Today on Real Life Radio, he says God won't have me. I've been too big of a sinner, and you know that's the exact opposite of what the gospel's all about. The bigger the sinner, the greater the lover of God. This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibs.
I'm David J. Thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. Are you watching what's happening but wondering what it means? Every day brings new headlines, but not always real answers. In happening now, Pastor Jack Hibbs breaks it all down through the lens of Scripture—clear, direct, grounded in truth.
From global events to cultural shifts, you'll see what the others miss and why it matters. Watch the latest episode now at jackhibbs.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack now continues his series called "The Book of Ephesians," and a message titled "Making Known the Mystery." Ephesians is a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, showing every believer who they are in Christ. And in this passage, Paul reveals a mystery that was hidden for ages, but has now been made known to us.
You see, this mystery isn't something we could ever figure out on our own. It's God's secret plan, kept quiet for generations, and finally revealed in Christ. And believe it or not, that mystery is us.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that God has a plan that was once hidden, and now it's been revealed. That plan is the church, and it means He's picked us and, by His grace, welcomed us into the family of God.
Now, with His message called "Making Known the Mystery," here is Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Lord God, for Your Word and for the light that it shines upon the path that we travel upon, God, that very path, we need Your presence, Lord. You've provided Your Word, You've provided Your Holy Spirit, Lord. We ask You now that tonight You would take the written Word off the pages of this precious chapter, and God, that You'd embed it within our hearts, Lord. That we would approach it with a sense of awe and reverence as we look at this treaty.
Written to the Ephesians, Lord, that is most complex, very technical, but pure theology. And Lord, if we can hang on through it, we will know you better. Come the end of it, so Lord, we ask you to bless this time of study now. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Won't you grab your Bibles and open to chapter one of Ephesians, and we're in verses nine and ten this evening. Verses nine and ten. The title of the message tonight is "Making Known the Mystery," making known the mystery. And the Bible talks about this mystery a lot. And though it doesn't mention the word mystery in the Old Testament, it in very, very often, sometimes obscure portions of Scripture, prophets of old.
This mystery has been mentioned, and yet in the New Testament, specifically through Paul the Apostle, the mystery is spoken of very often. And in fact, you are, believe it or not, tonight sitting in the mystery, and you are the mystery. And you're thinking, "Gosh, what has happened to this weird guy here? What is he doing?" Listen, this is exciting stuff. We in the Bible are identified as the mystery or a mystery, and we need you to understand something.
I don't know how you watch movies, but I always seem to upset my wife because whenever I see a movie, I'm thinking while I'm driving to the theater, or we rent the movie and bring it home. I'm thinking about the title. What's this title now? And who's in it?
Okay, well this guy plays these kinds of movies and. And okay, and we'll put it in. And I am sitting there, and I am like this. And I've got to just spit out what I am thinking is the end of the movie. He's going to do this.
She's going to go over there, and that thing's going to blow up. And five minutes into the movie, I've got to do it. I've got to. I just got to do it. And my mind won't work any other way.
It's just okay. This is what's going to happen. And Lisa always goes, "You have to do that." Yeah, I do. I, I do. And if I can figure out the movie, then I'm very upset at the end because I could have done something else with my time.
I want to be blown away by the end. You know, I want to be oh wow, okay, that's great. It totally it was worthy of our time because it got us. You know.
Now. The producer, the writer, the director of the movie knows the end from the beginning. He knows. They know, and it's for me to find out. It's been determined.
It's coming out before me, but it's for me to know. It's a mystery to me. I don't understand it. But as it's revealed, you catch it. And we're not talking about a mystery tonight.
That is something that cannot be known. Oh, it's just mysterious. That's not what we're talking about. As we look into the study, Paul is going to be talking about a mystery, and it's a mystery that has been revealed now.
Something that was absolutely true and viable in the past, but just now has been revealed, so we can understand it. It's not something that is never to be understood. Ephesians chapter one verse nine and ten. He says, "Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in Him." One of the interesting things about seeing God do something is watch what He does in the lives of the people who are in the vicinity. God's doing a work here.
He wants to move this body in certain ways and and mold it into certain things that it's going to be. Able to be used for the next task that God might bring to this place, and you and I come here and we go here and we're saying, "Oh God, use us, use the church, bless the church." And when we pray about the church, we're praying about this mystery. But you're it. Oh God, use our church. Wait a minute, God is saying to you when you pray that prayer, "I want to use you." Oh God, just cause it to be blessed.
You're asking Him to bless you. Because you are the church, you are this mystery, and as God begins to do something in the body corporately, it's because He's begun something in you earlier on privately. Birds of a feather, they they tell us, flock together, and and I guess that's true. In this body. You come and you fellowship and you get along and you do what you do because there's an attitude, there's an atmosphere of this church.
Each church is different. There's every church has a different attitude, different personality, and people go to different churches because it's the same Holy Spirit, but He's ministering in different ways. That's why this church is not for everybody. That's why there's so many churches everywhere, and it's kind of like going over here. To um no, not Ral Reese's church, but Colonel Sanders.
That's close, I guess. I I don't know. What am I trying? You go to Colonel Sanders on a Friday, it's packed. You go to Taco Bell across the street, and it's packed.
You go to Carl's Jr.
next door, and it's packed. And there are churches. You can go to Calvary Golden Springs. You can go to Calvert Channel Valley. You can go to Baptist First Baptist.
You can go, and people are there because it's the same Holy Spirit using a different attitude or style of ministry. God uses the church, and that alone in our lives we consider a mystery, and truly it is. But listen to this as we get into this. It's very important. He says in verse nine, having made known to us the mystery.
This word "mystery" in the Greek is "mysterion," and it means to have something that is shut up or held tightly, something that is secret or kept silent. It's something that's kept, not that he's keeping it away from people. But there's a time that he would reveal. And so the first point in tonight's study is found in verse nine, and that is God has a mystery plan. He has a mystery plan.
He has a plan that was once hidden and has now been revealed, and that's God's mystery plan. And it's us, and that's what Paul's trying to get across tonight to us: that it is God who has made known to us the mystery of His will.
Well, you know, previous to this, he was talking about us being redeemed, being forgiven. Because of the riches, or according to the riches of his grace, and that's his favor, God's grace. He's going to give out favor to us, and we were talking about that before. God has determined that because of Christ's offering on the cross, he is going to greatly distribute to you grace. It's free.
It's it's abounding. Are you a great sinner? Have you committed great sins? I'll never forget my interview with my the boss that I had at at Baxter. I met it was 1980 or 81, and we sat down there.
And I after the guy showed me the laboratory and all these guys walking around and all this stuff, I figured I'm not going to work here.
So we went back to the personnel office, and I'm thinking to myself, why am I here? Why am I here? And so it just dawned on me. This guy must need to hear the gospel.
So he stopped and he said, "So what do you do with your time?" So I told him what I did with my time, and I said, "You know what? I want to talk to you about God right now. I want to talk about Jesus Christ." And you know what his response was? He says, "God won't have me. I've been too big of a sinner." And you know that's the exact opposite of what the gospel is all about.
The bigger the sinner, the greater the lover of God you are. You've sinned much. God's grace is poured out to you, who's a great sinner, so that you will respond in loving him much. But that's not—he doesn't give it so he'll get something back. He just gives it.
It's totally unearned. It's free. It's just to pick. He looks at you and he picks you, and he calls you, and he pours out grace on your life. It's amazing.
Have you ever known a Christian and they're doing something and you're wondering if I ever did that, God would kill me dead. You ever known a Christian where they're they're doing something and you're you know you're mad at them and you're beginning to wonder if they're even saved and they're doing all this stuff and then they come back to the Lord or God blesses them. Doesn't that drive you nuts? Wait a minute. And we get don't we get into that prodigal son?
Not the prodigal son, but the one that stayed home mode. This guy's been out wandering around, and you're blessing him. I've been here the whole time, faithful to you. What are you doing? The Bible says it's the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance.
That's grace. Do we go sin that grace may abound? Heavens no, no way, absolutely not. But sin cannot keep you from coming into the presence of God. His grace abounds.
This mystery is so powerful, and it is so evident. You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now let's get back to today's message.
Once again, here's Pastor Jack. You had to jot this verse down: Ephesians three, verse three. Ephesians three, three. Paul says, "How that by the revelation he made known to me, Paul, the mystery, by which when you read." You may understand my knowledge of the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known. He's talking about the Old Testament time to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets that the Gentiles, here it is, should be fellow heirs of the same body.
And partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel—that's the mystery that God would save Gentiles. Maybe ninety-nine, maybe a hundred percent of us tonight are are Gentiles. We're all Gentile. You're saved, man. Book of Romans tells us we've been grafted into the to the tree, so to speak, so that Israel and us were one.
God has broken down the middle wall of partition or division between the Jew and the Gentile. That was a mystery in the Old Testament. The Old Testament Jew believed and thought that salvation was for the Jew. The Gentile had no part, and we get little snapshots of God saving the Gentile in the Old Testament, Book of Micah, Book of Isaiah. God will give us little hints that He's going to save a Gentile or the Gentile or the nations, and yet the Jewish mind didn't think that way.
It was a mystery. If you would have walked up in the Old Testament and said, "Hey, is God ever going to save Gentiles?" many of the Orthodox Jews would have said, "No, God's created Gentiles so that they could stoke the flames of hell." They believed it. They didn't see salvation being available to the Gentile. But not only is it available to the Gentile, and Paul mentions it as a mystery, but we're going to see in a little bit tonight that Jesus Christ. Will himself become engaged and will eventually marry this mystery called the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Jesus in heaven will take us to be the Bride of Christ, a Gentile Bride by and large, though people like Marty Getz, who's a Jew now, completed, born again, was last Sunday night awesome, or what? And then nobody wanted to go home. Remember, he's singing the song "We Will Go Out with Joy." Nobody would leave. He sings the song "We Will Go Out with Joy," and he's "We Will Go Out with Joy," and nobody wanted to leave. It was so good, as his Jewish heart's been converted to Christ, and it just oozes out the Lord everywhere.
We're one. That's God's plan concerning the church that we would be one, no longer male, female, Jew, Gentile, and we become one. And it was a mystery in the Old Testament. It's of supernatural origin and of nature. Mark chapter four, verse eleven.
Concerning this mystery, Jesus began to crack open, so to speak, the shell and begin to show us when he was teaching. And Mark four eleven, Jesus said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside of it, all things come to them in parables." Now, a parable is an amazing thing. The word is parabolos or parabolic, para. Is something to come alongside, like a parachute. Parachute, para is alongside you, actually over you, and balos is to cast.
Para balos to cast alongside truth. Isn't it interesting? Jesus doesn't ram it down your throats. Jesus just takes truth, and he casts it out alongside people's. Hearts and just plops it right down there like an expert fisherman and begins to reel and to see if you take it.
And he'll throw out a parable to someone or to a group of people. And to those who are called, to those who are foreordained and predestined by the Lord, we saw that a couple weeks ago. You will respond to the truth. Then there will be those who won't respond. And Jesus, when he began to speak.
Publicly to a nation that was rejecting him, only spoken parables. After a while, after a while, he just said, "That's it. I'm speaking in parables. They're not even listening, and hearing they will not understand. Seeing they're not going to perceive it.
It's a mystery." But Jesus said to you, "Has been granted by the Father to know and understand the mystery." Isn't that amazing? Do you remember before you were born again? You opened up the Bible and you read it, and was like, "What is this?" I remember that. I remember February ninth, nineteen seventy-one, two minutes after six in the morning. Remember when that?
Remember that day? If you lived in Southern California, the Earth took off that day. That was the seven point one or whatever it was, Sylmar quake. You know what? I I was young man, and I remember grabbing my grandmother's Bible.
I tried to read it, and listen. I went to bed after that earthquake with that Bible. I was sleeping with it because you know what I was thinking? I was thinking, if this aftershock, if these aftershocks keep hitting, God is no way. This is what I was thinking.
There's no way God's going to kill me, or have me be killed because I'm hanging on to His Bible. And I went to bed. I mean, I put it underneath the sheets. I held onto that thing. He's not going to kill me holding a Bible.
Nobody would do that. But I remember opening that thing, and I went, "Wow, this is like nuts. I can't understand a word in this thing." And then you give your heart to Christ, and it's like a light comes on. It was a mystery in the past, and then it's illuminated. That's why I personally believe those who are truly born again and know the Lord.
I think there's a hunger in your heart for the Bible. Peter talks about that. You know, desiring the milk or desiring the word like babies desire milk. And I think that's part of the light being turned on. Matthew eleven twenty five.
In Matthew eleven twenty five, it says, "At that time, Jesus answered and said, 'I thank you, Father.'" Lord of heaven and of earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them to babes, simple thinkers. It's a mystery. You want to know how big of a mystery it is? First Peter chapter one verse ten says.
Something that is absolutely amazing. Listen to this. First Peter one ten begins by saying, "Of this salvation, the prophets, your salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, who was in them," Was indicating when he testified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Listen carefully. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, Calvary Chapel tonight.
When they spoke of the things which have now been told to you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven, things that even angels desire to look into, isn't that amazing? Angels come to Bible studies according to that passage.
Somehow, in God's economy, angels are. Listening in, and by the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit is working in a church and taking the Word of God, and and the word is to prophesy, to prophesy, not necessarily to tell the future tomorrow, but to hold forth the word.
So what I'm doing now is putting forth the word. Angels, listen in. God has set it up that way. This mystery is so complex that even angels sit around and they're listening to what's being tied. They desire to look into these things.
That's amazing to me.
Somebody asked me, "Can angels or can the devil listen to me when I pray? Does he hear my prayers and then go and undo everything that I'm praying for?" You know, I personally don't believe that he can. I think that's private talk. I think that's, I think that's pillow talk. If you don't mind me using that term between me and God.
And I'm, I'm. There's no way that the Lord is going to allow the enemy to listen to my intimacy with Him. I just don't buy it. Besides, so what? I'm not praying to the enemy.
I'm praying to Jesus Christ. I'm praying to my Lord, and I don't care if He can hear or not. Greater is He that's in me than He that's in the world.
So don't ask that question. I'm going to give you that answer. I don't think so. I think it's holy. I think it's private.
I think it's behind closed doors, maybe even a closet, huh, where we pray. Incredible thing. The mystery plan of God. Ephesians three nine, says that to make plain. To everyone, the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, isn't that something?
This is hidden away. He's he's waiting. Who created all things? His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
Now, I just read that real quick, and maybe you missed it. Listen to this. Through the church, that's you right now. The manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and the authorities in heavenly places, spiritual leaders, spiritual entities in the heavenlies. God is talking, teaching, revealing things to the angelic world through the church.
Ephesians beginning at Ephesians three nine. Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that just kind of get you excited? No, I don't. It gets me excited.
I'm excited about this. I mean, we don't know much, but it is kind of neat to know something angels don't know. I like that. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio, and his message called "Making Known the Mystery." Thanks for being with us today. You know this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called "The Book of Ephesians." It's a series through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, discovering the riches, the walk, and the warfare of every believer, and we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
Hey, I'm very excited to promote this new book by Dr. Tim LaHaye. Not only a mentor of mine, but a precious friend, he has written a book: How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself. Remember, Dr. Tim LaHaye is the one that brought you the remarkable Left Behind series.
I bet with all of your knowledge of Bible prophecy, there's still a hole somewhere, and this book is going to help you as he walks you through how to study Bible prophecy for yourself. How to study Study Bible prophecy for yourself. Get it for a gift of any amount at jackhibs.com. Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.
dot com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person. It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace and. Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
See you on the next episode. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs dot com. That's jackhibbs dot com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word.
We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
