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SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 23

TITLE: THE MYSTERY REVEALED, PART II

TEXT: EPHESIANS 3:5-8

INTRODUCTION: (1) UNDERSTANDING THE DEEP TRUTHS OF GOD’S WORD SHOULD NOT GIVE A MAN OR A WOMAN A BIG HEAD, BUT A BIG HEART.

* UNDERSTANDING THE DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH SHOULD GIVE US A BROKEN AND A CONTRITE HEART. IT SHOULD GIVE US PROPER PERSPECTIVE AND HUMBLE US.

** WELL, THE APOSTLE PAUL UNDERSTOOD THE DEEP TRUTHS OF GOD, IN FACT GOD HAD REVEALED TO HIM AND THE OTHER APOSTLES AND SOME N.T. PROPHETS WHAT HE CALLED THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST.

*** AND PAUL DID NOT BOAST ABOUT THAT KNOWLEDGE, BUT MARVELED AT THE GRACE OF GOD THAT REVEALED IT TO HIM AND PUT HIM IN THE MINISTRY.

**** AND BECAUSE PAUL UNDERSTOOD THE TRUTHS OF GOD’S AMAZING GRACE, HE PROBABLY WAS THE HUMBLEST PERSON TALKED ABOUT IN THE N.T. OUTSIDE OF CHRIST.

(2) HE TRULY UNDERSTOOD WHAT HE WAS BEFORE CHRIST SAVED HIM, HE TRULY HAD PROPER PERSPECTIVE AND SAW HIMSELF AS THE LEAST OF ALL THE SAINTS, THE LEAST OF ALL OF GOD’S PEOPLE, THE CHIEF OF SINNERS.

* PAUL WOULD WRITE IN I TIMOTHY 1:12 - 15 (READ VV. 12 & 15)

V. 13 – “EVEN THOUGH I WAS FORMERLY A BLASPHEMER AND A PERSECUTOR AND A VIOLENT AGGRESSOR. AND YET I WAS SHOWN MERCY, BECAUSE I ACTED IGNORANTLY IN UNBELIEF.”

V. 14 - “AND THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS MORE THAN ABUNDANT, WITH THE FAITH AND LOVE WHICH ARE FOUND IN CHRIST JESUS.”

** NOW AGAIN HERE IS A MAN WITH A BIG HEART AND WHO WAS TRULY HUMBLE, HE UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS RESCUED FROM THE PIT OF HIS PRIDE AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

*** AND CLEARLY IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, WE SEE THAT GOD RESISTS THE PROUD BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

**** LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT I MEAN FROM THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. READ PROVERBS 6:16&17; PROVERBS 8:13; PROVERBS 11:2; PROVERBS 13:10; PROVERBS 15:25; PROVERBS 16:5; PROVERBS 16:18; PROVERBS 21:4; AND PROVERBS 29:23.

(3) NOW THAT’S JUST FROM THE BOOK OF PROVERBS THE WARNINGS OF THE “I” PROBLEM.

* BUT SHIFTING TO THE N.T. UNDERSTAND THESE WARNINGS ABOUT PRIDE THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SALVATION AND SERVICE, LUKE 5:32, LUKE 18:10-14, JAMES 4:6, JAMES 4:10, I PETER 5:5&6.

** NOW FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS, PRIDE AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A HUGE BARRIER FOR SALVATION AND FOR CHRISTIANS, PRIDE IS A SIN THAT BLOCKS OUR USEFULNESS.

*** AND ONE OF THE REASONS THAT PAUL WAS USED BY THE LORD, PROBABLY MORE THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING IN THE N.T. WAS HIS HUMILITY, HIS PROPER PERSPECTIVE, HIS SERVANT’S HEART, HIS LOW ESTEEM OF HIMSELF WITHOUT CHRIST.

*** AND AS WE COME TO OUR TEXT TODAY, WE WILL SEE THAT PAUL SEES HIMSELF AS A MINISTER OF THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST AND HE’S IN AWE OF THAT.

**** AND I TOLD YOU IN OUR LAST STUDY OF EPHESIANS 3 THAT PAUL USES THE WORD MYSTERY 4 TIMES IN EPHESIANS 3.

(4) AND THE MYSTERY THAT IS REVEALED IN V. 6 IN EPHESIANS 3 IS THAT BELIEVING GENTILES ARE: NO. 1 FELLOW HEIRS; NO. 2 FELLOW MEMBERS; AND NO. 3 FELLOW PARTAKERS OF THE PROMISE IN CHRIST JESUS THROUGH THE GOSPEL WITH BELIEVING JEWS IN THE CHURCH.

* THE MYSTERY THAT ONCE WAS HIDDEN TO THE O.T. SAINTS THAT IS NOW REVEALED IN THE N.T. IS THAT THE GENTILES (WHO WERE ONCE OUTCASTS, OUTSIDERS, DOGS, KINDLING FOR HELL ACCORDING TO SOME JEWS), SHOULD BE PARTAKERS ALONG WITH THE JEWS OF GOD’S GREAT BLESSINGS IN THE CHURCH.

** AND THIS MYSTERY IS REVEALED IN EPHESIANS 3:1-13, SO I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, THE MYSTERY REVEALED, PART II.

*** AND SPECIFICALLY PAUL WILL COMMUNICATE IN OUR TEXT TODAY THAT HE IS A MINISTER OF THAT MYSTERY AND HE IS HUMBLED THAT GOD WOULD USE HIM THAT WAY.

**** AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT TWO THINGS IN OUR STUDY OF EPHESIANS 3:5-8. NO. 1 THE PRESENTATION OF THE MYSTERY, AS THE MYSTERY IS REVEALED IN VV. 5&6; AND NO. 2 THE PREACHING OF THE MYSTERY, VV. 7&8.

- AND WITH THOSE TWO POINTS AS OUR OUTLINE, LET’S MOVE IN TO OUR STUDY TODAY BY STARTING TO LOOK AT THE PRESENTATION OR PLAN OF THE MYSTERY. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE.

I. THE PRESENTATION OF THE MYSTERY, (READ V. 5)

A. NOW IN V. 5, PAUL DEFINES THE GENERAL MEANING OF THE MYSTERY AS IT IS USED IN THE N.T. AND IN V. 6 HE IDENTIFIES THE PARTICULAR MYSTERY HE IS EXPLAINING TO THE EPHESIANS.

* AND FIRST OF ALL IN V. 5 I WANT TO FOCUS ON THE WORD WHICH, THE FIRST WORD IN V. 5.

** AND THIS WORD TAKES US BACK TO VV. 3&4 TO TALK ABOUT THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST.

*** IN OTHER WORDS, THE ANTECEDENT OF WHICH IS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, ABOUT WHICH PAUL HAD BEEN GIVEN SPECIAL REVELATION AND INSIGHT IN VV. 3&4.

**** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, CONCERNING PAUL’S INSIGHT INTO THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, HE WILL COMMUNICATE THAT IN OTHER GENERATIONS THIS MYSTERY WAS NOT MADE KNOWN TO THE SONS OF MEN.

1. AND SONS OF MEN REFERS TO MANKIND IN GENERAL, NOT JUST TO GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE, ISRAEL.

* AND THE POINT IS, BEFORE THE CHURCH AGE NO PERSON HAD ANYTHING BUT A SMALL GLIMPSE OF THE TRUTH THAT PAUL NOW DISCLOSES.

** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE O.T. TEACHINGS THAT RELATE TO THIS MYSTERY CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD CLEARLY IN LIGHT OF N.T. REVELATION.

*** O.T. SAINTS AND PROPHETS HAD NO VISION OF THE CHURCH, SPECIFICALLY OF THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER OF ALL THE SAVED INTO ONE UNITED BODY, IN WHICH THERE WERE ABSOLUTELY NO RACIAL DISTINCTIONS.

**** FOR IN REALITY THE CLUES THEY HAD IN THE O.T. WERE A MYSTERY TO THEM BECAUSE TOO MUCH INFORMATION WAS LACKING.

2. AND THAT’S WHY JEWS IN THE EARLY CHURCH INCLUDING THE APOSTLE PETER HAD SUCH A DIFFICULT TIME ACCEPTING GENTILE BELIEVERS AS BEING COMPLETELY ON THE SAME LEVEL AS JEWS.

* SO THAT IS WHY PAUL WAS CONCERNED IN THIS LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS TO STATE AND RE-STATE, TO EXPLAIN AND EXPLAIN AGAIN, THAT GREAT TRUTH.

** THE JEWISH PEOPLE NEED TO GET THIS, TO UNDERSTAND THIS SO THERE WOULD BE UNITY AND ONENESS AND FAMILY LIFE IN THE CHURCH WHICH IS THE FAMILY OF FAMILIES.

*** NOW AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 5, PAUL WILL POINT OUT THE RECIPIENTS OF THIS N.T. REVELATION ARE THE HOLY APOSTLES AND PROPHETS WHO RECEIVED IT IN OR BY THE SPIRIT.

**** IN OTHER WORDS, HIS APOSTLES ARE N.T. PROPHETS, SPEAKING OF GOD’S APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, WERE INSPIRED, LED, DIRECTED, GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT, THESE REVELATIONS, PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES BEING ONE OF THEM.

3. AND THE SPIRIT SPEAKING, OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, IS THE DIVINE AGENCY OF GOD’S REVELATION THROUGH THESE MEN, AS II PETER 1:20&21 SAYS: (READ THEM).

* AND THESE HOLY MEN, HOLY IN THIS CONTEXT MEANING SEPARATED TO GOD FOR THEIR DISTINCTIVE ROLE AS RECIPIENTS OF THE REVELATION OF THIS MYSTERY.

** THESE HOLY MEN WERE LED AND DIRECTED TO WRITE DOWN N.T. REVELATION AND SPECIFICALLY AND CONTEXTUALLY, TRUTH ABOUT THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH.

*** AND PAUL WILL GET SPECIFIC ABOUT THE REVELATION OF THIS MYSTERY IN V. 6. LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 6. NOW THE CONTENT, THE SPECIFICS OF THIS SACRED SECRET IS SPELLED OUT HERE IN V. 6.

* AND PAUL WILL COMMUNICATE 3 TRUTHS ABOUT THIS MYSTERY IN THAT THE GENTILES IN CHRIST THROUGH THE GOSPEL ARE:

(1) FELLOW HEIRS WITH THE JEWS

(2) FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE BODY WITH JEWS AND

(3) FELLOW PARTAKERS OF THE PROMISE WITH JEWS.

** NOW LET ME BREAK THIS DOWN. NO. 1 GENTILES AND JEWS NOW IN THE CHURCH ARE FELLOW HEIRS.

*** AND THIS MEANS THAT SAVED GENTILES HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME LEGAL STATUS BEFORE GOD AS HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE, THE JEWS.

**** GENTILES HAVE THE SAME MARVELOUS, BOUNDLESS INHERITANCE IN CHRIST THAT PAUL HAD ALREADY MENTIONED IN CHAPTER 1 IN VERSES 11, 14 AND 18.

1. NOW EVERY BELIEVER IS BLESSED “WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST” GOING BACK TO EPHESIANS 1:3.

* SO AS FELLOW HEIRS, THE GENTILES IN CHRIST IN THE CHURCH HAVE THE SAME BLESSINGS AND INHERITANCE AS JEWS IN CHRIST IN THE CHURCH. THEY ARE FELLOW HEIRS, JOINT HEIRS.

** IN THE CHURCH THERE ARE NO STEP CHILDREN, BOARDERS, LODGERS WHO PAY TO LIVE IN A HOUSE, BUT ONLY CHILDREN WHO ARE EQUAL HEIR OF THE INHERITANCE OF THE HOUSE WHO ARE A PART OF THAT FAMILY.

2. NO. 2 THE GENTILES ARE FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE BODY. AND IF YOU WERE WONDERING WHERE WE GET THE CHURCH IN THIS CONTEXT, WE GET IT HERE IN V. 6, FOR THE BODY IS A METAPHOR FOR THE CHURCH 8 OTHER TIMES IN EPHESIANS AND THEN SPECIFICALLY THE WORD CHURCH IS USED IN V. 10 AND IN V. 21.

* AND SAVED GENTILES AND JEWS ARE FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE CHURCH, AS FELLOW MEMBERS THEY ARE INDISTINGUISHABLE IN GOD’S EYES FROM ANY OTHER MEMBER.

** EVERY CHILD OF GOD IS ONLY GOD’S CHILD, JEW OR GENTILE SPIRITUALLY HE HAS NO GENES BUT DIVINE GENES, NOT JEWISH GENES OR GENTILE GENES.

*** AND AS I CORINTHIANS 12:12&13 SAYS: “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.”

V. 13 – “FOR BY ONE SPIRIT WE WERE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY, WHETHER JEWS OR GREEKS, WHETHER SLAVES OR FREE, AND WE WERE ALL MADE TO DRINK OF ONE SPIRIT.”

**** SO JEWS AND GENTILES ARE MEMBERS OF ONE BODY IN THE CHURCH.

(3) AND THEN MOVING ON TO NO. 3, JEWS AND GENTILES ARE FELLOW PARTAKERS OF THE PROMISE.

* AND THIS MEANS THAT JEWS AND GENTILES ARE FELLOW SHARERS, FELLOW PARTNERS, EQUAL COMPANIONS IN THE CHURCH.

** AND IT APPEARS TO ME THAT THE PROMISE, AND IN THIS PHRASE IT IS A SINGULAR PROMISE, IS THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION FOR ALL WHO CALL UPON CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR.

*** AS ROMANS 10:9&10 AND 12&13 COMMUNICATE (READ VV. 9&10&13)

V. 12 – “FOR THERE IS NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN JEW AND GREEK; FOR THE SAME LORD IS LORD OF ALL, ABOUNDING IN RICHES FOR ALL WHO CALL UPON HIM.”

V. 13 – “FOR WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

**** NOW V. 13 IS THE PROMISE, WHOEVER, JEW OR GENTILE, WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED. NOT MIGHT BE, MAYBE OR COULD BE, BUT WILL BE, SHALL BE SAVED, RESCUED FROM GOD’S WRATH, SAVED FROM THEIR SINS.

4. AND IN SUMMARY THE MYSTERY REVEALED IS THAT JEWS AND GENTILES IN THE CHURCH ARE EQUAL HEIRS, EQUAL MEMBERS AND EQUAL PARTNERS.

* THEY ARE HEIRS TOGETHER, MEMBERS TOGETHER AND SHARERS TOGETHER.

** AND THIS WAS A BIG DEAL IN THAT CULTURE, BECAUSE TO SAY THAT JEWS AND GENTILES HATED EACH OTHER MAY BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

*** AND THE CLOSEST COMPARISON I CAN SEE TODAY WOULD BE BETWEEN SOME JEWS AND ARABS.

**** BUT IN THE CHURCH THEY WERE AND ARE ONE!

5. AND THE BASIS OF THIS NEW RELATIONSHIP IS THE GOSPEL AS WE GO TO THE END OF V. 6.

* AND THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST THROUGH, BY THE MEANS OF THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL ARE ONE. AND THAT IS THE MYSTERY REVEALED, A MYSTERY IN THE O.T. NOW REVEALED IN THE NEW.

** THAT IS THE PRESENTATION OR PLAN OF THE MYSTERY WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE PREACHING OF THE MYSTERY, LOOK AT V. 7 PLEASE.

II. THE PREACHING OF THE MYSTERY, (READ V. 7)

A. NOW THE MYSTERY WHICH GOD PLANNED MUST BE PREACHED.

* AND PAUL WAS MADE A MINISTER OF THIS MYSTERY, A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.

** IT WAS GOD’S PURPOSE AND PLAN TO SAVE PAUL AND MAKE HIM A MINSTER, IT WAS GOD’S CHOICE NOT PAUL’S.

*** PAUL’S CHOICE WAS TO BE A PHARISEE, A PERSECUTOR OF CHRISTIANS, BUT GOD’S CHOICE WAS TO SAVE PAUL AND MAKE HIM BY HIS POWER A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, A MINISTER OF THE MYSTERY.

**** AND UNDERSTAND WHEN I USE THE WORD MINISTER HERE, IT IS NOT AN ELEVATED WORD BUT A TERM OF HUMILITY.

1. IT IS THE GREEK WORD DIAKONOS WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

* AND THIS PARTICULAR GREEK WORD STRESSES NOT THE IDEA OF SUBJECTION AS DOES THE WORD SLAVE, DOULOS IN THE GREEK.

** BUT STRESSES THE IDEA OF SERVICE OR SERVING, AS ONE WHO IS A WAITER.

*** AND BY DEFINITION, A SERVANT IS ONE WHO ACTS ON THE COMMANDS OF OTHERS, WHO RECOGNIZES AND SUBMITS TO A HIGHER POWER.

**** AND A SERVANT’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY IS TO DO WHAT HE IS TOLD TO DO.

2. SO PAUL’S SINGLE RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO FAITHFULLY BE A SERVANT OF THE MYSTERY, A SERVANT OF THE WORD WHO TAKES IT OUT OF THE KITCHEN AND DELIVERS IT TO THE TABLE WITHOUT MESSING IT UP.

* AND PAUL EXPLAINS THIS RESPONSIBILITY CLEARLY IN COLOSSIANS 1:25-29 WHERE HE SAID:

V. 25 – “OF THIS CHURCH I WAS MADE A MINISTER ACCORDING TO THE STEWARDSHIP FROM GOD BESTOWED ON ME FOR YOUR BENEFIT, THAT I MIGHT FULLY CARRY OUT THE PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD.”

V. 26 – “THAT IS, THE MYSTERY WHICH HAS BEEN HIDDEN FROM THE PAST AGES AND GENERATIONS; BUT HAS NOW BEEN MANIFESTED TO HIS SAINTS.”

V. 27 – “TO WHOM GOD WILLED TO MAKE KNOWN WHAT IS THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES, WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.”

V. 28 – “AND WE PROCLAIM HIM, ADMONISHING EVERY MAN AND TEACHING EVERY MAN WITH ALL WISDOM, THAT WE MAY PRESENT EVERY MAN COMPLETE IN CHRIST.”

V. 29 – “AND FOR THIS PURPOSE ALSO I LABOR, STRIVING ACCORDING TO HIS POWER, WHICH MIGHTILY WORKS WITHIN ME.”

** SO PAUL WAS A MINISTER, A SERVANT OF THE MYSTERY, A MINISTER OF THE WORD, A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.

*** AND HE USES THE WORD MINISTER OR SERVANT TO DESCRIBE HIS RESPONSIBILITY AND I BELIEVE ALSO TO COMMUNICATE A HUMBLE PERSPECTIVE.

**** FOR IN THE REST OF V. 7 HE POINTS OUT THAT THE BASIS OF HIS SERVICE WAS ACCORDING TO THE GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE, ACCORDING TO THE WORK OF HIS (GOD’S) POWER.

3. AND BELOVED, THE RECURRING THEME OF PAUL’S LIFE IS I CORINTHIANS 15:10, (READ IT).

* SO GRACE IS PAUL’S MOTTO, THE THEME OF HIS LIFE, THE MOTIVATION FOR BEING A SERVANT, A MINISTER OF THE MYSTERY.

** FOR EVERYTHING PAUL HAS BECOME AND ACHIEVED IN HIS APOSTOLIC MISSION IS NOT HIS OWN DOING, BUT THE RESULT OF GOD’S GRACE – GOD’S CHOICE OF HIM, GOD’S CALL TO HIM, AND GOD’S ENABLING POWER.

*** THE END OF V. 7, THE WORKING OF GOD’S POWER IN HIM TO ENABLE HIM TO DO WHAT HE DID FOR CHRIST.

**** AND FOR PAUL, PRIDE IS ABASED, HE TRULY HAS PROPER PERSPECTIVE, AND THIS IS AMPLIFIED EVEN MORE IN V. 8. LOOK AT V. 8 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 8. NOW AS PAUL CONTINUES TO REFLECT ON HIS CALL TO BE A MINISTER OF THE MYSTERY TO THE GENTILES, HE IS FILLED WITH AMAZEMENT AT THE EXTRAORDINARY PRIVILEGE THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN HIM.

* AND USING A VERY STRIKING EXPRESSION IN WHICH HE NEITHER INDULGES IN HYPOCRISY NOR GROVELS IN SELF-DEPRECIATION, HE INDICATES HOW DEEPLY CONSCIOUS HE IS OF HIS OWN UNWORTHINESS AND OF CHRIST’S OVERFLOWING GRACE TO HIM.

** FOR HE SAYS, “TO ME, THE VERY LEAST OF THE SAINTS, THIS GRACE WAS GIVEN.”

** PAUL SAID I AM LESS THAN THE LEAST. I AM LOWER THAN THE LOWEST. AND THIS IS AN INTERESTING PHRASE, FOR HOW CAN ONE BE LOWER THAN THE LEAST? WHAT IS LESS THAN ZERO. PAUL SAW HIMSELF AS UNWORTHY OF GOD’S GRACE.

*** AND I SAY THIS AS GRACIOUSLY AS I CAN, IF PAUL WERE LIVING IN OUR DAY, SOME CHRISTIANS WOULD RESPOND, “PAUL YOU NEED TO GET INTO COUNSELING, YOUR SELF-ESTEEM IS LACKING.”

**** BUT BELOVED UNDERSTAND THAT PAUL IS NOT FILLED WITH SELF-LOVE, SELF-PRIDE AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS BUT SELF-DENIAL AND PROPER PERSPECTIVE THAT ENABLED GOD TO USE HIM.

***** REMEMBER GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES WHAT TO THE HUMBLE? GRACE!

1. AND THIS ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY PERMEATED HIS LIFE, FOR HE WOULD SAY IN I CORINTHIANS 15:9 (READ IT). ALSO READ I TIMOTHY 1:15.

* AND PLEASE GET THIS TODAY, AN ATTITUDE OF UNWORTHINESS DOES NOT LIMIT A MAN OR A WOMAN’S SERVICE BUT RATHER IS THE KEY TO USEFULNESS.

** TO PAUL GOD’S GRACE THAT SAVED HIM AND EMPOWERED HIM TO SERVE WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

*** AND PAUL WAS AMAZED THAT GOD HAD GIVEN HIM THE PRIVILEGE, AS WE’LL SEE IN THE LAST PART OF V. 8, TO PREACH TO THE GENTILES THE UNFATHOMABLE RICHES OF CHRIST.

**** AND THE WORD UNFATHOMABLE LIT. MEANS UNSEARCHABLE AS IT’S TRANSLATED IN SOME TRANSLATIONS.

2. AND THESE ARE RICHES, BLESSINGS IN CHRIST WHICH CANNOT BE TRACED OUT.

* AND THE RICHES OF CHRIST HERE ARE THE RICHES THAT CHRIST HAS OR WHICH ARE IN HIM.

** THE WEALTH THUS CONTAINED IN CHRIST IS THE WHOLE WEALTH OF THE SALVATION HE BESTOWS; AND THIS IS UNSEARCHABLE, NOT IN THE SENSE OF INEXHAUSTIBLE, BUT RATHER IN THAT OF UNFATHOMABLE, PAST FINDING OUT, SUCH AS CANNOT BE FULLY COMPREHENDED BY MEN, IT PASSED KNOWLEDGE AS WE’LL SEE LATER ON IN THE CHAPTER.

*** AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS THE TRUTH IS NO ONE CAN PLUMB THE DEPTHS OR FATHOM THE GREATNESS OF GOD’S GRACE. THE RICHES OF CHRIST CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED.

**** NOW THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE DON’T TRY. FOR THE MORE YOU UNDERSTAND GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE, THE MORE YOU’LL BE HUMBLED AND MOVED TO BE A MINISTER OF CHRIST, A SERVANT OF CHRIST.

3. PAUL WAS LEVELED, HE WAS BLOWN AWAY THAT GOD HAD GIVEN HIM THE PRIVILEGE AND HONOR TO PREACH TO THE GENTILES, THE UNFATHOMABLE RICHES OF CHRIST.

AND AS I WRAP UP AND APPLY OUR TEXT TODAY: (1) I WANT YOU TO CENTER YOUR THOUGHTS ON SOME OF THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST – (7 THINGS).

* NO. 1 HIS GRACE IS RICH, READ EPHESIANS 1:7.

** NO. 2 HIS KINDNESS AND PATIENCE ARE RICH, ROMANS 2:4 WHERE IT SAYS: “OR DO YOU THINK LIGHTLY OF THE RICHES OF HIS KINDNESS AND FORBEARANCE AND PATIENCE, NOT KNOWING THAT THE KINDNESS OF GOD LEADS YOU TO REPENTANCE?”

*** NO. 3 HIS WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE ARE RICH, ROMANS 11:33 (READ IT). BY THE WAY, THIS IS THE ONLY OTHER PLACE IN THE N.T. THAT THIS SAME GREEK WORD IN EPHESIANS 3:8 IS USED, THE WORD TRANSLATED UNFATHOMABLE.

**** NO. 4 GOD’S MERCY IS RICH, (READ EPHESIANS 2:4)

(2) NO. 5 GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE RICH, I TIMOTHY 6:17 – “INSTRUCT THOSE WHO ARE RICH IN THIS PRESENT WORLD NOT TO BE CONCEITED OR TO FIX THEIR HOPE ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF RICHES, BUT ON GOD, WHO RICHLY SUPPLIES US WITH ALL THINGS TO ENJOY.”

* NO. 6 HIS ASSURANCE IS RICH, COLOSSIANS 2:2 – “THAT THEIR HEARTS MAY BE ENCOURAGED, BEING KNIT TOGETHER IN LOVE, AND ATTAINING TO ALL RICHES OF THE FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING, TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MYSTERY OF GOD.”

** AND FINALLY, NO. 7 HIS WORD IS RICH, READ COLOSSIANS 3:16.

*** NOW AS WE CONSIDER HOW RICH WE ARE TODAY, I REMIND YOU THAT IN EPHESIANS 1:18B PAUL PRAYED THAT BELIEVERS WOULD KNOW “THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS.”

**** NOW GET THIS, PAUL’S MINISTRY AND ALL WHO PREACH THE WORD, IS NOT JUST TO TELL US WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO, BUT ALSO TO TELL US WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE FOR US.

(3) AND WE’VE DONE THAT TODAY. MY CONCLUSION. WE’RE RICH. LET’S LIVE LIKE IT, LET’S LOVE LIKE IT AND LET’S BE LOWLY BECAUSE OF THE RICHES OF GOD’S GRACE.