The Mystery, the Ministry, and Me, Part 2

Today on Insight for Living from Chuck Swindoll. The mystery is that the Gentiles are in. Fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ. Imagine that as a Gentile. First century Gentile, your life has been emptied, vacant of any purpose, and you hear the Gospel and you know that Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures and will save you from your sins if you'll only believe.

And when I believed it, I would be as close to the heart of God as the Jew who has just believed it. While under house arrest, the apostle Paul wrote several New Testament books. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Paul's letter to the Ephesians in a series called Becoming a People of Grace. In Ephesians chapter 3, we read about the mysterious union of Jews and Gentiles, two diverse people groups who were brought together as fellow heirs through the miraculous work of Jesus Christ.

If you missed any portion of Thursday's program, we'll begin with helpful review. Chuck titled his message, The Mystery, the Ministry, and Me. Now when I came to Ephesians chapter 3 and looked closely, a word got stuck in my throat in the very first verse, because it was so different.

It was unexpected. And if you've never read the New Testament or if you've never studied Ephesians, when you come to this word and you see another name before it, you say they don't go together. If it began, for this reason I, Paul, the apostle, you'd expect it and you'd read on.

Or for this reason, I, Paul, the church planter, the missionary, you could go on. But prisoner? Prisoner? I'm reading a letter from an inmate? I'm reading something that a man wrote from jail? Literally he was under house arrest, but nevertheless a prisoner. And I don't read any pity party, I don't read any poor me, I don't read anything, but as we're going to see rejoicing and gratitude and on and on, I think, how does he do it?

We're back. Because Paul knew the why, he could endure the what? Without God's permission, nothing happens. See how he begins it?

For this reason, there's the why. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner, not the prisoner of Rome, not the prisoner of angry Jews, not the prisoner of unfair circumstances, but I am the prisoner of Christ Jesus under whose banner I live my life regardless of my circumstances. You say that? That's your attitude? Could you? Could you say that?

Where you find yourself today? I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. If I wind up under arrest, it's no shock to God. It's all part of his plan, and especially if it is an unfair arrest. It helps me if I know why, then I can go through the what. And I love it that there is no feel sorry for me in his line here or anywhere else in his writings.

I don't know of anyone who rose above his circumstances better in the New Testament, save Christ alone, than the Apostle Paul. There's a logical reason that he's in prison. See the words for this reason?

I've got in my mind an arrow that points straight up into chapter two. What's the logical reason? Well, his message. He has had a message that was very unpopular among the Jews. They didn't want that message preached. All of their lives, certainly all of their religion, they had seen themselves as uniquely exclusive to God. They are God's people, and to them, God's law was given, and from them, God's truth was to be made known. They were to be the missionaries to the Gentiles.

They forgot that. And finally, God broke through and gave the Apostle Paul the revelation that when you're a Gentile and you come to Christ, you're in the same family as a Jew who comes to Christ. There's a theological reason. His Lord, his Lord has made sure he's there. Stop and think. When else would Paul have had the time to write four letters if it hadn't been for two years in prison?

Think about it. He wrote Philemon, he wrote Colossians, he wrote Ephesians, and he wrote Philippians. He wrote all four of these letters during the two-year imprisonment. That's why they're called the prison epistles.

While in that house arrest, he wrote those letters. Furthermore, he was evangelizing Caesar's household. Look at Philippians chapter 1, verse 12. Just the next book after Ephesians, Philippians 1, 12. I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances, that's his imprisonment, have turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel. Verse 13, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well-known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else.

And look at this next one, in 4, I think it's 4, 22. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. Isn't that great? You know how they heard? Well, you've got a prisoner chained right here. He can't get away. I mean, you've got a guard chained to the prisoner. And Paul says, I'm going to tell you about Christ. The guard says, I don't want to hear it.

Well, a lot of luck. I'm going to tell you anyway. You're not going anywhere. And he tells him of Christ, and he comes to know Christ. He receives the Lord Jesus. So he gets unshackled, and he goes back to the barracks, and he says, you guys will never believe this. But I just met the most amazing man you'll ever meet. People say, oh, are you kidding? That same guy told you about Christ?

Yeah, you're on duty tomorrow, by the way. And this guy goes the next day, and he gets chained. And finally the word travels all across Caesar's household. I just think that's fantastic, man. Paul did it while he's imprisoned, and there under house arrest, waiting for trial.

I just think that's fantastic. That's part of God's plan. You know why it's fun to look back on it? Because we weren't there for two years under house arrest. These are all great stories, because we weren't the ones shackled to a Roman guard. But had we had a rotten attitude, we would have never led anybody to Christ.

He had a great attitude. Back to chapter three, verse one, he said, I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. You know why I'm in prison? Because I've got a Gentile message coming from a Jewish mouth. I'm telling you about Christ, who can save your life and save your souls.

Christ the Jew, I'm a Jew telling you about it, but the good news is once you come into the family, you are one with us, and we are one with you. Beginning at verse two, down through verse 13, he digresses. He digresses. So if you like to mark your Bibles, you might put a big parenthesis just before verse two, and at the end of the word glory at verse 13, this is a parenthesis, he digresses.

Let me give you a little outline for the parenthesis. The revelation of the mystery, verses two to six, the declaration of the mystery, seven through ten, and then three practical words of application, three practical statements, so the application of the mystery, eleven to thirteen. First the revelation. Watch closely.

This becomes fascinating. He says, I'm in prison because of you Gentiles, if indeed you've heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you, watch closely, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery. Look at the next verse. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery. Verse nine, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery.

Let me give you a little tip, you serious Bible students. When you see a word repeated, note it. This word is used three times in one paragraph.

Three times. In one digration, Paul refers to the mystery, the mystery, the mystery. What is the mystery? Let me point out before I identify it that it was revealed to Paul in a special revelation. Verse three, by revelation the mystery was made known to me. When was that?

I'm guessing here, so your guess would be probably as good as mine. I'm thinking when he was stoned at Lystra and left for dead, when he went into an unconscious state, I believe he was taken up to the third heaven. And in his third heaven experience, explained in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, the first nine verses, the apostle received special revelation from God. Back in the days when the Bible was still being written, God revealed himself in spoken word, in visions during the day, and in dreams during the night. In phenomena that we would call today miraculous, a cloud during the day to lead the Israelites, a pillar of fire during the night to warm them, to protect them, and to reassure them.

These are all special revelations or phenomena from God. God gave Paul an understanding of the body of Christ, the mystery. And he said, I wrote before about it in brief, the end of verse three.

Let me show you where that was. Verse nine of chapter one, he made known to us the mystery of his will. That's why he refers to writing about it in brief in chapter three and verse three. The Bible ties together. If you think of gears matching, you will understand how Paul writes. His words, like no other writer of the New Testament dovetail, they work like gears that fit smoothly together.

And he's moving in a direction he never forgets where he was in the previous chapter or where he's going in the next chapter. This is all a part of it. That's why the words for this reason tie in so beautifully. When he gets to verse three, he talks about this mystery. And he said, you can by reading this understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, verse four, 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. And to be specific, he says the Gentiles are, you got your pencil ready again, fellow heirs, fellow members, fellow partakers. Three times the same word is used, fellow fellow fellow.

Gentiles and Jews are together in one hope, in one body and one active experience of sharing. This is the mystery. Now, the reason you're hung up perhaps on the word mystery is because you're thinking of our English word mystery, which is something convoluted.

Webster says it is something not understood and enigma, something which baffles or perplexes. You know what I thought of? I thought of a case that's been going on since the day after Christmas, 1996.

It began in Boulder, Colorado. A six-year-old girl named Jean Benet Ramsey was found dead in her home. Dead. The parents during the night heard nothing, saw nothing, had no reason to believe anyone with any ill intent was in their home, but they were. Since the day after Christmas, 1996, to this present moment, the moment when I speak this message, it remains a mystery. It's baffling.

It's an enigma. The parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, have continued to say we are innocent. They are not believed by some who are reporters and some who are detectives in the case. The Ramses have just written a book called The Death of Innocence. I even not only read this in the Newsweek edition of March 27, the year 2000, they said check on the internet, Newsweek.com. I checked it and I read the entire interview between a reporter with Newsweek and John and Patsy Ramsey.

It's pretty convincing. Regardless of who believes what, regardless of how they've been treated, they claim they are innocent. They have no idea how their daughter was killed. On top of all of that is the horrible grief that it seems few people leave room for them to endure. Can you imagine?

Imagine your Christmas from then on. That's an enigma. But that is not the word translated mystery in our Bibles.

Mustarion is the word, but that's the English concept. The Greek concept is secret. Think of secret. I am now making known to you an open secret. It was not known before nor could it have been known on their own, but now people know about it because God's revealed it and it's clear. A secret is something that isn't known at all and then once it's explained, it's clearly understood.

That's not like our word mystery, which is a baffling word, an enigmatic set of perplexing situations. And the mystery, to be specific, verse 6, is that the Gentiles are in fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ. Imagine that as a Gentile. First century Gentile, you've had a multiplicity of gods. Your life has been empty, vacant of any purpose, futile in all attempts to please all the gods of your life. And you hear the gospel and you know that Christ died for your sins according to the scriptures.

He was buried, he was raised from the dead, and he now is alive and will be alive forever more and will save you from your sins if you'll only believe. As a Gentile, I would believe it. And when I believed it, I would be as close to the heart of God as the Jew who has just believed it. That's remarkable. That's revolutionary, certainly in the first century.

And the apostle said, I have been called to make that message known. Human birth brings racial distinctions. Supernatural birth erases racial distinctions.

That's the whole point. Revolutionary in some places today, but everywhere in the days of the first century. Now, I loved it when I came to verse seven in my study because now he talks about being the messenger. Here we have the declaration of the mystery, of which this is referring to the mystery. That mystery I was made a minister of.

According to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the working of his power. Let me say some things about preachers. I don't understand most careers and I don't know much about other areas of responsibility in the professional world, but I know a lot about preachers. And I'm not only engaged in training them, I have been one for the better part of my life.

When I read words like this, these are helpful words. First of all, those who are truly ministers are ministers because they were made that by God. I was made a minister. People aren't preachers because mama wanted them to be preachers, okay? People aren't preachers or teachers of the truth because daddy had a dream that his daughter would grow up someday and teach the Bible.

That's great. I love daddies having dreams, just has nothing to do with what the Lord is going to tell the daughter to do. Now in this case, you see when you're made a minister, it comes from God. Most of us engaged in ministry weren't looking for it. It wasn't a long awaited dream. It was a total shocking surprise. It really was a surprise to my colleagues in school of former years. And believe me, if I ever had the courage to go back to my high school, their common response would be, you are what?

As my band director said when I went back after 25 years, you're supposed to be in San Quentin, which was kind of an encouraging thought, wasn't it? He never did take a joke very well, by the way, of which I was made a minister. So ministers are made, and notice it is according to the gift of God's grace.

God in grace reaches into the ranks of humanity and picks out a few who are to be his spokesmen and women. We didn't look for it. We hadn't prayed for it. We hadn't longed for it. We probably didn't even want it. And the Lord says, fight it all you wish, you're mine.

You're going to do what I'm telling you to do. So we stepped into it. It was by his grace.

We didn't deserve it. Certainly not. In fact, look at verse eight, one of my favorite lines from Paul. To me, the very least of all saints, he coins a word that we could render leastest.

Don't you love that? I'm the leastest of the saints. You get a ladder and you go all the way to the last rung of the ladder, I'm below the bottom rung.

You get a building, you go all the way to the basement, you go down to the concrete floor, I'm below the concrete floor of the basement. I am least worthy to be a spokesman for Christ. You say, well, I'm not sure I believe that. Well, over 1 Timothy 115, he says, Christ came into the world to save sinners among whom I am the mostest.

Don't you love that? I am foremost. We read it, but it's really the mostest. When it came to sinners, he was the mostest.

When it came to preachers, he was the leastest. Both sides. I read this past week of Toscanini, who was making this magnificent performance. He was conducting this orchestra in this wonderful Beethoven concert. And they played one piece after another, and the crowd began to get into it more, and the applause intensified until finally toward the end. They're now standing on their feet and they're applauding, and the encores are going on and on.

Finally, Toscanini, we got one more, one more piece we're going to play, and that's it. And he turns rather embarrassed, and he says to the people in the orchestra, ladies and gentlemen, I am nothing. You are nothing.

Beethoven is everything. That's the apostle Paul. I am nothing.

You are nothing. Christ is everything. Christ's grace personified. He says, I was made a minister according to grace. According to his working, the working of his power, he gifted me to do this. To me, the leastest, this grace was given. And what was he given to do? Look closely.

Two things. Look, verse eight, to preach to the Gentiles. So he was the Gentiles' minister.

He was, if you will, the chaplain to the Gentile race, the unfathomable riches of Christ. And second, if you're noting, verse nine, to bring to light the mystery which for ages has been hidden. See those words bring to light? Photizo is the word.

We got our word photography, photo, photizo. It always means to bring light. When a true teacher of the scriptures ministers the word, light comes to otherwise vague, obscure, and dark areas of truth.

It is the job of the minister, the teacher, the preacher, the evangelist, the communicator of God's message to bring light to the truth of scripture. And for Paul, it was in the area of the mystery. Whenever you heard Paul teach, you understood the body of Christ better. If you were Gentile, you felt a part of it. If you were Jew, your prejudices were lost in the midst of your gratitude to God for his grace in saving you. Paul did that, but he doesn't stop with a human audience.

This is so good I can hardly stand it. Look at verse 10. So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to whom? To the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Did you know that? The ultimate result of the preacher's message, the teacher's message, the evangelist's message, the ultimate result is that angelic hosts learn about the church. Nobody's getting excited. Think about it. Think about it. You've got these angels that don't know squat about the whole message of salvation. They don't have souls. They've been created.

Why am I yelling? They have been created. These angels have been created by God to run his messages and his errands. They're carrying on this magnificent supernatural work.

It's invisible. And they don't understand the gospel, salvation, because they're not saved. They're not lost.

They don't have souls. And there they are learning about all of the excitement of salvation from the church. You're listening to Insight for Living, and Chuck Swindoll titled today's message, The Mystery, the Ministry, and Me.

To learn more about Insight for Living, visit us online at insightworld.org. To give you context, today's program features just one slice of a much larger series. It's a verse-by-verse study through Paul's letter to the Ephesians. This series is titled Becoming a People of Grace. To enhance your study in this New Testament book, you'll want to order a copy of Chuck's commentary on Ephesians. As you'd expect from Chuck, the commentary is laid out in a format that's practical, easy to read, and filled with opportunities to apply what you've learned to everyday life. Plus, this particular volume comes with Chuck's commentary on Galatians as well. It's called Swindoll's Living Insights Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians. To purchase this 300-page hardbound commentary right now, go to insight.org slash store, or call us.

If you're listening in the US, dial 1-800-772-8888. Just before we sign off, all of us at Insight for Living would like you to know that we're praying that this study in Ephesians will inspire you to become God's agent of grace in a world that's craving to feel a touch of His kindness. 2020 will go down in history as a year filled with uncertainty, fear, and even disrespect. Because Jesus has torn the curtain and in doing so broken all barriers, it's all the more reason to become a people of grace. In that spirit, we're inviting you to join us in taking God's message of grace all across our country and even around the world through Vision 195. And one of the best ways to maximize your giving is to become a monthly companion. By giving a donation every month, you'll have 12 times the impact over the course of one year. So to become a monthly companion, go to insight.org slash monthly companion, or give a donation today by calling us. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888.

Join us again Monday when Chuck Swindoll's study called Becoming a People of Grace continues here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, The Mystery, The Ministry, and Me was copyrighted in 2000, 2001 and 2009. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.