EPHESIANS 3:1-13 - This Precious Mystery

Introduction

When you stand where I am standing during a church service, you see a lot of things that not everyone else sees. (Now, relax--I’m not calling anyone or anything out!) What I mean to say is that a preacher (or any speaker, really) has to learn to tune out distractions if at all possible, unless they become so disruptive that it makes continuing the message impossible.

I’ve seen a lot of preachers preach in a lot of distracting situations over the years, but the all-time champion has to have been the pastor of the Bharatiya Baptist Church (BBC!) in Paratwada, India. One Sunday morning a stray dog came trotting down the center aisle during the singing and settled himself in up on the platform behind the pulpit--nobody paid any attention whatsoever. When the pastor started preaching, the custodian decided that the dog didn’t belong on the platform during the sermon, and went up behind the pastor to shoo the dog away. The dog didn’t WANT to be shooed (apparently thinking that right behind the preacher on the platform was the best place to listen to the sermon). So when Mahadeorao tried to grab it and haul it away physically, the dog transformed into teeth, claws and screams of canine rage. But even though it sounded like the church custodian was being mauled to death, the pastor never skipped a beat of his sermon--and nobody else really seemed to notice the commotion either! (Mahadeorao got bit, and the dog eventually did go outside where he presumably could still hear the sermon if he wanted...)

It’s typically a good thing to avoid distractions when delivering a message. But here in our text this morning, the Apostle Paul seems to get distracted just as he is settling in to his point:

Ephesians 3:1–3 LSB

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.

He seems then to pick up the thread again, way down in verse 14:

Ephesians 3:14 LSB

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

Commentators speculate over why Paul seems to interrupt himself, why he seems to get distracted from his point in the first half of Ephesians 3. But I want to submit to you that he is not being distracted--he is instead addressing a potential reason for his readers to be distracted. It is a wise writer indeed who can anticipate his readers’ questions or distractions--(C. S. Lewis once said somewhere that readers are like sheep being driven down a lane--if a writer leaves any extra gates open on the sides of the lane, they will run through them and get off track!)

So what is the distraction Paul suddenly addresses here in Chapter 3? What “gate” is he worried that his readers might bolt through and lose the track of his letter? I think it is right there in Verse 1:

Ephesians 3:1 LSB

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—

Basically, Paul seems to be saying to them “I am in prison because of you Gentiles!” You can imagine that this would be a very distracting statement--is he blaming them for his imprisonment? Is he saying that if it weren’t for them he would be a free man?

It’s worth stepping back and looking at Paul’s relationship with the Ephesian church, because I believe it sets the context for the entire point of this passage. You’ll remember that Paul first went to Ephesus during his third missionary journey; his time in Ephesus is recorded in Acts 19-20. Paul would spend about 18 months with the church in Ephesus, with most of the church seeming to be from a Gentile background. From Ephesus, Paul sailed to Jerusalem, where he was accused by the Jews of bringing a Gentile into the Temple courts (Acts 21:27-28)--which he hadn’t actually done, but apparently his reputation as a “Gentile-lover” was well-known enough to make the story plausible. Paul would wind up in Roman custody in Caesarea Philippi for about two years, during which time he would state clearly that God had

Acts 26:17–18 LSB

[rescued him] from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

By the time Paul wrote this letter, he had been sent to Rome in order to appeal his case directly to Caesar, as was his right as a Roman citizen. So in a very strict sense, yes--Paul was in prison because of his commission from God to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Paul drew the anger of the Jewish rulers for claiming that Jesus was the Messiah, and he drew their anger again by saying that the Gentiles were included on equal footing with the Jews in God’s plan of salvation!

In Chapter 2, Paul has just laid out his central statement for the entire book: That Jews and Gentiles together have received every blessing of salvation in Christ, being drawn near to God and to one another. Everything that he has suffered in his ministry--including his imprisonment--has been a direct result of proclaiming this message of reconciliation between Jew and Gentile and God.

In Chapter 3 his intention is to go on to pray for his readers, that they would be able to fully grasp that reconciliation in Christ and govern every aspect of their lives in light of that Gospel. (Lord willing next week we will actually study those verses). Here in our text this morning, though, he takes the time to explain that, in spite of everything he has suffered for the sake of declaring the Gospel, it has all been worth it.

Paul isn’t being distracted in these verses; he deliberately interrupts himself in order to establish in his readers’ minds that his imprisonment for their sake is not a reason to avoid declaring this Gospel! His line of argument through this text is to show all the reasons why sharing the Gospel is worth it, no matter what might happen.

And so this is the way I want to summarize Paul’s teaching here in these verses--what I aim for you to see here from God’s Word this morning is that

The GOSPEL is a MYSTERY worth REVEALING, no matter the RISK

This is important for us to hear this morning, isn’t it? Because there are a lot of reasons why we might be intimidated at the thought of sharing the Gospel with those around us. It’s always said that the two topics to avoid in conversation are politics and religion, and we live in such a highly-charged atmosphere right now that any discussion of spiritual things might blow up in our faces, or lead to an awkward work environment, or strain friendships or family relations.

Or we might feel like we can’t share the Gospel with someone because they know us too well--they know what kind of person we have been in the past; they know we’re FAR from perfect ourselves, and so talking to someone about how their sin has separated them from God and their need for Christ to reconcile them to Him might sound a bit hypocritical: “Oh, don’t pretend you’re so holy, I know what kinds of things you’ve done; who do you think you are to tell me about sin??”

Or perhaps we’re nervous that we will get into discussions and questions that we’re not prepared for; someone will ask a question or respond with some kind of “gotcha” question from an athiest subreddit board and we’ll look like fools, or they will simply shrug their shoulders and say they don’t care. We don’t want the Gospel to look foolish; we don’t want someone to have another chance to ridicule God or make light of Christ’s sacrifice, and so we stay silent.

So if you have ever hesitated to share the Good News of Christ’s work on the Cross that reconciles sinners to God and to each other; if you have ever quietly avoided getting into conversations about spiritual things because you were anxious about how someone would respond to the Gospel, then let’s look together at what Paul says here that this Gospel is a mystery worth revealing, no matter the risk.

The first reason that the Gospel is worth it, according to these verses, is because of

I. The GOOD it does for SINNERS (Ephesians 3:4-6)

Listen to the way Paul describes the message of the Gospel in verses 3-5:

Ephesians 3:3–5 LSB

that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. About which, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit:

Twice Paul uses the term “mystery” to describe his message--our modern usage of the word “mystery” usually refers to something that can’t be explained and has to be carefully investigated to reveal the truth behind it. Like Sherlock Holmes trying to figure out how a woman was “mysteriously” murdered in a locked room.

But the way this word was used in Paul’s day simply referred to knowledge that you couldn’t come to on your own. The so-called “mystery religions” of Paul’s day claimed that there were special mystical truths that could only be imparted to you by others who had been initiated into them. (Think today of the Freemasons or Scientologists who practice all sorts of secret rituals, where the secrets are the whole point of belonging...)

Paul says that this mystery (“the mystery of Christ”) is in fact a mystery that has been revealed by God, and must be revealed now to all! Other generations didn’t understand what Christ was coming to do--for thousands of years God’s Old Covenant people knew that the Messiah was coming; what they didn’t understand--the mystery--was that

Ephesians 3:6 LSB

that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

That is what nobody saw coming; that is what was hidden in God’s plan all along. Paul uses three words here in verse 6 to describe how the mystery of Christ benefits the Gentiles who have been brought near by His blood. First,

They are fellow-HEIRS (cp. Gal. 3:28-29)

of everything Christ accomplished in His death. The entire Old Testament law was designed to show that sin could only be atoned for by blood--sacrifices and offerings, the Holy of Holies spattered with the blood of countless bulls and goats. But Christ’s death was the once and for all sacrifice that atoned completely for sin. This was the inheritance of the Jews, and Paul says the Gentiles have been written into that same inheritance!

You remember the old Billy Currington song, “People are Crazy”--where the guy at the bar turns out to be a millionaire who wrote the singer into his will? His kids were mad as you-know-what, “But me? I’m doin’ well...” The Gentiles had been given an absolutely unexpected, un-looked for blessing--all the atonement purchased by Christ on the Cross as the final Blood Sacrifice was freely given to them as well!

Galatians 3:28–29 LSB

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.

The Gentiles receive full forgiveness of sin through the promised atonement of the Messiah! Paul says that is Good News worth suffering to deliver--because of the blessing that it is for sinners!

The second benefit the mystery of Christ gives to the Gentiles is that

They are fellow-MEMBERS (cp. 1 Cor. 12:12)

of the body--they belong with God’s covenant people! What a great message of comfort that is to someone utterly isolated and lost in their sin and shame! For the poor soul that has so utterly ruined every relationship they have ever had because of their sin, who has wrecked any chance of being accepted by anyone--what great news to learn that Christ will draw you near to Himself by His blood--and will give you a people to belong to! From isolation and loneliness in your guilt and shame to a family that loves you!

1 Corinthians 12:12 LSB

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

Paul wants to show his readers that the Gospel is a mystery worth revealing, no matter what the risk because of the good it does for sinners who receive it--they are fellow heirs of Christ’s atonement, they are fellow members of His body, and

They are fellow-PARTAKERS (cp. Rom 6:6-9)

of the same promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel! Paul describes it in his letter to the church in Rome:

Romans 6:6–9 LSB

knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died has been justified from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.

The promise of the Gospel is of freedom from the penalty and power of sin--you are free from your old life of sin, no longer enslaved to sin, but justified in Christ! You now live a new life in Him--becoming more like Him every day as you learn to say “no” to the old slavemaster of sin and “yes” to becoming more and more like Christ!

What desperately guilty heart, sick of its failure and shame, utterly lost and unable to find any hope for itself, would not hear this news and rejoice in it? That you (as we like to say) can be “holier than you ever thought possible!” You can be more free from guilt and shame, more empowered to live rightly before God, more willing and able to please Him and more hopeful of your future in this life and the next--you partake as fully as everyone else in all of the promises of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection!

Paul is making the point here that this mystery of the Gospel--this revelation that all of the blessings of Christ’s work have been offered without restriction to the Gentiles as well as the Jews--is a message worth any risk, because of the good it does for sinners who hear it.

But Paul is not just excited about the Gospel because of all the good it does to sinners who hear and receive it--Paul loves this message because of what it has done for him! Look at verses 7-8. He says that he was

Ephesians 3:7–8 LSB

...made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ,

See here that the Gospel is a mystery worth revealing, no matter the risk, because of

II. The GRACE it means for YOU (Ephesians 3:7-8)

Note that Paul says that he was “made a minister” of this Gospel--he did not apply for the job, he did not submit a resume that listed his qualifications for this commission. It was “according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to him. Paul is willing to risk anything to reveal the mystery of the Gospel because he knows that he is doing it

In the STRENGTH of God’s CALL (v. 7)

God has not given you the commission to declare this Gospel because you are prepared for it, or naturally inclined to it. To be sure, there are some people who seem to be able to effortlessly introduce the Good News of the Gospel into any conversation or situation and know how to answer objections clearly and effectively. But most of us aren’t exactly Ray Comfort, are we?

And yet, God calls you to share this message, doesn’t He? So that means His calling you must not have anything to do with the strength of your own natural abilities--it is about the strength of HIS call on you! Paul was willing to take any risk, endure any hardship, suffer any loss for the sake of declaring the mystery of the Gospel because he knew that the power of that message was not in him, but in Christ Himself, “according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power!”

This Gospel message is worth any risk because of the grace that it represents to you--you are called to share this message in the strength of God’s call, and you are called to share this message

In SPITE of your PAST (v. 8; cp. Acts 9:15)

Paul says that this privilege of proclaiming the Gospel was given

Ephesians 3:8 LSB

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ,

Why does Paul call himself that? Remember where he came from--he first appears in the pages of the New Testament as one of the most bloodthirsty, vengeful enemies of the Gospel that the church has ever suffered from:

Acts 9:1–2 LSB

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Paul never forgot the depths of evil that Christ rescued him from on the road to Damascus that day--in 1 Corinthians 15, he says

1 Corinthians 15:9–10 LSB

For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

You say that you are not a good spokesman or spokeswoman for the Gospel because of your past? That people won’t want to listen to you share the grace of God in Christ because of how messed-up you used to be? If God would graciously call Paul, a ruthless Christian-hunter/killer, to be a steward of this Gospel, then surely His grace is sufficient to call you to share this mystery! Not because you are skilled and competent and perfect, but precisely because you are not! Because in your weakness and your imperfections and your rotten past, the grace and power of God is more clearly exalted in you!

This Gospel is a mystery worth revealing, no matter the risk--it is worth it because of the good it does for sinners; it is worth it because of the grace it means for you, and Paul says in verses 9-11 that the Gospel is worth any risk because of

III. The GLORY it brings to GOD (Ephesians 3:9-11)

Paul says that God has graciously given him the calling to

Ephesians 3:9 LSB

and to bring to light for all what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;

--this mystery: the full and complete and unrestricted participation of the Gentiles in all of the blessings of the coming of Israel’s Messiah; the one new man made out of two irreconcilable enemies; the forgiveness and restoration of hopeless sinners to God as His sons and daughters through Christ with a promise of holiness in this life and eternal fellowship with Him in the next--all of those “unfathomable riches of Christ” were unknown and undiscoverable throughout thousands of years of God’s dealings with man. Adam and Eve never knew it; Abraham had the barest glimpse of it; Moses never suspected it; David sang about it without understanding it; Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel were given hints and allusions to it--for all those ages, this mystery was hidden and unknown.

Even Peter and the rest of the Apostles struggled to understand it--the thought that Gentiles could have any role in the promises of YHWH through the Messiah was so foreign to them that Jesus had to rebuke them about their attitudes toward the Samaritan woman at the well, the Syro-Phonecian woman who begged for crumbs of healing scattered under the table of Israel. Even after His resurrection, they had to be given visions of animals in a great sheet, hold councils in Jerusalem, get into arguments over dinner in Galatia because they couldn’t grasp that Gentiles belong to YHWH’S Covenant people now!

But the grace of God toward Paul meant that he was given the commission to finally reveal this mystery to the world! And not only to this world, but to the world above us! In Verse 10 Paul writes that he was given this grace

Ephesians 3:10 LSB

so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

See the glory that proclaiming the mystery of the Gospel brings to God--Paul says that

It is a WONDER to the ANGELS (cp. 1 Peter 1:12)

We have come to this verse in the past to be reminded that our fellowship at Bethel is not optional--it is through the church that God’s manifold wisdom is displayed. When men and women who were formerly alienated from God and each other come together in a new body, loving one another and God through the work that the blood of Christ has done to atone for their sins and reconcile them to one another and to Himself, this is the ultimate display of the manifold wisdom of God in the mystery of the Gospel. This is what it is all about.

But notice again who is being shown the manifold wisdom of God through the Gospel-life of this fellowship? This wisdom is being made known through the church “to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places”--the unseen realm of spiritual forces and authorities in the heavens. Think of it--these mighty beings who cast mortals into terror throughout the Old Testament--even the ones who look human, let alone the fearsome beings before the Throne that Isaiah describes--when they appear before men to speak on behalf of YHWH, they strike terror and fear into the hearts of men.

But Paul says here that these ancient, powerful, supernatural angelic hosts are hanging on every word you speak when you share this Gospel! Peter says that they are longing to get a clear glimpse of the wisdom of God in the Gospel (1 Peter 1:12)! They are fascinated by the manifold wisdom of God revealed in the work of Christ to reconcile sinners to God and each other; they cannot comprehend how weak and frail mortals made of dust and corrupted by sin can stand openly in the presence of the One before Whom they have to cover their faces!

Christian, consider the glory that this Gospel message brings to God--it is a wonder to the angels;

It is the PEAK of God’s WISDOM (cp. Rom. 11:33)

In verse 11, Paul writes that this revelation of the Gospel

Ephesians 3:11 LSB

...was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

God’s eternal purpose--begun in ages past before the world began, carried through all of human history from the Garden of Eden on through to the last moment of this world’s existence--this revelation of Christ’s work to reconcile the world to God through His blood has been His purpose from the very beginning--and you get to share it with those who need it! The glory of God’s wisdom is on display every time you share this Good News--and in Verse 12 Paul says that Christ Himself is the One Who enables you to do this--His eternal purpose was carried out in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 3:12 LSB

in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

In Christ, you have boldness to share this Gospel--the word beneath the English translation has the idea of willingness to be honest and straightforward in your attitude and speech, no matter what it may cost you. Consider the way one popular preacher talks about the crucifixion of Christ:

“Are you going around feeling guilty, down on yourself because of past sins and mistakes, not expecting anything good? When Jesus declared “It is finished” on the cross, it included all the negatives things that are holding you back from becoming all that God wants you to be. You need to announce to that guilt and shame, ‘It is finished. I’m done beating myself up, living condemned. God’s mercy is bigger than my mistakes. I am redeemed. I am restored. I am forgiven. I am a child of the Most High God.’” (Retrieved 4/18/2025 from https://www.joelosteen.com/inspiration/todays-word/18289)

Contrast that with the way the Apostle Paul speaks of that moment in Colossians 2:13-14:

Colossians 2:13–14 LSB

And you being dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions. Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Which of these is the Gospel? Being rescued from “Negative things holding you back”? or being rescued from being“dead in your transgressions?” Announcing to your guilt and shame that you are done being beat up by them, or Christ announcing from the Cross that the death-penalty you owed before God is finished by His death? One of those statements will probably get you on friendly terms with the world; the other one will cost you. One of those statements is borne of cowardice and unbelief; the other one is rooted in the boldness that comes from knowing we have “confident access” to that Savior--that no matter what the risk, no matter how we are treated as a result, we have Christ with us!

So here is Paul’s explanation of why his imprisonment on behalf of the Gentiles is not a hardship to him--because the Gospel is a mystery worth revealing no matter what the risk! This is why he says in verse 13:

Ephesians 3:13 LSB

Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my afflictions on your behalf, which are your glory.

“Don’t become discouraged because I am in prison for declaring the Gospel to you--it is worth it! It is worth any hardship, any loss, any imprisonment or ridicule or slander or shame, because this Gospel is the glory of God for you!” Paul lays out all of these reasons to his readers why his afflictions should not discourage them, but should encourage them to cherish and believe and share this Gospel--it is worth it!

What does God’s Word reveal in you this morning as you consider the worth of this Gospel? Consider the good this message does for someone who has lost every friend they have because of their sin--someone who is so desperately ashamed of themselves, convinced that there is no one they can turn to, that no one will want to have anything to do with them. To be told that Jesus Christ died to bring you near to Him! That His blood will pay the penalty for all of their sin and shame and guilt; every horrible thing that they have done, all the things that have been done to them, all of the malice and hatred and slander they have heaped on others (and that they have suffered)--all of it is cancelled out by Jesus’ death and resurrection! When you consider the good that this Gospel does to that one, what does it matter what happens to you when you share it?

Consider the grace of this message toward you as you share it--when you hesitate to speak up because you are conscious of how imperfect your own walk with Christ has been; when you are afraid that you have blown it too many times to be fit for sharing this Good News and that your past disqualifies you, consider the grace given to someone like Paul, who had the blood of Christians on his hands before he came to Christ! The beauty of this Gospel, Christian, is that there is no past sin that disqualifies you from sharing it!

Consider the glory of this Gospel mystery--when you are intimidated and discouraged over the prospect that you might be scorned or ridiculed or opposed; when you are worried that someone will respond with some question you can’t answer or some objection that takes you by surprise. Remember that every time you share this Gospel, the principalities and powers of Heaven’s Host--mighty angelic presences that witnessed the first moment that God spoke the cosmos into being, creatures of such ancient power and wisdom as to make the sum of all human knowledge seem like a kindergartener’s ABC coloring page--even though the person you are witnessing to might scoff and walk away ridiculing you, those angelic powers are straining to comprehend the glory of God’s wisdom you have just shared! Your presentation of the Gospel never falls on deaf ears--the man or woman in front of you may not want to hear it, but the angelic hosts do!

And when the manifold wisdom of God in this Gospel goes out and bears fruit in the heart of a repentant sinner, it is always because of the work of God’s Spirit, and not because you were so convincing! It is because God has graciously brought this Gospel to them through you, and has graciously invited you to play a part, and has graciously

Acts 26:18 LSB

[...opened] their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

Where is God calling you to take this message? For some of you it is a close friend or family member. For some of you it is a roommate or a classmate or a co-worker. Perhaps God has been calling you to give up your summer to share this Gospel with those who have not heard. Or perhaps God is calling you to a greater and deeper commitment. Perhaps He has been showing you the need for the mystery of this Gospel to be shared in a place so far away that if you go there you don’t know when you will be able to come back? That proclaiming this Good News may cost you your home, your family, your career, your plans for your future?

If God has been calling you to leave everything for the sake of this Gospel, then this is what the Apostle Paul tells you this morning--as he was instructed to write by God the Holy Spirit: This Gospel is worth it. It is worth any risk; it is worth any loss, any hardship, any danger or heartache or separation or loss. God sees what you suffer for the sake of the Gospel, He remembers, and He will reward you:

Mark 10:29–30 LSB

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, except one who will receive one hundred times as much now in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

Paul tells the Ephesians that his afflictions on their behalf were their glory. To take on suffering for the sake of bringing this Gospel to those who are beyond its reach is to take on glory for them, glory that they will share with Christ for eternity because you suffered for them.

And if you are here this morning lost in your spiritual poverty, see that this Gospel is your inheritance of forgiveness through Christ--when He died, He opened up the way for you to inherit all of that cleansing, to bring you back to Himself free from the guilt and shame and isolation of your sin. He died to bring you into His body--one with Him in new life, and one with His Church, His body on earth. And He offers you His promise that, when you come to Him in repentance for all that you have done, all your shame and guilt and sick and twisted deeds, all of your love of evil, all of your rebellion and hatred of His law--when you come and lay it all before Him and plead for forgiveness, He will surely forgive you! He promises in John 6:37 that “the one who comes to Me I will never cast out”. He promises that you will seek Him and find Him when you search for Him with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

So take hold of this promise today--this good, gracious and glorious Gospel mystery that you can be reconciled to God now in this life and the next when you come--and welcome!--to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Acts 20:32 LSB

“And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION:

If you were imprisoned for your faith like Paul, do you think it would make you stronger or discourage you? What steps can you take to strengthen your faith to face all kinds of challenges?

How would you explain the “mystery” Paul describes in these verses? How does he use that word differently from our modern idea of a “mystery”?

Read Ephesians 3:6 again. What are the three blessings of the Gospel that have come to the Gentiles? Which of those blessings is most precious to you as a Christian?

Which of the reasons given that the Gospel is worth any risk is most helpful to you as you consider God’s call to reveal this mystery to others? Pray this week for an opportunity to share this Good News with someone in your life!