The Ministry of the Gospel Should Be Important to Us Today

The ministry of the Gospel was important to the Apostle Paul. It was important to the Gentiles. It was important to the Angels (3:9-10). And it should be important to us today.

When God saved Paul, He deposited with him the precious treasures of Gospel truth (1 Tim. 1:11). Paul in turn committed these truths to others, exhorting them to commit the truths to faithful men who would guard them and share them (2 Tim. 2:2).

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

“O Timothy! Keep that which is committed to thy trust!” (1 Tim. 6:20)

At the close of his life, Paul would say, to the glory of God, “I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). During those apostolic days, the truths of the Gospel and “the mystery” were guarded, preached, and handed down to faithful men.

But a study of church history reveals that, one by one, many of the basic truths of the Word of God were lost during the centuries that followed.

God had His faithful people—a minority—at all times, but many of the great truths of the Word were buried under man-made theology, tradition, and ritual.

Then, God’s Spirit began to open the eyes of seeking souls, and these great truths were unveiled again.

Martin Luther championed justification by faith. Other spiritual leaders rediscovered the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the glorious truth of the return of Jesus Christ, and the joy of the victorious Christian life.

In recent years, the truth of “the mystery” has again excited the hearts of God’s people. We rejoice that we are “all one in Christ Jesus.”

Most of us identify Napoleon Bonaparte as the would-be conqueror of Europe. But not many would name him as a patron of arts and sciences. Yet he was. In July 1798, Napoleon began to occupy Egypt, but by September 1801, he was forced to get out. Those three years meant failure as far as his military and political plans were concerned, but they meant success in one area that greatly interested him—archeology.

For in August 1799, a Frenchman named Boussand discovered the Rosetta Stone about thirty miles from Alexandria. This discovery gave to archeologists the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics. It opened the door to modern Egyptian studies.

“The mystery” is God’s “Rosetta Stone.” It is the key to what He promised in the Old Testament, what Christ did in the Gospels, what the early church did in the Book of Acts, what Paul and the other writers teach in the Epistles, and what God will do as recorded in the Book of Revelation.

God’s program today is not “the headship of Israel” (Deut. 28:1–13), but the headship of Christ over His church. We today are under a different “stewardship” from that of Moses and the prophets, and we must be careful not to confuse what God has clarified.

The reason many churches are weak and ineffective is because they do not understand what they have in Christ. And the cause of this is often spiritual leaders who are not good “stewards of the mystery.”

Because they do not “rightly divide the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), they confuse their people concerning their spiritual position in Christ, and they rob their people of the spiritual wealth in Christ.

The Ministry of the Gospel is not a divine afterthought. (11)

Ephesians 3:11 NKJV

11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

It is a part of God’s eternal purpose in Christ (Eph. 3:11). When you understand this truth, it gives you great confidence and faith (Eph. 3:12).

When you know what God is doing in the world, and you work with Him, you can be sure that He will work in you and for you. All of His divine resources are available to those who sincerely want to do His will and help Him accomplish His purposes on earth.

The early church thought that the Gospel belonged to the Jews because it had come through them and to them first. Until Peter, by divine direction, went to the Gentiles in Acts 10, the Jewish believers thought that a Gentile had to become a Jew before he could become a Christian!

God’s Spirit gradually revealed to the churches that God was doing a new thing: He was calling out a people for His name from both the Jews and Gentiles (Acts 15:14). There are no national, racial, political, physical, or social distinctions in the church! “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” (Gal. 3:28).

But an understanding of God’s program in this present age not only gives the believer confidence toward God. It also gives him courage in the difficult circumstances of life.

Our Faith in Christ Gives us the Right to Access God

Ephesians 3:12 NKJV

12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

Through faith in Christ Christians have the right of address (freedom, parrēsian, lit., “courage, boldness”; cf. Heb. 3:6; 4:16; 10:19, 35) and the right of access (approach, prosagōgēn; cf. Eph. 2:18; Rom. 5:2) to God with … confidence. Though God’s eternal plan was accomplished in Christ nearly two millennia ago, believers can still address God and go to Him freely and confidently.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We can come boldly into the presence of God and get the help we need (Heb. 4:16). No trial is too great, no temptation is too strong, but that Jesus Christ can give us the mercy and grace that we need, when we need it.

The Ministry of the Gospel is the Blueprint to Spiritual Progress

Ephesians 3:13 NKJV

13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Paul’s sufferings for the Gentiles would mean glory for the Gentiles. In the Old Testament age, when God’s people obeyed, God blessed them materially, nationally, and physically (Deut. 28); and if they disobeyed, He withdrew these blessings.

This is not the way He deals with the church today. Our blessings are spiritual, not material (Eph. 1:3); they have all been given to us completely in Christ.

We appropriate them by faith; but if we disobey God, He does not revoke them. We simply lose the enjoyment and the enrichment of them.

Paul was certainly a dedicated, Spirit-filled man; yet he was suffering as a prisoner. Paul made it clear that physical, material blessings are not always the experience of the dedicated Christian (2 Cor. 4:7–12; 11:23–12:10).

Dr. Warren Wiersbe tells the story of driving to a preaching engagement, trying to follow a map he found in the glove compartment of his car. For some reason, he couldn’t locate the interstate highway he needed, so he stopped to get directions at a filling station.

“You’ve got an ancient map there, Mister!” the attendant told him. “Here’s the latest map. Follow it and you’ll get where you are going.” He was right. He followed the new map and arrived in plenty of time to preach.

People who do not understand God’s “mystery” in His church are trying to make spiritual progress with the wrong map.

Or, to change the figure, they are trying to build with the wrong blueprints.

God’s churches on this earth—the local assemblies—are not supposed to be either Gentile culture cliques or Jewish culture cliques.

For a German church to refuse fellowship to a Swede is just as unscriptural as for a Jewish congregation to refuse a Gentile.

God’s church is not to be shackled by culture, class, or any other physical distinction. It is a spiritual entity that must submit to the headship of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit.

Yes, God had a “secret”—but God does not want it to be a secret anymore! If you understand your wonderful position in Christ, then live up to it—and share the blessing with others. This “secret” was important to Paul, to the Gentiles, and to the angels—and it ought to be important to you and me today.