If you have a Bible with you, please find your way to your seat. The sermon this morning is from Ephesians chapter three. If you don't have a Bible, there's one right underneath your seat, and the text today is on page 977. Ephesians chapter two. I'll be reading verses one through six this morning.

If you are willing and able, please stand for the reading of God's word. For this reason, I Paul, a prisoner of 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 is made known to me by revelation. As I have written briefly when you read this, you can perceive my insight.

Into the mystery of Christ, which has not been 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, partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. Through the gospel, the grass withers and the flower fades.

But the word of our God will stand forever. This is the word of God. Thanks. Speed of God. You may be seated, maybe you have hung around my wife and I, or you have hung around couples that have been married for a long, long time and one person starts telling a story. Let's say this person's name is Mark.

Mark's telling a story and, and he, he has an idea and a point of where he's going to, and, and about halfway through that story, or maybe it's even early in the story, he says something like, it was one Wednesday night and let's say this man's spouse's name Tammy, she might interrupt and say, oh no, it was a Tuesday.

And I'm like, I mean, he's like, it doesn't matter if it was a Tuesday or a Wednesday, and she's like, it does matter because it was Tuesday. That's the day I take Luke to soccer. But it's not about Luke. Maybe you've run into that, maybe you haven't. Maybe you've never experienced it, but you have this digression, and part of that digression is because the wife or the husband wants to fill in a detail.

And that detail will help you understand the whole point of it. Without this detail, they may miss something. And so in kindness for the audience, kindness for the spouse, you may find yourself being interrupted in your text. In the ESV, there's a little dash, isn't there? There's a, there's a little dash that that happens in our text if you look at it right after verse one.

A prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of the Gentiles, and then there is a dash and you wonder what on Earth? What on earth are those translating the text? Doing with that, I think they're helping us understand that this is a pastoral digression, right? The Apostle Paul is very logical in his arguments and his presentation.

First chapter and a half. He's expounded the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as he does with all of his books. He has to start with that, this wonderful gospel that takes those who are dead, those who are enemies, and he breathes life into them, and he makes them his children. That is the basis, it's called the mystery of the gospel.

It's what Peter was talking about in our meditation, this mystery of the gospel. They long to look. How is God gonna make things right? We look in faith to him. The Old Testament Saints did. We looked in faith, we heard the good news. There was going to be someone coming on Easter Sunday at 7:00 AM I'm gonna just take that verse where Job says, I know my redeemer lives.

The Old Testament Saints knew something and that mystery was revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He set that up for us. In the last few weeks we've been seeing that he has now taken that mystery of the gospel, and he's applied it to the community of God's people in a profound way. He has brought Jew and Gentile together, so he's, he has fixed, and to pray for him again, and he has this digression, and I believe that this digression is him saying, oh, by the way, I happen to be in prison.

Oh, by the way, um, some of you might have heard this. I'm in prison now. That verse verse one, one of the things, when you preach once a month or so, that gives you way too much time for a month. I've been thinking about that verse. How does the apostle define himself? Well, in chapter one, he defines himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

In chapter three, he says, I'm a prisoner. Of Jesus Christ. I believe that Paul is saying, I I, I, I wanna explain my imprisonment to you. I want you to understand the mystery of how I'm able to deal with this imprisonment and how it falls into place as God is un is revealing his mystery, the church, it is essential to God's plan for everything.

The Church of Jesus Christ. It's those entrusted and those stewards of the message of the gospel. The blood bought grace rescued people of God on Mission. Together, it stands in the center of society, and the flourishing of his church leads to the flourishing of humanity. And the apostle wants the Ephesian church to flourish.

Not in spite of his imprisonment, but because of his imprisonment. The sermon in the sentence this morning is that once the overarching mystery of the gospel is revealed, we see it making sense of seemingly all other mysteries. And I would say this morning we're primarily talking about two mysteries, the, the mystery of the gospel that he's explained.

And then today, this, this mystery of, of how the gospel undoes. These horrible things that we see in humanity, how the gospel, uh, handles the brokenness and the fallenness of the world, really. How can Paul rejoice in prison? How can a Jew and a Gentile become brothers? How can we withstand all manner of persecution?

When I planted a church in Pasadena, we were blessed with amazing musicians. That happens if you plant a church in the Los Angeles area. There's lots and lots of musicians. And, um, one of my last Sundays, uh, our, our music team was comprised of about five or six different ethnicities, um, races, however you wanna explain it.

Right. People that didn't necessarily look like each other. And we also had a visitor from South Carolina, PCA brother from South Carolina. And, uh, after the service, he looked at me and he's like, man, how did you do that? I said, what do you mean? How, how do you get such a multicultural, multi-ethnic leadership team?

What did you do? How, how did that work out? Now, he didn't know me that well. If he did, he would've known, I don't know how to make plans. I don't know how to figure things out. I said, you know what, uh, the gospel. I said the, the gospels brought these people together. Eh? Part of it is the culture that these people exist here, these different types that look a little bit different.

They exist here, but what's brought 'em together was not some amazing plan or document that we came up with is elders that would unite them. What's brought them together is the gospel. The mystery of Christ revealed. And so that overarching mystery then makes sense of the other mysteries that we find in this text.

And the first one I wanna talk about is this mystery of Paul's imprisonment. He doesn't grumble or complain. There's no sense that the Apostle Paul is saying. Now, as an old man, I'd like to retire. I'd like to sit on the side of the pool in a recliner. I'd like to write maybe some letters. You know what old men do.

We figure out what socks we like to wear, what pair of shorts are most comfortable for us? Many old men have seven of the same type of shirts, just in different colors. I can see Paul saying that I've arrived at a point in my life where I don't need to press anybody anymore, and I would like to take it easy.

Why on earth am I in prison? Right? What am I doing here? We read from Psalm 73 in the psalmist in Psalm 73. I won't read it, but we read. That was the scripture reading today. The psalmist has has a response that at first when he sees his own suffering and he looks at the wicked, he says, in vain, I have followed you in vain.

I have kept myself pure. Of course, in the psalmist goes into the temple of the Lord and it is made right, but Paul here is marked by imprisonment. Now here's what's interesting about the Apostle Paul. He always defines himself in relationship to Jesus. He sees himself in relationship to Jesus. I'm a bond servant of Christ.

I'm an apostle of Christ. I'm a prisoner of Christ. That, that, that position for him is always connected. To Jesus and I love it because here he is not saying, uh, I'm Nero's prisoner. It's the Romans. It's those judaizers. He does say in here on behalf of you. We'll talk about that in a minute. It could almost sound like, Hey, you guys, I'm here.

I need some money. I'm in prison because of you. It's not that, it's not stoic. Well, these things happen. He's not complaining. He's just stating a fact, I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ. If my commander, the one who's captured my heart, the one who my life belongs to, if he wants to chain me between two Roman soldiers, then all the more glory to him.

And I would say for us believers and for me for weeks, just that, that one phrase. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I think that would help tremendously in our outlook and our expectations of life. Your position, a prisoner for Jesus Christ. And so what we find in the gospel order of things and in the gospel way of, of leadership and advancement, if that's what you'd wanna call it, it's different than other religious orders.

Paul doesn't expect certain, uh, uh, benefits and honor and glory because he's served. It's completely different from what he was in. If you remember in Galatians, he would say, Hey, by the way, in the old order of things in Judaism, he said I was advancing among many my same age, right? I was advancing the, the religious system that I was a part of, and that allowed me to grade myself against other people.

And to be over and above them. In fact, I was so good at it that I was ahead of people that were my age. How different the persecutor becomes the persecuted, the jailer becomes the jailed, and at the end of the text he said, it's for your glory. How do you see yourself always and every time and everywhere.

In relationship to Jesus, he also sees himself as a man of purpose. So he says in this text for the Gentiles, I am a steward, uh, of God's grace for the Gentiles always and everywhere. He sees himself as purposed by and to. Jesus. I'm in a jail cell with a soldier or two chained to me. How is the sovereign Lord of all creation working this thing out for his glory?

And he end says, I don't ask you to lose heart over what I'm suffering for you, which is your glory. You might think that there have been some that said, Hey, Paul, you know, everywhere you go you have that same sermon that incites everybody. Why don't you preach on something else? Hey, you know what? You ought to just go and preach on the 10 Commandments.

They wouldn't be so mad. All the Jews believe in the 10 Commandments. Why? Why don't you just go, why don't you go preach some other texts that just, this is a hard pill for them to swallow. I want you to know that when the gospel goes out, this mystery of the gospel goes out. It will always come against cultural norms and other gospels.

And so Paul is faithful because he is a steward. He is chained to the living God. And so as a steward, he has purpose. And how do you see yourself and your position with the Lord and your purpose as a blood bought son and daughter of the Lord? Are you silent to the gospel issues around you and around your family?

Are you afraid maybe causing a ruckus? Who or what are you imprisoned to? We may not use that language, but many of us do feel at times chained to things. How am I gonna, how am I gonna make ends meet if I'm not chained to this job or this relationship? God. Has placed you in a position not of your own doing.

Some of you have tough children and you wrestle with it, the enemy tells you it's not fair. You did a really good job with your children. You taught 'em what was right. How can this happen? Some of you have a tough marriage. You go to the Lord and you say, I, I did what I could to be faithful. A tough job. I work so hard and I'm honest and around me, there are those that are dishonest and they seem to be advancing ahead of me.

Some of you face an ongoing debilitating illness, there's not much of a hope that it's going to get better. Are you able, along with the Apostle Paul to look at that imprisonment and say, I'm not imprisoned to this person, this system, this government, I'm imprisoned to Christ. He has chained himself to me.

And if he's put me in this tough situation, he has purpose in it. It has meaning in it. It is for his glory and his sake, and for my growth. This idea of mystery, it's a term biblical term, and it, it's, it's pertaining to a truth. Which because of its character can never be attained unto or arrived at by the unaided human intellect or by mere human ability.

The thing itself is clear, but because man is what he is, finite and sinful, he cannot by his own unaided intellect arrive at it or understand it. If we have received the gospel of grace, then it affects our very identity. Who am I chained to and what is my purpose? Verses two to five, he reveals this other mystery and he's been revealing it.

Really, the whole letter has been revealing it. This mystery, he says in verse three, that was made to me known, made to me by Revelation, as I had written briefly when you read this, you can proceed my insight into the mystery of Christ, which wasn't made to the known, wasn't made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed as holy apostles and prophets by the spirit.

He says there's this mystery of God's revelation. And he says, there's these four things he says about it. The first it's entrusted to him. He said, he's a steward. And so God has given him this revelation. God himself has shown Paul what is right and true. And so he says, uh, it is an act of God's grace. Now, if you've been coming to Adult Sunday School, you would hear out of one Kings over and over again.

A gracious God revealing himself to a hostile people. Our God's revelation, what we have in scripture is a gracious God telling his people what to believe, what is right, what is wrong? What wars against you. It's a gracious revelation. He says, I'm assuming that you've heard of this. It is the stewardship of God's grace.

God graciously reveals himself to his people that you might know God, that he would tell us and show us the truth. The second thing about this revelation, he says here in verse two, that it is for you. It's, it's to be shared, right? The gospel is not just for us to get into good standing. It's not just to be held close to us and not share with other people 'cause they may not like what they have to give up.

They may not like this gospel. It's to be shared. And so Paul is sitting in prison and he's saying, I can see now how this is an act of God's grace to you. His gospel is gonna go out in other ways and other means. The fact that we sit here and we read it and study it is proof of that. God's grace poured out to him for us and for you.

Thirdly, it came through revelation by God himself. He says in verse three, it wasn't original. He didn't conjure it up. He says the same thing in Galatians. I didn't go and kind of get the secret passwords from the other apostles. He said it was revealed to me by Christ himself. I went and conferred with the other apostles.

Is this the way? Is this what you've been teaching? Is this what I've been persecuting against? Is this right? And they said, yes. It is right indeed. On you has come the apostolic office of being entrusted with the truth of God's word. And fourthly, because of all those things, brothers and sisters, it's authoritative.

Oh, a lost world longs to have something that is solid and unchanging and true. Oh, that it's not shirk back or shrink back from the word of God. It is authoritative because it is his word. It is graciously given to us. It is not up for grabs. We cannot pick and choose the parts of the gospel, the things about God that we like and that we don't like.

He is showing us himself and he's saying, this is who I am. This is who you are. Come to me and receive mercy and grace. That's the mystery. And oh, by the way, when you do. Enemies will become brothers. Those that you've been taught to hate and look down upon will become part of your very body. That's his mystery being revealed, and some don't like it.

Matthew 20, Jesus tells a parable of the workers in the vineyard and. I might be familiar with that. These workers come and some of 'em work all day and some at the end, some work just one hour. And at the end of the day, the master pays those who'd worked one hour the same as he paid those who worked all day.

And, and, and those who'd worked all day become indignant towards the others. And they say this, you've made them equal to us. We've worked the full day, and they've just come right there at the last minute and you've made them equal to us. To which the master says, do I not have the right to be gracious?

To whom I want to be gracious. That is the mystery of God's revelation, and it leads us to what he calls this mystery in verse six, this mystery, uh, this mystery of God's inclusion. And so we've heard about it the last couple of weeks. He's been pounding it in over and over again. This is the mystery to you, owe Ephesians to you owe Gentiles through Christ, you belong.

In Christ you've been built in through Christ, you've been woven in. And so it's really a reiteration of the previous passage, and he says, here's the mystery again now of God's inclusion. This should now start to make sense to you. The Gentiles are fellow heirs. They're members of the same body. They're partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

This mystery so unexpected that the Messiah would bring this about, how could he. Well, our Messiah, he bridged the vertical chasm between sinful human beings and God himself. And in so doing that, he broke down that wall of hostility. That's what our previous text said. That's the context that this is coming in.

How did he do it? Through the power of his own blood. And then this mystery, this inclusion. God himself then makes them this three things. He says in this last verse, he says, you're a fellow heirs. All the promises that God made to Israel, to Faithful Israel in the Old Testament are now yours. You've been written into his last will and testament of God Almighty.

You have been adopted. You are part of his temple. The hostility has been broken down. You are fellow heirs. You will receive what he has promised to his faithful people. Now, it's interesting, a slave could be written into a will. A slave could become an heir, but in some sense he'd still be kind of a slave.

So I think he takes it one more step. He says, you're fellow heirs, but you're also members. Of the same body in a sense. He's saying without you, this body would be incomplete, as he said in chapter two 15, that God might create in himself one new man in the place of two. So making peace. Members of the same body.

I had an intern when I was first, uh, ordained as a youth pastor. And, um, this intern was, I, it's hard to explain him. He was kind of like a turbocharged me, uh, just, just ready to go. Ready to go. He was a state wrestler, you know, Charles, he was loud and boisterous and he just loved Jesus. And he was just, he was just, he was quite a character.

And, um, and, and, uh, Charles is now a PCA minister. Um, but, but when we would do camps together, sometimes the kids would come up to me and they'd wanna prank Charles, and they're like, Hey, will you help us prank Charles? And I always had the same response. I'd look at him, I'd say, well, you know, Charles and me we're the same person.

Would I hurt me? Would I prank me? And they'd roll their eyes like, come on, come on. You always say that, but in a sense, the apostle saying that about the body, God has put it together as parts of a body, not just grafted in, but join in such that the very life of the one is dependent on the life of the other.

And then if that's not enough. He says, well, here's the other part of that mystery. They're also partakers of the promise. There's probably two options here with what he means, by the promise. Some people pointed today of Pentecost and Peter sees the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and all those that are gathered from all different places are able to hear the gospel in their own tongue.

The promised Holy Spirit, what Joel had prophesied. God shows their inclusion by giving them that gift all together and in public, but it could possibly means the promise of resurrection. Paul talks about resurrection as this promise. In fact, when he's talking to King Agrippa, you see, you really see everything that he's done here.

He's imprisoned, he's enslaved. And what does he care about when he sees King Agrippa? Oh, king Agrippa. I want you to know the Savior. What? I, I stand here on trial. Why? Because I have a hope and the promise made by God. And for this hope I'm accused. Okay. Why would it be incredible to any of you? That God raises the dead, the mysteries of the gospel revealed?

And following those we see the other mysteries unfolding before her eyes. I wanna leave you with three questions. The first. In light of this text and in light of the gospel presented so far in Ephesians, how do you see yourself? Are you able, are you willing to say, I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus?

Whatever situation I find myself into, or I feel chained, I'm chained to him, not Nero, not my boss. I belong to him. How do you see yourself in your position and in your purposes? Number two, are you submissive to God's revelation? Have you made the mistake that many have of avoiding passages of scripture that might be difficult and hard, might challenge the way you live and think, believe, might call you to account for your, your feelings?

How do you. Submit to God's revelation. And lastly, do you embrace God's inclusion? It wasn't just Jews accepting Gentiles, it was also Gentiles accepting Jews. Sometimes, I'm not sure what would've been harder. The gospel comes to some of the Gentiles and they receive it eagerly, and then the gospel comes to Jews and they join their fellowship, and you're like, Hey, wait, aren't you the guys that.

We're given all these promises, aren't you the guys that called us dogs? Do you embrace God's inclusion and do you get excited about how God brings together by the mystery of his gospel, natural enemies into one body? Let's pray. Oh Lord Jesus. You know our hearts, you know, father. That many of us can't get through this mystery because we just really have struggled the mystery of your gospel.

We have brought to you our good works. We've brought to you our victimhood. We have brought to you the suffering that we had, and we don't think it's fair and we can't understand it. Would you renew and refresh as we partake this element? Remind us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were by nature.

Enemies of you and through your kindness you have rescued us. And may that so infect us Father, that the mystery of receiving others who have hated us, the mystery of loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. The mystery of being able in any and every circumstance to say, I've found the secret to being content.

It's not enough stuff. It's in Christ who gives me strength. Oh, help us, Lord Jesus. May we rejoice in your works? May we see the outpouring of your gospel in and amongst us so that you might receive honor and glory. Receive now. These gifts that we bring, we ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon transcript is computer generated.