there. He will never forget how great that his sin was, but he also will never forget this. How great the grace of God in Christ is. He'll never forget that. And he still has not forgotten that even today. Why was this grace given in verse eight and nine? To preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God. who created all things. Even the Gentiles would be shocked that the Jewish Christian brothers would really pour out and express love for them and they in turn of course would take up a great offering to help the Jews in Jerusalem during their time of suffering. The Jewish Christians, the grace he was He received grace to preach the gospel, the grace of the Lord. And of course he rejoices in that. He has grace to bring to light the very mystery of the ages. And he says it is unsearchable, it's unfathomable. You can't plumb the depths of it. So great are these riches that Christ has revealed for us. And this can refer, as one scholar said, to something that would be impossible to understand on the basis of careful examination. You might look at it and stare at it as the unbeliever might do so, but it'd be impossible to understand for them. But for you, your eyes have been opened by the Spirit of God. For you, grace has been given by God and it regenerates your heart. So you might truly believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great boundless wealth of Christ that we have that is ours because of him. And so the plan of the mystery that was hidden was now revealed in all of his glory. Eyes opened, all those who repent and believe upon Christ, they are reconciled to God. They are reconciled, and not only to the Lord, but to one another. Reconciled, brought together as one people, brothers and sisters in Christ, united by the Holy Spirit of God and through the blood of Christ Jesus, our Lord. One new man, he says, as Paul wrote. One new man, he took the two and made one. Why again in verse 10, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. So the church doesn't exist for its own glory. The church exists for the glory of God, of course, only for the glory of God and his glory. William Hendrickson said this, when the angels in heaven behold the works and wisdom of God displayed in the church, Their knowledge of the God that they adore is increased and they rejoice and glorify him. And so it's amazing to the angels of God as well what he's done for us. It's amazing to them. It's amazing to us that we save such a wretch as I and me and you, that the Lord would do this to save sinners like us. But again, it's amazing that he has done this. Look at verse 11 to 13. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is for your glory. He hasn't lost heart. He rejoices in them and he rejoiced in the Lord. Now once it was hidden, but now it has all been made known. It was all according to God's eternal purpose. His grand sovereign will shall be done. Thy will be done, O Lord. It was always God's intention, always his purpose to save both Jews and Gentiles through the precious blood of Christ the Messiah. Always his intention and plan to do so. The Gentiles put this way, you are not an afterthought by God. You were chosen in eternity past to be in Christ. Eternity past, always His plan to redeem your soul. And we rejoice in the Lord always. So we must always come boldly, of course, to the throne of grace. There is forgiveness, there's love, there's mercy, because there we find Christ, arms open wide, because there is hope for sinners around the world. Hope for them if they repent and believe. And we hope for them, but they must hear the gospel, and they must hear it from me and from you. And we rejoice together. In other words, don't forget, Don't forget you have not only your brothers and sisters here in Christ, not only here in Goldsboro, not only here in Wayne County, not only here in North Carolina or America, you have brothers and sisters all around the world. Christian brothers and sisters, those in Christ all around the world. This family of God that you belong to is vast, is far bigger and greater than you can possibly imagine. And one day we will stand upon the sea of glass. And I remember as you look out and you see the numberless multitudes of your great family in Christ, your brothers and sisters. Don't forget them. Don't forget them overseas. Don't forget them here at home. I remember all of your brethren. They are your big family. You're not alone. I don't care where you live. You got a family somewhere and everywhere. Let's pray together. Father, we do thank you, Lord, for thy holy word. We do thank you for your grace that you've given us in Christ. Father, we thank you for the unity that we have reconciled to you, reconciled to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, a true unity brought about through your son and by the power of your Holy Spirit, uniting us together as not two peoples, Lord, but one new man. one people in Christ. Father, we thank you. Father, we praise you. Forgive us, O Lord, when we've forgotten. Forgive us when we've been less than thankful. Lord, forgive us when we feel sometimes like we're all alone, and yet we know we're not. For you're always with us. And Father, we have a family that we don't even know their names yet, but one day we will. And Father, we praise you, and we thank you in Jesus' holy name. Amen.