I have to have you open your Bibles this morning again to the letter of Paul to the Ephesians. We'll be turning to chapter 3 this morning. And we continue today in the section of Paul's letter to the Ephesians in which Paul proclaims the truth of the gospel that in Christ Jew and Gentiles have been reconciled to one another and as one new man have been reconciled to God. And Paul closed out chapter 2, which we considered last time, by explaining the work of Christ for His people. Spelling out how Christ Himself is our peace. And what Paul described in those verses, without ever using the words, is the very thing he defines for us today in chapter 3, verse 6. The mystery of Christ. Verse 6 of chapter 3 stands at the center of our text today. But as it refers back to what Paul has really already spent time on and we've considered here, it's not the main thing that I believe Paul is communicating in this text. As you will hear when I read this text, it is a digression of the train of thought for Paul. Something like an extended footnote or a parenthesis, if you will. And this digression is found between what Paul began to say in verse 1 and then repeated himself saying in verse 14, for this reason I. He starts in verse 1 and then takes a sidestep and comes back in verse 14 to move forward again. And so we must ask, why did Paul interrupt himself this way? If these 13 verses were missing, we would never be the wiser. Well, I believe we get the needed clue for that by looking to verse 13 where Paul asked the saints in Ephesus to not be discouraged because of his sufferings. You see, Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. And while he was there, his opponents in Ephesus were causing division and they were raising doubts about his authenticity. They were attacking his credentials as an apostle. Paul's opponents were saying things like, Paul can't be the real thing. I mean, he's in prison, for goodness sake, in Rome. You can't believe the words of a criminal like that. And Paul knew that if the saints in Ephesus lost confidence in him, they might well lose confidence in the gospel that he preached to them and thereby be tempted to reject God's message and to disregard God's instruction and to doubt God's promises. So therefore, Paul pauses here to remind his readers of the fact that he's in jail is not something that speaks against his apostleship. It actually confirms his apostleship. And opponents of the Gospel today, those who oppose the Gospel today, will take the same line of attack as the opponents of Paul. They seek to undermine our faith by shaking our confidence in Scripture, generally by questioning the motives and the abilities of the human authors that God has given to write it down. I was in Barnes & Noble the other day, and as I sometimes do, walking through the new bestsellers, what's new and improved, and all the things I don't have time to read, a title struck me. It jumped right out. Listen to this. The myth maker, Paul, and the invention of Christianity. That could have been taken from 2,000 years ago at Ephesus. That was the exact attack. And this author does the same thing they did. He says that Paul was lying that he was an accomplished Pharisee and that he was a self-appointed apostle. Anyone who would read such a book may well become discouraged in their faith and be tempted to reject the message of God, the promises of God, the instructions of God that He gives us in His holy, revealed, true and certain word. And this was Paul's concern. And so he pauses here. And we need to listen here. As Paul reminds the church that the mystery of Christ was given to Paul for the church in order to manifest the wisdom of God. Let's read together, chapter 3, verses 1 through 13. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles. Surely you've heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. That is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I've already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit of God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of His power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. And I ask you therefore not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Here ends the reading of God's Word. Paul begins in verse 1 by drawing attention to himself as Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus. And note well that Paul does not call himself a prisoner of Rome or even a prisoner of the Jews. He was in prison on behalf of Christ, who appeared to him on the road to Damascus and according to Acts chapter 26 said to him, I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I'm sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Paul was commissioned on that road. And he was in prison for Christ. But he continues by saying he was in prison for the sake of you Gentiles. Calling to mind the events that had led to his imprisonment. The account of which is in Acts chapters 21 to 28. You see, Paul's ministry to the Gentiles is the very thing that provoked the Jews to hate him. They rioted against him and the Roman officials had to save him by arresting him. And he eventually was transported to Rome as he appealed his case. You see, in effect, Paul was saying to the saints in Ephesus, the only reason I'm here in prison writing this letter to you is because I am the apostle to the Gentiles. Having settled that score, he moves on in verse 2 by saying, Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. That is, the mystery made known to be my revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. In effect, Paul is saying here to the Ephesians, that all that I've written in this letter, especially these last few verses that you've read, these last few sentences, this isn't news to you. I know that when you read it, you will recognize the truth of what I'm writing, for it's just what I've always told you. You know me. I spent three years among you. And he said this very same thing to the elders of Ephesus. In Acts chapter 20, he said, You know how I lived the whole time I was with you. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to say, I consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. You see, in all that Paul had said, in all that he has shown in his attitude and by his deeds in their presence, he was doing nothing other than administering God's grace to them. His message and his life were not like his opponents who were promoting controversy and division. They were preaching the gospel different than Paul. And Paul writes of his gospel in Galatians chapter 1. He says, The gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. You see, the false teachers, his opponents, were not among those God had set apart for this service. They were not holy apostles and prophets to whom God had revealed this mystery by His Holy Spirit. But Paul was, because of his commission on that road to Damascus. On that road is where Saul, the Jew, was saved by the grace of God through faith. Then and there he began to receive insight into the mystery of God, as he refers to in verse 4. Then and there he beheld Christ, who is both the source and the substance of this mystery that was made known to him by revelation, as he refers to in verse 2. Then and there on that road he experienced the gift of God's grace given him through the working of his power, verse 7. The very power that he refers to in chapter 1, verse 20, as that which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead. He was a new man. But Paul called himself less than the least of all God's people in verse 8. And the worst of sinners, he said of himself in 1 Timothy 1.15. And to his lifelong amazement, he was given the administration of God's grace to go to the Gentiles. I don't think that ever left his mind. And what hope that offers for us, does it not? If such a man, a persecutor of Christ's church, that God's grace is deep enough and strong enough to reach down and raise him up and exalt him in the church as a humble servant, to be sure, but to give him such an important task in the history of God's redemption for his people. What can he do with people like us? We will see as we go through this letter. Well, Paul's opponents and opponents of the authority of Scripture today would respond to Paul with something like, well, that's fine, Paul. That's all well and good that you have this claim to have had special revelation from God. We know a few other people that claim that, too. We know about Muhammad. He started Islam. He claimed to have revelation. And we know about Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. He said he had special revelation. Why should we believe yours and not theirs? Well, Paul anticipates these questions and sets forth two criteria. These are just implied in the text. They come through in the text. Two criteria against which such claims can be measured. All so-called revelations will fail to meet one or both of these and can therefore be called false teaching, no matter how good or true it might be. First criteria is God's timing. God's timing. Paul says in verse 5 that the mystery was not made known to men in other generations. And in verse 8, that for ages past it was kept hidden in God who created all things. But now, he says in verses 5 and 10, but now it has been revealed. When we considered chapter 1, we learned how that now that Paul speaks of here began with the coming of Christ in the flesh. When he came in the flesh to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of his people, when he came to offer his once for all sacrifice for our sins, now happened. But Christ came also to do more. He came not only to die, He came to be raised. He was raised from the dead for eternal life and we celebrate that today and we celebrate that next Sunday, Easter Sunday, every Lord's Day. He came for that, but He came for more. He came to be exalted in His flesh into heaven so that He might pour out His Holy Spirit on the church. And by that grace of the Holy Spirit to enable her and to comfort her as she waits for the day when He returns for her. You see, based on God's timing, any revelation that is not tied to the life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ is not new revelation. And that that's not given through His appointed apostles and prophets upon whom He gave His Holy Spirit for that purpose is not new revelation. On that basis alone, we can reject Muhammad. On that basis alone, we can reject Joseph Smith. But there's a second criteria that Paul gives for testing new revelation, and that is continuity. Continuity. Does the new revelation completely agree with the Old Testament, even as it expands upon it? Without continuity, there is no new revelation. Paul says in verse 5 that the mystery of Christ was not made known to man in other generations as it has now been revealed. The key word there is that little word as. We read right over. He's making a comparison. Paul is not saying that the Old Testament prophets did not know anything about the mystery of Christ. That would be to contradict himself. Or in Acts chapter 26, when he appeared before King Agrippa, testifying as to his gospel, he said, I'm saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen. That the Christ would suffer and as the first to rise from the dead would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles. Nothing new here, Paul says. The Apostle Peter agrees in Acts chapter 10 where he says, All the prophets testify about Christ, that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name. And Christ Himself, after His resurrection, appeared to disciples on the road to Emmaus, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. Continuity. If you've been to the bookstore lately and you go to the Bible section and you look up the Gospels, you might be surprised to find out that some think there's a fifth one. We have the Gospel of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. And don't you know, there's some that would like us to think that Thomas wrote one too. Thomas fails on continuity. The timing might be right, but it's certainly not continuous with the Old Testament. So Paul's word to the Ephesians is a word for us today. You see, when Christ came and the church was being established, the Jews did not understand what God had promised for the Gentiles. They thought that the Gentiles would have to convert to Judaism to submit to the law in order to be saved. You see, they'd known the blessings of God. They'd received revelation from the very beginning. But because they had not yet been blessed in the heavenly realms with every blessing in Christ Jesus, because they had not been joined to Him by faith, they didn't understand. They did not understand that the new creation in Christ of the one new man made out of the two, Jew and Gentile, that that's where it was at. Children, you've heard the story of Joseph's multicolored robe. and we sing songs about it, we've heard stories about it, and we imagine it to be quite a beautiful thing. But do you think, for a moment, that you would appreciate the beauty of Joseph's robe if it was folded up and put in a closet? Not at all. The only way you could appreciate the beauty of that robe is to take it out and unfold it, and display it. It's for all to see. Well, much like the beauty of Joseph's robe, Paul says in verse 10 that the manifold wisdom of God the multicolored the many-sided the much-ornamented wisdom of God had never been revealed to the degree that it had now been revealed in Christ. It had been folded up. It was still on the shelf. God revealed a corner of it in Genesis 3.15 when He made His promise to the seed of the woman. And He showed the hymn when he said to Abram in Genesis 12 that all peoples of the world will be blessed through you. And throughout the Old Testament we see him unfolding it, fold by fold, corner by corner, revealing more and more of this manifold wisdom, but never fully displayed until now. It was not until the fullness of the times when Christ came in the flesh that the mystery of Christ was given to the apostles and the prophets and therefore given to Paul for the church. It was through them, the apostles and prophets, that the manifold wisdom of God was put on full display. Here it is. Paul wrote of this in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20. Listen carefully to how he says this. He says, No matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ. And so through him, through Christ, the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God. The Amen, the end. It's closed after the New Testament. Now this fullness of the mystery of Christ was given to the church through the gospel. The means by which Paul says in verse 6, The Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. Members together in one body. And sharers together in the promise of Christ. How beautiful it is. Together. It's a key word in this mystery. There is to be a manifest togetherness in the body of Christ. Now this letter is written primarily to address that historic redemptive event in history when the Jews and the Gentiles were brought together once for all. That barrier was destroyed. But there's application for us today because we don't seem to run into that problem much here in Southern California of Jews and Gentiles not getting along. We're all Gentiles. So how do we apply this? But when we consider unity, we have to remember that conversion, which brings together this unity, is important. We need to remember that while conversion is an individual act of God in me and in you, it's not an individualistic event. It doesn't happen in isolation. Conversion is more than a relationship between me and Jesus, although it is that. Conversion joins me to Christ's body, which joins me to a group. which joins me to a local expression of that body in a church. And within that body, within this body here in Escondido, our unity is to be found in Christ. It's not to be defined by where we were born, or by who we were born to, or what service we attend, or what age group we feel most comfortable with. And it's not to be restricted only to those with whom we share all points of doctrine, and with whom we are in complete agreement about how worship should go. We are, as Paul instructs us in Ephesians chapter 4, to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Now, back to Gentiles and Jews. The unity brought about in the inclusion of the Gentiles with Jews in the church was a fulfillment of God's eternal purpose. It was not God's plan B, as our dispensational brothers suppose. For they suppose that because the Jews didn't get it, that God had to go to plan B and give it to the Gentiles. Not at all. Paul says here, and he says in Romans chapters 9 through 11 in very great detail, that this has always been plan A for God. From before the foundation of the world, it was going to be this way. You see, He's the God who created all things. And He's the God who accomplishes everything that He desires. We can't see it yet because we're finite creatures. We can't see it yet, but God has already accomplished it in Jesus Christ. He says that in verse 10. It's already been accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now Paul says in verses 8 and 9, something very important. He says that he'd been saved by grace and given the grace of God to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this ministry. The grace of God given to Paul included not only the privilege of being saved in Christ Jesus, but it also included the responsibility of Paul to do something. He was to preach, and he was to make plain. Now it's clear from chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, that we've considered before, that we are not and we cannot be saved by anything we do. So don't be confused here when I say this. We cannot and are not saved by what we do. But, Paul says in verse 10, we are saved in Christ Jesus to do good. we're not only saved by grace through faith. We are also enlisted into service and we are enabled for that service by grace. By the grace of God, Paul was enlisted and enabled to serve as an apostle. But this grace is not just for apostles. According to Paul in chapter 4, verse 17, to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. And the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter chapter 4 teaches that each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. You see, that's all Paul was doing as an apostle. He was administering God's grace. The grace shown him was to preach and to make plain the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as we get to chapter 4 of this letter, we'll find out that we've been given grace to go and do something as well. None of us are apostles, but we're not without service. Paul went to prison for administering God's grace. In his service, he faced troubles and hardships and distresses, beatings, imprisonments and riots, hard work, sleepless nights and hunger, dishonor, slander, rejection and poverty, all in a day's work. I ask you, I ask myself, are we willing to endure such things as Paul as we use our gifts in the service of the church? Are we willing to endure such things in order to protect the apostolic witness? To keep it from being redefined and from being slandered? Are we even aware that we're supposed to be doing something that we may have to endure something? Well, Paul closes this parenthesis by giving us a glimpse behind the curtain, behind the veil. To see more of the mystery of Christ than we can see with our naked eyes. For this mystery of Christ was given to Paul for the church in order to manifest the wisdom of God, he says. It says in verse 10 and 11, 10 and 11, that God's intent in giving the mystery of Christ to the apostles and prophets was that now through the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Did you hear that? Everyone united to Christ through faith. Every member of the church is part of the means God is using to instruct angelic beings. Now to man, the creation presents ample evidence of God's wisdom. And we should, all men are responsible to look at God's creation and see God there. And to thank God for it. And we know from Romans 1, because of sin we don't. But it's enough. But the church, his new creation in Christ, is the masterpiece by which God manifests his wisdom to the angels. I don't understand it. It's beyond my understanding, but that's what Paul says. And this is the Word of God. Now we can't tell for sure from this short section here whether Paul is talking about the enemies of God or the servants of God in the angelic realms. We do know that in chapters 2 and 6 he speaks of rulers and authority as those who are opposed to God, so at least it's them. And the victory of Christ in the church certainly signifies their defeat, if nothing else. They are instructed by the church. But we're intrigued a little bit when we look at 1 Peter chapter 1 where Peter seems to speak of the angelic servants of God being intensely interested in how God is going to unfold all this. They're watching. But in either case, whichever group is watching or both are watching, it's not because the church has anything to say to them. We're not to focus on the angelic beings trying to communicate with them and tell them what they need to know. rather it's the witness that results from the grace of God that saves us and works through us as the unified body of Christ that displays to them the wisdom of God. See, this is the big picture. Paul knew it so well that despite his circumstances, and they were miserable, he was rarely discouraged. He was, he admits to it, but it's not characteristic for him. He was, as we are, defined by our position in Christ. Not by the circumstances that we face. But we, having not had direct revelation from God, we have immediate revelation through His Word, like the saints in Ephesus, are tempted to think that if we were really on the path of God's will, things wouldn't be so tough. Therefore, Paul closes with this reminder in verses 12 and 13. In Him, that is in Christ, and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. In other words, because Christ Jesus our Lord is the one in whom God's eternal purposes are bound up, and because by grace we've been united with Him, We have every reason to be confident no matter what circumstances we face. Paul uses, our English version here speaks of being, have been with freedom and confidence. I want to explain that just a little bit for you. By freedom, what stands behind that is the freedom to speak freely in public no matter who hears. And that means speaking freely in the presence of God. That's a freedom that you have and I have in Christ that no unbeliever has. We have freedom to speak openly to God. And we have confidence, meaning that we can stand in His presence without fear. Because that is ours, Paul says, there's no room. There's no room for circumstances to overwhelm you. The writer of Hebrews says it this way in chapter 4, verses 14 to 16. Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. People of God, life is difficult. Evil, suffering, death surround us. We've been reminded of that again this week. Discouragement is often knocking right at the door. But when it comes, we're not to deny these circumstances by putting them out of mind and putting on a happy face and coming with our pleasancies and platitudes to how we're going to solve all our problems. Not only do the angelic beings see through that facade, but other people see through that facade. I grew up in an era listening to a man by the name of Billy Joel who played piano, wrote songs. And I think someone in his life must have done that happy face routine. with him in the midst of a problem because he writes in one of his songs now here you are with your faith and your Peter Pan advice but you have no scars on your face and you can't handle pressure people of God as we administer God's grace given to us we're going to encounter pressure and when it comes we're not to deny it we're not to stand up to it and just, you know, be our own man. Rather, we're to face it squarely even as we're reminded from God's Word even today. That Christ is the one who determines who we are and how we're doing regardless of our circumstances. We are to consider Christ and His grace given to us as we persevere in the fight. Now, are these just high-sounding words? you say, oh, come on, Pastor. That's just... You must never really been hurt. Well, I have. What are we to do when these discouragements come, when circumstances come? Are we to lament? Are we to cry out? Of course. We can speak freely to our God. Are we to protest? Maybe. We can speak freely to our God. But then, we don't stop there. We must turn our minds again to the grace of God given us in Christ through the gospel and be turned to trust and to worship Him. To remember the greater context, the manifold wisdom of God that we've seen today and see our circumstance in that context. And rejoice that God has placed us there. May we be encouraged today to know that the mystery of Christ that was given to Paul for the church and therefore to every member of her brings with it the grace of God that saves as well as the grace of God that enables us to serve our Lord with confidence and thereby play our part in displaying His wisdom in the heavens. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this letter of Paul. We thank you for his pastor's heart to know the discouragement the disciples in Ephesus were facing. We thank you that he reminds them of the truth of the gospel, of the mystery of Christ that's been given to them and has been given to us by your grace. Lord, enable us by your power to recognize the truth of your word. To stand on it. To find our strength there. And Lord, to be reoriented to whatever circumstance comes our way in your sovereign good pleasure. To know that you, the creator of all things, have given us the gospel, the mystery of Christ, for our good and to your glory in the end. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.