It is a good thing that you approve in the budget each year and allowing the staff to get away for this time of retreat in Chicago at the Bible Conference. It does something special to us and our wives in unifying us, refreshing us in the things of the Lord as we are preached to together. This last week we were privileged to hear such men as Dr. Howard Hendricks, Dr. David Jeremiah, Dr. Joseph Stoll, Dr. Ron Blue, Dr. Donald Baker. These men were the instruments of God in our
lives. We thank the Lord for the opportunity to be there and to hear them and to come back refreshed. I don't know about you, but I like daffy -nitions. Do you know what I mean by that? When I was a kid, I think it was Parade magazine that used to have those with some regularity. I always got a chuckle out of the words which were defined in such a manner. I came across some this last week that I thought were pretty good. You know what a diner is? A choo -choo
car. They get better. Do you know what a hypocrite is? A definition for a hypocrite is someone who prays to God on Sunday and prays on people the rest of the week. That's more painful than funny. A church nursery. A ballroom. Marriage is defined as the ways and means committee. She directs the ways, he furnishes the means. An alarm clock, a mechanism used to scare the daylights into you. An antique, a piece of furniture that's paid for. Being of some Irish extract, I appreciate
this definition of blarney. It's simply bologna coated with an Irish smile. A honeymoon, the period between I do and you'd better. A pedestrian is a husband who didn't think the family needed two cars. And here's a wife's definition of retirement, twice as much husband on half as much income. Well, I enjoy definitions, but definitions are more practical for us, and today we're going
to look at some definitions. We're particularly interested in defining the term the mystery of Christ, which has been the focus of our study in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 1 through 13. Webster defines a mystery as, quote, something unexplained, anything or event that remains so secret or obscure as to excite curiosity. In theology, any assumed truth that cannot be comprehended by the human mind but must be accepted by faith,
close quote. Well, while those definitions are certainly correct in certain situations, This term that we're looking at today, the mystery of Christ, cannot be defined in those terms. Last week we looked at the messenger of the mystery of Christ, and of course that is the beloved apostle Paul. Today we want to look at the meaning of the mystery of Christ. It is important for you and me to grasp the significance. of the
meaning of this term. Without the grasp of the meaning of the mystery of Christ, one will be confused in his interpretation of the New Testament. By the way, nearly as critical as the doctrine of inspiration is the doctrine of interpretation. How do we know what the Bible means? It is called in theology hermeneutics. Herman who? Hermeneutics. It is the science and art of biblical interpretation. I repeat, I believe that nearly as important as the doctrine of inspiration is the doctrine
of how one interprets the Bible. We as a church are committed to what is called the literal, or perhaps better, the normal interpretation of the Scriptures. That means that we interpret the Bible as it normally would seem to be interpreted in its context. That's not hard to do once one has the idea. That's the way that we read the newspaper, for example. We read the front page, the hard news, from a certain perspective. We interpret it that way. We turn further in and
we see an advertisement. It claims to be a going -out -of -business sale at this furniture store. Well, we interpret that in a certain context. Then we turn a little farther to the editorial page, and we know that these are opinions, and so we interpret those in that way. And then we go back to the comic strips, and we read those and interpret them a different way. You see, that's simply applied normal interpretation. And we simply use the same procedure when we
come to the Bible. We interpret it in a literal way, which means that we interpret it as it normally should be interpreted in that context. Now one important principle of normal interpretation is this. Before deciding what a passage means, be sure that you have properly understood or defined the words and phrases in that verse. As you come to our text today in Ephesians 3, you must first understand what the mystery of Christ is before you can properly interpret this
passage. Let's talk first about a definition, particularly of the term mystery. We see a definition written for us in verse 5, but I would like you to turn to two other additional words regarding the definition of the word mystery in the New Testament. First, go back with me to the book of Romans, to the 16th chapter. We'll look at verses 25 and 26. Romans chapter 16, verse 25. Not him who is able to establish you according
to my gospel. and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations,
leading to obedience of faith. Now keeping in mind what it says there, would you turn into the New Testament to the book of Colossians and the first chapter and see another verse that defines for us what the word mystery means in the Bible. Paul is speaking about the gospel again, and he says in verse 26 of Colossians 1, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations. but has now
been manifested to his saints. You will notice similar phrases in the two texts that we've just read. Let's go back to Ephesians, where we're going to focus our attention today and see if we don't find some very similar wording. In Ephesians 3, verse 4, and by referring to this, 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 has now been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets in the Spirit. 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. Now, as long as we're talking about a definition for this phrase, the mystery of Christ, I want you to notice first, that it's called the mystery of Christ. That tells us at least two things. First of all, the source of this mystery is Christ.
That is, it is something from him to us. Secondly, the mystery of Christ tells us that he is also the substance of the mystery. In other words, the mystery that we're going to talk about is something not only from him, but it is something about him. There was a great deal revealed in the Old Testament about the Christ, the anointed of God, but now something more is about to be unveiled. This additional truth was, as it says here in verse 5, not made known. to the sons
of men in other generations. This additional truth was unknown in previous generations. It was veiled, perhaps, in some references, but even the writers of those Old Testament texts did not understand the fullness of what they were writing. In 1 Peter 1, verses 10 through 12, Peter tells us that those holy men of old diligently sought to know the meaning of their own words, and yet were not given the privilege
of understanding them with full insight. And so some of these things incorporated in the mystery may have been in a veiled way spoken about in the Old Testament, but not in a way that even the writers could comprehend. Now with the light, the spotlight of the New Testament, we can go back to the Old Testament and study texts that come to life. Truth pops out at us because of the additional light that we have that even that
author back then did not possess. We are told here that the mystery in its fullness was not known in other generations previously, but it goes on to say it has now been revealed. In other words, God has chosen to unveil the fullness of the mystery. And notice that he has done it now, it says, N -O -W, a key word, because that word reminds us that God does not continuously reveal truth. God gives a little bit here, a little bit there through this writer and that
one in the Old Testament. And then for 400 years there is silence, no revelation from God until the light dawns and the Lord Jesus Christ is born. And then revelation is once more given to man in that first century. But by the end of the first century, once more, the door was shut on revelation. God had said, God had unveiled, God had exposed all that he intended to unveil. So that when the last of the inspired books was
penned by John the Apostle, nearly in 100 A .D., many years after the death and resurrection of Christ, There is a warning given at the end of that book not to add to or to take away from the things that were written in that book. And not just in that book, but because of its unique place, we believe it applies to the whole Bible. In other words, God at that time, in that generation, as Paul was writing contemporaneously, saying, now God is revealing. But beloved, today God
is not revealing new truth. God is illuminating us. God is giving us new light. God is giving us understanding. God is teaching us. But he is not unveiling brand new truths. That was done through the writers of this book. And our job today is to study this book. That's why we make such an emphasis on this here in Grace Church. Now Paul, as he was writing, says God has now revealed it. Notice to whom. Who are the recipients? Well, he says it's to the holy apostles and prophets.
That is, those who are part of the foundation stage of the church. Generally speaking, we can say the apostles received from God the doctrine. And those prophets in those early days received from God practical instructions. They did not have the written New Testament books. They were still being penned. And so God gave to them practical understanding. What do you do in this emergency? How do you handle that situation? What do you say to a group of people like this over there?
God gave to the prophets direct revelation as to how to handle those things, how to cover those situations, what to say to those people. Those were the prophets. It was direct revelation. God gave it to them. And notice that he gave it to them, as it says here, in the Spirit. Here we have the identity of the revealer. The Holy Spirit throughout the Bible is the agent of revelation. As Peter says in 2 Peter 1 .21, regarding the Old Testament writers, but applying to the New
as well. He says that they were born along, they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to the apostles, when the Spirit of truth has come, He will bring to your minds these things that I have said to you. The Spirit of God is the agent of revelation. He is the one who enabled these men to write so that what they wrote were words beyond their own. They came out of the vocabulary of those men. But as they wrote, what they wrote was the very thought. They were the
very words of God. There's a marvelous miracle in this book that we have that we call the Bible. It is the revelation of God. Well, in this revelation, we have exposed to us the mystery. It is truth. that was previously hidden, but has now been made known by revelation from God. The Greek word here is the word musterion. It is the root word for our word, mystery. The word musterion is similar to terms in pagan religions of that
day. These cultic groups had secrets which were given to their initiates, not unlike some of the lodges today who claim to have certain secrets that are passed on only to their members. Well, that procedure is rooted all the way back into paganism. Those mystery religions, as they were called, had certain mysteries, certain secrets, that were passed on to the people who came in to their particular group. For example, those
who worshiped Isis and Osiris. And if you recognize those terms, they are names of cartoon figures that some of your children are watching on Saturday morning. Some of these cartoons are absolutely pagan in their origin. They go back to the gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology. Did you know that? There were people who worshipped Isis and Osiris. It was a very serious religion back in the days of the Apostle Paul. Well, the people who were converted to the worship of these
figures were given certain mysteries. Now, there's a contrast between the word mystery in the New Testament and those mysteries. Those mysteries in pagan religion, and it was a very similar term, two or three of them that were used. Those mysteries were intended for concealment. But the term musterion or mystery in the New Testament is for revealment. It's to expose, not to hide. Likewise, there are some liberal scholars who tell us that Paul borrowed some of his ideas
from these mystery religions. They say, for example, that Paul got the idea of baptism. and of the Lord's Supper from the mystery religions of his day. Someone else has said that Paul got the idea of the resurrection from the mystery religions of his day. That is absolutely false. These ideas and teachings, these commandments, were given to us by revelation from God. Paul did not borrow
them from the mystery religions. While there may be similar terms that are used, Entirely different meanings are given to these similar words. A mystery, in the New Testament sense, by definition, is something that God allowed to remain hidden in the past, but which He has now been pleased to reveal to us in this age. Now let's talk about the description of this
mystery that we have defined in brief. A fuller description is given to us in verse 6, where he says, to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members, and fellow partakers. Here we have another statement regarding the unification of Jew and Gentile. The church, which began as only Jewish, now embraces Gentiles as well. Indeed, a new identity is given to both the Jew and the Gentile who believes on Christ. No longer is he Jew. No longer is he Gentile.
But now he is in Christ Jesus, a new person, a new creation. As it says back in chapter 2 and verse 15, He made the two into one new man. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be found in the Old Testament. It did not exist then. The truth of the church did not exist in the Old Testament, in the revelation of God.
It existed in the mind of God, but it was not until the times of the apostles and prophets, and specifically and especially through Paul, that God exposed to us the doctrines regarding the church. What we see here is not an alliance between Jew and Gentile. This is not an agreement between them to get along. But what we have here is rather an amalgamation of both Jew and Gentile
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is so difficult for you and me today to understand what this meant to the first generation church. The inbred discrimination, the deep hatred between Jew and Gentile was so real in that day. Now it is in part of our world today as well. But it was everywhere in that day. The Jew arrogantly despised the Gentile. The pagan Gentile looked with disgust upon the Jews who thought they were
better than everybody else. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ came and took away the barrier of the dividing wall and united Jew and Gentile through faith in himself. So that today there is not a Gentile church and a Jewish church. That is not the plan of God. I know that there are some people who believe in what is called messianic churches. That is, converted Jews. who worship together. Their idea is that they should worship together and let the Gentiles
worship over here. There are some fine men in America today who believe that. It is absolutely unbiblical. That is not the plan of God. The Lord Jesus Christ has removed these human and earthly bases for discrimination and separation among people. Another example is found back in Galatians chapter 3. Would you turn there with me? And look at verses 26 to 29. Paul says to them, You are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus. For all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free man. There is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to promise. You see, there is not room in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ for a fellowship for the rich over
here and for the poor over there. It is not the plan of God in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ for the men to sit here and for the women to be around the perimeter as it was in the Jewish synagogues. It is not the plan of God for there to be a Gentile church here on this corner and a Jewish church on that corner. I'll go further. It is not the plan of God for there to be a white
church here and a black church there. And that is true whether it be St. Paul, Minnesota, Forsyth County, Georgia, or Johannesburg, South Africa. Those kinds of separations do not exist in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. These differences rooted in human prejudice and discrimination have no place among those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. For we are all one in Christ. Now the Old Testament did reveal some things about the relationship between God and
Gentiles. Let me just review a couple of them with you. First of all, in the Old Testament, God promised that the Gentiles, non -Jews, that the Gentiles would be recipients of blessing, through the Abrahamic covenant. In Genesis chapter 12, verse 3. Genesis 18, 18. Genesis 22, verse 18. In all of these verses, you will read that God planned to bless the Gentiles as a result
of his covenant with faithful Abraham. And you can also read in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Isaiah, That God's plan was, even then, to save Gentiles. In Isaiah chapter 42, verse 1, again in verse 6, Isaiah 49, verse 6, Isaiah 60, verse 3, just three or four examples of many verses that tell us even back then in the Old Testament, God explained that he was
going to save Gentile people. But the concept now, listen now, the concept in those days, was that God would save them by converting to Judaism. God would bring blessing to the nations, to the Gentiles, through Israel. But the mystery that was not known then, and was only known after the apostles, and I say again, especially the apostle Paul, is this truth that Jew and Gentile would become equal. That they would become one
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not that God was going to bless the Gentiles through the Jews. But now at the cross, Jew and Gentile are on equal ground. And they come by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ into the church. This new identity, this new entity, this new humanity that God is putting together. in this age. That unique relationship was revealed through the Apostle Paul. It was not known in the Old Testament. And that, my
friend, is what the mystery of Christ is. There are other aspects to it, but that's the heart of it. Now, there are three terms that are used in verse 6 to elaborate on this unity. First, fellow heirs. That has to do with the legality of our relationship. It has to do with inheritance. What he's saying here is that Gentiles share equally with Jews as both believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Gentiles will share in the covenant of Abraham by faith, Galatians 3, verses 6 through
9. Gentiles and Jews who come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ become the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The promises, the material national promises given to Abraham and the Jewish people are fulfilled spiritually in the church. That's not what I mean. Those promises will literally, materially, on earth, be fulfilled in the kingdom age, the millennium of Christ, which is to come. But there's a very real sense, says the apostle in Galatians, in which we Gentiles now become
fellow heirs. And so it has to do with our legality in our relationship. Then fellow members deals with life. It has to do with our being fellow members in the body. We share the same life. You see, my ear shares the same life principle with my big toe. They're about six feet or a little less than that apart. But there's the same life supporting them, you see. My tongue, which I just about bit off during breakfast this morning, shares the same life principle with
my thumb. What's the point? The point is this, that when you and I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are added to the body of Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's the biblical definition of that, baptism. We are placed into the body of Christ, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And as we are placed into that body, we are made members of the body. We have a use, we have a function in the body, and God gifts us to fulfill that function. We share the same life in Jesus
Christ. We're part of the same body, you see. We are fellow members. And then we are fellow partakers. This is not terribly different than the other two. but it seems to deal with the idea of liberty here. The first deals with legality. We are fellow heirs of the inheritance in Christ Jesus. The second has to do with life. We are fellow members of the body. The third has to do with liberty. We are fellow partakers of the promise. This term, fellow partakers, was used
in that day. It is discovered in some of the papyri that has been found by archaeologists. of the co -owners of a house. What did it mean? Well, it meant that those who owned the house had the same liberty in the house. It belonged to them equally. We are said to be co -owners of the promise, explaining that no longer are we excluded from these promises, no longer excluded from the nation of Israel. Now we are part of that. We are fellow partners, fellow partakers
of the promise. We have wonderful liberty in the Lord Jesus Christ. No longer are we Gentiles outside. But God has opened the way for Gentiles and Jews to be a part of this, to share the same liberty in Christ Jesus. You see, this mystery, this unity, which is revealed here, is the unity that Jesus prayed for in John chapter 17, when he prayed that we all may be one. just as he
is one with the Father. There are some very sincere and well -meaning people who use that prayer today to try to accomplish denominational ecumenism, bringing everybody together under one roof. I want you to know that that is not what Jesus prayed for. If that is what Jesus prayed for in John chapter 17, then his prayer has never been answered. What did Jesus pray for when he said, Father, I pray that they may be one, just as we are one. He was praying for our essential
unity, not denominational unity. That won't happen on this earth with our imperfections, our own convictions and ideas. But he was praying for essential unity. which occurred, by the way, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God came and began this new body, this new entity called the Church. And every time someone believes on Christ and is added as a member to the body, that prayer is answered all over again, unity, that they may be one as we are one. Now unity
is very special. It is the unity of the Godhead itself. It is a unity that is indivisible, and that is why Paul says so strongly in chapter 4, look you people, he says, guard the unity which the Spirit has produced in your midst. Because you see, the unity of a church is its glory. The unity of a church is its witness to a watching world. So Paul says to guard it. Well,
let me close with the determination. We've talked about a definition of the mystery of Christ, a description of the mystery of Christ, its unity. And now let's talk about a determination. There are two things I want to say about that flow out of the end of verse 6. First of all, participation of Jew or Gentile is limited. It is only for those who are in Christ Jesus, as it says there. It is only for those who are in Christ Jesus. You see, eternal destiny is determined by one's
essential unity and identity. One who is identified with the world, will have the destiny of the world, which is judgment. One who is identified with the Lord Jesus Christ will share the destiny of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is eternal glory. Every one of us today is identified either with the world and with sin, or we are identified with the Lord Jesus Christ. Participation of Jew and Gentile is limited. Not every Jew, Not every Gentile is a part of what we're talking
about today. It is only that Jew and that Gentile who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ and is thereby in Christ Jesus. You say, how do you get to that position? I'm over here. I'm identified with sin. I'm identified with the world, and I know I'm lost. How do I get identified over here with Christ? How do I get plugged in? Well, the answer is, and the second thing that we notice, participation of Jew or Gentile is available. Available to anyone through the gospel. The last three words
of verse 6. Through the death, the burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. Participation by Jew or Gentile is available to all. All one has to do is to believe, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. The gospel is a precious and personal love message from God to Jew and to Gentile. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, he died for Jew and for Gentile. And now since the Jew and the Gentile are on the same level, anyone, whether Jew or Gentile,
may come to Christ and be saved. Anyone can appropriate by faith the gospel, the good news, that Christ died for our sins and rose again. Our friend, he died for your sins. And the way has been opened for you to come to him. This last week we had the opportunity as a staff to visit the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton. If you have not been there, I would urge you to go sometime to see the museum. In one wing they have what is called
a walk through the gospel. As you enter that wing, there is a sign on the wall inscribing for all to read John 3 .16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And as you turn from that sign and proceed, you immediately are confronted by the cross. And as you approach the cross, you enter through a door in the shape of a cross.
How beautifully that depicts the gospel. How is it that we participate in the mystery of Christ? How is it that we become in Christ? It is through the gospel. It's by coming through that door that Jesus Christ has opened through his work at the cross. Anyone may appropriate that. by faith. In the first service this morning, we had a married man, a young married man in his 20s, who's attended church for some time, but who today, for the first time, received the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith. I can't help but believe in this congregation at this hour that there's someone, some person, who understands what it is to be saved, and you're ready this morning to make that same decision. Participation is limited, but it's also available to anyone who will come to Christ in faith. Let's bow together. With our heads bowed and eyes closed, I wonder, my friend, if the Spirit of God may be working in your heart at this moment. You've been in
church. You've heard the gospel. You know the story of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. But up to this point, up to this point in your life, there's not been that personal commitment to the Lord Jesus. There hasn't been that personal appropriation by faith of the gospel. Dear friend, will you understand that that's God's only means to save you? But it is his means. And he makes it available to you right now. Will you, in the quietness of your own heart, right where you're
seated, pray to the Lord Jesus? Will you acknowledge to him your personal sins? For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Will you tell him that that includes you? And will you tell him also that you understand that he came into the world and died for your sins? That you believe what the Bible says, that he rose from the dead? And you are personally, at this moment, committing your eternal destiny to the act of
receiving him as your Savior. My friend, if that has been the prayer of your heart, and God knows your heart, The words are not so important as the spirit of your heart. If that has been your prayer in these moments, with heads bowed and eyes closed, would you lift your hand to let me know that? As that young man did earlier this morning, would you say by the uplifted hand, Pastor, today, for the first time in my life, I have received the Lord Jesus. I've prayed and
asked him to save me from my sin. Would you lift your hand and then put it down? I'm not going to come back and grab you or embarrass you, but I would like to be able to pray for you. Is there one? Yes, today I believe. Today I receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my own. Father, we bless you for the mystery of Christ, for the fact that you have revealed to us this wonderful truth that we are fellow heirs and fellow partakers
of the promise in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in this message, and at the same time we recognize that it's not for us only, but it's for the world. I pray that you will make us adequate conveyors of this message, faithful proclaimers of it, not only in our community, but personally and through our missionaries around the world. Thank you, Father, that you have exposed to us this truth that has been hidden in previous generations and by which we are related to you in this age.
In the church, the body of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand together. Would you sing with me without accompaniment? Everyone standing. Amazing.