2020-01-23 | Ephesians 3:1-11 | The Mystery of Christ
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians 3. And on Wednesday nights we’ve been going through the Book of Ephesians, just verse by verse, chapter by chapter, studying it. Just taking our time learning about it. And tonight we’re going to get through about half of Chapter 3 and then we’ll finish the other half next week. But what I want you to notice as we go through Ephesians 3 tonight is that in the section we’ll be dealing with, the first part of Chapter 3 is really a continuation of Chapter 2. And the theme that was in chapter 2 is what Paul is continuing to talk about here in Chapter 3. And Paul begins by talking about how God revealed to him a mystery.
Notice verse number 1. The Bible says this. Ephesians 3:1 “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:”. And we’re going to come back to that verse later on. Notice verse 3. “3 How that by revelation“. Now if you remember on Sunday nights, as we’re going through our doctrinal series, this last Sunday night we actually talked about the doctrine of the Word of God. And we spent the last couple of Sunday nights talking about revelation and our God reveals himself to mankind and how God specifically reveals himself through his word. And this is what we’re talking about.
This is what Paul is talking about “3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;”. And Paul is of course an Apostle, one of the writers of the New Testament, and that God revealed to him something that he would not have known otherwise. It’s something that God revealed to him. That God gave him to make known to us. Notice, “3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)”. And he’s talking about the fact that he’s already kind of written about this, especially in chapter 2. And he’s been explaining this. And he says I want you to understand this and I want you to get this.
So, I’m going to give you three points tonight to kind of outline this chapter. Point number one of course is “mystery of Christ”. In this passage we see the mystery of Christ. And I want you to notice that this mystery that Paul is referring to, he kind of develops it. I’m going to explain it to you but notice verse 5. In verse 5 he talks about the fact that the mystery was made known or is made known in the New Testament, and was not made known in the Old Testament. Now notice verse 5. He says this “5 Which in other ages” Meaning at other times. “was not made known”. He’s talking about this mystery. He says “in other ages was made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”. So, he says look there was a time when this mystery wasn’t made known in the way that it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. Now keep your place in Ephesians 3. Obviously, that’s our text for tonight. But go to Colossians Chapter 1.
And I’m not going to take the time to go through all of the verses dealing with this mystery. But I do want you to notice that as you read through the New Testament, this is actually a common theme, especially in Paul’s writings, about the mystery and making known the mystery and this mystery that God revealed to him. Colossians 1:26, notice what the Bible says. “26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:”. He says there’s a mystery that used to be hid and now it’s made manifest to his Saints. Notice verse 27. “27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery”. And here’s of course a hint to what mystery is all about. “among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”.
So, he’s talking about this mystery. And he’s talking about this mystery of Christ and he’s saying the mystery is made known in the New Testament. It’s revealed to the Apostles in the prophets in the New Testament. But it was not known in the Old Testament. Now in order for you to understand the mystery that Paul is talking about, you’re going to have to understand the Old Testament and how the Old Testament works. And something that maybe is not as well known, maybe you know this but maybe you don’t. So, I want to cover it and it’s this. In the Old Testament, in order for someone to convert to become a believer in the God of the Bible, in order for someone to convert into calling upon the name of the Lord and becoming a follower of Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, of course we’re talking about in the Old Covenant, in order for that to happen in the Old Testament, the plan for the Old Testament was that people would have to become an Israelite or they would have to become a Jew in order to be part of the people of God or of the children of God. Now let me show that to you.
Exodus Chapter 12. And again this is all throughout the Old Testament and I’m just going to show you a few examples. And you know sometimes you explain this to people and they don’t understand it or they don’t think about it. But the way you need to think about it or kind of the way to help you make sense of it is that in the Old Testament God kind of used nations and specifically the nation of Israel in the same way that God today in the New Testament uses churches. Now you don’t have to join a church to be saved but the idea is this, that the nation of Israel was supposed to be this vessel on earth to reach people with the message of the Bible. They were the ones that were giving the Oracles of God they were the ones that were given the priests. They were given the temple, they were giving access to God, and they were supposed to make that known. Now the way that you know this from the Bible, the way it worked out was that the Jews and the nation of Israel basically began to look at Gentiles as inferior. And actually they kept their distance from them. But they were supposed to be reaching out to them and bringing those people in to become the people of God the children of Israel.
Now what I’m going to teach you goes against what most Christians believe today, especially those who believe in dispensationalism. Because today Christians will tell you that Israel has always been Israel and the Gentiles have always been different and God doesn’t want them mixed or together. But here’s a problem with that, if that’s not what the Bible teaches, then that’s not what the Bible says. And I’ll prove it to you. In Exodus 12:43 we have the Mosaic Law and God giving his commandment to the people. The Bible says this, “43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron,”. This is the ordinance of the Passover. Now we talked about the ordinance of the Passover last time, and I’m not going to get into that. But notice, he gives them this ordinance. It’s symbolic, it’s ceremonial, it’s religious, it’s a religious ritual. And then he says this, “This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:”.
Now in the Old Testament, a stranger is just a foreigner, an alien, a foreigner, or someone from a different country. And when someone from a different country would come into the nation of Israel, they were not allowed to do certain things. They were not allowed to partake of the Passover. They were not allowed to be part of the religious practices, the feasts. They were not allowed to do any of the temple sacrifices or worship. They were foreigners outside of the nation of Israel. But in verse 48, I want you to notice that in the Bible there is a classification of a certain type of foreigner that would come into the nation of Israel. Exodus 12:48, notice what the Bible says, “48 And when a stranger” Now we just read that God said look, if a stranger is in the land and it’s Passover time, you don’t let them partake of the Passover. You don’t let them partake in it. They’re not the children of God. They’re not the Nation of Israel. This is for the Nation of Israel. But notice verse 48 “And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee,” It’s a different classification of stranger. This is a stranger who’s sojourning with the nation of Israel. Meaning, they’ve decided to go ahead and be a part of the nation of Israel. They’re going to do life with Israel. They’re sojourning with them. They’re not just visiting or passing through but they want to be part of the people.
Notice verse 48 “48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord,”. Meaning they want to keep the Passover, meaning they want to worship the God of the Old Testament, meaning they want to worship Jehovah God. Notice, “48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it;”. Notice these words “and he shall be as one that is born in the land:”. So, notice the Bible tells us here in Exodus 12:48, God gave instructions for how someone who was not a physical descendant of Abraham, someone who was not born to the children of Israel, could become a part of the nation of Israel even though they were a stranger or a foreigner. If they chose to sojourn with the children of Israel, they could partake in the Passover. Now they had to do certain things. All the males had to be circumcised.
But notice what it says there in verse 48. “and he shall be as one that is born in the land:”. Notice, God says he’s not going to be any different than you. They’re going to be exactly like you. “for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.”. He says look, if a stranger is just visiting, they’re just passing through, don’t let them take the Passover. No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. But if they want to sojourn with you, if they want to be a part of you, then they can get circumcised. They can do these certain things and it says “he shall be as one that is born in the land”.
Notice verse 49 “49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”. Notice, he says look, if you’re born in the nation of Israel or if you’re a stranger that is sojourning, I don’t want you to treat them differently. He said I want you to treat them the same. One law shall be to him. He said they’re going to be as if they were born in the land. You’re going to treat them as if they were born in the land when they convert to the nation of Israel, to those things. Let me give you some other examples. Go to numbers Chapter 15.
Numbers 15:13, the Bible says this. “13 All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 14 And if a stranger” Now notice “if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do.”. Notice verse 15, “15 One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.”.
Here’s all I’m showing you, that it was clear that the plan that God had when he set up the nation of Israel was not for the nation of Israel to have this little huddle and say it’s us 4 and no more and it’s just us and everybody else, they’re all a bunch of dirtbags. The whole point was for them to live under the laws of God, to live by the principles of God, and that they would really show forth how life was supposed to be lived, how a government should run, how a nation should run. And that strangers, foreigners would look at that and say “Hey, I want to be a part of that. It’s not working out here with the Philistines or the Edomites or whatever. I want to go be part of that nation. I want to serve that God.”. And then when they would have come, they would say “Sure, you can convert to us but you have to become one of us.”. And they would get circumcised and they would do certain things and they would become part of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. The way that someone converted to believing and to trusting and having faith in the God of the nation of Israel, Jehovah God, they had to become part of the nation of Israel. They had to become an Israelite. Or even you might use the terminology of Jew by the time that the Northern Kingdom & the Southern Kingdom were divided. The northern kingdom was taken away.
Let me give you another example. Go to the Book of Ruth. Now remember, Ruth she was a Moabitess. She was a Gentile. Now Ruth actually ends up being in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth ends up being the great-grandmother of King David. She’s actually in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice Ruth 1:16. Remember, Ruth was a Moabite as she was in Moab. Her husband dies. Her husband’s brother dies. Her father-in-law dies. Naomi decides to go back to the nation of Israel. Naomi’s actually trying to get them to stay. Notice verse 16 “16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest,” This is Ruth saying to Naomi. This is really an Old Testament salvation testimony. She said “whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:”. She said I’m rejecting the gods of the Moabites. I’m rejecting false religion. I’m rejecting a false worship. She said I’m going to make your God my God. But in order to do that, she had to make her people my people. She said I will Lodge. She said thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.
Verse 17 “17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”. This is showing in the Old Testament the way that people followed the God of the Bible. Salvation has always been by faith and calling upon the Lord. But in order to follow him, in order to be his disciple (to use New Testament terminology), they had to become part of the nation of Israel. Go to Esther chapter 8.
Now in the book of Esther, we already have the divided Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom has been divided. And the northern kingdom has basically been destroyed. The southern kingdom has been put out into bondage. And you’ve got Esther and Mordecai. They’re all living in the Gentile world. And of course you know the whole story of Esther. I’m not going to take the time to go through all of it but notice at the end of the book with Esther and Mordecai. Esther 8:17 “17 And in every province, and in every city,” Keep in mind, this is Esther living in Persia. This is Gentile Country. “And in ever province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.”. Many people just said forget the gods of the Persians. We want to worship your God. And they went through that process and they did those things in order to become part of the nation of Israel. Now here’s the reason I’m telling you all that, you need to understand that context to be able to understand Ephesians chapter number 3 “and the mystery of the love of Christ” that Paul is explaining.
Now go with me to the Book of Ephesians if you would. In the Old Testament, you converted to following the God of Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, by becoming part of the nation of Israel or by becoming a Jew; you know depending on the timeframe there as to how they were called. Maybe this might help you understand the book of Acts. Because when you read the book of Acts and when you read the epistles by Paul you find this this struggle with New Testament believers, Jewish believers. I mean guys that we know are saved like Peter, James. In the book of Acts, it seems like they’re really struggling with this idea. They clearly preach the gospel and they tell people how to be saved. But then it seems like they keep trying to make those people Jews.
I mean that’s what Acts 15 is dealing with. And in Jerusalem, that big debate that they had what was all that, about the fact that these Jewish believers who really were saved just kind of kept struggling with this idea; do we have to make them do Jewish type things? And the reason that they struggled with that, the reason that Peter himself…Remember Paul said that he had to confront Peter to the face because he was mistreating the Gentiles and he was going with the Jews and all these things. You know the reason that they had that struggle is because in the entire Old Testament, in order to follow the God of the Bible, you had to become a Jew. You had to become part of the Nation of Israel. You got circumcised and you did the Passover and you did the washings and you did the Sabbath’s and you did the moon and all the whole nine yards. You did all that. And then we come into the New Testament, and these guys have grown up with that, that’s all they’ve ever known, and even though they understand salvation is by faith, by grace through faith and not of works and it’s calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ, they keep trying to put this like Jewish burden on them. Why? Because that’s what they’ve known from the Old Testament. And here’s what Paul is teaching them. Paul is teaching them that there is a mystery that was revealed in the New Testament, that Old Testament Saints would not have known and could not have known if it wasn’t for God revealing it.
And what is it? Ephesians 3:5 “5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”. What is it? “6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs,”. You say ok, well we kind of already knew that. But notice “and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:”. Now if you remember in Ephesians chapter 2, and we spent a whole sermon on this but I’ll go ahead and show it to you again and just try to help you remember. In fact, go to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2:14 “14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;” Notice what it says “for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”. And here’s what I want you understand in the Old Testament, you had to become a Jew or become an Israelite or enter the Nation of Israel in order to follow Jehovah God, in order to be part of that deal. In the New Testament, Gentiles don’t have to become Jews in order to follow God. Jews don’t have to become Gentiles in order to follow God. He does a new thing. He makes a new thing. And what Paul is telling them is this, it’s not that they have to become Jews and it’s not that you have to become like them. He says he takes Twain and he makes a new man.
In fact, in the end of Ephesians 2 he said it’s a new body, it’s a new temple, it’s a new thing. And here’s all he’s saying, the New Covenant or the New Testament, it’s new. It’s different. It’s not something you’ve known before. And he’s saying to the people reading his epistles, that you would not have known that in the Old Testament. Because if you read the Old Testament, you would read these laws where they’re being told “Well you have to get circumcised and you got to do this and you got to do that. And you can’t take the Passover unless you’re sojourning”. And you would read the story of Ruth and she gives up Moab and she says your people have become my people. But he says it’s not that way anymore. He said they don’t have to lose their citizenship. We just become Christians. And he says this, in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek. He says there is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. He said for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And here’s what he’s saying, there’s a mystery that God has done something new in the world and that it’s not about the nation of Israel anymore and it’s not even about the Gentiles anymore.
Notice again in verse 6 “6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs,”. Now keep a place there in Ephesians 3 and go with me to Galatians Chapter 3. Galatians 3:26, the Bible says this “26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”. Now we’re going to look at verses 27 and 28 here in a second but notice verse 29. “29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”. See, he’s telling him look, the Gentiles, they get to be fellow heirs. New Testament Gentile believers get to be fellow heirs with Old Testament Saints. You say, “But they are not Abraham’s seed”. But the Bible says “29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”. Now look, today you will have big-name Christians like John Hagee, David Jeremiah, you know these prophetic type teachers. And they’ll say you can’t put the promises of Abraham on the church. They say the nation of Israel has the promises and the covenants and all those things are for the nation of Israel. They say don’t mix them in with “the church”. And here’s what Paul is saying, there’s actually a new thing done. You would have never guessed in the Old Testament. But it says there’s no more Jews, there’s no more nation of Israel, there’s no more covenants, just the seed of Abraham. He said, in fact if you’re in Christ, you’re Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. And he says he’s made of twain one. He said it’s a new man, it’s a new temple, it’s a new priesthood. He says it’s not a Levitical priesthood anymore. He said “You ever heard of a guy named Melchizedek?”. He said it’s new and he said he’s made of Twain one new man.
And what are the benefits for us? It is this, that we become fellow heirs. Because if we be Christ’s, then are we Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. People often attack us and say “Oh you guys are taking all these promises in the Old Testament out of context. Those are for the nation of Israel. They’re not for you.”. Paul says if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. All the promises made to Abraham; those apply to you. Why? Because we’re in Christ. So, he says look New Testament believers or fellow heirs with Old Testament Saints, he says this, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs’ number 1.
Here’s number 2 from Ephesians 3:6, “and of the same body”. And of the same body. He said there’s a new body. Now it’s Christ. He said there’s a new body you’re baptized into. Christ. You’re saved into. Christ. He comes into you and you are in him. He said there’s a new body for Old Testament Saints and New Testament believers. Then he says number 3. Notice again in verse 6. “6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body,”. Then he says “and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:”. Now let’s go ahead and develop that just really quickly. Go back to Galatians chapter 3 if you would. Galatians 3:13.
I want to just show this to you and make sure we get this and we understand it. “13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”. Now notice what he says in verse 14. Because here’s what all of this means. The pre-tribbers, the Zionists, they’ll attack us. They’ll say that we’re mixing the church with the nation of Israel. They say that we haven’t read Darby’s book on dispensationalism, the greatest book on dispensational theology. And it’s like, have you ever read the Bible? Because here’s what Paul says in verse 14. He says what? Verse 13 “13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles”. Now they’ll say “Oh we’ve got to bless the nation of Israel because God said that if we bless them then he’ll bless us. And if you curse them then he’ll curse us.”. But wait a minute. Does that apply today to a bunch of Antichrist, Christ-rejecting Jews of the nation of Israel? Who does that apply to today? According to Paul in Galatians 3, Ephesians 3, the entire New Testament, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, he says look, that the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. How? Through Jesus Christ. “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.”.
Notice verse 16 “16 Now to Abraham and his seed” These Zionists would say yeah, it’s all about Abraham. He says now wait a minute. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.”. Then he says this “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”. And here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying the promises of Abraham were made to Abraham and to the seed that would come from Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s what he’s saying, and we’re going to get to it in Ephesians 3. It’s about Christ. It’s always been about Christ. It’s only ever been about Christ. Verse 17 “17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.”.
Notice verse 21 “21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.”. And here’s what he saying. It was never about the law. The law cannot save you. The law cannot help you. The law cannot do anything for you. Look at verse 25. “25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God” Notice here, the children of God. This is Paul speaking to Galatian Gentile believers. “ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”.
Now look, according to the Bible who’s Abraham’s seed? because here’s what the Dispensationalists want you to believe. There’s a bunch of Jews out there, so-called Jews in their synagogues, which the Bible calls the synagogue of Satan, and we’re supposed to bless them. They teach that we are supposed to bless Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Spielberg and all these Jews out there that reject Christ. That’s what John Hagee would have you to believe. That’s what Left Behind wants you to believe. That the Jews, those are God’s people and God just gave them a free pass and we have to bless them and whatever. Look, that’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that in the New Testament God did a new thing. In the New Testament there was this mystery revealed where God was done with the nation of Israel. He’s not dealing with nations anymore and he says it’s all about Christ. It’s all in Christ. In fact, I’ve taken Twain and made one new man. And Paul says this is a mystery that was revealed. And he says now your heirs according to the promise. He says you’re of the Commonwealth of Israel. You’re no longer strangers or foreigners. He says you are partakers of his promise.
Now go back to Ephesians chapter 3. And here’s what’s really interesting to me. In Ephesians 3, Paul, and really in the book of Ephesians in chapters 1 & 2, he used these words “predestination”. And we talked about that and we explained what the Bible actually teaches about that, not what Calvinists teach about that. And then in in Ephesians 3 he uses this word “dispensation”. And the Zionists have a theology, a doctrine. They teach the doctrine of dispensations that they use to bring in all this false teaching. And I don’t have time to develop all that in one sermon. We have a documentary on dispensationalism and I’d encourage you to check it out. It’s on our YouTube channel. It explains everything you need to know. But what’s funny is that Paul actually mentions the word dispensation. Because that word “dispensation” is not used that often in the Bible. He actually mentions it in this chapter. And this is the chapter that destroys the doctrine of dispensationalism. I think it’s kind of funny. You’d think that these guys would get a hint. It’s almost like God did it on purpose.
But notice what Paul says in verse 7. Because in verses 1 through 6, he talked about this mystery that was not revealed in other ages. You say well that’s kind of how it sounds like dispensations. Okay, well hold on a second. What the dispensationalists teach about dispensations, and if you talk to different ones, they will give you different things. But the mainstream dispensational teachers teach that there are 7 major dispensations and that in those dispensations, salvation was different in each one of those. And they’ve got the dispensation of conscience, the dispensation of government, the dispensation of the law. And right now we happen to be in the dispensation of grace. So salvation is by grace for us but it’s not for anybody else. You say “Well, but doesn’t the Bible have this idea that God dealt differently with different people.”. Yes it does. You know what, there’s two dispensations. You know what they’re called? The Old Testament the New Testament. And here’s the thing, salvation was the same. It was by faith, calling upon the Lord. Now things change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We’re reading all about it. There was a mystery revealed that wasn’t known before.
Notice verse 7. Ephesians 3:7 “7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”. And here’s what Paul is saying. He’s saying that because there’s this mystery. Then in verse seven, he kind of shifts gears and he talks about the Ministry of the Gentiles. And he says there’s the mystery of Christ. And because of the Ministry of Christ, I was made a minister to the Gentiles. And throughout the New Testament, I don’t have time to develop this, but throughout the New Testament you’ll find that Paul talks about the fact that he was called to reach the Gentiles. Let me just show you a few verses on that really quickly.
Acts 9:15, the Bible says this “15 But the Lord said unto him,”. Now in acts 9:15, we’re jumping into the conversion story of Paul. He was on the road to Damascus. Jesus interrupted his journey. He went blind. He went to Damascus. He’s been there for three days. And in Acts 9:15, Jesus is speaking to his man Ananias, getting Ananias to go preach the gospel to Paul. Because Paul got saved the same way everybody else gets saved, somebody preaches the gospel to him. He called upon the name of the Lord. Look at verse 15 “15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way:”. Then he is like wait a minute. This guy is killing people. You want me to go preach the gospel to him? And he says “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me,”. Notice what Jesus said about Paul before he even got saved. “to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:”.
Go to Acts 13:47. “47 For so hath the Lord commanded us,”. Now this is Paul on his missionary journey with Barnabas. Notice what he says. “47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.”. Go to Romans chapter number 11. And of course this is Paul speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost as he is speaking in the book of Romans. And Tertius is writing it down. Romans 11:13 “13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:”. And this is what Paul is teaching us in Ephesians 3. That because of the mystery of Christ that was revealed in the New Testament, it’s not about the nation of Israel anymore. It’s not about their priests in their temple. It’s not about that anymore. He said that was the Old Testament. But now we’re in the New Testament. God is doing a new thing. And he’s made of twain one. And you can just come to Christ through believing in faith but you don’t have to do all that other Jewish stuff. He’s like that’s not needed. He said because of that mystery that was revealed.
Then Paul says, I was made a minister to the Gentiles because someone needs to go to the Gentiles and tell them this story. Somebody needs to tell them hey, you don’t have to join the nation of Israel in order to follow Jehovah. God is doing a new thing. And here’s what Paul called that. In fact, look at Ephesians 3:2 “2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:”. And here’s what dispensationalists say. “See, we’re in the dispensation of grace.”. But he’s not talking about some era or some time frame that we are living in, that now we can get saved by grace. He’s saying look, that dispensation of grace was given to me. And here’s all I’m telling you. Whenever you look up that word “dispensation” in the Bible, and it’s not in there very much. Let’s look at a few. Go to Colossians.
The “dispensation of grace” is referring to the fact that Paul was saying “I am a minister of the Gentiles and my job was to go and dispense the grace of God, the gospel of God to the Gentiles”. The word dispensation comes from the word dispense which means to deal out, to distribute. And he says what I’m dispensing, the grace of God to the Gentiles. Look at Colossians 1:23 “23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of”. Notice the context. “the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”. He was made a minister to take the gospel to the Gentiles.
Look at verse 25 “25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;”. What is he talking about? He’s saying look, I was made a minister to go and dispense the gospel to you. I was made a minister to go to the Gentiles and say that you don’t have to become part of the nation of Israel. You don’t have to become a Jew. That’s an Old Testament thing. In the New Testament God has done a new thing. He says there’s a new body, there’s a new temple, it’s a spiritual nation, there’s a new nation, there’s neither Jew nor Greek, it’s the nation, it’s the people, it’s the peculiar people of God.
Go to 1st Corinthians 9:16. What I want to show you is that dispensation is talking about dispensing the gospel. “16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! 17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”. So notice, you say oh what are all these dispensations about? Well, have you read the Bible? It is just about dispensing the gospel, distributing the gospel, dealing out the gospel, going to the unsaved and saying “Hey, you can be saved and I’m a minister.”. Paul says I have been made a minister to the Gentiles. And Paul was specifically made a minister to the Gentiles. Because these Jews that were saved were struggling with this idea about whether or not they have to kind of be Jewish. Things like, maybe they shouldn’t eat things sacrificed to idols or maybe they should do the washings or do they need to get circumcised. And they were telling certain of them to get circumcised. Paul says no, God has done a new thing. It’s not about the nation of Israel anymore.
Now go back to Ephesians 3 and let me show you just a couple more things and we’ll finish up. Number 1, we talked about the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of Christ. And then secondly, we saw that Paul was made a minister of the gospel. But I want to show you lastly that Paul talks about the manifold wisdom of God. And notice what he says. And this is what really destroys dispensationalism. Now everything we’ve said already should have already destroyed dispensationalism. Because when the Bible talks about dispensations, it’s talking about dispensing the grace of God, dispensing the gospel, getting the gospel to unbelievers. But then Paul says this. And it’s almost like God knew there would be this weird, stupid doctrine called dispensationalism. He uses the phrase “the dispensation of the grace of God”. He kind of just makes sure that Paul just destroys dispensationalism in that chapter. Look at verse 9.
“9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,”. But do you understand what he just said? Because here’s what he said. There was a mystery that was not revealed in the Old Testament. You would have never got it in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament you became a Jew in order to follow Jehovah God. But he said now in the New Testament, there’s this mystery that has been revealed to us. And now we know that God is not dealing with nations. God is not dealing with a physical temple. There’s a spiritual nation, there’s a spiritual temple. God has done a new thing. There’s a new body. There’s a new temple.
But then Paul says this just in case you think you were plan B like the Dispensationalists teach. “9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,” He says this has been God’s plan from the beginning. God “who created all things by Jesus Christ:”. And though the Bible says that he’s the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He says “10 To the intent that now”. Here’s what he says. Because again what does dispensationalism teach? It teaches that there are these dispensations. And when we began with Adam and Eve, there was the dispensation of conscience and they were saved by not eating of the tree. Now look, if you read the story, it’s very clear that they died because they ate of the tree. They weren’t saved by not eating of the tree. They weren’t even condemned. But don’t say “Well salvation was by not eating the tree but Adam failed. So, God’s plan didn’t work. So then God had to create a new dispensation. So then God instituted government, the Tower of Babel, and you’ve got the dispensation of government”.
And I always chuckle at that one because I’m like, have you ever been to the DMV? I mean God should have known that it wasn’t going to work out. “The dispensation of government”, are you serious? Then they say, but after that it’s the Mosaic law. And you’ve got the dispensation of the law. Which again, Noah was saved by grace, Abraham was saved by believing, David was saved by faith, not of works. All of this is what the Bible says. But this is what dispensationalists will teach. The government system ended in chaos and God had to destroy the world with the flood. And here’s what they teach. They teach that God has these plans but God’s plans keep failing and that every time God has to make a new plan. And when the children of Israel messed up, because you know they accidentally crucified his Son, then he’s like okay. Well now I’m going to have to do something different. And he brings in the church age or the grace age or whatever they want to call it.
And see, their God is this God where he keeps trying things and they don’t work. That’s not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible the Bible tells us “which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,”. Look, the plan was always Jesus Christ from day one. The plan of God has always been what he’s doing. And he says yes, this was hidden from you. But this has been God’s plan all along.
Notice verse 10. And he says something that I think is extremely interesting. I don’t know, maybe you won’t think it is. I think it’s kind of fascinating. Because here’s what he said so far, he’s looking at these Gentile believers but he’s letting them in on a secret. And he’s saying, in the Old Testament they didn’t know that it wasn’t all about them and it was all about Christ. He said they didn’t know that but this has been God’s plan the whole time. This has been what God was going to plan the whole time. And then in verse 10, I feel like he’s trying to say “Now don’t go and start thinking that they’re stupid, okay. It’s not their fault”. Not only did they not know. He says the angels themselves didn’t know. I think it’s really interesting because in verse 10 he says “10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places”. What is that referring to? I believe that’s a reference to the spirit beings that you and I would call angels. Now again, I don’t have time to develop all this. But I’ll just give you a few quick thoughts.
Go to Ephesians 2:2. Throughout the Bible, angels and spiritual beings are called princes or principalities. Remember what we’re studying in the Book of Ezekiel. You had the Prince of Tyre, right. But then we learned that the Prince of Tyre was in the Garden of Eden and he was a cherub. And you know he was Satan but he’s called the Prince of Tyre. Notice in Ephesians 2:2. We already covered this when we’re in Ephesians 2 but let me remind you. “2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”. Talking about Satan. And he’s called the Prince of the power of the air. See, they’re called principalities or princes because here’s what we need to know, the governments of this world are being run by the devil and his fallen angels. So, before you get too excited about Trump, and people always get mad at me for being against Trump, but the devil is running the USA. Because the princes and principalities are running the world. They’re running the show.
Go to Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”. So, you’ll notice that these angels good or bad, the faithful angels, and the fallen angels, they’re both referred to as princes or principalities. Now go back to Ephesians 3 and look at verse 10. Notice what he says “10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,”. What is the manifold wisdom of God? The manifold wisdom of God is that the mystery, which was from the beginning of the world, hath been hid in God. And he’s saying the church, New Testament believers, the churches are making known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places the manifold wisdom of God. Paul is saying, we aren’t just revealing to Jews this plan, we are even revealing it to angels.
Now let me show you. There’s another passage that kind of teases this out. Go to 1st Peter chapter 1. We’re almost done. We’ll be done in 2 minutes. 1 Peter Chapter 1. Here’s what I’m telling you, that up in heaven, the angels are like, what’s going on God? I don’t know that they talk to God that way but you know they’re thinking to themselves, what’s going on here. You’re sending the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, and they’re going to crucify him? What’s going on here? What’s happening? And as all of this unfolded, even the angels themselves were like we see your plan now. We see what you’ve been doing.
1 Peter 1:10 “10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:”. The prophets who wrote about Jesus coming, they were saved, they understood the doctrine of the Messiah, that they had to call upon a Savior. But they didn’t have all the details. They didn’t know the name Jesus. They had to call upon the name that was revealed to them. The “I am”. The “Almighty God”. They didn’t have all those details. But he says look, “the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:”. Notice verse 11 “11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”. Did you catch that? They said look, they wish they could have known of all these details. Look at verse 12 “12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;”. Notice “which things the angels desire to look into.”.
Here’s what he saying. He’s saying the Angels wish they could have done nine chapters a day challenge. The Angels wish they could have sat down and showed up for a Bible study in the book of Ephesians where someone broke down verse by verse, chapter by chapter. They wish they could have known the mysteries. He said the Old Testament prophets, they knew what God was doing and God was in control and that it was faith and grace and calling upon God. They didn’t know the details. They wish they had the information you have in this book. And you know what you and I do? We watch football and let this thing get dust all over it. And the angels are like “Really, man that’s amazing what God did, and God’s plan, and God’s working, how God has worked in man, and how God revealed himself, and God has done something new”. And you don’t read it. And you’re not excited about it. And you don’t care about it.
Do you realize that you and I live in the greatest time that a believer could live in? We’ve got the entire Word of God. We’ve got the Holy Spirit of God. Old Testament Saints didn’t have the Holy Spirit God indwelling them. We’ve got the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us. We’ve got the Word of God. We’ve got the freedom that God has given us in this country. The technology that God has given us to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And some of you are actually considering quitting on God, doing less, retiring. And the Angels are in heaven saying “Man, we wish we had the opportunities you have. We wish that we could work with God and labor with God in the way that you do”.
Go back to Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3:11 “11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:”. And here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying this has been the plan from the beginning. This has been the plan from the beginning. You are not plan B. You are not a mistake. God’s not just dealing with the church because he’s got the Jews on timeout and eventually, he’s going to get rid of you and he’s going to go back to his favorites, the Jew. He said this is the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. “12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”. Here’s what he said. You and I get to be part of the greatest time in Christianity. They saw through a glass darkly but we see through faith. Through faith he said we understand the plan. We understand what God is doing. We understand that God has done something and is doing something in this world. And all you and I have to do is get excited about it and go tell someone. Because the dispensation of the grace of God is not an era. It is a message that has been given to us to give to the world. So do it. So get excited about it. So read your Bible. And realize that God has done something new in the world.
Let’s pray.