Mystery Revealed

We all know what it's like to be disappointed.

If you don't know what that's like,

and you haven't known me long enough,

but sometimes, I mean, usually when you're disappointed,

it's you just kind of bump on the road,

and you go on with your life,

continue with whatever you were doing.

But sometimes disappointments can be a little bit more dampening.

Disappointments can turn to discouragement,

discouragement, doubt, despair.

You think of maybe a woman who has always dreamed of getting married

and having a family, having children,

and then she's disappointed repeatedly,

and that eventually leads to discouragement and doubt.

Maybe I'll never get married.

Maybe no one wants to marry someone like me.

Or I think of a man who dreamed of this grand, fulfilling, lucrative career,

but is repeatedly set back, is disappointed,

and is discouraged, and that leads to self-doubt and despair.

Maybe it was never meant to be.

Maybe I just don't have it.

And for the Christian, too, in the Christian life,

this kind of cycle of discouragement,

this disappointment, discouragement, and doubt can happen.

It could creep in.

A zealous Christian who enthusiastically evangelizes his friends

and shares the gospel with his neighbors

is repeatedly disappointed and then discouraged

and then begins to doubt.

Maybe my friends will never come to faith.

Maybe they're right.

My faith is ridiculous.

Or a Christian places her hope in Jesus Christ

for all her sufferings in her life,

but then eventually, as sufferings mount up,

she loses loved ones, she loses her job.

Disappointments lead to discouragement and doubt.

Maybe God doesn't love me.

Maybe God isn't in control.

Maybe Christianity isn't true at all.

The Ephesians, at the time of Paul's writing,

were facing a similar cycle of disappointment

and discouragement and possibly even doubt.

And Paul, because the reason for that

is Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles,

Paul, who was to them the father of faith,

is now imprisoned.

In fact, if you kind of compare this account,

his letters to the timeline in the book of Acts,

it seems that Paul's been in prison

for maybe three years up to this point,

possibly even four.

And so they're beginning to lose heart.

Did Christ really triumph?

Is Christ really victorious?

Then why so much suffering for God's people?

Why is this great apostle to the Gentiles

imprisoned now going on three,

possibly four years?

Is Paul really an apostle of Jesus?

We haven't heard much from him.

He's been in prison all these years.

So recognizing this,

as Paul writes this letter,

and he begins to talk about

how he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus

on behalf of the Gentiles,

he feels the need to address the situation

and to offer some consolation

to the people in Ephesus.

And that's his goal.

Verse 13 is really where he completes the thought

that he begins in verse 1,

where he says,

for this reason I, Paul,

a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

and then he later goes,

he digresses from that,

and then he begins,

well, he really completes that prayer

starting in verse 14,

where he resumes that line of thought

starting in verse 1.

But that whole verse 2 to 13

is a digression intended to explain

and to console the Ephesian believers.

And so he says in verse 13,

so I ask you not to lose heart

over what I am suffering for you,

which is your glory.

And that's really Paul's main point.

His point is that we can,

as believers,

take heart in the midst of suffering

because the glorious mystery of Christ

has been made known to us

and is being made known through us.

And that's the point

that he wants to teach us.

through this passage.

And the three main points

that I'm going to go through in this

is the revelation of the mystery

in verses 1 to 6,

and the proclamation of the mystery

in verses 7 to 12,

and finally the consolation

of the mystery in verse 13.

So Paul first talks about

the revelation of the mystery

in verses 1 to 6.

He begins,

for this reason,

I, Paul,

a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

on behalf of you Gentiles.

So for this reason,

really,

is connecting it back

to the previous passage

in chapter 2

where he talked about

how God gloriously brought together

Gentiles and Jews,

his saving work,

uniting them,

reconciling to one another

and uniting them to God.

And so that's the reason

why Paul's beginning this sentence,

but he doesn't complete that,

like I said,

until the next passage

in verse 14

where he prays for them,

for this reason,

I bow my knees before the Father.

That's how he begins,

verse 14.

And so in verses 2 to 13,

he's digressing in order to console

people who are doubting,

maybe discouraged

by his ongoing imprisonment.

But as he talks about his imprisonment,

it's really interesting

because Paul doesn't seem despondent at all.

In fact,

he sounds perhaps a little bit defiant

because see how he describes his imprisonment.

He says,

I appalled the prisoner of Christ Jesus.

You would expect Paul to say,

Paul,

a prisoner of Caesar.

Paul,

a prisoner of Nero.

But Paul says,

no,

I am a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

Even in his imprisonment,

as he's suffering on behalf of the Gentiles,

as he's suffering for Christ's sake,

he recognizes whom he belongs to,

who owns him,

who is his Lord,

who is his master.

It's not Caesar.

It's the Lord Jesus.

He says,

I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

Unless the new Gentile believers

question his apostleship

and his ministry on their behalf,

he now elaborates on that

in the following verses,

in verses two to three.

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.

So Paul sees himself

as a steward of God's grace,

someone who has been entrusted

with God's grace.

And the word stewardship

really is derived

from the same Greek word

that was used earlier

in chapter one,

verse nine,

to speak of God's salvation plan,

the plan,

word for plan.

It refers to kind of a house plan

or a blueprint,

so to speak.

And it's said that God

made known to us

the mystery of his will

according to his purpose,

which he set forth in Christ

as a plan for the fullness of time

to unite all things in him,

things in heaven

and things on earth.

And there's several other words

in this passage that occur

which are all the same variations

of that Greek root,

that Greek word.

So for example,

in 18 to 20,

he describes the household of God,

right?

It's related to the steward,

steward,

and a building

that is being built up

upon the cornerstone of Christ

and the foundation

of apostles and prophets.

So all of those words

are really kind of related words.

They come from the same Greek words,

the building,

household,

plan,

steward.

And so what Paul is trying

to paint a picture of

is here is that

we're all,

God is our father.

He is the heavenly head

of households,

so to speak.

And we are all the family of God.

We are the household of God.

And he has a plan.

He has a house plan

for his family.

He has a family plan.

And so then Paul,

and Paul is a steward

of that household,

meaning he's a house servant.

So all of these languages

he's using to emphasize

the fact that we are

the family of God

and Paul's part

of this family business.

He's a steward

of that house.

He's a servant

of that house.

And this stewardship,

this entrustment

of God's grace

in Christ Jesus,

Paul refers to

as the mystery

which was made known

to him by revelation.

That's how it was

made known to him.

That means Paul

wasn't sitting

under a boated tree

somewhere

and then conjured it up

himself,

reaching enlightenment.

That means Paul

didn't get it

out of his own mind.

That means someone else

revealed it to him.

God himself

revealed it to him.

It was made known

to him by revelation,

this mystery.

He's not the originator

of the mystery.

He's a steward.

He's a keeper.

He's a guarder.

He's been entrusted

with this mystery.

And he spells out

exactly what this mystery

is in verses 4 to 6

because his intention

is not to become

this shaman-like figure

who withholds

all the mysteries

to himself

and guards it

and dispenses it

as he wills.

No, he wants everyone

to understand this mystery.

So he tells us

exactly what it is

in verses 4 to 6.

When you read this,

you can perceive

my insight

into the mystery

of Christ

which was not made

known to the sons

of men

in 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.

So the content

of the mystery

is this.

In Christ Jesus

and through his gospel

which is the good news

that Jesus lived

and died

and rose again

to reconcile

undeserving sinners

like us,

rebellious sinners

like us

to God

and that in that gospel

in that good news

of Jesus

the Gentiles

not just Jews

but also the Greeks

also the Gentiles

people from all nations

are brought together

in God

are now fellow heirs

of the kingdom

and therefore heirs

to the inheritance

the heavenly inheritance

of our God the Father

and for that reason

we are also members

of the same body.

It speaks of membership

again as he did

in the last passage

from last week.

Paul's very emphatic

about this truth

in verse 6

the words heirs

members

and partakers

in Greek

all have the same prefix

that means with

or together

and so if you were

to kind of translate

that more literally

to convey

the rhetorical effect

of what Paul's

trying to say is

he's saying

this mystery

is that the Gentiles

are fellow heirs

fellow members

of the same body

fellow partakers

of the promise

in Christ Jesus

through the gospel

and that's a beautiful truth

an amazing truth

it's that across

ethnicities

across race

across all class boundaries

all those who entrust

themselves to Jesus

for salvation

have been united

in one body

reconciled to each other

and together

reconciled to God

we who are once

far off

have been brought near

and that's the mystery

and how God

accomplished this

through his son

Jesus Christ

has had been a mystery

in the former generations

as Paul makes clear

in this passage

it was not made known

to the sons of men

in other generations

but it has now

been revealed

to his holy apostles

and prophets

by the spirit

and the apostles

and prophets

is when he mentions

that Paul is not

referring to anyone

with an apostolic

or prophetic gift

so there are people

with so-called

apostolic gift

who become

missionaries

basically

in frontier situations

preaching the gospel

where the gospel

has not been preached

and there are people

who have prophetic gifts

and people who

and if the gift

is strong enough

we recognize them

as prophets

but Paul's not speaking

of those prophets

and apostles

just any member

of the church

who has apostolic

prophetic gifts

he's talking about

those people

like he mentioned

in chapter 2

verse 20

who had a foundational

and authoritative

and normative role

in establishing the church

and proclaiming the gospel

once and for all

for all future generations

he's talking about

those prophets

and apostles

so that's why

he said in verse 20

of chapter 2

that the church

is built on the foundation

of the apostles

and prophets

he's referring to

the same group

of people

that he mentioned there

and

it's surprising

to me

as I'm thinking about

what Paul is saying here

because I think

as Paul's

as this letter

is being read

in the public worship service

setting of Ephesus

it would raise

not a few eyebrows

to read this section

of the letter

and the reason for that

is this

because he mentions mystery

and that word

that concept

was prevalent

throughout that culture

and throughout that time

there were many religions

in the ancient

Greco-Roman context

of mystery religions

that talked about

and boasted about

the mysteries

to which they initiate

their followers

their converts

for example

the cult of ISIS

claimed to hold

these mysteries

and the most prominent

cult of this time

in Ephesus

the cult of Artemis

was also boasted

of mysteries

and these cults

held their mysteries

over their adherents

using their secret rights

and various stages

of initiation

both to tantalize

people

and lure them

deeper and deeper

on the one hand

and then to leverage

on the other hand

to manipulate people

for their purposes

I mean just

the fact that they have

secrets at all

is suspicious

why are you holding

secrets

because biblically speaking

really only good reason

to keep a secret

is for the love

of neighbor

keeping confidentiality

for the sake of love

for a neighbor

or brother or sister

that's really the only

biblical reason

for keeping a secret

why in the context

of worship

would someone

withhold those truths

it's not biblical

I mean even

in the context

of Exodus

Moses goes out

and by the hand

of the almighty God

performs miracles

out in the open

but it's the Egyptian

magicians

who replicate them

in a limited

inferior way

by their so-called

secret arts

even today

there are many

cults

and fraternities

that utilize

elements of mystery

and secrets

to attract

and retain

adherence

and if you think

about it

it's really ingenious

because

if someone is

even remotely

curious about it

interested in it

you can tell them

well you can't

find out

unless you join

right

and if anyone

is at all

dissatisfied

with what they're

getting

you could tell

them well

it's because

you haven't

really been

fully initiated

yet

there's more

you just don't

know

you have to

enter the

mysteries

so this way

they create

an illusion

of profundity

and they keep

their cards

close to their

chest

until people

are too

deeply entrenched

and invested

to leave

and by requiring

their initiates

to keep secrets

they also create

this full community

right

because what

they're saying

basically is

we are in the

know

we know

this secret

they don't

they're the

outsiders

they don't

know

we know

and that's

how people

I mean

infiltrate

communities

they're driving

a wedge

between

them

their adherence

and their

current communities

and relationships

no keep

this from

them

this is just

for us

between us

if you've

ever been

attracted to

things like

this were

drawn by

curiosity

I urge you

to be

vigilant

and to know

that in all

likelihood

communities

that emphasize

these kind

of secrets

mysteries

so to speak

will probably

in all likelihood

compete with

the church

and vie

for your

allegiance

to the

Lord

and so

Paul's use

of the

language

of mystery

would have

been

curious

it would

have

made

the

Ephesians

perk up

but Paul's

not using

that just

to be

relevant

or to

divulge a

mystery

that only

a select

few will

know

as other

religions

did

but in

order to

issue

a decisive

challenge

to those

mystery

religions

so what

is Paul

saying

here

you have

mysteries

well guess

what

Christ

is the

ultimate

mystery

you have

mysteries

in your

religion

because

Christ

is the

definitive

revelation

of God

and we

have no

need

for inferior

additional

pseudo mystery

because

Christ

is

sufficient

and his

gospel

has been

revealed

once and

for all

that's what

Paul is

doing

he's

issuing

this

challenge

to those

people

and there

is an

institution

that's

going to

far outlast

any of

those

and has

far

lasted

and will

outlast

all those

false

religions

and that's

the family

right

and the

church

bonded

by the

blood

of

Christ

is

an

even

stronger

permanent

enduring

family

and that's

why

Paul

uses

that

language

of

family

here

head

of

household

is

God

he has

a

family

plan

to

build

a

household

and

Paul

is

one

of

those

house

servants

as I

mentioned

earlier

and no

stages

of

initiation

once

you

give

your

life

to

him

believe

in

Jesus

repent

and

believe

and

are

baptized

in

his

name

you

are

immediately

you're

a full

initiate

with

all

the

benefits

and

rights

and

privileges

of

sonship

in

Jesus

and

his

family

that's

what

we

have

and

Christ

is

all

that

we

have

and

he's

more

than

enough

that's

the

revelation

of

the

mystery

and

then

having

told us

about

this

decisive

revelation

of

the

mystery

Paul

tells

us

about

his

proclamation

of

the

mystery

how

he

was

called

to

the

ministry

of

the

gospel

the

proclamation

of

the

gospel

he

says

in

verse

seven

of

this

gospel

I

was

made

a

minister

according

to

the

gifts

of

God's

grace

which

was

given

me

by

the

working

of

his

power

so

Paul

describes

himself

as

a

minister

and

the

word

minister

especially

there's

a

city

counselor

that

lives

in

our

neighborhood

and

I

don't

know

him

that

well

and

he

doesn't

know

me

that

well

but

he

knows

that

I'm

a

pastor

and

so

whenever

he

sees

me

he

goes

minister

reverend

and

so

for

him

that's

being

deferential

it's

an

honorific

but

if

you

think

about

it

the

word

actually

the

minister

means

servant

that's

what

the

word

means

and

when

Paul

says

he

describes

himself

a

minister

he's

not

pointing

to

his

great

status

but

he's

pointing

to

the

reality

that

he

serves

a

lord

that

he

has

a

master

so

he's

pointing

to

Jesus

and

not

to

himself

when

he

says

he's

a

minister

of

this

gospel

and

he

as

the

servant

charged

with

a

very

specific

task

and

that's

of

this

gospel

I

was

made

a

minister

he

says

in

verse

7

he's

a

servant

in

the

cause

of

the

gospel

and

this

gospel

has

a

specific

content

he

doesn't

talk

about

a

gospel

he

doesn't

talk

about

any

gospel

he's

talking

about

the

gospel

that

he

mentioned

in

verse

6

of

this

gospel

I

was

made

a

minister

and

that

means

by

extension

all

of

us

all

the

saints

who

are

charged

with

the

minister

of

the

gospel

we

have

to

recognize

that

we

don't

get

to

preach

another

gospel

as

Paul

says

in

1

Corinthians

9

16

woe

to

me

if

I

do

not

preach

the

gospel

we

don't

get

to

change

the

gospel

we

don't

get

to

follow

the

fact

of

our

culture

and

preach

what

we

prefer

we

must

preach

the

gospel

the

same

gospel

that

Paul

preached

and

that's

the

calling

of

the

church

that's

the

calling

of

every

single

minister

and

that's

what

we

labor

as

a

preaching

team

to

preach

the

gospel

every

week

and

Paul

explains

that

this

charge

he

received

was

according

to

the

gift

of

God's

grace

earlier

he

said

in

chapter

2

8

that

our

salvation

was

by

grace

through

faith

and

that

it

is

the

gift

of

God

now

Paul

is

saying

that

not

only

our

salvation

is

God

grace

and

throughout

his

letters

Paul

frequently

connects

his

ministry

with

God's

grace

and

that's

why

Paul

writes

here

in

verse

7

that

he

was

made

a

minister

he

didn't

become

a

minister

he

didn't

attain

to

the

rank

of

ministry

he

was

made

a

minister

and

the

implied

agent

of

that

passive

verb

is

God

not

any

human

being

not

a

human

institution

God

made

him

a

minister

and

how

did

God

do

it

he

says

by

the

working

of

his

power

almost

an

identical

phrase

is

used

in

chapter

119

when

he

said

that

God

raised

Christ

from

the

dead

by

the

working

of

his

great

might

he

says

that

same

power

with

which

God

raised

Christ

from

the

dead

he

uses

that

to

form

to

shape

to

make

ministers

that's

amazing

because

that means

we need

to pray

hard

for

all our

pastoral

interns

because

yeah

sure

we can

assess

them

we can

train

them

but

God

has

to

make

them

it's

those

whom

God

has

made

and

called

that

we

affirm

for

the

ministry

and

while

Paul

has

his

particular

ministry

and

while

pastors

vocational

ministers

have

their

particular

ministry

this

doesn't

just

apply

to

them

it

applies

to

all

believers

and

the

reason

is

this

because

in

later

in

chapter

4

verse

7

the same

book

Paul

writes

that

grace

was

given

to

each

one

of

us

according

to

the

measure

of

Christ's

gift

and

later

in

that

same

chapter

chapter

4

verse

12

Paul

writes

that

God

gave

the

ministers

of

the

gospel

to

equip

the

saints

for

the

work

of

ministry

the

same

word

ministry

that's

used

here

to

describe

Paul's

ministry

in

a

real

sense

then

every

saint

every

single

one

of

believers

every

single

one

of

you

every

Christian

is

a

minister

well

this

doesn't

mean

of

course

that

you

know

vocational

pastors

and

other

church

members

minister

in

the

exact

same

way

right

Paul

observes

that

distinction

elsewhere

but

each

one

must

serve

according

to the

measure

of

Christ's

gift

that he

or she

has

received

we all

have to

be

ministering

because

all of

us

have

received

a

measure

of

Christ's

gift

and

this

to

Paul

is

a

wonderful

grace

that's

why

he

marvels

at

it

and

all

of

us

can

marvel

at

the

fact

that

God

calls

us

and

he

wants

to

use

us

and

so

he

says

to

me

in

verse

eight

though

I

am

the

very

least

of

all

the

saints

this

grace

was

given

to

preach

the

Gentiles

the

unsearchable

riches

of

Christ

the

word

translated

very

least

here

is

actually

a

made

up

word

Paul

most

superlative

so

it's

like

least

right

so

it's

like

you

think

you're

humble

you're

the

least

among

all

the

saints

guess

what

I'm

least

right

Paul

saying

he's

the

least

the

very

least

of

all

the

saints

I

mean

it's

and

Paul

I

don't

think

this

is

false

humility

I

don't

think

he's

feigning

humility

I

think

this

is

a

genuine

confession

of

his

heart

because

he's

grateful

he's

him

a

steward

of

this

great

mystery

it's

really

the

most

emphatic

way

that

Paul

can

say

that

and

so

that's

something

that we

should

also

marvel

at

God

wants

to

use

us

God

made

us

stewards

ministers

of the

gospel

if you

think

about it

more

it's

a

further

grace

it is

more

amazing

because

God

could

save

us

and

choose

not

to

have

anything

more

to

do

with

us

but

there's

amazing

grace

seen

in the

fact

that

God

not

only

forgives

Peter

who

denied

him

three

times

but

he

reinstates

him

to

serve

as

leader

among

the

apostles

isn't

there

Charles

Spurgeon

once

expressed

a similar

sentiment

he

writes

I

have

always

felt

in my

own

mind

that

it was

one

of

the

clearest

proofs

that

I

had

God's

forgiveness

of

my

many

sins

when

I

was

trusted

to

preach

the

gospel

I

should

think

that

if

a

prodigal

came

back

to