Ephesians 3:6-13 – Berris Patience – 2025 10 19

6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 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. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. (NASB 1995)

Transcript:

(Disclaimer: AI generated transcript. Accuracy may vary)

Hello, good morning again and I turn your attention to the passage of the book that we’ve been studying, Ephesians chapter three, and looking at verses six to 13 this morning. Ephesians chapter three, verses six to 14 Or 13, sorry. There was a news story reported in July, 2011 that a well known Hindu temple in the Southern, in southern India revealed vast treasures and hidden secrets. The temple itself was well known and previously unguarded. The temple had been there for hundreds of years and was open to the public. But about 12 years ago, there was a decision to explore the temples, hidden vaults and secret chambers. The vaults had not been open in about 150 years and the treasurer spanned some 500 years. India’s supreme court ordered that the vaults of the temple be, invent, invent, inventoried. After a man, A man filed a lawsuit that worried about how he, how the trust rather was being cared for and these treasured were being cared for. A huge treasure was found gold, diamonds, silver jewelry, and precious stones worth over $24 billion. Yes, billion dollars. It is believed that the value the valuables have been accumulated in the temple over several thousands of years, having been donated to the deity by various dynasties and various kings offerings by many worshipers making pit stops there along their globe. Trots probably also contributed to these treasures. So the Supreme Court of India and its seven members committee have already opened six of the secret vaults. A vault contained 2000 pounds of gold coins dating to around 200 BC plus a pure golden, pure golden throne with hundreds of diamonds as well as many other precious stones were found in that chamber. Metal detectors were horridly installed at the temple entrances after six days of searches revealed a treasure tro trove of artifacts, statues and temples, ornaments made of gold and blemished with jewels. A hidden treasure vault was discovered beyond the already well-known documented vault B, adding to the recent treasure finding of several other vaults. So it’s a series of vaults that they’re discovering in this temple. After they decided to do their digging and research again, this recent discovery of all B, the estimated could be in the trillions of dollars of worth of valuables, but this was where the problem starts or started. Nobody wants our dares wants to open this inner sanctum, though nobody wants to. Chamber B has long been considered by astrologers of in of India as highly mysterious, highly sacred and too dangerous to unveil it. The enormous steel door of chamber B has too massive cobras painted on it and has no bolts, no latches or any other means of entry. This is, this mystery is what we see in the Indiana Jones movie. And this chamber is historically believed to have thick walls made of solid gold and it is where the mystery really exists and could contain the largest undiscovered treasure to be found in the history of the world. And for hundreds of years, thousands of people have gone in and out of this temple building unaware of the riches that the temple contained unaware of the contents, unaware of the vast unmeasurable riches that is in this temple. And today, far too many of us, far too many believers, far too many Christians are still unaware of the unsearchable, the immeasurable riches of God that he has given, given that he has lavished upon us. And for many it still remains a mystery for us. It should be a mystery that is continually being revealed and we’re exploring and we’re in awe and in wonder of how amazing our God is. And that is what Paul is doing here in these first three chapters of Ephesians. And he comes to zoom in on this mystery and the immeasurable greatness of this mystery that God has lavished upon His focusing here on the Gentiles, both, both Jews and Gentiles. Really Paul in these verses revealed to us the mystery of God that he has planned since before the foundations of the world and Paul’s desire, and he says it here, is to make this mystery known. It wasn’t to keep it a secret. It’s not like vault B or compartment B of this tempo that nobody wants to explore ’cause they’re too afraid of how valuable the possessions are, the treasures that they’re are in, unlike those people. Paul wants the church, Paul wants the believers in Ephesians to know how God has blessed them immeasurably. And that is what we’ll be focusing on this morning into this afternoon. The ins searchable, the unsearchable, the immeasurable riches of God to us through Jesus Christ. Paul in verse six, let’s go back to verse one, to give context. Paul writes For this reason, I Paul, the prison of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace, which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known the mystery as I wrote before in brief by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Jesus Christ. So Paul there wants them to know that he wants them to get an understanding of the mysteries of God, which in other generations, and here’s the beauty, and we looked at this last week, but here’s the beauty, Paul is saying in verse five, in previous generations these were not known. These were not made known to the sons of man. There were glimpses of it, but it wasn’t as elaborate as it is now, as it is now revealed being revealed through the holy apostles and the prophets in the Holy Spirit. And here’s where we get pick up in verse six to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs. This is the mystery. The Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise, uh, in Christ through the gospel of which I was 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 the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentile, the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies. That is, this was rather in accordance with the eternal pur purpose with which he carried out in Christ Jesus, our Lord in whom we have boldness and confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they the tribulations that I’m going through that for your glory. Lord, I ask that you use me to impart knowledge and truth that is your word to your people. And may we have receptive he ears and hearts to receive it joyfully and gladly and apply it to our lives. And may we grow to appreciate and love your word more and have a desire and a passion Lord to continually teach ourselves and remind ourselves of the mysteries of your grace, your unfathomable riches towards us, but not only for our sakes, only Lord, but to have the passion and desire to tell the world about this immeasurable grace and immeasurable unfathomable riches of your grace towards us and towards them if they accept it through Christ in faith. So Lord, I ask that your spirit will lead and direct my thoughts, my words for Christ’s sake. Amen. So here in verses six to eight, Paul highlights the message of the mystery and we see that their fellow heirs, fellow partakers, we see those words repeated in Ephesians chapter two verses one to 11 to 22, sorry, we discovered that Christ’s work on the cross accomplished much more than salvation or the salvation of individual sinners. We saw in these verses two 11 to 22 that the work of Jesus Christ on the cross reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to each other and reconciled Jews and Gentiles to God. There was a peace breaking down that hostile wall. Paul reminds of it is this truth then that Paul presents here in this for are these verses and you can imagine how exciting this must have been for the church at Ephesus to hear these things, especially after they remember that they were once outside of the commonwealth, there were another part of the commonwealth of Israel. There were enemies, there were aliens. Those words must have been ringing in their ears with great joy because now they’re here and your fellow heirs, they’re partakers of the promises. So they must have been excited to hear the truth of the mystery that was being revealed to them that believe in Gentiles have this wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ in the same manner that the Jews have a relationship but is through faith in Christ Jesus. So Paul brings this south in you by using a repetition three times. He uses a repetition. They’re fellow, fellow heirs, fellow citizens, and this stresses the togetherness. This stresses a unity that exists, something that again, he’ll go and talk about more in chapter four, A unity and he talks about the unity already that exists in the body of Jesus Christ. There’s that togetherness and God’s people will now be identified by their togetherness. God’s people will now be identified as a be unified body, a one body regardless of ethnicity, a loving group that is endowed all are endowed by the Holy Spirit of God, not by circumcision, not by rituals, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. And Paul says they are fellow heirs, the Jew, the Gentiles are fellow heirs. Fellow heirs along with the Jews. They exist the fullness of grace, the promise of enduring salvation, the promise of eternal life, the promise of the life that we will receive when Jesus Christ come that is imperishable and fading. The inheritance that we will receive that is heaven. The Gentiles paused are designated as heirs of God co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Again, something that would be mind boggling to the Gentiles and even to the Jews, to know that this was God’s plan from before the foundations of the world, their status as hes is granted through their connection again with Jesus Christ, through them being adopted, being placed into the family of God, through them being made justified, declared righteous before God. And this is evidenced by their regeneration that they have been saved, they have been transformed by the but of Christ, which leads them to a vibrant hope. They fellow heirs with the Jews, they’re fellow members, they’re members of the same body. Again, Paul talks about this one body aspect and he will talk about it more in Ephesians chapter four, especially verse four are human birth determines when we’re born humanly speaking it determines our ethnic distinction, but our spiritual birth unites us as members of the same body in Christ regardless of ethnicity, regardless of which country you’re from, regardless of what the color of your skin is, we’re one in Jesus Christ. Again, Paul talks about that First Corinthians chapter 12, 12 to 14, Christ is the head of this body, which is his church. Ephesians 5 22 23. And each individual member share in this ministry, fellow heirs, they’re of the same body. And I won’t belabor these points because we have already touched on this one body aspect and the the fellow heirs, they’re partakers of the same promises of God. Finally, Paul affirms that the Gentile believers are also fellow participants of the promises of God. Paul has in mind here of course the presence of the Holy Spirit or the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he has already referred to as a Holy Spirit of promise in chapter one. Verse 13, the coming of the spirit is one of the principle blessings of this new covenant. Ezekiel chapter 36, Joel chapter 30, Joel chapter two, sorry, verses 28 to 30 something that we see fleshed out in Acts chapter two. And Peter even referred to or reference Joel chapter two in the coming of the Holy Spirit, God as their covenant keeping God gave to them, gave to the Gentiles the promise of the Holy Spirit. We read that in acts earlier this morning that Peter was confronted in Acts chapter 11, how can you eat and participate with the Gentiles? And Peter had to go right back down and say, look, the same Holy Spirit that we received, they received it. They’re part of the same body of Christ just like we are. So there’s no distinction, there’s no difference between them. God saved them in the same manner he saved us. So God as their covenant keeping, God gave them the great promise, the promise of the Spirit and through this spirit gave them, gave us gifts and place us, place the Gentiles into the body of Christ. They are recipients of eternal life, which is a gift of grace through Jesus Christ. So all of these promises along with others are found in Christ and affirmed and are secured in Jesus Christ by the Gentiles. It is through being in Christ that both Jews and Gentiles are able to partake in these promises that God gave. It is through the gospel. It is through them accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ, accepting what Christ did for them on the cross. So the gospel serves them as a proclamation of what God has promised in the covenant to his people. This message was spread among the Gentiles and was made effective in their participation in the blessings that it contained their partakers of the same promises. In verse seven, we see that their partakers of the power of God, Paul in verse seven talks about again, reminds them that he was made a minister of this mystery. He was made a minister to the Gentiles, he was given the job, given the responsibility, he was given the task or to use the word that he used, the administration or the management of proclaiming to the Gentiles the mystery that was hidden before in ages past. And he said he was made a ministry of this gift according to the grace of God, according to the power of God, according to the power. Paul again stresses his calling, stresses what he has been entrusted with to the Gentiles. But know that Paul mentioned that the power mentioned the power of God in his life. Paul is not going beyond. Paul is not trying to let the Gentiles realize that he was doing this in and of his own strength. Paul is trying to let them realize that this is through the power of the Holy Spirit, the same spirit of promise through which he’s boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Something that we’re seeing and we’ll continue to see as we study the book of Acts, that is the enablement, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit of God in the lives of the apostles that gave them the ability to proclaim boldly Jesus Christ to the world and to those whom they’re standing in front of. A power that has been made available to those who are in Christ. A power that is made available to the Gentiles, a power that is made available folks to us. It is made available to us. Interesting with these words that Paul uses here. He uses the word working, which is where we get our English word energy from. And he also uses the power which is in the Greek, which we get dynamic or dynamite from. So that dynamic energy, if you want, if you will, that’s what Paul is trying to bring across, that the power of God is this dynamic energy that is bursting out of him to these gentile believers. And again, I must emphasize that this power is also available to us. Paul already told them and he already told us about the mighty power in Ephesians chapter one verses 19 to 23 and he will continue to mention this power. He will do so in his praise verse in verse 20. He also continues in verse 16 of chapter four, Paul is trying to highlight to them and to us the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that is available to us today. They have access to this power. You and I have access to this power. Paul in verse eight says, they are inheritors of the unsearchable riches of God, the unsearchable riches. Paul calls them the exceeding riches in verse two, in verse seven of chapter two. But now here he calls them unfathomable and the word can also be translated untraceable, which means that they’re so vast when you talk about something that can’t be fully discovered is the riches of God. That’s the idea that Paul wants them to get said they’re knowable but they’re so vast. It’s like the more you delve into it, the deeper you dig, the more you find out of how vast and how unfathomable God’s riches towards us is. He said these are incomprehensible. And this word is interesting ’cause it appears no other, in no other part of the Greek, it is built on a word, the word footprint and the verbal form of this word is used for a person that is a tracker, someone who pursues another by tracing their footsteps. That’s the word that Paul is using here. The term came to be used metaphorically for the notion of searching such as spies searching out the land in judges chapter eight verse verse two. So the form that appears here in our text, which includes which is the unsearchable riches, was used in the Book of Job. Job chapter five verse nine, job chapter nine, verse 10. It was used there to describe the inscrutable and unfathomable ways of God and Paul uses it here as an exclamatory point of praise to God. In the book of Romans chapter 11, verse 33, Paul says, all the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. And here’s the word, how unsearchable har is are his judgments and his path beyond tracing out. Paul wasn’t trying to convince or discouraged the, the believers in eso, especially the Gentiles that look, don’t try to search because you will not be able to get there. Paul is trying to tell, let them know how much, how deep the riches of God is. That’s what Paul was trying to get them to say and to appreciate what God has done for them. In Colossian, Paul expresses a very similar idea when he prays that the readers might come to know here it is again that he wants them to know. That’s why he is writing to them. That’s why we read our Bibles daily. That’s why we pray and see like God was saying, we search the scriptures and see the immeasurable riches of God and right throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, it’s knowable, but it’s vast. It’s vast. That’s the idea that they might know the riches of God’s mystery, which is Jesus Christ in whom are hidden, hidden, all the treasures of wisdom, all the treasures of knowledge. Colossians two, two and three, understanding the depth of God’s word does not and should not give us a big head. It doesn’t give us a big head. It shouldn’t give us a big head. It should give us a broken and a contrite heart. In Paul’s mind, there is a profound irony in the fact that he would receive this divine gift and you sense that in Paul, you sense that verse eight, to me, the very least of all the, he didn’t even class in other parts. He said He is the least of the apostles. Paul breaks it, he, he lowers himself even more here. He said, I’m the least of all the saints and for God to have entrusted me with this task, with this precious gem, with this precious treasure, it’s beyond his wildest imagination. That is the idea that Paul is trying to say he’s now worthy, but by the grace of God, God called him to it and he is being faithful to his call like we saw last week. But Paul is saying, listen, I would be the last person I would pick to present this mystery of the truth and the immeasurable riches of God to a gentile people to let them know that they are one in Jesus Christ with God’s chosen nation. The Jews said, I wouldn’t pick me, but by the grace. And again, even within that statement shows you the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in our lives. Because even when we are thinking of ourselves as the lowest of lows, God’s still in his grace and mercy uses us for his grace and for his glory. That focuses the message of the mystery. But let us look at the magnitude of the mystery in verses nine and 10 to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages have been hidden in God, who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies or in the heavenly places. Perhaps at this point you’re asking the question, why did God keep his or keep this secret for so many centuries? Why did he keep this for so many centuries? Certainly the Old Testament clearly states that God will save the Gentiles through Israel. But nowhere are we told that both Jews and Gentiles will form a new creation. And that is the church, the body of Christ. We’re not told that the whole testament points to. And it gives us a a glimpse of what is to come. It doesn’t give us the entire story, just like general revelation. We look at it pauses in Romans that it tells us that there is a God and it tells us that he’s all powerful. But we can’t look at the trees and the nature and birds and bees and say, oh, that’s how I get saved. And that’s why we need special revelation. And theologians call this progressive revelation, God revealing in as time progresses. It was this mystery that this spirit revealed to Paul and to the other leaders, the holy apostles in the church, in the early church. And it was difficult as you read in Acts 11, for the Jews to accept you go to Galatians. It was difficult at one point even for Peter to accept. But this enduring hope that radiates through the believers in Ephesus and the book of Ephesians and the other other writings of Paul, this urges us to recommit ourselves two significant areas as Paul highlights for us this mystery was entrusted to me the least of the apo, the least of saints. And my desire in verse 10 is to make this known throughout the entire church. This should storying us two things. First, our testimony of this now revealed secret must be extended. And this is where we’re we’re getting to in in our study in acts to the farthest corners of the earth around 1950, the church in the western world, particularly what was referred to as mainline churches, began to diminish and even intentionally downplay global missionary endeavors. The efforts of the church have become a feeble commitment. The modern church lacks much passion and compassion for the spreading of this unfathomable mystery of this unfathomable riches of God or zeal or lack thereof has faded and failed to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. And two clear factors support this renewed commitment for world evangelism. One is the realization that there are 3 billion individuals who are not even nominal Christians in any sense. And that would indicate that Christ is the saving alternative to the chaos that they live in. And when you look at the spread and the the, the push for Islam, especially here in the West, and when you start seeing videos of what the Quran teaches, it is a huge deception. Folks saw a video. This man is brilliant. He, he is a converter to Christianity and he knows the Quran in and out and he knows the bible in and out. And there’s a part in the Quran where he said Allah is the chief of all deceivers. And he’s arguing this. Muslim said, do you realize that the Bible that your Quran says, ’cause the Torah said believe the Torah, this is according to the Quran. Believe the Torah, the Torah is basically scripture and said, your book is saying your God is the chief of all the Sears. My book tells me that the chief of all the Sears is Satan is the devil. So by default, your God is the devil. And folks this, this should shock us. This should stirring us that we need to be spreading the gospel of Jesus, right? We don’t need to have a theological education, but God, the word of Jesus Christ, the alternative is this mystery that God has entrusted us with. Secondly, the understanding that the simplistic idea of theologian, theological liberalism rather which asserts that all religious path. And we hear this so often. This is another reason why we need to stand firm on the word of God. All religious path leads to God and they’re all equally valid. And this has not brought, if you haven’t noticed, which I know you have brought anyone closer to God, it has driven a wedge deeper in society, driven them farther away from the God of the Bible. And this ideology is a false statement. Matthew seven verse 13 completely destroys this ideology that all road leads to God. And of course they’re looking at this from a Salvi standpoint, meaning we’re all gonna end up in heaven anyways. Matthew seven 13, enter by the narrow gate, why for the gate is wide and the way is easy. That leads to what? Destruction. So there is a way that leads to destruction and is broad, but those who and those who enter by it are many. That doesn’t tell me that all roads lead to a bliss, blissful heaven. Verse 14 of that same text, Matthew seven for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, eternal life. And those who find it are few folks, our awareness of this new revealed secret of Christ must be acknowledged, must be nurtured within the faith communities from of which we belong. Here’s an interesting analogy that I came across. If a single wasp discovered a dispositive of honey, honey, honey, sorry, or other food, he will return to his nest and in part this good news to his companions who will of course partake of the honey if they so if they can of this honey that was discovered. And this is a quote from Persian, so shall we who this is what he concludes Persian based on this analogy of insects. Shall we who have found honey in the rock of Jesus Christ be less considerate of our fellow men than wasps of their fellow insects? If a wasp finds something good is what Spurgeon is saying and goes back instead of do indulging in it by himself saying, man, this is all for me. Nobody else is around. This is phenomenal, this is marvelous. But he goes back and say, Hey guys, I found honey, let’s go indulge. How much more we who have been entrusted with this immeasurable riches and this immeasurable witness and mystery of God to just keep it for ourselves. Paul tells us that the principalities and powers are also involved in this great mystery. Angels who are created beings of course aren’t omniscience, they’re not all knowing. And Peter reminds us in one Peter one verse 10 to 12, that the angels were curious about the the plan of salvation that God has been and is still working out in the lives of humanity. And that is why we’re told that the angels in heaven rejoice. Luke mentions is Luke 1510 said, the angels rejoice is as though they’re grateful that God is being gracious to mankind. But each salvation of each individual comes as a revelation to them to have this mystery that God has planned since the foundation of the world. Luke says, the angels rejoice in heaven over repentance of 1 1, 1 last sinner. They’re not sitting away and wait guys, we gotta wait till a number of them are saved until we make a choral. No one sinner. One sinner, the manifold wisdom of God. Verse 10, the angels know about the power of God in creation. They’ve seen it. But the wisdom of God as seen in the new creation of the church is something that is new even to them. Unsaved men, including wise philosophers, look at God’s plan of salvation and considers it as Paul says in one Corinthians one 18 to 31 foolishness, foolishness. But to us it’s the power of God to salvation. It’s the power of God. God hid this great plan for his purposes From the beginning of the world, but now he wants this mystery to be made known by his church. I hope you got that by his church. He wants this to be permeated into the world by us and it makes sense, does it not, because we don’t expect the politicians to go and proclaim Jesus Christ. That’s not gonna be their main mantra. In fact, that’s not gonna be their mantra at all. We don’t expect the world out there. You see free Palestine and black lives matter and all sorts of nonsense. You don’t see Jesus Christ being proclaimed by them. Why? Because they have not experienced the mystery of the grace of God and the riches of God in their life. We have. So that is our responsibility to go out there to the world and proclaim Christ to them. That is our responsibility, that is in our hands. Paul was made a steward of this and he wanted all men to know that he was, this was his mission. This is his field work so to speak. All believers, all of us are to be faithful stewards of this great truth. All of us. The onus is not just on Paul. Paul has been long gone. This sacred secret that was so important to Paul that was so important to the Gentiles in the church in Ephesus that was so important even to angels, has now been placed in our hands and we need to treat it with faithfulness. This is our duty to make all men see, to teach all men the mystery of this truth. We need to tell them about God. We need to tell them about Jesus Christ. That is the magnitude. That is the magnitude of this. Finally we look at the mandate to the church verses 11 to 13. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. So before the world began, so God had this plan to have Jews and Gentiles be one in body in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I’m suffering for you, which is your glory. When God saved Paul, he deposited with him this precious truth of the gospel, treasure of the gospel. Paul in turn committed these truth to others, exhorting them to commit the truth or these truth to faithful men who will not only guard them but also sheer them. So you see, it’s a never ending cycle until Jesus Christ calls us home or until he comes for his world. He says in first, in second Timothy two verse two oh Timothy or one Timothy six 20, keep that which is committed to your to your trust at the close of his life. That is Paul’s life. Paul would say to the glory of God, I have kept the faith. Two Timothy four, seven, I have kept the faith, I have fought the good fight. I’ve run the race. I’m ready to leave. I’m ready to go. And you sense in that that there was no regret in the life that Paul lived for Jesus Christ. There was no hint of regret that man, I could have done more, I should have done more. He was faithful to his calling. During those apostolic days, the truth of the gospel and the mystery were guarded. They were preached. They were handed down to faithful men who continue to guard, preach and hand them down. And that is no different for us today. We need to guard it, we need to preach it and we need to continue to hand it down. And I say the era that we failed most as church in general, not not necessarily here is the guarding of the word of God. We preach it and we entrust it to other faithful people who will continue to preach it. And but the guarding of it that is so vital ’cause it’s so easy and you again, it’s how there where they distort the word of God so easily. It is said that you can make God’s word say whatever it wants. You can apply to any aspect of your life no matter how grotesquely sinful it is. You can use the word of God for that ’cause. One verse taken outta context or a passage taken outta context is that simple. And that is how a lot of cults and false religions be started. A study of church history reveals that one by one, many of the basic truth of the word of God were lost during the centuries that followed. God always had his faithful people in the minority, but many of the great truth of the word of God were buried under manmade theology, traditions and rituals. Then God’s spirit began to open the eyes of seeking souls. And these great truth were unveiled. Martin Luther, the champion of justification. That’s the reformer, not the the what. What is Martin? Not Martin Luther King Jr. But Martin Luther the reformer said this other spiritual leaders rediscovered the person and the 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. But this truth, the mystery has again excited the hearts of God people and we rejoice that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Most of us are familiar with and can identify with Napoleon Bonaparte as the world or the would be rather conquer of Europe. But many not many would name him as a patron of har arts and science. And he was in July 17, 98, Napoleon began to occupy Egypt by September, 1801. He was forced to get out. Those three years meant failure as far as military power is concerned and political power is concerned. But the main success in one area that greatly interested him and that is archeology. In August, 1799, a Frenchman named Busan discovered the Rosetta Stone about 30 miles from Alexandria Egypt. This discovery gave archeologists the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics. And it opened the door to modern Egyptian studies. Folks, the mystery that God has revealed through Paul here, that is our Rosetta stone. It is the key to what God has promised in the Old Testament, what Christ did in the gospel, what Christ did on the cross. It is the key to what we see in the early church in the Book of Acts. What Paul and the other writers of the Bible teaches in their epistles and in their writings. God’s program today is not the headship of Israel but the headship of Christ in his church. That is his program. The reason so many churches are weak and ineffective is because they don’t understand what they have in Christ. And we can individualize that. The reason why so many Christians are weak and ineffective is because we do not realize what we have and who we are in Jesus Christ. And of course the cause of this is often spiritual leaders who are not good stewards of the mystery of Christ is because they don’t rightly divide the word of God as Paul instructs Timothy to do. They confuse their people concerning their spiritual position in Christ and they rob the people of their spiritual wealth in Christ Jesus. Folks, this great truth concerning the church is not a divine afterthought. It wasn’t something that came after the fact. It wasn’t something that God said, man, things aren’t working according to plan. I need a plan B. No, it was a part of God’s eternal plan. Ephesians three 11. And to ignore this truth is to sin against what God the Father has planned. It’s a sin against what the God the Son made possible through his death. And it’s a sin against the God, the Holy Spirit who today seeks to work in the lives to accomplish God’s plan in mankind. We can’t ignore this. And when you and I understand this truth, it gives you and I great confidence in our faith. Paul reminds us in verse 12, posit in whom we have boldness and who is the whom referring to your Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ we have boldness, boldness and confidence to access him through faith, confidence, meaning boldness or freedom of speech. This is not being presumptuous, this isn’t being presumptuous, this isn’t being arrogance. That’s not what Paul is saying here. This Paul isn’t saying here we should go name it, claim it. When we go to God decree and declare it when we go to God, that’s arrogance. Paul is saying we go boldly, we go confidently, we go freely. Freedom of speech. We don’t have to be afraid to approach God. And you contrast this with Adam who hid himself among the trees of the garden. You contrast this with people who are calling on the mountains to fall on them and for rocks to cover them. We poss, both Jews and Gentiles have this confidence to go boldly to God and not only confident Paul. He says we have full access. Full access. And this is in an interesting word because this is a access that is similar to that of the high priest going into the holy of Holies in the Old Testament era. And we are told this in Hebrews chapter 10, that we have boldness to enter the holy of Holies and we have this confidence because of our faith in Christ Jesus. The confidence of being welcome, the confidence of being accepted when we go into God’s presence springs and encourages our faith. We believe that he indeed is our propitiation. He’s indeed our peace. He’s indeed our reconciler. He’s indeed our is the one that intercedes on our behalf. And as a result we can go to the father boldly because of Jesus Christ. And then Paul ends this section in verse 13, therefore I ask you don’t lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf. And it’s interesting ’cause remember I said Paul starts off this verse one, he starts off with prayer and then he just completely goes off on a tangent and goes into this mystery, forgets that he’s praying. Well, not necessarily because the Holy Spirit was guiding him. He’ll continue this prayer in verse 14 next week. In the same, in similar fashion, we see something of this nature in verse two. Paul starts in the Greek original language. If you have a if clause, there must be a then clause. If this, then this. There’s a if clause in verse two. If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace, which was given to me. And there’s not a then clause until verse 13. If you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me. Therefore then since you have heard of this and that if is a what is called a first class conditional clause, meaning you can translate it since you have heard it’s stating a fact. Since you have heard of my stewardship, my responsibility as my administering the gospel of grace, don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart, don’t be disturbed, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be perturbed of what I am going through on your behalf. Paul says this is for your glory. Can you imagine Paul saying this suffering that I’m enduring is for your glory. It is working out for your glory. Me proclaiming to you the immeasurable riches of God and suffering because of that. Paul says, I’ll take that gladly because I see the fruit you’re growing, you are being, people are being saved. And it’s something similar to what he says in Romans chapter eight, verse 31. What then shall we say to these things if God is for us, who can be against us? Powerful passage of scripture where he highlights that nothing can separate us. And you can see why Paul makes that statement. Because God went through so much in his son Jesus Christ to ensure that nothing can indeed separate us from the love of God we have in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful, marvelous mystery. It is that God has combined two sets of people, Jews and Gentiles, and were no one in Christ Jesus. Paul has entru has been or was entrusted with this mystery and he proclaimed it faithfully to the end of his life, literally the end of his life where his head was taken off and he could say, with boldness and confident, I have fought the good fight. I have kept the faith. Now there lay up for me a crown of glory. Folks, let’s defend. Let’s defend this immeasurable riches of God. Let’s continue to preach to ourselves and to the surrounding communities and to the world the immeasurable riches of God. Let us entrust this with faithful men who will continue the work of protecting, preaching and promoting the immeasurable riches of God. We have to stand firm on this. It’s too precious, it is too precious for us to take lightly. We need to be on guard in protecting the word of God comes what may, that’s what Paul says in verse 13. God is being glorified through you. And if it means me being in prison, that’s fine, that’s fine because I am faithful to God to proclaim his truth to the world. Father, we’re so thankful, so grateful Lord for you in your providence revealing this mystery at the right time. Lord, according to your timing, to Paul and to the other apostles who entrust these truth and these this mystery to the different churches and by application Lord has been entrusted to us. Lord, we I echo that song. If we had pens or scroll that stretched from sky to sky and if the entire ocean body, the bodies of waters that we have were ink, it still couldn’t contain your love and that love that is your mystery, that you have called us together in Christ a unified body. May we continue to strive for that unity. May we continue to endeavor to maintain that unity. But Lord, may we continue to eagerly contend earnestly for the faith that was delivered to us, that so many Lord, as we are in the era of Reformation, period, so many stood firm and have lost their lives in horrific manner because they say we are standing on God’s word and we will not shy away from proclaiming his truth and his excellences to this crooked world. God, may that be our desire. May that be our ambition. May that be our passion to be faithful ministers of yours in proclaiming the truth of your word, reminding ourselves of it and telling the world of it for Christ’s sake. Amen.