"A Mystery No More"

Intro: You got everything you need. You bought all the tools, the materials, and have all the needed knowledge in order to complete your project that you have. You have read every you can in order to do it right. You watched every how-to-video on YouTube. Now the rubber meets the road. This is where Paul has come to in this text. He wants to encourage the Ephesian church that his work is not in vain, his suffering is for a cause, and its for the very cause that was set forth in the previous chapters. This “mystery,” the Gospel, has been fully revealed. Now what do we do with it?

CTS: Since you have divinely appointed by God as His church, proclaim the Gospel.

I. The Gospel is God’s Divine Message (1-6)

(1, 13) The unique privilege of being a prisoner of Jesus

It’s key to note here that Paul defines himself as a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. This isn’t just hyperbole or a metaphor. He is actually a prisoner at this moment. And the reason he is a prisoner is for the very thing that he has just talked about in regards to how the Jews and Gentiles are now made one people.

Acts 21:17–22 ESV

17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

Later, he enters into the temple, against the advice of the brothers in the church because of their fear that Paul would be arrested and killed. Paul stood firmly on his case, continuing to teach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, available to all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, that they are made on people called the church. The results were this:

Acts 21:27–29 ESV

27 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

He was about to be killed, yet a tribune and soldiers came to stop the riot against Paul and instead of being killed, he was arrested.

This is the background behind his statement here. Paul is currently imprisoned as he writes this letter, yet he wants to remind them that all of this was for them, for this glorious gospel that has been revealed to him by God. He also desires that they would not lose heart. Why? Because of what He is about to encourage them the undeniable truth that this is all of God’s plan and purpose, and that God was even using this imprisonment to bring forth his plan.

God uses circumstances where it looks like God’s people are in a bind or defeated and often uses it for His greater glory and plan. Paul understood that. We need to understand that as well. Bold uncompromising proclamation of the truth will lead to conflict and even suffering. But that’s not a bad thing! It’s where God does His work.

Paul is about to break out in prayer again, as you will see in verse 14, but he takes a little aside to further expound upon what was just revealed in the previous text.

(2-6) The unique privilege to see and receive God’s revealed message unveiled

The mystery of grace: This very message that got him imprisoned was given for their benefit. Gentile are no longer strangers and aliens, but are full partakers of the promise of God’s people. There is no distinction anymore. There is no one in this world right now that has special privilege just because of location or ethnicity.

This mystery of the Gospel, at least this aspect of Jews and Gentiles becoming one united people, was not revealed until now. The Gospel has been clearly seen throughout the OT. From Genesis 3, the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and deliver us. Out of Abraham’s seed would. Out of Abraham would all the nations of the earth be blessed, from his offspring would come that promised One.

Galatians 3:29 ESV

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Out of the line of David would come a King that would sit on the throne forever. So, the Gospel has been clearly seen throughout the whole Bible.

But it’s this aspect that now has been revealed in full. The holy apostles (holy meaning “setting apart”) and prophets of the early church revealed this truth in clarity. Paul was part of that, and actually called “the apostle to the Gentiles.”

Galatians 1:15–16 ESV

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

The mystery is there in VERSE 6. There is no longer a differentiation between the people of God. There is now made a new people called the church comprised of all people. Every person who believes inherits the same promise of the Spirit and eternal life. Every person who believes becomes a member of God’s people, the church. Every person who believer is a partaker of the promises of Christ Jesus.

Illustration: The classic twists of stories, novels, and movies are things I love. Give me a good twist and I’ll be talking about it for days. But there is always a big reveal that comes along with it. For example: The Wizard of Oz, Planet of the Apes is in the future, Darth Vader is Luke’s father.

Paul knew that this was not just to be kept for himself. It was part of his calling as an apostle, his calling as a follower of Jesus, that this incredible stewardship of grace was given to him for others. Paul received it and it was revealed to Him specifically so that the purpose statement of Acts 1:8 would be fulfilled. The Gospel would be going to the ends of the earth. The Gentiles are the ends of the earth. Every nation, tribe, tongue, nation. Every background, every class of people.

Paul has revealed the big twist that really no one saw coming, and it actually made some people angry and bitter, but it also was to the great benefit for these Gentiles, and more importantly, fulfilling what was promised and glorifying God who made it happen.

The stewardship of grace is that as you have been given grace, you are then called to proclaim that grace. God specifically gave Paul the beginning of this stewardship that he taught about in chapter 2 and now “administers” it out. This is the unique privilege of Paul and the unique privilege of every Christian. The believer is called to proclaim that incredible mystery of the Gospel, and to proclaim it to all people. It’s found here in the Bible, the message of the apostles and the prophets. This isn’t something made up by some preacher or man. This is God’s revealed purpose for the Gospel now.

The Gospel message is for anybody. To deny this is to deny God’s clear revelation.

Application:

II. The Church is God’s Divine Messenger (7-13)

The unique privilege of being a minister of the Gospel (7-8)

Made a messenger by God’s grace and power. The two-fold understanding of God’s grace here is that first, he has been reconciled by God’s grace. This gift of salvation is something he has experienced first hand. He has eternal life, the forgiveness of sins, and now made a new creation that follows Christ with love and worship with his whole life.

That grace then also informs the second part of this two-fold grace, is that it is God’s gift that he is a minister of the gift. Paul views his calling out by God to salvation, made on His own people, and now a messenger of that gospel as a gift. To preach and proclaim the gospel is a gift church. And though Paul was specifically called to the task Himself as an apostle, this does not mean that only He and specific people are called to it. That flies in the face of the expectation of every disciple to make disciples according to Matthew 28 and Acts 1. But we don’t view this as drudgery or something that has to be done with no joy. This is God’s gift to me and you.

Illustration: Have you ever heard the phrase it is better to give than receive? That feeling you get when you watch your friend, your child, or spouse, or whoever it might be a gift that they really enjoy and express thankfulness for is better than getting any gift in the world. That should be our attitude, as Paul does here, as we proclaim the gift of God’s grace, the mystery of the Gospel, to every person.

He was empowered to do this very thing, empowered in the Spirit to carry out the mission. God’s power is absolutely crucial and essential for every messenger of the gospel, and it is readily and graciously given to every disciple who submits themselves to God’s will to be the church.

A messenger of great humility: Paul was clearly understanding of how gracious God was by the way he describes himself. He calls himself “the very least of all the saints.” A way this might be said in the Greek, though not grammatically proper is the “leastest.” Why would Paul say this about himself? Because he knew his state before. He knew what Ephesians 2:1-3 said about himself and mankind. He knew what he did before Christ met him on the Damascus road. He may have been zealous. He may have been the incredibly religious, but he didn’t know God. He was an enemy of God and an enemy of His church. Yet God in His grace saved Him and commissioned him.

Yet this humility wasn’t grovelling and hating himself. It was an acknowledgment of who he was before Christ, yet He now knows his responsibility as a follower of Jesus and a called apostle. God have him the great privilege to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.

A messenger of the riches found in Christ: What are those riches? It’s what was found in chapters 1 and 2. Because of the cross of Christ, His resurrection, and ascension, we are chosen to be His people, adopted, redeemed and forgiven, united in Christ. We have an inheritance of the Holy Spirit and have been made an inheritance, God’s people. Once dead, we have been made alive, seated with Christ in the heavenly places and we have been made one with one another as God’s people, with all people, regardless of class, race, or background.

Paul had the distinct privilege to preach these riches, and these riches are incredible and ultimately impossible for us to grasp fully.

The Message of Ephesians a. Making Known Christ’s Riches to the Gentiles (Verse 8)

The word anexichniastos means literally ‘not to be tracked out’. In the Greek version of Job 5:9 and 9:10 it was applied to the wonders of God’s creation and providence, which are beyond our understanding, and Paul himself has already used it in Romans 11:33 of the deep mysteries of God’s plan of salvation. The riches of Christ are similar. Like the earth they are too vast to explore, like the sea too deep to fathom.

The unique privilege to proclaim God’s wisdom (9-10)

Paul He had the distinct privilege to bring this Good News to the darkest places around him. And anywhere there is sin, there is darkness. Darkness surrounds us, because lost people are in it. We bring the plan of God to redeem mankind, we bring a light to the darkness, Jesus Himself, who is the light of the world.

And the church is the means by which this Good News is proclaimed. We proclaim the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:22–25 ESV

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

That wisdom is proclaimed to the rulers and authorities, which again, is in reference to the angelic beings of God’s creation. Why is this significant? Because these angels cannot taste redemption like we can. They cannot understand or experience this. This is something that angels long to look.

1 Peter 1:12 ESV

12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

We don’t become angels when we die. We have something better. We are sons and daughters of God, inheriting what Christ has. We show to everyone when the time comes the great wisdom of God, even to the heavenly beings themselves.

The unique privilege of access to God (11-12)

This proclamation is according to the plan of God, His eternal purposes. The plan of God for this church and for every church is this, that the message of the Gospel is proclaimed boldly. God has given His church the unique privilege to preach this Good News. A believer that eschews that responsibility is going directly against God’s revealed plan and purpose. A church that ignores the call to preach the Gospel to their community, to their neighbors, and to the ends of the earth is one in direct violation and disobedience to God’s eternal purpose.

Appplication: That should cause conviction to all of us, including myself. We must ask ourselves the question of “am I being the God-called messenger of the Gospel that God saved me to be?” Or am I withholding the grace that has been shown to me. And am I consistently preaching it to all people?

But we are not left there, for we have access to God. With boldness and confidence, we can approach God to empower us to be the church he desires for us to be.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:19–20 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

That is such an incredibly comforting notion to know that I can approach God with boldness. I can ask Him boldly to do things in me and in the people around me. I can ask Him to use this church powerfully. I can ask Him without reservation to teach me, equip me, and use me for His glory. I can ask Him to help me when I struggle with life, with sin, with heartache, and whatever else in my life. You can approach the throne of God because of faith in Jesus Christ.

Illustration: When your child comes and asks you for something. I know this might be a little offensive to someone that might be talking to me, but if my child comes to me and ask me something with great urgency, I’m going to break our conversation and listen to Lily or Riley first. But they know they can come with confidence that I will answer them. In a much greater way, you can approach God in prayer with confidence because of the blood of Christ that covers you and makes you His.

Church, are we boldly approaching God as His people, asking him to empower us to be the messengers of this glorious Good News?

Conclusion:

And for you that may be here today, not sure if you have experienced this grace. Maybe you have realized today that you have been relying on merit or goodness to get you somewhere, in right standing with God. I implore you, and I do this with great joy for it is a privilege to share it to you, repent and believe this glorious Gospel. I pray that as it has been revealed to you today, that Jesus is God’s one and only Son, was made flesh and lived perfectly where you and I could not, without sin, and died the death we deserved for that sin. He took upon the wrath of God for us so that we would be saved from it. He resurrected with victory of death itself, declaring sin broken and forgiven. He ascended to the Father where he sits and reigns His kingdom, and He will be coming again. What must you do to be saved? Repent and believe this. Trust in Jesus alone for your salvation and acknowledge that you are no longer lord of your own life, but that Jesus is.

Church, we have been revealed such a great Gospel message that we have personally experienced. But it wasn’t just revealed so that we would keep it to ourselves. With that revelation and that salvation that we have received by grace, we have received the gift of also being His people who proclaim this divine message of grace, love, and mercy that we know as the Gospel.

1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.