While we're studying the book of Ephesians, as you know, which is all about the church, a book that is neatly divided, by the way, right down the middle into two sections. Let me just remind you of how that unfolds. There are six chapters in this letter that we're studying, Paul's letter to the Ephesians. There are three chapters of doctrine in this book, followed by three more chapters of practical application. In chapters 1 to 3, Paul basically says, this is who you are, this is what you have, as the members of Jesus Christ Church. And then when we get to chapters 4 to 6, and we're getting closer, we get to chapters 4 to 6, he's going to go on to say, this now is how you are to live in the light of who you are and if you, as you're moving towards Ephesians chapter 3 this morning, go right on by and look with me very quickly at the first verse in chapter 4. That transition, that shift in focus as I just explained is pretty clear from just a simple reading of the first verse there in chapter 4. Look at what it says. Therefore, that's the turning point in this book. Therefore, that points back. Therefore, because of everything I've just told you about who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to what? To walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've been called, we can separate the two halves of this book by saying that the first half is your calling, the second half is what? Your walk. Your calling and your walk. And when we get to these chapters 4, 5, and 6, We're going to see some wonderful things. We're going to get lots of practical instruction there about how to live the Christian life. Real nuts and bolts kind of stuff. Practical stuff. How to live the Christian life. In other words, we could put it this way, we could say the last four chapters are how to walk that worthy walk that Paul implores us to walk at the beginning there of chapter 4. But, that's all for later. This morning we have one more chapter in the first section. This morning we're going to begin chapter 3 and I'm always excited when we start a new chapter. I want to introduce you to the thoughts here that Paul is going to begin to unfold in this chapter and of course By the time I introduce this to you, I've already spent quite a number of weeks myself with my mind immersed in this truth and so I already have a pretty good idea of kind of where it's going and what it's all about and all of the great things that we have yet to see and unfold in this chapter. I know it's brand new to all of you and so I have to keep that in mind. But I want to introduce it to you this morning. This is the final chapter now of doctrinal focus in Paul's letter to the Ephesians before we get to that practical section. But before I read the text and begin to unfold its contents for you this morning, let me set the stage for it a little bit, if you will, by reminding you just briefly, I won't get carried away, but I want to remind you just briefly of the things that we've already learned about this body of Christ called the Church. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? I just can't get over those pictures that we just saw at the end of Chapter 2. But let me remind you of the things that we've learned about the Church so far. If you recall, that far back in the first 14 verses of chapter 1, do you remember what Paul did? I used to say it this way, and I think it's a good way to see it. He used to let us eavesdrop, if you will, as the Trinity made the plans and carried out those plans for Jesus Christ Church. And you remember kind of how that unfolded? All three members of the Trinity were involved. God the Father did what? He chose you in Him before the foundation of the world. Paul told us in verse 4, and right there we were introduced to, and I think we took pretty much a whole day to talk about it one time. of the doctrine of sovereign election. That's a much disputed doctrine in the church today, but you can't get around it. That's what the Word of God teaches. And right there it is. God the Father chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. God the Son then did what? He redeemed us through His blood. And we talked about the wonderful truth behind that. God the Holy Spirit then sealed us as forever belonging to God and became Himself actually as He lives within us. The pledge or the down payment of our future inheritance. We're rich, aren't we? As believers in Jesus Christ, as members of the church, we are rich beyond measure. That's only the first half of chapter 1. In the last half of Ephesians chapter 1, you remember what happened in verse 15 to 23? Paul realized he had taught such lofty stuff. He said, I need to pray for these folks. And so he did. He bowed his knees in the last half of chapter 1 to pray for our comprehension of it all. And so what was emphasized for us there? We learned right there, didn't we, about our desperate need. to have the Holy Spirit's help before we can understand the truth of God. Listen folks, we can't even begin to understand spiritual truth unless what happens? The Spirit of God, how does Paul put it? Enlightens the eyes of our, he said our eyes had heart, or our heart had eyes rather. And he said you need the Spirit of God to enlighten the eyes of your hearts. And so Paul prayed that God would do that for us. And I can't take the time this morning, but there were so many more doctrines unfolded in that prayer, weren't there? We talked about them, we unfolded them. and pondered over the rich doctrines that even came through Paul's prayer for us. Then we move down to chapter 2. The first 10 verses of chapter 2, Paul taught us all about the miracle of salvation. I hope you never get over that one. That's how it all happens. The miracle of salvation is that critical and exclusive point of entry into the church, which is the theme of this book. into church, folks, apart from this miracle of salvation. The focus here in these first 10 verses of chapter 2 is on the individual, if you recall. And we made the point a number of times that God doesn't save families, right? God doesn't save nations. How does God work? He saves individuals. You come into the church one by one by one, and how does it work? Well, here's a real quick summary of those first 10 verses. When you were dead, in your trespasses and sins, what did God do? Being rich in mercy, and because of His great love with which He loved you, He made you alive together with Christ. If He didn't make you alive, then you were still dead. Simple as that. He made you alive. We talked about the doctrine of regeneration one day there, if you recall. And we talked about our union with Jesus Christ, that vital union, organic union we have with Him. Or the fact that believers have been raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places. We talked about in those verses the fact that we are eternal trophies of God's grace. Remember that? I think it's verse 7. And then in verses 8 and 9, how He even gave us the faith we needed to believe. And in verse 10, how He even prepared beforehand all of the good works for us to walk in, and when we get to the end of that, we take a deep breath and we have to say, dear people, that our salvation is nothing less than a great salvation, isn't it? I'm so thankful for my salvation. Our salvation is a great salvation. The plan is mind-boggling, folks, as you begin to just see little bits of it. The plan is boggling to the mind. I'm so thankful for my salvation. And by the way, our salvation is pretty clear. In Ephesians 2, our salvation is a salvation that was accomplished entirely by the sovereignty of God. It is all Him and absolutely none of you. And we covered that, and Paul covered that, and we nailed that point down over and over again because it's a very, very important one to be nailed down in your, if you build that doctrine in your heart and in your soul. We move on then to the last half of Ephesians chapter 2, and there the focus moved, shifted from the individual now to the corporate body. Paul went on to tell us about what God has done for us corporately as the members of Christ's Church, and here the focus, you remember this one best because we were just there, here the focus was on the special and unique unity of the Church. Remember that brought the Jews and the Gentiles together into that one new man. What is the one new man? That's a new testament designation for the church. Jews and Gentiles now are one in the church of Jesus Christ. And I'm not going to say anything more about that section in review right now because that should still all be pretty fresh in your mind. It ended with the three pictures. Remember the kingdom and the family and the temple and all of that. And we just finished that section a week ago. That's the one we just got done with. And that's the one now that leads us into where we are this morning at the beginning of chapter three. And so now if I had to go to four, go back to three now, Find your place there in Ephesians chapter 3 and I'm going to read this new section of text. I'm going to read for you this new section of church doctrine penned by Paul under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. This is the Word of God in the first 13 verses of Ephesians chapter 3. Let me just read it and introduce you to it and then we'll talk a little bit about it this morning. Here's what it says, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, and then there's a break there, if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief, by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I hope you're thankful for that. I think we're all Gentiles here today. I hope you're thankful for that feature of the New Testament Church. Verse 7, we're going to get a little insight now into Paul's heart and mind as a minister of the gospel, a minister of the truth, of which I was made a minister, Paul says, according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the working of his power, all his grace, all his power, I was made a minister. To me, Paul says, the very least of all saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles. Look at this statement. the unfathomable riches of Christ. My mind has been absorbed with that one for a little while now. The unfathomable riches of Christ. And to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him, therefore I ask you not to lose heart in my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory." We have a little bit to chew on there, don't we? For a week or two, or maybe three. All I want to do this morning is, I have two objectives this morning, that's it. I want to acquaint you with two major features of this text that I just read for you so that we will be then prepared and ready next Lord's Day to begin our verse-by-verse exposition of its contents. Today I want to do this. The first thing I want to do is talk with you about the overall structure of this text and how it fits here within the flow of Paul's letter. I want you to kind of get a feel for that. And then I want to finish this morning and spend the rest of our time just kind of honing right in on the major theme in this text. That's very important. We need to understand the theme before we then go back and unfold all of the details. So that's where we're going this morning. We're going to talk about structure. We're going to talk about theme. Let me begin by saying this. If you spent any time in this text over the past week, and I hope you did. I asked you to at the end of our time last week. I hope you spent some time here just reading and rereading and getting your mind filled with this text. If you did, the first observation that you probably made, which is really a pretty easy one to see from that rather awkward break there at the end of verse 1, is that the larger part of this text, actually all the way from verse 2 to verse 13, is a parenthesis. The larger part of this text is a parenthesis. From verse 2 all the way down through verse 13 is a parenthesis. Now what's happening is this, Paul does here Something that we've seen him do before. He starts to say something in verse 1 and then abruptly interrupts himself. That's what that big dashed line is there. He starts to say something in verse 1 and then abruptly interrupts himself to say something else. And in this case, as I said, it's a rather lengthy interruption. It's a 12 verse interruption. Because he doesn't come back to what he was going to say until we get all the way down to verse 14. And if you'll glance down there for a minute, you will see, you will notice that he picks up again in verse 14 with the very same phrase that he started verse 1 with, for this reason. He breaks that thought off and then he picks it up again in verse 14. Now as you are getting acquainted with this text, And if you did, you probably didn't stop reading at the end of verse 13. You probably went on reading the rest of the chapter. And if you did, then you already know what Paul was setting out to do in verse 1. He was setting out to pray for us in verse 1 before he interrupted himself. Verses 14 to 21 in this chapter, the last half of this chapter, is clearly another prayer. Remember, Paul prayed before. At the end of chapter 1, now we're going to have a second prayer in this letter at the end of chapter 3. So, that's what Paul was doing before he interrupted himself. Let me just say a word about this interrupting himself thing. Because Paul does that. It's kind of a characteristic of Paul's, actually, in his writings. We've seen him do it before. Remember when we saw him do it most recently? Back in verse 11 of chapter 2, remember? That was just a short interruption, like a one-verse interruption, but he's done it before. We've seen him do it before. And I need to mention to you that critics of the Bible sometimes point to this characteristic in Paul's writing as a blemish in his style. This is a bubble in his style, and this is a reason for us to discredit the Scripture. Certainly if God were the author of this book, as those folks claimed that he was, then we would have something here that would have a much higher level of literary masterpiece, they say. Well, let me just answer that quickly. God is the author of this book. I believe that all the way down to my toes that God is the author of this book. He breathed it out of his mouth. for you and for me through the pens of his chosen inspired writers while at the same time supernaturally allowing their own personalities and styles of writing to come through and let me tell you something folks about the Apostle Paul that I believe I can say with a great degree of confidence after studying his inspired letters for quite a number of years now I can assure you Absolutely. I can assure you folks that producing a literary masterpiece was the very furthest thing from Paul's mind that there could ever be. There's only several things that were on Paul's mind. If you have studied his letters, you really kind of come get acquainted with this guy. You start to love this guy. You begin to know this guy. And I can tell you that the only things on his mind were these things. absolute obedience and submission to the Lord who had so gloriously saved him on the road to Damascus when he wasn't worthy of any of it. And the other thing on his mind right now would be careful attention. to the inspired words that were coming through his mind and pen from the Spirit of God. Listen folks, impressing the world's intellectuals was not even on the list of Paul's objectives, much less a priority on that list. And Paul, by the way, wasn't the only one. He wasn't the only New Testament writer who had his plans changed by the Spirit of God as he penned the sacred words of Scripture. You remember how the Spirit of God changed the entire direction of Jude's little one chapter letter. Remember how that goes? We studied, I don't know how many years ago it's been now, I forget. It's a while ago. But listen to what Jude said in verse 3. He already had two verses out. And listen to what he says in verse 3. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." What does that mean? It means that the Spirit of God took charge and changed his plans midstream. Jude's intent was to simply write a letter here about our common salvation. He was just going to write a letter about all the wonderful things there is to write about, about our great salvation. And that's what he sat down to do, but the Spirit of God redirected him. That's what he's saying here. the Spirit of God redirected me with something more urgent. And what was more urgent? The pressing need here was to teach on the subject of false teachers in the church. And so that whole letter from verse 3 then on down through the end becomes a treatise on that terrible, terrible subject of false teachers. And so as we approach this new section of text now this morning, please understand that what we have here is, in large part, a parenthesis, which started out to be a prayer, got interrupted, and let's ask the question, why was Paul going to pray? Why did he set out to pray here at the beginning of this chapter and then interrupt himself? Well, for this reason, it says, at the beginning of verse 1, for this reason, of course, points us back, right, to what has already been said. Once again, So just think about what's been said. Chapter 2, right? What's been said? Well, he's once again taught some lofty, lofty doctrines of the church, hasn't he? And let me even add another dimension to that. Even now in chapter 2, he's taught some revolutionary doctrines of the church in the fact that Jews and Gentiles now are what? One, this is new, heavy stuff, difficult to comprehend stuff for the folks in his era. Jews and Gentiles are now united in a way in the church that they had never been united before. And so having taught that, Paul once again senses the need to pray. for their comprehension and our comprehension and appropriation of all of that incredibly marvelous new truth that he has just taught us. So for this reason, I bow my knees, Paul will say again at the beginning of verse 14, and when we get there, we're going to study through another prayer, a wonderful prayer, on our behalf and learn many more wonderful things. But the question that needs to be answered this morning is this. Why did Paul interrupt himself for these 12 verses? before proceeding with that prayer. He was clearly starting out to pray. Why did he stop? Well, he gives us the answer to that question himself right in this text. Drop down to verse 13 and notice what it says again there. At the end of this parenthesis, Paul says this. Therefore, he goes through the parenthesis and he says, Therefore, he's writing to these believers in Ephesus. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. That, folks, is a key. as to why this parenthesis is here. Paul describes himself in verse 1 as a prisoner. Verse 1. His readers there in Ephesus all knew that he was locked up right now in Rome. He had a Roman soldier chained to his arm. They knew that. And as we connect that now with what it says in verse 13, what's the obvious conclusion? It becomes clear, doesn't it? that this parenthesis is here from Paul's perspective anyway, primarily out of his concern for his readers, who he knew were concerned about him. This text is here from God's perspective, folks, because he wants to shed light for us on another important dimension there is in this doctrine of the church. But from verse 13, please understand that this parenthetical section is here from Paul's own perspective, Primarily out of his love and his concern, his pastoral heart, he knew that these folks were worried about him. He knew these readers, many of whom would have known him personally, by the way. Remember that Paul spent how many years? Three years, I think it was, in Ephesus, preaching and teaching the believers there. I'm sure there were other folks added since then, but Paul knew at least some of them, and he knew that they were worried about him. They loved this guy. You'd think we'd grow to love him just from reading what he wrote. Think about these folks. They knew him personally. He taught them the word of God. They loved this guy. And he knew they were worried about him. He knew that they were worried about his health and his conditions and his current status there as a prisoner in Rome. And so he adds this parenthesis. That's his reason. before he prays out of his concern for their concern. He wants to let them in. Kind of how it works is this, he wants to let them in on the bigger picture that stands behind his current situation so as to comfort them on his behalf. He's kind of saying here this, folks, don't worry about me. Please don't lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf. Listen folks, here's the way it works. The eternal God is carrying out his plan for the church through me. And what I want you to understand is that it's a plan, it's a sovereign plan that includes my current imprisonment. Now let me just go ahead and tell you a little bit about the plan before I pray so that you can understand it more and so that understanding then can ease your minds concerning me. I don't know how else to word it. God is sovereign. This is the purpose for this. God is sovereign, folks. He knows what he's doing. Please don't worry about me. And there might have even been another dimension to this concern that Paul has here. He may have been additionally concerned that his imprisonment might be a stumbling block to some of those believers in Ephesus, a stumbling block to their faith. You know, when Paul was here, he told us all about the blessings of the Christian life. He told us that we would always be safe in the arms of God. He told us that If God is for us, who is against us? You know, Paul said all of that stuff. He even told us one time that God is so intimately acquainted with us that he has all the hairs on our heads numbered. But look at him now. He's locked away in prison. How does that all fit together? He may have been worried that they're thinking that. Well, let me just say to you, I can't get off track here, but let me just say to you that that does all fit together, doesn't it, perfectly? Paul said one other time to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 3.12, indeed all who desire to live godly will be persecuted, right? As a Christian you are blessed, you are protected, you do have a long, long list of promises that are absolutely true, absolutely certain, but none of that, folks, listen, none of that ever precludes the opposition, the suffering, and the persecutions that will come to the faithful believer in this life and in this world. And so as we open this new section of text now, please understand that what we have here is a parenthesis motivated by pastoral concern on the heart of the Apostle Paul for his readers. Let's move on from that now. And for the rest of our time to talk about the major theme of this parenthesis is very, very important for all of us to understand. Let's talk about why it's here. Let's talk about what it's going to teach us about the church now, not so much from Paul's perspective, but from God's perspective. What does God want us to know? What does he want you and me to know about the church from this text in the first 13 verses of this chapter? Let me say that probably as clearly as you observed this text to be a parenthesis, as you read it, you also observed its major theme to be the revealing of a mystery. The theme of this text is the revealing of a mystery. Three times you will notice in these verses Paul uses that word mystery. This letter, as I've said a hundred times, if I've said it once, is all about the church. And I know I kind of did this a few minutes ago, but if you would humor me and allow me to run down through its flow one more time, I think it will be helpful here as we approach the major theme now of this fifth section of text. In chapter one, we saw God's eternal plan for the church, and we heard Paul pray for our comprehension of the church. In the first half of chapter two, we learned how an individual gets into the church And then in the last half of chapter 2, we learned all about the unity of the church. Okay, that's how it all flows. This morning now, as we move into chapter 3, the first half of this chapter, we're going to see the Church with all of its unique features, all of its unique characteristics, as a mystery revealed to the Apostle Paul. The Church is a mystery revealed to the Apostle Paul. That, folks, is the major theme of this text, and that's what God wants us to understand about the Church now as we study these verses. And because this is such a key concept, this theme is such a key concept in understanding the doctrine of the Church, I want to spend the rest of our time today just focusing on that theme. What I want to do here is this. I want to ask and answer three questions that I believe will give us all a pretty good handle on what this text is all about. You have those questions printed there on your sermon notes, and if you follow through with me on this, I think you will understand the theme of this text by the time we're finished this morning. We're going to start out with a very basic question. How does God reveal things? From there, we're going to move in a little closer. to answer the question, what is a New Testament mystery in general? Just the New Testament mystery in general. And the reason I say in general is because the word mystery is not unique here in Ephesians 3. That word is used some 27 times throughout the New Testament. So what is a New Testament mystery in general? And then we'll hone right in on the final question. What is the specific mystery to which Paul refers in our text? That's where we're going this morning. Back to the foundational question. It's a foundation for what we need to understand today. Let's go back now to that very basic question. How does God reveal things? How does God reveal his truth? Well, there are three answers to that question that I think are relevant. We could go maybe in lots of different directions with that, but there are three answers to that question that I think are relevant for our discussion today. Let me start with this. The first thing that you need to know and be reminded of is that there are some things that God never reveals to anyone. There are some things that God never reveals to anyone. In past studies, and I hope you remember, we have talked about the three-phase process by which God transmits his word to us, how we have the Bibles that we have today. In 1 Corinthians 2, if you recall, we have talked about revelation, inspiration and illumination. Revelation, God reveals His truth. Illumination, the chosen writers pin that truth, carried along by the Holy Spirit. And then illumination is when you pick it up and read and the Spirit that lives within you gives you the capacity to understand. Revelation, inspiration and illumination. That's how the Word of God goes all the way from Him all the way to you and me. And we're all very thankful, aren't we? I'm so thankful for the Word of God that tells me everything that I need to know. But let me say now that we're not giving everything there is to know in the written Word of God, and I'm sure I've said this before, we're not giving everything there is to know, we're giving everything we need to know in order to do what? to be saved and to live this earthly life for the glory of God. Everything we need pertaining to life and godliness, Peter says, is in here, right? But please understand that this book that we have is not by any means a full disclosure of God's infinite mind. And I mean, only common sense ought to tell you that you couldn't put that in a book, right? You couldn't condense God's infinite mind down into a book. That's not possible. And so please understand that there are some things, probably we would have to say many, many, many, many things that God never reveals to anyone. Let me give you what is the classic verse of support on that. It would be Deuteronomy 29.29 where it says this, very insightful. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, Moses said, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever that we may observe all the words of this law. As I thought about that I was reminded of our our rather lengthy Heaven study that we completed a year or two ago, we were reminded of that truth, weren't we? That everything there is to know is not in the Word of God? I mean, even though we found enough revealed in the Word of God about that subject of Heaven to consume our minds for well over a year, what happened? We still found ourselves, didn't we, on many occasions wanting for more than what was revealed. We got little hints and we wanted to kind of fill in the blanks and we had to fight that temptation to go beyond what was written in our own imaginations. In fact, I think I told you I stopped reading a couple of books, at least two books because of that very reason. The speculations got way too carried away. We need to stay within the realm of what is written. So we're not given everything there is to know. But please understand this morning as we approach this mystery that was revealed to the Apostle Paul, that there are some mysteries, there are some secrets that God never reveals to anyone. Secondly, now let's move on, let's understand one of the precious blessings of being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some things that God reveals to no one. But listen now, there are a whole bunch of other things that God reveals only to a special group of people, and who are those people? Those people are His children, right? As believers in Jesus Christ, we can know and we can understand many things that unbelievers can't know and understand. And what I'm talking about now are those things that are revealed in this book in the Word of God. Those things, what did it say in Deuteronomy 29, 29? Those things, secret things, belong to the Lord our God. The things revealed belong to who? Those things belong to us. This is that illumination phase from 1 Corinthians 2 that I mentioned a minute ago. But a natural man, I've read this verse so many times you should know it, but a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, Paul said there, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. Listen to this fundamental truth that Paul just taught there. You cannot argue with an unbeliever or debate with an unbeliever and make him understand God's truth. Have you ever been frustrated by that? I've had people, I've talked to people sometimes about the gospel and it's so simple and clear to me and I want to reach out and shake them because I can't. They give you that five mile stare. They don't get it. They can't comprehend it. Listen, we can't do it that way. We can't argue them into the kingdom. We can't debate them into the kingdom. They simply will not ever, folks, understand the truth of God unless what happens. unless God enlightens the eyes, unless He opens their eyes and their minds and their hearts to understand that truth, and that's what He will do when He is in the process of drawing them to Jesus Christ. And so, just a tip here, don't spend your time arguing and debating with unbelievers. Proclaim the truth, and then pray for them. Plead with God to save them. That's the more biblical approach to evangelism. As a believer, What we're trying to say here is that as a believer, you have what unbelievers do not have, and that is the God-given capacity, folks, to understand the spiritual truth that God has revealed in this book. Unbelievers can read this book from morning till night, and apart from God's working in their hearts and opening their eyes and making them alive, they cannot understand the spiritual truth that it contains. Simple as that. Psalm 2514 is a good cross-reference here where it says that the secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him. And He will make them know His covenant. Now that having been said, let me add this little disclaimer. Unbelievers do, of course, get in on some basic revelation from God, right? We've talked about that before. They get some basic revelation from God, and how do they get that? Two ways. They get it through conscience, and they get it through creation. And that comes from Romans 1, 19, and 20. And because this is so foundational to what I want to say today, I'd like you to turn there with me and look at this. I know I allude to this text quite often. as it comes up, but we probably haven't actually taken the time to go over there for a while. And let's do that. Let's take a minute and go over there to Romans chapter 1 and look at verses 19 and 20 and maybe even some subsequent verses this morning. This is so foundational to our subject today that I want you to look at this. And actually, I'm going to start reading in verse 18. I'll never ever forget until the day I die. Probably won't forget after that even, when I preached this verse out on Route 62 years and years ago. A lot of people didn't like me that day, but here's what it says. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And then go on to verse 19 now. Because that which is known about God is evident, where? Within them, it says, that is within their consciences. That's in there, for God made it evident to them, God created all men, talked about this many times before, with a God consciousness. I often say there's a light flashing in there, God is, God is, God is, it's just there, is what that means. And then verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, and there, folks, is the revelation of God to all unbelievers through creation. So that they are, it says at the end of the verse, what? Without excuse. Because of conscience, because of creation, all men are without excuse. That's what the Bible says. All unbelievers get at least that much revelation from God, along with the ability to understand what it means. All unbelievers know this. Basic truth. There is a God who created me, and there is a God who created everything around me. They know that. They can deny that they know that, but they know that because God says they know that and He's the one who made them. They all know that. But, I don't want to stop there. Watch now what happens. This is so insightful. While you're still there in Romans 1, I want to read a little further because there's something going on here that will be very important for you to hang on to and remember a little bit later on in our study today. As I continue reading here, what I want you to see and note is what happens when a man rejects that basic revelation from God that he has been given through conscience and creation. Okay? All men have that revelation. What happens when they reject that revelation? Pick up with me now in verse 21. For even though they knew God, you say, well, did they know God? Yep, they did. Just said they did. Conscience and creation. Verses 19 and 20. For even though they knew God, here's what happened. They did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Would you please note right here what happens? This is critical, folks. If you refuse and reject the revelation from God that you have been given, the clarity of that revelation will be taken away from you and no more will be given. The clarity will be taken away and no more will be given. These men who knew God through conscience and creation suppressed that. They rejected that. They did not honor Him as God or give thanks, it says. And as a result of that rejection, the Bible says that they became futile in their speculations. What does that mean? It means that they lost their ability to reason. They lost their ability to draw sound, valid conclusions. They became dulled and their foolish hearts were darkened, which means, folks, simply no more light. Their speculations became dulled, their ability to reason became dulled, and their foolish hearts were darkened. No more light. Time won't permit me to comment a whole lot more here, but just watch the downward spiral as I continue to read this text down through verse 28. And let me preface it by just saying this, folks, to reject God's revelation is to step out on the slippery slope. You're going down. You're going down. The slide is greased and you're on your way down. When you reject the revelation from God that you have been given. Here's what it says. Pick up with me now in verse 22. Professing to be wise, oh they do that. What's the reality of the situation? They became fools. And watch this now in verse 23. Something else we've talked about before. All men have that God consciousness and all men are wired to worship, aren't they? Why are they wired to worship? Because God wired them. That's why they're wired to worship. And so what do you do with that desire to worship once you've turned your back on the only true God who has already revealed himself to you through conscience and through creation? Here's what you will do. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. That's what you will do. Once you have rejected the true God, you will start worshiping something else. Something else that God has created. That's what you will do, and that's what they did. And I'm just going to read now. Therefore, God gave them over in the lust of their heart to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions. For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. Folks, I don't have to give you my opinion on homosexuality. My opinion doesn't matter anyway. We already have God's opinion on that. I just read it for you. Verse 28, and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, one more time he says God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper. Much could be said about this text, but suffice it to say this morning that the end of the road here for rejecting God's revelation, folks, is all summed up in a terrifying phrase that occurs, did you notice, three times. There's a phrase in this text that occurs three times that I just read. God gave them over. I remember when I studied the book of Romans, I spent a long time pondering and thinking and meditating and praying and asking God to show me what that means. I don't know if anybody really fully knows what it means, but I think we can come at least close. I don't think I'm out of line if I say that it means, folks, that there comes a point in your rejection of God's revelation when he takes one step back and puts his hands up and says, you are on your own. That's what it means. It's terrifying. God finally steps back, he takes his hands off and says, you are on your own. That's what happens here in this text at the end of the road for those who reject the revelation that they have been given from God. And so back to where we were, how does God reveal things? Well, there's some things that he never reveals to anyone. There are other things he reveals only to a special group of people, his children who are believers in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we're talking about The fact here that unbelievers can't understand God's truth, let me give you the ultimate example of that. The spiritual ignorance of unbelievers is nowhere better illustrated than in what it says about some of the world's smartest men in 1 Corinthians 2. None of the rulers of this age, Paul says, has understood the wisdom of God. Here's why I know that. For if they did, if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Do you realize? that that is the ultimate display of spiritual ignorance and also realize that it's coming from some men who were by the world's standards among the smartest ones. That's what Paul's saying here. Let me give you a third way now that God reveals things. Okay? Some things he never reveals, some things only to his children. This time the focus is not upon all believers, but this time now the focus is going to be on just a select group of believers. There are some things, number three, that God has kept secret from even his children for a long, long, long period of time and then finally revealed to another group of his children in another time. And what I'm talking about here, of course, is Old Testament, New Testament, right? Old Testament, New Testament. And so please understand that not only are you blessed as a believer with the capacity to understand this precious book that we've been given, but also understand that as New Testament believers, we are blessed, folks, with the fullness of God's truth. We are blessed with the fullness of God's truth. We know and understand a whole bunch of things that Old Testament believers even did not know and did not understand. Peter talked about that one time, referring to the Old Testament prophets in 1 Peter 1, 10-12. Listen to what he said. Don't look there, but just listen. As for this salvation, Peter said, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquires. I mean, they were looking around to figure out what this was all about. Seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating, as he predicted, the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them, Peter says, that they were not serving themselves, but you. And these things which have now been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Let me try to tell you what Peter's saying here. Peter says sometimes the Old Testament prophets that were penning these things didn't even understand themselves what they were writing about. And that's true. And what they were writing about wouldn't be fully understood by anyone until long after they were dead. Until after the revelation of the New Testament had been given. These Old Testament prophets, Peter says, weren't serving themselves. They were serving you as he writes to his New Testament readers. You're the ones now who can finally understand the fullness of what they were writing about. Do you see how blessed we are? We're not only believers, we're believers in the New Testament. We have the fullness of God. We understand things that Old Testament believers couldn't understand. And with that now, let me answer my second question that you have on your outline there. And as I go to answer this question, I realize I've probably already answered it, but that's okay. What is a New Testament mystery in general? What does the New Testament mean when it uses this word mystery some 27 times? The Greek word translated mystery literally refers to something that is hidden, it refers to something that is a secret. Sometimes it refers to truth that is hidden from unbelievers, but most times, folks, when we see this term used throughout the New Testament, it's referring to something that was hidden or a secret in the Old Testament, but now, what? Revealed in the New Testament. And I'm going to say without question that that is exactly the definition of the word mystery as it's used here in our Ephesians 3 text, and I'm going to say that because Paul says that. He comes right out and gives us that definition. Would you notice what he says in verses 4 and 5? By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations, here's the general definition of a New Testament mystery. which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit." That, folks, is a New Testament mystery, something hidden from Old Testament saints, but now fully revealed in the New Testament. You say, well, surely they had clues and they had... Yeah, they had all of that. We don't deny that. They had hints and they had clues and they had foreshadows. But listen folks, they never had enough to put the pieces of the puzzle together and be able to see the fullness of what the picture was that was being painted. They never had enough to do that. All they had were hints that could not be comprehended. could not be put together, could not be understood until we get to the New Testament where the fullness of that revelation was given. And from that general understanding of a New Testament mystery now, let's hone right in on the specific mystery in question here in our text. What is the specific mystery that we're going to learn about in these verses? This is so precious and so incredible. Once again, we have a question that Paul answers very directly, this time in verse 6. He gave us a general definition of a New Testament mystery in verse 5. He goes on now in verse 6 to define in very clear and certain terms the specific mystery in question here. Now, let me just say this as a preface. Contrary to all of the lengthy, lengthy, lengthy explanations of this text that we're studying, that are given by all Millennial writers, who desperately, folks, want the church to be there in the Old Testament, and men who write literally pages and pages and pages of stuff to try to manipulate that conclusion. I've read the stuff. I've put in the miles. I've read the stuff. Contrary to all that, let me say to you that there is absolutely no lack of clarity here with regard to the mystery in question. Specifically, what mystery are you talking about in this text, Paul? What is this hidden secret, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit? Verse 6, look at it. To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. What is that? What is that? You know what that is. What is this body? Did you ever read about a body in the Old Testament? I never did. What is this body that was never heard of in the Old Testament? This body that is now made up of Jews and Gentiles who are all equal members of this body and on an equal plane with one another. What is this body? That, people, is just what we learned about in Chapter 2, isn't it? That people is the one new man. That people is that one new man we just spent the last 10 weeks learning about in chapter 2. Make no mistake about it, this particular mystery that was revealed to the Apostle Paul in this first half of Ephesians chapter 3, folks, is the church. Glance at verse 10 a minute. This mystery has now been revealed, Paul says there in Ephesians 3.10, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through what? the church, the church. Folks, this mystery is the church. And just to clarify that for you, just to affirm that even further for you, I want to take you to one more scripture this morning, and this is where we'll wrap it up. But I want to take you to one more scripture this morning for further commentary, further clarity on what I believe to be this most important point about this text. This time coming from the lips of none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Turn please to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. And I want you to pick up with me in verse 10 and follow this thought. While you're turning, let me give you just a little bit of context. Matthew chapter 13, I'm going to begin reading in verse 10. Here's what's going on in the first verses of that chapter. Jesus did something kind of interesting in the presence of large crowds that had gathered on the beach. Of course, Jesus used to teach the multitudes, right? And a bunch of people had gathered on the beach. In order for them to be able to see Him well and hear Him, He got into a boat and kind of pushed Himself offshore a little bit. Made sense, right? Now they can see Him. They're all gathered there on the beach and Jesus is sitting in a boat, pushed offshore just a tiny little bit, and He's teaching the people. And what has He just taught? In the first verses of this chapter, He's just taught a very familiar parable. The parable of the soils. Remember the different kinds of soil and the different responses and so forth? And we know that parable. I don't want to read that. I want to pick up in verse 10. He's done teaching the parable, And the disciples came and said to him, verse 10, ask him a question. Why do you speak to them in parables? Why do you do that? Why do you speak to them in parables? That's a good question, isn't it? Lots of people who read the New Testament wonder about that same thing. Why would Jesus Think about it. Why would Jesus intentionally make it difficult for people to understand what he's talking about? I remember as a new believer myself reading that and scratching my head and saying, it doesn't make any sense. It seems like he'd want them to understand, right? He's making it intentionally. Why does he do that? And the disciples wondered about that. Why does he do that? Why does he speak in parables? Well, let me read Jesus' answer to that question for you. Down through verse 17. And then from this text, we're going to glean what I believe to be some extremely valuable insights on understanding our text that we just left a minute ago over in Ephesians chapter 3. Why do you speak to them in parables, Jesus? The disciples want to know. Jesus answered them, verse 11, to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. That's why I speak in parables. And as I go on to verse 12 now, would you please remember something? Would you remember what we just talked about over in Romans chapter 1? Do you remember about that? What happens when you reject God's revelation? Jesus said, I speak to them in parables because to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given and he will have an abundance But whoever does not have even what he has shall be what? Taken away from him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, You will keep on hearing, but will not understand. You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull." When I read that, you know what I was immediately reminded of? over in Romans 1 where it says what? They became what? Futile in their speculations. They rejected God's revelation. They became futile in their speculations. Here, Jesus said, the heart of this people has become dull. With their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them. Watch this now, verse 16. Jesus is talking to these guys, his followers, his disciples. But blessed are your eyes, because they see In your eyes, because they hear, I'm going to take that promise for me, aren't you? For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see. Now he's talking about Old Testament saints. And to see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear. Jesus is affirming to his disciples here in this text, folks. The very truths that we're studying and talking about today, isn't he? I think he is. As New Testament believers, these disciples were privy to some knowledge and understanding that unbelievers were not privy to. And even more than that, they were privy to some knowledge and some understanding that Old Testament believers were not privy to. And even, folks, Old Testament prophets were not privy to. That's what Jesus is saying here. And insofar as the parable question goes, Jesus spoke in parables. He said, here's the answer. To reveal his truth to those who had believed on him, and at the same time to conceal his truth to those who had not, to those who had rejected the light that they had been given. What Jesus says, I get to the end of this, let me say this, what Jesus says here in Matthew 13 corresponds exactly to what Paul said in Romans 1, doesn't it? It does. And it wouldn't even be wrong for us folks to say that Jesus speaking in parables here, how about this thought? Jesus speaking in parables here was actually a form of judgment on those people's unbelief. That's why he spoke in parables. Now, with all that, I want to focus your attention on one more thing here that's going to connect us back to Ephesians 3. With all that having been said, let me draw your attention once again to verse 11 here in Matthew 13 and the very specific phrase that Jesus used there to describe what it was that his New Testament disciples had been granted to know. To you, Jesus said to his disciples, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. That's a key phrase that will help us understand the theme of our text this morning in Ephesians 3. To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. Question is, what are these mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven to which Jesus referred here? What is this mystery form of the Kingdom that is being spoken of here by Jesus in Matthew 13? And by the way, I can't take the time to track them down for you, trace them down for you right now, but there are multitudes of parallel verses that would bring us to the conclusion in the New Testament that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are one and the same thing. They're used interchangeably. In Mark's account of this very same passage, for example, In Mark 4.11, he refers to the mysteries of the kingdom of God. So they're interchangeable terms. But back to the question, what are these mysteries of the kingdom? What is Jesus talking about here? As you would read the Old Testament, let me start by saying this. Sorry to answer the question this way. As you would read the Old Testament, it would become very clear to you that there was no mystery about the kingdom that they understood at all. No mystery about it at all. If you read the Old Testament, what do you find? The Old Testament prophets all prophesied of a king, right, who would come and set up his kingdom. It was all plain. It was all straight. It was all clear. It was all simple. No mystery to it at all. They knew the kingdom was coming. They believed it. They were all waiting for it with eager anticipation. When John the Baptist finally arrived, what was his message? Repent, for the kingdom is at hand. Jesus, in fact, himself, what was his message? Repent, for the kingdom is at hand, the same as John's. And you say, well, what's the mystery all about? Why does he speak of the mysteries of the kingdom? What's that all about? Why does Jesus refer to the mysteries of the kingdom? Well, the Jews all knew about a king who would come, a kingdom that would get set up. He's here now. He's offering the kingdom. John the Baptist is offering the kingdom. He's offering the kingdom. Still no mystery. What's the mystery all about? Well, let me tell you what the mystery is all about. The mystery, folks, and this is the key to understanding our theme in Ephesians 3. The mystery, folks, is not that the king would come. The mystery is not that the king would bring a kingdom. That was all clear in the Old Testament Scriptures. No mystery to it at all. What I want you to understand this morning is that the mystery form of the kingdom to which Jesus refers here in Matthew 13 has to do, folks, with what happened when those people rejected the king. That's where the mystery comes in. We don't learn anything about these mysteries of the kingdom. This mystery form of the kingdom is never mentioned. until after the people had officially rejected the promised king who had come. The Jews pronounced that official verdict in Matthew 9. They pronounced it again in Matthew 12 when they attributed Christ's power to Satan. And in Luke 19, 14, Jesus clearly articulated their rejection of him in a parable. Listen to what he said. But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, listen to this, we do not want this man to reign. over us. Israel rejected her king, and when Israel rejected her king, people, something very significant happened that Old Testament saints knew nothing about. The kingdom got postponed. As New Testament believers, we understand that, right? We do. The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that the literal, earthly, 1,000-year reign of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, will begin not after His first advent, but when? After His second It got postponed, people, when Israel rejected her king. And by the way, got to throw this disclaimer in there, please don't think that this means that God was taken off guard, that God had to quickly scramble and come up with a plan B. No, no, no. Never, never, never. This was not at all plan B. This was all in the sovereign plan right from the beginning. A part of the plan, however, that was not revealed until when? The New Testament era. Old believers, something else we talked about, and you know this is true, Old Testament believers saw how many Advents? They never saw two Advents. They only saw one Advent, and they would have had no way of knowing that their apostasy would proliferate to the point of being temporarily set aside while the promised kingdom got postponed. And all that to say this, here's the punchline. We have this whole period of time in here, in between the first and second Advents of Jesus Christ, that Old Testament saints weren't able to see, that Old Testament saints knew nothing about, and from our New Testament vantage point now, from Paul's letter to Ephesians now, what do we understand this period of time to be? What is this period of time? This period of time, people, is the church age. It's the church age. What I want you to see here in Matthew 13 this morning is that these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, This mystery formed with the kingdom to which Jesus refers here in verse 11 is the church. That's what he's talking about. The very same thing that Paul is talking about over in our text in Ephesians chapter three. You know, it's been quite a while ago now. In fact, as I was thinking about this this morning, I realized I think it was when all you folks from Jamestown kind of folded in and became a part of us a number of years ago. I think we were studying through the 70 weeks of Israel's history in Daniel chapter 9. Anybody remember that? And if you recall how that goes, remember how that unfolds? In that prophecy that Daniel gives, he gives the 70 weeks of Israel's history. There are 69 weeks, right? And at the end of the 69 weeks, what happens? The Messiah gets cut off. What is the 70th week? The 70th week is clearly, unquestionably the tribulation period, seven weeks of years. The entire church age, what's the conclusion? The entire church age is a gap. between the 69th and 70th weeks of Israel's history that the prophet Daniel did not see. We know that now, we see that now from our New Testament perspective, but Daniel did not see that gap at all. The church people is this mystery form of the kingdom to which Jesus refers in Matthew 13 11. The same mystery now that was revealed to Paul in our text over in Ephesians chapter 3. Let me ask two more questions real quickly here, ask and answer two more questions about this mystery form of the kingdom, and then we're going to quit. Lunch is ready. Some people wonder how this mystery form of the kingdom can still be called the kingdom when the king is not even here right now. He's gone. He's in heaven. And the answer to that question is that the king is not reigning externally right now. He will be someday, but right now he's not reigning externally. Where is he reigning? He's reigning right now internally over the hearts of those who belong to him. Paul has already made it abundantly clear to us at the end of Ephesians 2 that to be a member of the church is to be a citizen in this new, that was one of the pictures, right? Of the church, be a citizen of this new kingdom. We are spiritual citizens, folks, right now. And there's Colossians 1.13 we could add here that says that as a believer, You have been rescued from the domain of darkness and what? Transferred to the kingdom of his Beloved Son, we're kingdom citizens right now, internally. He's reigning internally right now. We talk about this all the time. The unbelievers all around us are citizens of the kingdom of this world that is currently and under the permissive will of God being ruled by Satan. Our citizenship, however, praise me to God, is not here, it's there. We're spiritual citizens of heaven right now, even though physically we're still here and walking around on this planet Earth. How do we often say it? In the world, but not of the world is how we often say it. One more question, last question, I want to answer that maybe you've wondered about as we've been here in Matthew 13 this morning, and that is this. Why did Jesus refer to the mysteries, plural, of the kingdom of heaven instead of just the mystery? If the mystery is the church and he's talking about the church, why did he say it in the plural? Well, answer, probably because within this larger, within this overall mystery of the church, there are lots of other mysteries, right? And if you trace that word around, I'm not going to take the time to do that too extensively here, but let me give you some examples, a couple of examples. In Romans 11.25, for example, it says, that Israel's belief, unbelief rather, is a part of this mystery, and that they got set aside. In Colossians 1, 26 and 27, it says that Christ in you, the hope of glory, is a mystery. You see, Old Testament saints had no concept whatsoever of an indwelling Christ, which is a feature, a characteristic of the New Testament church. And how about this one? In 1 Corinthians 15, 51 and 52, Paul says, I'm going to tell you about a mystery. And then what does he tell about? The rapture of the church. Yet one more thing associated with the church that Old Testament saints knew nothing about. And so what we have are smaller mysteries within the larger mystery. And that's probably why Jesus referred to it in the plural here in Matthew 13. And that's where we're going to stop. I hope from all of that, you understand now the major theme. of this parenthetical text that we have open before us in the first half of this chapter, Ephesians 3. The church is a New Testament mystery that was given to the Apostle Paul by direct revelation from God. And we've got lots and lots of beautiful truth, wonderful truth to see on next Lord's Day. The plan will be to begin Then, with this foundation in place, we'll begin our verse-by-verse exposition. The first thing we're going to consider in verses 1 and 2 is the person of the mystery. You know this guy that I told you that we're all falling in love with? As we study his letters, we learn something about his heart, his mind, and how he thought in the first verses of this chapter. This is all about a mystery. Paul was the mystery man. We'll call him the mystery man as we study this text. And in those first two verses, we're going to learn some things, some very insightful things from him that we ought to emulate in our own lives and hearts as he reveals there his own personal perspective on his life, his ministry, and his current situation there chained to a Roman soldier. Let's pray together. Father, we are so thankful to you this morning for blessing us with the precious truth of your word and giving us that spiritual capacity to understand that truth. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 13, 16, blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. Father, we claim that promise. We are blessed, Father. Thank you so much for that. Thank you for this wonderful church that your son is building, for teaching us all about it in your word, and most importantly, Father, for making us a part of it through that miracle of salvation. As always, God, I ask you to take this truth that we studied today and use it to save any lost ones who may be here. to sanctify the saved, Father, with this precious truth of your word. I don't know what you have for it in every heart and life, but I want you to accomplish that, Lord. We want to serve your church and your agenda. Have your will and way in every heart with the truth of your word. Thank you for the privilege of opening it together here today. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.