So let's pray. Gracious God, Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this day. This is a day, time to look to you and thank you for your word. We pray that you would open our minds and prepare our hearts. May what we reflect on tonight help us to love you in a deeper way, to understand more of the goodness and even some of the mysteries of your truth, that we could live for your glory. We pray in your name, amen. All right, go ahead, be seated. So a little review. It's been several weeks since we were together last to talk about Ephesians. And so on the handout here, we have just some of the highlights, again, about Ephesus, the city. This is located on the west coast of modern-day Turkey. And today, it's several miles inland, and it's different points in the past, especially in its heyday, it was a seaport. But apparently with just the way that water and things have developed, it is no longer a seaport. It does have a long history of education, culture, business, important city. It was one of the homes of the ancient wonders of the ancient world and the Temple of Artemis in particular, and that has a lot of things to do in the book of Acts and the history of that city. The Ephesians were very proud of their temple and the temple worship, and it was a big business, but it also was something they took pride in, something that Paul had to confront. And it also had other significant buildings. One was the theater that could hold 24,000 people. Probably pretty remarkable in any day, but especially in that day. So there's a church in Ephesus, of course, and that was founded by Paul. He had two different visits to Ephesus. The first was a short one. It's recorded in Acts chapter 18. And he went there with Priscilla and Aquila, That was around 52 AD. The second visit was the lengthy one, the lengthiest one of his ministry that he spent in one place. So he was there for three years around 53 to 56. He had a final meeting with the elders of Ephesus, but they didn't meet in Ephesus. They met in Miletus, and that was in 57 AD, and that was right before his arrest. And that's, you may recall, where they were pleading with him not to go, and he was determined to go, realizing he would be arrested, which he was. And so when he went to Jerusalem, he ended up imprisoned and would spend the rest of his life essentially, in one way or another, mostly in prison. I guess they think there was another period where he had liberty, but when he wrote Ephesians, he was in Rome and he had been in prison at that point somewhere three to five years. Ephesians the letter written somewhere around 60 to 62 AD from Rome while Paul was in prison there. This would be his house arrest where he had some liberty but he was still chained to a Roman soldier so not a lot of liberty. And the letter probably was delivered and circulated with some other letters, maybe not delivered, but certainly a lot of overlap between Philemon and Colossians, along with Ephesians. They were near locale, so in physical proximity, but also the letters themselves, there's overlap. A gentleman named Tychicus, who's mentioned in Colossians 4-7, is connected to all three of those letters. So again, the letter itself, just some general structure. It's a classic kind of format. It has the first three chapters. One to three are very much devoted to doctrine, and some have called this, described it as the calling of the church. And then chapters four to six are application and could be referred to as the conduct of the church. Turn this down just a smidge. I think it's a little lower. Seems hot to me. So chapter one, which we've looked at along with chapter two, it begins with a doxology of praise, just kind of this amazing eruption of praise to God, and focused on the Trinity. So it's a praise to Father, and to Son, and to Holy Spirit for spiritual blessings that believers have through Christ. And this phrase, in Christ, is repeated 11 times in that opening chapter. The blessings are secure, they are from God, so we have the idea of our calling from God and being secure in that way, and they are kept by God. And then these great blessings lead to great prayer and the boldness of prayer to continue to grow in the grace of God. Then chapter two, again, great doctrinal kind of focus on the Christian life and the church. So it begins with a human condition of being dead in sin, unable to come to God, and then follows with what I call the great withs. So it mentions being alive with Christ, raised with Christ, and seated with Christ. And this is all an emphasis of God's grace. And that leads to a new condition for all and gets into something that we're gonna continue in chapter three, the common condition of Jew and Gentile. They are together, part of a common body. They're built on a common foundation of God's promise and his grace. So there's one people through the one call and the one grace of God. All right, so that leads us to where we are now, at the beginning of chapter three. Although, we're gonna look at verses one to six tonight, I'm actually gonna read starting in, all the way back in verse 11 of chapter two, and I'm gonna read on into verse 14 of chapter three, just to get a little bit of context, because Paul is going to refer to some things that he's already written about. So beginning verse 11 of chapter two, therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ. alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Is that our door? Maybe. For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, on behalf of, and now we're starting chapter three. For this reason, so in light of all that he has just said, And that the two, you probably hopefully remember, were the Jew and the Gentiles coming together in Christ. For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into what the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages. and God who created all things, so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory, For this reason, I bow my knees before my Father." And he's going to begin his prayer. So the reason to do such kind of a lengthy extended reading there, first of all, those verses from chapter 2 give the background of that Jew and Gentile union that he then reiterates in chapter 3. So he's about to lead into a prayer, chapter 3, verse 1. And then most people understand verses two to 13 as a type of parenthesis, because he picks up again in verse 14 for this reason. So it's a little bit of like, literally like you can see the literary parenthesis of that phrase. And what he is repeating or reiterating in that parenthesis that we'll look at part of it this week, is important. So it's as if he's ready to launch into the prayer and then he's like, wait a minute, I know I said it, but let me make sure that it's really clear. And I think that's just a good way to demonstrate that much as the application is important and the prayer he's going to pray later in chapter 3 is important, but without the right information, without the right doctrine and foundation, application is always going to be questionable. So what we're looking at is a bit of reiteration, but it was important for Paul to do it that way. So at verse 1, look at verses 1 to 6, verse 1 is the introduction. Paul starts, for this reason, again, that whole preceding section that we read, that I read, is about one common body of Jews and Gentiles. They are one in Christ, and they are one because of the grace of Christ. They are one because they are built on a common foundation. And Paul will get into even more of that here. So he says, for this reason, I, Paul, reiterates an emphasis. You don't see that a lot. He says that a couple of times in his letters where he would say, I, Paul, and then describes himself as a prisoner of Christ on behalf of you Gentiles." So the church in Ephesus is made up of Jews and Gentiles. But if you recall at that part of chapter 2 we read, as well as now in chapter 3, it's as if Paul, he's speaking to both Jew and Gentile, but he's shining the light on the situation, the dynamic of what it means that now the Gentiles are brought into the people of God. So it is on their behalf that he is, what, a prisoner of Nero? A prisoner of Rome, what does he say? He is a prisoner of Christ. What a little short but profound demonstration of Paul's understanding of the providence of God. You know, Rome is no doubt, there's no question, the absolute power of the whole world at this point. And it would be so natural for Paul to say, yeah, here I am in Rome. Here I am, chained to this soldier. You know, here I am, the prisoner of the emperor. He's a prisoner of Christ. And again, to me, that's just an amazing statement of how he sees his life and the bigger plan of God and the bigger providence of what God is doing. If the Lord did not want him to be a prisoner, Paul would not be a prisoner. If the Lord wanted him to be a prisoner, he would be a prisoner. So I think we can just kind of apply that to our own lives. I mean, there's a lot of things that we go through that are the result of our sin and other people's sin, but again, the Lord is in it all and surrounds and intersects and is woven into, his hand is woven into everything that we go through. So he is a prisoner of Christ on behalf of the Gentiles. And again, that's striking. He's a Jew, right? And it was a little suspicious when he started sharing with the Gentiles. In fact, there's points where there's conflict because he preaches the gospel. But really he's in jail. If you go back and look into what happened when he was arrested in Jerusalem, he was in jail because he tried to reach the Gentiles. If at any point Paul said, look, I think Jesus is the Messiah. I'm going to follow him. And, you know, people probably would say, you're crazy. You shouldn't do that. You can't teach anymore. We're not going to count you a Pharisee. It's really only when he says, but I'm sharing with Gentiles that they can come into the family of God apart from the Jewish ceremonies and traditions. Wham! That was the point. In fact, if you read in Acts, that was the point that people just they went berserk. I mean, if you remember those scenes, they charged. His arrest was preserving his life because they were going to tear him limb from limb. Again, he is serving the Lord And he's a prisoner because of the providence of God, but it is his specific calling to bring the good news of Christ to Gentiles that is the circumstance for him to be in prison. So he then continues, although again, people feel this is a parenthesis, a digression. It's really unfortunate because when you think of that, it's almost like, well, he just got lost his place, got confused, a little rabbit trail. I think it is definitely a parenthesis, but it's purposeful and it is, for us now the inspired word of God. And again, I think he wanted to reiterate what he had just been saying in the opening two chapters. So starting in verse two, the start of this parenthesis, he's gonna start talking about this mystery. And verse two is the administration of the mystery. So he writes, assuming that you have heard, that's the ESV, It probably would be better understood something like, in as much as you have heard or since you have heard. It's not a question of they've heard or not, because he's going to say, I just wrote you about this. Because of what he has said, he's going to explain and reemphasize things he's taught. So in as much, or assuming that you have heard, of the stewardship of God's grace. So Paul sees himself as a steward, Literally, that word is a house law. In Greek, it almost sounds like economy, and we get the word economy from that word, so it's kind of a way to think of it as administration or stewardship. So he has been entrusted with God's grace to share in this particular ministry to reach the Gentiles, and he's willing to suffer for it. And not only that, but you think of what we've read. Notice verse 13. He says, I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. So not only is he willing to suffer for it, He doesn't want them to be distraught about it. I mean, he realizes they're probably alarmed and saddened and, you know, that he is suffering because of his commitment to them. And Paul is so kind that he wants really, in this point, he's encouraging them with the assurance that, you know, no, this is from God and I'm doing this because I know God has called me to do it. So assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace, that was given to me for you. And then starting verses three to five, we have the revelation of the mystery. how the mystery was made known to me by revelation. So he's going to mention mystery a couple times here, and he has talked about mystery other places in his writings, and there are other references to mystery in the New Testament. And to jump ahead, the mystery he's really emphasizing here is what we read in the end of chapter 2 and end of chapter 3. It's the mystery that the Gentiles have been brought into the plan of God. Gentiles have been brought into the people of God. And in other places, though, in fact, let's turn to it, Colossians 1, verses 24 to 29, there's other dimensions and aspects to this mystery. They're not in conflict, but they're just different ways you could emphasize the mystery of God's grace. So, for instance, in Colossians 1, starting at verse 24, Paul says, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God. It's going to sound familiar, isn't it? That was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known. Here we go. The mystery, hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery. which is, drum roll please, what's the mystery? In Ephesians, the mystery was how the Gentiles and Jews are one together, but this, he says, this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, him we proclaim, and he goes on. So, you know, well, what's the mystery? Well, really, if you think about it, the mystery that Jews and Gentiles would be one is the other side of the coin to the fact that they are united in Christ. So it is their spiritual union in Christ that each have, Jew or Gentile, that therefore also makes them one. So grace is the common ground, and union with Christ is is the fruit of that grace. So they're not in conflict at all. And there's other, actually there's some other dimensions of how mystery is used by Paul and in the New Testament. And they're really all coming back to the grace of God, uniting us to Christ. Because we're one in Christ, we are one with people of every time and every place, every background. So how this mystery was made known by revelation. Why is revelation going to be significant when it comes to a mystery? Well, Paul's a bright guy, probably the most educated person of his generation, very devout, didn't cut corners, but there is no human capacity with human capacity alone that's going to open up the meaning of the mystery. So revelation is required to understand the mystery because it's going to take God's grace. It's like trying to earn your salvation. There's no way you're going to be good enough to earn God's grace and God's favor. Well, the same thing when it comes to understanding mysteries and human intelligence. It doesn't pay to be unintelligent, but again, it's not like human intelligence is going to get you to reveal and manifest yourself what the mystery is. So even for Paul, this comes through God's grace by revelation. And he continues, as I have written briefly. So this is interesting. We read a lot in Ephesians 2, so I don't know if that was real brief. He's also mentioned a bit of a mystery in Ephesians 1, verses 19 and 20. And some people think there may have even been another letter. So it may be that Paul wrote another letter to Ephesians. We know he's written letters that we don't have. There's probably at least one other letter to the Corinthians that seems to be referenced that we don't have. We have two, but it sounds like there's more than that. So again, in the providence of God, we have what God wants us to have. And so whether he's referring back to what he's written in this letter or to some other letter, he's letting them know that he has communicated this to them, this idea that there is a mystery, it's revealed by grace, it relates to the unity of Jew and Gentile. When you read this, verse four, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. And then verse five, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations. So when you start to think of mystery, what makes a mystery a mystery in terms of the Bible? And I think what we need to realize is in the world at large in that time, maybe still throughout the ages, but mystery was a big thing. So there were very, it was actually things called mystery religions. And mystery religions were religions where only select people were given the insight, and usually you had to attain that with either great effort or great sacrifice. And the whole point of the mystery was to segregate people. And what Paul's getting at is this mystery is to integrate people. So the idea of the mystery here is it's something significant. It's not just like, easy pickings, you know, it's something that's substantial, it's something that's worthy of exploring, you know, rolling up your sleeves and trying to understand. But it's not the sense of an experience or a truth that no one ever thought of before. So I was going to actually get an object lesson like I do with the kids. Imagine I have something here, anything, okay, a pen or something. And I have it draped over, okay? And so I could talk about a mystery. And the mystery is not that the pen is going to become a rabbit, or the mystery is not like there's nothing there and then suddenly I'm going to go poof! and it's going to appear. The idea of a mystery in the scriptures is something is there, maybe in seed form, maybe in a shadow-type way, but it's yet to be unveiled. So what is going to happen in the history of God's work is the mystery is going to be revealed, it's going to be unveiled. And what will be there is something beautiful and true that really was always meant to be there. So, and again, I'll just cut to the chase, when it comes to this unity of Jew and Gentile, it wasn't like this, like if you think of that as this pen, it wasn't like no one ever thought of, you know, humanity being one and people being united and that being through grace. That was always the plan. You think of Abraham and God's call to Abraham, you're blessed to be a blessing. There's some references to Psalms and things like that. Even the idea maybe of sometime in the future, it's in Christ but maybe it's gonna be fulfilled even greater of people coming to the mountain of the Lord and learning God's truth. So those were all things that were of old. But they were mysteries in the sense that they hadn't fully emerged, hadn't fully been, even though the seed was there, they weren't even really understood. I mean, just think of the Messiah. There was a promise, people understood, that a Messiah was coming. But that was like, even that was a type of mystery because it was veiled and until Christ came and it was announced, He is the one that was the unveiling. Okay, so I think that's a little bit of what we want to understand as we start hearing of this mystery. And it was not made known to the sons of men from other generations. Okay, so there's going to be timing. to when the mystery will be revealed. There's going to be a sense of how is this going to be revealed. Again, so that is the mystery. Now, it does come through apostles and holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. So again, verse five, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed. Again, it's gonna take this grace and the work of the spirit to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. So there are appointed leaders who are gonna receive this revelation. They're gonna give the authoritative interpretation of God's truth. Again, unlike the mystery religions, the point of this isn't to segregate so that nobody ever gets to understand or appreciate these mysteries. The mystery is now for all, but it's not determined by all. Why is it only the apostles? And the prophets get this revelation of what the mystery was, you know, this unveiling of things that were formerly anticipated and taught, but now are coming into clear focus. Well, it's gonna take grace and God is going to prepare and then equip particular leaders to articulate it. And what that tells us is even though God's spirit was working and there were people that had gifts of apostleship and prophetic gifts. Okay, so, It wasn't a free-for-all, okay? You had to trust the people that were appointed by God to fulfill that role. So the mystery's gonna be for all, but it's not a free-for-all. You know, the mystery is for everyone, but not everyone gets to have the same leverage and capacity to interpret it. Okay, and then verse 6, we get to the definition of the mystery. Well, what is it? And just like we had in earlier, in chapter 2, the three withs, once again, there are three withs in this little verse. So three words that have a prefix of the word with, or together it could be interpreted, and it's like the the word soon or soon, so like we get symphony and words like that in English. So the three withs or the three togethers are going to clarify what this mystery is. And it is this, that Gentiles are heirs with, members with, partakers of a promise with. But who are they with? Well, the Gentiles are together with the Jews. But I want to think about this for a little bit because I think it's important to realize who are the Jews and where are the Jews at this particular point in time? And I'm going to suggest that really, rather than thinking of just Gentile believers and Jewish believers, we should think of the Gentile believers actually being united with spiritual Israel. And that would be for this reason, if you jump down to the reflection section. So let's just think of Israel. And here's the first question. Were all Jews saved prior to the time of Christ and Christ coming into the world? And the answer is no. As Paul says, not all Israel is Israel. So there were, within the nation of Israel, the great blessings that were given to the people of Israel, there were, even then, believers and non-believers. So if not all the Jews were saved prior to Christ, then the question is, how were they saved? And who of the Jews were saved prior to Christ coming into the world? And I think it's pretty clear that those who were saved were those who believed in God. They had faith. Abraham's lifted up as an example of the one who believed and trusted, and in the words we would use, was saved and is saved. So in Old Testament Israel, there were Jews who believed in God, they trusted his promises, they relied on the signs that God provided. And for the time, they were good signs. Signs, one of the important ones in the New Testament is circumcision. But there were many others. There were ceremonial laws. There were religious service laws. There were sacrifices. So all these things God provided, they were signs. And the Jews who were saved in Old Testament believed in God, appreciating, recognizing the signs. So Christ comes. And now the question is, what changed for Jews, for Israel, when Christ came? And what we've been talking about is this mystery, remember? It was something that was true, but was veiled. It wasn't completely manifest yet. So now, Christ the Christ, that promised seed of the woman, has come. So the mystery of who the Messiah is, how he's going to provide salvation, these are all the fulfillment of the signs that had been given previously. This is revealed now. And so now, since the time of Christ, Jews were called to accept Jesus as Savior. And no longer, this is where the conflict comes from, no longer put trust in the signs in the same way. because the signs were still, at that point, were the shadow and the reality had come. So certainly the circumcision, that sign had fulfilled its function. You could get into other kinds of, you know, the ceremonies, the religious ceremonies, the sacrificial system. No longer need to sacrifice animals, right? Because That was a shadow, and what it had pointed to had come, the fullness. So, you know, we think about the Gentiles changing and what dramatic it is for them, but don't miss the point. Something dramatic has happened to Israel and to the Jews. Why was the mystery not revealed sooner? I think we've kind of already hit this. And that's simply because the fullness of time had not come. Galatians 4 mentions that. The right truth, which is union with God through faith, unity with one another, could only be unveiled, these mysteries, when Christ came. So again, the plan was always for these truths to be manifest and to be experienced. They were veiled and hidden until God had finished all the preparation. And so now that has happened. Now the real unity can take place. And here's something to think about. Into what or whom were the Gentiles brought? And this is where I want you to think this week of something like spiritual Israel. Because remember, this whole trajectory, it wasn't like believing Gentiles, Gentiles who believed in Christ. came into Israel as Israel, they came into that spiritual Israel in the sense of the people of old who saw the signs, trusted in the Lord, and were part of the people of God. So I guess if you think of it maybe like a stream, Now, that may not work. So again, because within the stream of Israel, there is a spiritual Israel, maybe a tributary. And yeah, think of it like a tributary. It's the same, in a sense, the same water. What believing Gentiles were brought into was that ongoing line of those who trusted in the promise. And that's where things like the circumcision and other ceremonies were. They could keep going. But they had, those ceremonies didn't have the same meaning for spiritual Israel either, just as they wouldn't have the same meaning for Gentiles. So, the great, going back to these withs, Gentiles are heirs with, and that's the first word, heirs, and inheritance has been important in Ephesians already, so they are heirs with. And you could think of Jews, but again, Don't think necessarily when you hear Jews of ethnic national Jews. They are heirs with the spiritual lineage of what God had always intended his Old Testament people to be. They are members with This word is wonderful. It's literally the same body. So the word for body is soma, and we get like psychosomatic in our language. So they are sum soma. They are bodied with. That unity is profound. It's complete. And then they are partakers with, I'm sorry, partakers of the promise with spiritual Israel. The Gentiles who believed in Jesus, they are brought in to the people of God. They inherit the blessings that God intended always for his people. Blessings not of land, not of ceremonies, but of what those things were always meant to point to. They are partakers of the promise with spiritual Israel. So what is the promise, and when did these promises come? Again, I guess you could say there were promises for the church, but that doesn't seem to be the context. I think what Paul is getting at is Gentiles are partakers of the promises that were given to spiritual Israel. They were given to the whole of Israel, but they were understood in their ultimate sense by those who had faith and saw not just promise of temple and Sabbath and land, but saw promise of union with God and unity with the people of God. So let's kind of wrap it up there. We're going to reiterate a few more things. I mean, a few of these things will be reiterated in the closing part of this parenthesis before getting into the prayer at the end of chapter three. Didn't want to bite off too many verses tonight because I did want to go back and do some review of the letter and then also kind of set the stage for this whole parenthetical type part of the passage.