God's Mystery Made Known part 2

Well, if you would, take your Bible and turn back to Ephesians chapter 3. I said earlier we'll be in verses 7 to 13. Of course, all of these verses go together all the way down to verse 13. We are studying the book of Ephesians, verse by verse, sometimes word by word. And the title of the series is "The Believer's Riches in Christ." The Believer's Riches in Christ. And I want you to see something, folks. If we're faithful, if we come with an attentive heart and an open mind, and if we receive what the Lord gives us, we are getting riches in Christ Jesus from His word, sometimes nickels and dimes at a time.

I mean little by little, little by little. And I want to challenge you, folks, if you'll be faithful to receive all that we get together in our study like Ephesians, I promise you, you'll look back and you'll have some great riches in understanding who God is in Christ and His word. I'm telling you, it'll just accumulate into who God wants you to be. So Ephesians chapter 3, we're in verses 7 to 13. Now last week, we started a new chapter. I think everyone knows that. And if we remember what we have been studying all along, we have been seeing some things in the chapter that are familiar to us. I said last week that we're seeing Paul's love.

We're seeing Paul's care for his church. He knows these people. And so we're seeing Paul's heart. Last week, I said that we see Paul's heart in a big way. And I mentioned just two of those ways. First of all, we see Paul's heart in this continuous prayer for his people. I think I even said that sometimes it's hard to tell when he's praying and when he's teaching. And sometimes we see it all mixed together. This is just part of his big heart. And then second, we see Paul and his heart as he is writing to them and explaining to them the great mysteries of God that have been made to them and that have been made known in them.

Of course, Paul was the one that brought these things to them. Now remember that we saw how unusual Paul expressed these things. Paul started his prayer in verse one, but then he deviated from his prayer starting in verse two. Paul finally came back to his prayer at verse 14 after he had unpacked so much about the great mysteries of God, these great mysteries of God that had been made known to them and had been made known in them. Basically, Paul started his prayer and then he interrupted himself with his teaching. And he came back to his prayer. I want to point this out to you again. Look back at chapter three, verse one.

Notice that it says, "For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles." Now most English translations have a dash there. That indicates a shift in the subject. He starts this teaching. And then we see in verse 14, he comes back to his prayer. He says, "For this reason, I bow my knee." So he starts this prayer in verse one. He interrupts himself with his teaching and he comes back to the prayer in verse 14. One commentator said that Paul was beginning his prayer. And when he heard the clink of his chains, of course, he's using his imagination. I kind of like that. That resonated with me.

One commentator said that Paul was beginning his prayer and then he speculated with his imagination that he heard the clink of his chains and he interrupted his prayer and he remembered these things that he wanted to write to them and he did. Now we don't know if this happened that way. It's good to use our imagination. It's good to think about these things. It helps us get into what Paul is saying and doing in this situation. Now this morning, we're really going to pick up where we left off. This is really just a part two.

I think I said earlier that all of these verses go together and if we had the time, we could just keep them together and have one long message. But I don't think we need to do that. We need to have time for some lunch. I know I do. But we're looking at God's mystery made known. This is a part two. Now, before we get into our new verses, I want to quickly glance at what we studied last week. This will help us stay with the flow of the verses. This will help put this back into our mind and this is good for us. First, last week we saw Paul's role. This was out of verses one and two.

Now, most of the scholars and commentators that I studied did not pull out verses one and two like I did. But for me, his role really resonated with me and I thought we needed to take the time to look at his role. We saw Paul's role. We saw Paul's calling. We saw his position. Of course, he was an apostle. He was the apostle to the Gentiles, but he was also a prisoner. He was a prisoner by the will of God and for this church. And he was also a steward. He was entrusted with a great responsibility. He was a steward who had the responsibility to administer Christ and salvation in Jesus name to the Gentiles.

And remember, these things had been revealed to Paul by direct revelation and he was in turn responsible to minister these things to them and end them. That was his role. And then second, we saw the mystery made known in verse three. We saw that the mystery of Jesus coming to even save the Gentiles and being included in God's plan for the salvation of man. It was made known to Paul and through Paul and to them and in them. He was a good steward. He was faithful in his responsibilities and making these things known to them. And think about it. He did this in two ways. First of all, through his personal evangelism.

He spent quite a bit of time there in Ephesus. And then second of all, he did this through the writings of this book and he alludes to those writings in the verses. And then third, we saw the mystery explained. Third, we saw the mystery explained in verses four to six. We saw how Paul explained further God's plan in this great mystery. These things have been spoken of to many of the Old Testament prophets. We know that God spoke of these things that Paul was seeing and Paul was experiencing to even Abraham. We know that took place in Genesis chapter 12, but these things were hidden. These things were mysteries.

But through Paul and in the time of Paul, these things were being fulfilled in the Ephesian church in these peoples and even in other churches. Paul was writing to them and ministering to them, not just so that they could have correct information. Remember, he was desiring that these things would be understood powerfully and spiritually and even experientially by a great work of the Spirit in their lives. Now, starting this morning in our verses, Paul is continuing to teach and he's continuing to speak about God's mystery being made known. So we will finish this interruption, this interruption to his prayer.

Several Bible scholars call these verses a parentheses. It's one large parentheses. So we will finish this teaching about God's mystery made known. Now we'll look at three things. I'll go ahead and give them all to you right now. This might help you be able to write them down. These would be the major truths out of the verses. This will be easy for you to see in the verses. So be easy for you to write down so that we can study together and try to retain all that the Lord wants to give us. So notice number one, we see the mystery proclaimed out of verses seven to nine. We see the mystery proclaimed.

Notice how Paul changes and notice how he alludes to the proclamation of this mystery. Verse seven. Of which I was made known a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the power of his work to me, the very least of all the saints, the grace was given to preach to the Gentiles, the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light. What was the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things. Of course, we've seen Paul's role. I've tried to emphasize Paul's role. He was an apostle, but he had been made a prisoner by God and for God.

He was a steward with a responsibility to make known the mystery of salvation in Christ for the Gentiles. He was given the responsibility to bring these things that had once been hidden to the Gentiles. So all throughout verses one to six, we are seeing Paul's job. We're seeing his role. We're seeing what he did. Starting in verse seven, Paul continues with his role. He continues with his responsibilities and we will see several things here. First we see he was made a minister. First, he was made a minister. If you look at verse seven in your English translation, you will see the word minister. But I'm afraid of something here.

I'm afraid that this word doesn't quite capture what Paul was saying here. He was not calling himself a clergyman. He was not calling himself a minister with a ministry position. You see this word minister here in the original. It is actually the word for servant. It is actually the word for servant. Now I don't advocate scratching out a word in your Bible, but if you did note the word servant right there, you would be being true to what is said here. And simply in their day to be a servant, it meant to serve another. You were to attend another. A servant waited on another. They even ran errands for another.

A servant would perform menial duties for another. This term was commonly used for one who served food and waited on tables. So simply Paul was saying that he was a servant under the command and under the direction of another. A servant was a kind of a minister. And that was the kind of a minister that he was. Now I'll go ahead and tell you all throughout the rest of this portion of the message, I will use the term servant minister. Servant minister. He was a servant minister. But a question. Think with me. How did he become a servant? How did he become that servant minister? I mean, was he sought out by a search committee?

Did a search committee come visit him and listen to him preach a trial sermon somewhere? I mean, was there a personnel committee that called him up and asked him for his resume? Was there a board of bishops that called him and asked about his credentials and his experience? We're familiar with those types of things, are we not? But that's not what happened. Here Paul tells us that he became a servant minister in two ways. Now the New American Standard helps us here by using the word according two times. And I'm going to read verse seven in my New American Standard. And notice what happens after I read the word according. Paul says.

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. This helps us see that Paul was made this servant minister according to the gift of God's grace. Isn't that what the verse says? Paul was saying that he did not attain this position and calling because of his own choosing. Just like his salvation was a grace gift and calling, his position as a servant minister was a grace gift and a grace calling as well. Isn't that what the verse says? Also, Paul was made a servant minister according to the working of God's power. According to the working of God's power.

Paul was saying that he did not attain this position and calling because of his own abilities. Paul was saying that he did not attain this position because of his own talents. But it was through the power and work of God that he was put into this position as a servant minister. The King James uses the term effectual working. I like that effectual working. That's a good translation of what's happening here. This helps us to see that it was truly the work of God that affected Paul. A work of God that affected Paul in a supernatural way and it made him this servant minister. So Paul was made. He was made a servant minister.

Through a grace gift of God in his life, he was made a servant minister by the effectual work and power of God at work in his life. And then second, he was given grace to preach. We see this in verse eight. He was given grace to preach. Notice that Paul was just continuing what he's been saying. He is adding to his role here in verse eight. He says that by the grace of God, he was called to preach. Look at verse eight. To me, the very least of all the saints, the grace was given to preach to the Gentiles. And this word preach means to announce. This word preach, it means to bring good news. It means to declare. It means to proclaim.

Some scholars will allude to the fact that the word evangelize comes from this type of language in the scripture. And notice what was being preached. It was the riches of Christ. Isn't that what Paul says? And not just the riches of Christ, but the text says the unsearchable riches of Christ. This means the immeasurable, the boundless, and the limitless treasury of the riches that are found in Christ Jesus. And notice to whom this was being preached. The text says to the Gentiles, Paul was gifted and he was empowered and he was called to preach the immeasurable, the unsearchable riches that were theirs in Christ Jesus.

This was all to the Gentiles. In the notice who was doing the preaching. Notice who was doing the preaching. You might say, well, pastor, that's easy. That's Paul. Paul is obviously the preacher. But notice what Paul says about himself. Notice that he describes the type of man and the type of preacher that he was. Notice he calls himself the very least of all the saints. The very least of all the saints. Now, what's Paul doing here? What's he saying? Why does he seem to be self-deprecating here? See, the language helps us see what Paul was saying and doing. The term least of all the saints is very unique.

It actually can read least of the least. It literally says least err. I know that sounds like incorrect English, but that's literally what it says. Least err or more least. And we need to see what Paul is saying here. He was helping the readers see who he saw himself to be. Paul was saying that he saw himself as the least of the least or the lowest of the low. Now, why would he do that? Why would he do that? The Bible commentator Albert Barnes helps me here. I think it might help you as well. Albert Barnes says this.

That this is expressive and I'm quoting of the deep sense which he had of the sinfulness of his past life and of his guilt in persecuting the church and the savior. I think Albert Barnes might be on to something. Let me say that again. Albert Barnes says that Paul is using this language here because this is expressive of the deep sense which he had of a sinful past life and of his guilt in persecuting the church and the savior. So Paul, Paul who was the least of the least, the least of the least was given the grace call and the grace gift to preach and to preach the immeasurable, the unfathomable riches of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.

And then third, he was given grace to make things known. Look at verse 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." Again, Paul is continuing with what has been being said and what he's been saying in verses 7 to 8. And here Paul says that he was given the grace call from God to make plain what his calling was. And notice this phrase bring the light. It means make plain. It means to shine a light on something that was in the dark. But a question, what was being made known? What was he shining a light on?

He was shining a light on his administrative responsibilities. He was shining a light on his stewardship. He was shining a light on his responsibilities. His stewardship of the mystery of Christ for the Gentiles which had been hidden for generations. In the past. So Paul was given the grace gift to make known his gift and his calling to fulfill his stewardship and responsibilities to the Gentiles. So in summary, notice what we see here. We see this mystery proclaimed in verses 7, 8 and 9. Paul was made this servant minister. I like that term.

He was made this servant minister by the grace call of God in the effectual work and power of God in him and on him. He was given the grace call to make known to the Gentiles the immeasurable and unfathomable riches of Christ Jesus. And he was given the grace gift to bring to light the responsibility and stewardship that he had which had been hidden throughout the ages. Now an application. This applies to us all. But it especially applies to me. Now I don't say that arrogantly. No, I'm not some narcissistic pastor up here. No, but this applies to me. I must be able to say the same things about myself that Paul is saying about himself.

I must be able to describe myself as Paul described himself. And you should see these things in my life and in the ministry that God's given me. I must be able to say that God has made me a servant minister. I must be able to say that by his grace and through this effectual work and power in my life, these things have taken place. You know, when studying these verses this week, I thought about something. I don't know if I have shared many times my call. I did not go into the ministry because it was my idea. I was not groomed for the ministry by my parents or something like that.

No, but listen, I was faithfully serving in the life of my local church. I had volunteered to serve. My pastor had put me to work and I was doing whatever needed to be done. And I was getting great joy and great spiritual satisfaction in my life as I was being obedient to serve. And you know, there were people coming up to me and saying, "Have you considered the ministry? Is God calling you into the ministry?" And I said over and over and over, "No." I did not even entertain that.

But oh, one night in a service, the Holy Spirit of God came to me and the Holy Spirit of God worked in me and the Holy Spirit of God spoke to me and the Holy Spirit of God called me and called me into the vocational ministry. And I prayed over that call. I counseled with my ministers over that call. I sought God's will over that call. I did not trust my feelings or my desires. I was not running, but for some 10 or 11 months, I prayed and I prayed and God solidified that call. And I can actually say that God called me to do what I'm doing.

And since that faithful day in 1995, I can take you along my journey and show you where God has solidified that call and even recalled me and he has called me at each turn in each step along the way. So I must be a servant minister that God has called. And that is who I want to be. And that is who I strive to be. And that is what I am. I am a minister, but I am a servant minister. And listen, folks, I must always keep before me the fact that I am the most of the least. I'm the least of the least. There are people who have far more talent. There are people that have more abilities. Oh, there are people that can do my job better than me.

I know that. But it's not about better. It's not about ability. It's not about your ability or my ability. It's about the calling of God on someone's life. If you know your scripture, you know that Paul even said that there are some that could preach better than he could. Apollos. But what I'm trying to show you is this. I must be the least of the least. And if I ever move out from under being the least of the least, well, then I have become prideful. And I must be able to say, and you must be able to say that God has called me and God has enabled me to preach.

You see, you must be able to say, and I must be able to say that God has called me to preach. And you know, I thought about this, that calling on my life, the calling to preach and teach God's word has been affirmed in my life along the way. You know who affirms it? God's people. You know how you can know if you're not called to preach if nobody comes. At my home church, Harlem Baptist Church, I was affirmed. I was affirmed in my calling and my ability to preach. When I went to First Baptist Church, Alice Full, as a youth pastor, I substitute, taught a lot. I preached in the pulpit a lot.

My pastor would call me and ask me to preach when he was going out of town or when he got sick. And I was always affirmed in my ability to preach. When I moved to Brookhaven and served at East Haven Baptist Church, I was always affirmed in my ability to preach. Now, I'll say something that I have never shared before. When I was at East Haven Baptist Church and our pastor had moved, left, there were people that would come to me and they would say, "You're the next pastor because of your ability to preach." And I would always rebuke them.

I would always rebuke them because I would say, "That's not what God's called me to do." I remember one time a man in the life of the church cornered me. Brother Keith was standing there. I just said, "Ho, ho, ho. Put on breaks." What am I trying to show you? They were affirming my ability. And see, you have affirmed my ability and it's not my ability, it's the fact that God has called me to do those things. Now, why do I take the time? Why do I talk about me? What was Paul saying here? And how does that speak to me as the pastor and a God called minister of the gospel in the life of this church? It very much applies. But what about you?

And especially those of you who would call yourself Grace Live Church. Notice folks, we are all called to serve. We're all called to serve. Our church membership should be comprised of people who are all servant ministers. Servant ministers, yes. Our church membership should be comprised of the least of the least. Those who were humble, but yet those who serve, they are called to serve. And they would see themselves as ministers, not necessarily vocational ministers, but they're called to serve one another. They're called to serve in certain places in the life of the church. And they're called to serve even the law.

See, there is so much here in verses 7 to 9 that apply to us. So we see Paul. We see his role in this mystery proclaimed. Let's move on. I want us to see our second major truth. I want us to see the mystery and its intention. I want us to see the mystery and its intention. Verses 10 and 11. Paul says, "In order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, you might not see it right away, but in verse 10, we see a transition.

The New American says, "In order that," and if you have an English Standard Version or a King James Version, there's some type of a phrase there that resembles "in order that." In the original language, it has the word "bat." That's a transition. Now, in this transition, Paul was saying that all of these things happen. All of these things happen concerning God's mystery being made known in order that, and he's getting to the purpose. He is shifting to show us God's intention with all of these things. And here, God's intention was that his manifold wisdom might be known. Now, look at your copy of God's Word.

You'll see this word "manifold." Now, what is this word "manifold"? Is Paul talking about a car part? Does anybody know what a manifold is on your car? Some of you do. If you're mechanically inclined, you probably know what a manifold is. I promise you this, if you have manifold problems on your car, you'll know it and you'll take it to the dealership. But I want us to see what this term means. This is a unique word. This is a unique term with a lot of meaning. Basically, it means "various." Basically, it means "various but exceedingly various." This word speaks of variety, but much variety.

When this word is applied to a painting, it speaks of a great variety of colors and shades and a great variety of colors and shades. Really, so many colors that it would be impossible to see them all. Simply, manifold means great variety. It means various but exceedingly various. And here, Paul is saying that all these things happen. All of these things happen concerning God's mystery in order that God's great variety or God's exceedingly various wisdom may be known. Now, I want us to see two things about this manifold wisdom. First, where it is made known. We see this at the beginning of verse 10.

In order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be known through the church, this manifold wisdom is made known in and through the church. God's great variety is made known in and through His church. Think about it. I've taught you this faithfully. The church is comprised of Jew and Gentile. The church is comprised of slave and free. The church is comprised of male and female. If we look back at chapter 2, God through Christ has broken down every barrier and He has broken down every dividing wall. Verse 14, God is brought into His church an exceedingly various group of peoples.

Through the blood of Christ, God is brought into His church a great variety of peoples made up of different people, different people groups, different ethnicities, different languages, different cultures, different backgrounds, and even previous religions, different religions. People and people from all over the world, past and present. And He has brought into His church a great variety of people with different physical talents, different physical abilities, different resources, different opportunities, different experiences, as well as different spiritual gifts. Every now and then I'll mention the amplified. The amplified is a paraphrase.

Some people run from a paraphrase. A paraphrase is not bad. It should not be your primary tool of study. But the amplified really captures what's going on here. Notice what the amplified says in verse 10. See if it doesn't help you see this word manifold. The amplified reads, the purpose is that through the church, the complicated, many sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and immeasurable aspects might now be made known. Now for us, we can see this manifold wisdom, this complicated, many sided wisdom. If we come into contact with Christians and other Christians in churches from around the world.

See the problem is many of you have never gotten outside of your bubble. You get on an airplane or you get on a van or you get in a car and you go to a church in another culture, another country or around the world. And I'm going to tell you, you will see the manifold wisdom of God being made known in that church because you'll see variety like you've never seen. I'll never forget when I went to the Philippines, we have an anchored in truth network there out of Manila, there in the Philippines. It really goes all throughout Southeast Asia.

When I went there, I met pastor after pastor, Christian after Christian, and I saw the manifold wisdom, the many sided wisdom of God. I saw all kinds and I saw all types. And oh, it was beautiful. You know, one of the things that I desire to do and we're planning to do and we are doing is bringing more of our anchored in truth missionaries and church plants and pastors into the life of our church. And I look forward to that more in the future. So we see this many sided infinite variety of God's wisdom being made known in the church. But continuing with the mystery and its intention, second we see to whom this was made known.

And this might surprise you to whom this was made known. Go back to verse 10. In order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in heavenly places. Notice this is made known to the rulers, to the authorities in heavenly places. And these rulers and authorities in heavenly places are simply angels. Those holy angels in heaven who serve God and even those unholy angels who have fallen. Now, why is this the case? First, so that the holy angels may rejoice and praise God when they observe lost sinners of all kinds coming into the church. Did you know that takes place?

When lost sinners come into the church and the church is grown. Did you know that the angels praise and rejoice in the presence of God? But also second, so that the fallen unholy angels may see the glory of God in salvation, in the salvation of men and in the work of the church. So this complicated, many sided infinite variety. This wisdom of God is made known in the church and it is demonstrated before the holy angels in heaven and even before the unholy angels. And then second, notice why this is made known. Look at verse 11. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ our Lord.

The ultimate purpose in it all was and is to glorify God. I think that's easy for you to see. This great once hidden mystery which has been made known and the way in which it shows off this manifold wisdom of God. This is all in accordance with God's preordained eternal plan which was carried out and is carried out through Jesus. Why? It's all for the glory of God. So this was all made known for the glory of God. This was all in accordance with God's eternal plan and ultimately and finally for the glory of God. So in summary, here we see the manifold wisdom of God. I hope you never see that word the same again.

We see the manifold wisdom of God made known in and through the church. Boring some of that language from the amplified. We see the complicated, many sided wisdom of God in its infinite variety and innumerable aspects made known in and through the church, which is to be made known to the angels ultimately for the glory of God. Now for us, we must see that God's intention is to make his glory known in his church with only people just like us. For us, we must see that God's intention is to make his glory known in the church only in our country or only in our neighborhood. I would like you to write a word down and application.

The word exposure kind of alluded to this exposure. We need more exposure to the work of God around the world. We need exposure. And again, that's why we want to bring more anchored in truth missionaries into the life of our church. As a matter of fact, I've been making plans to do that with the appropriate people. But you know, I mentioned this earlier. Some of you might need to think about going. You might go and serve. You might go and minister to brothers and sisters in a church around the world. But what you'll do is you'll find that you are minister too far more than you know.

So we see the mystery and its intention in the verses, verses 10 and 11. And then number three, number three, we see the mystery and its honor. This is out of verses 12 to 13. We see the mystery and its honor. Paul says, "In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory." Now in verse 12, Paul starts to conclude the teaching part before he gets into the prayer. And we will easily see that he concludes in two ways. One might surprise you. First with what can be seen as devotional faults, encouragement.

And then second by reconnecting with what he said earlier about his situation. Now I don't know if you can call prison five years of imprisonment as a situation, but that's what he does. He makes full circle. He comes back full circle to where he started in verse one. So I want us to look at this conclusion and we will see his overall purpose and how this relates to us. Two things here. First, he spoke of their confident access to God. That's out of verse 12. He spoke of their confident access to God. In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. Now, if we look at the verse, we can see that Paul uses inclusive language.

He says, "We," notice that? He says that we and they, he says that we have had the privilege, we have the privilege of a bold and confident access to God. Now this boldness speaks of a freedom. This speaks of a free and fearless confidence. And this confidence speaks of trust. It speaks of reliance. This is confidence. And this all relates to what? Their personal faith and coming to God. I think the William, I think the commentator William McDonald puts all this together here very well. It helped me.

And I'm quoting, he says, "Our boldness is the respectful attitude and absence of fear." He says, "Our access is our liberty to speak to God in prayer." And he says, "Our confidence is the assurance that we are welcome and a hearing and a wise and a loving answer." I think that is a very good way of wrapping that up. So Paul speaks of their confident access to God. He speaks of having a respectful boldness in coming to God. And then second, he encouraged them in light of his situation. Look at verse 13. "Therefore I ask you not to lose heart in my tribulations on your behalf for they are your glory." He reminded them of his situation.

Almost five years of imprisonment. He calls this situation tribulations. Now the English Standard uses the word suffering. And notice what we see here. We really see Paul's big heart. We really do. We see his big heart. We see his love and his concern for the Ephesians. He called them not to be discouraged. He called them not to grow faint. He called them not to become discouraged. That is what this term means, lose heart. All of those things. All of those things speak to what Paul feared. Paul knew that they cared deeply for him.

And he knew that they were or could be come deeply concerned over his suffering, over his trials, over his imprisonment. And he was encouraging them not to let their concern become discouragement. He says these things, my suffering, my tribulation, my imprisonment. He says they're for your glory. And in verse one he said that his circumstances were from God and for them. So he made a full circle. Back to verse one and his circumstances. He came back to his imprisonment and he encouraged them not to grow spiritually discouraged. So in summary, notice what Paul is doing here in this conclusion.

He was calling them to see the great honor that they have in their bold and confident access to God. He was encouraging them devotionally. Yes. And he was encouraging them not to become discouraged. Not to allow weakness to come in because of worry and concern for his situation. And notice that he reminds them that all of these things are for their good. Now at this point, I need to ask you a couple of questions, a couple of personal questions. And I'm going to use the personal pronoun you. Do you have a confident access to God? Do you? Do you have a respectful boldness in coming to God? Or are you dominated by fear?

Are you dominated by anxiety when you try to approach God? See, it's one of the other. Do you have liberty? Do you have freedom? Do you have a confident assurance that you can approach God and not only approach God, but he will hear your prayers and he will listen to your prayers and he will work in your life. Do you have liberty? Do you have freedom? Do you have a confident assurance? Are you dominated by fear and anxiety and worry when it comes to approaching God? It's one of the other. And if you don't, if you don't have a boldness, if you don't have this confident access to God, you must see that you have one of two problems, one of two.

First of all, you might not be truly converted to Christ. You might still be dead in your trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2, 1. And listen, if you are dead in your trespasses and sins, you cannot come to God. You cannot come to God. You're rebelling against God. You're hating God. You're rejecting God. The Scripture say that you're walking according to the course of this world, actually following after Satan and his followers. See, if you are not truly converted to Christ, you cannot come to Christ. If you try, you will come in fear and anxiety. You cannot come. But then you might have another problem.

You might truly be born again, but you might have sin in your life. Listen, if you have sin in your life, if you have unresolved sin, if you have disobedience in your life, it will destroy your prayer life. You will not be able to come to him because why? You will know that that barrier is there. That problem is there. And did you know that some of you can have lost the fellowship that you need with the Lord because of sin in your life and you don't have a confident access to God? Now, let me say something to you, Christian.

Don't substitute your access to God with just studying books, theology, listening to sermons, and even just reading the Bible. Did you know you can read the Bible and not have access to God? See, folks, there's nothing there's no substitute to going into your closet, closing the door, and you are there communing with God, confident access to God, a respectful boldness and coming before God, you see? So we see this mystery. We see this honor, the privileges that come with this mystery being made known in our life. Now, I want to close the same way that I did last week. But I want you to step back with me a little bit.

Step back from your notes, even from the scriptures, and look at what we have studied from verses one to 13. Paul starts to pray in verse one, but he interrupts himself. And really from verse two to verse 13, it's all about God's mystery made known. The revealed mystery that the Gentiles who once were far off are now a part of God's salvation plan for man. And listen, this is a powerful, bold interruption. I guess I could say it like this. There's a lot of stuff here. And notice, this mystery was made known to the Ephesians, to these people. These were a specific people, folks. This mystery was made known to them and in them.

And they, these people, this church, these leaders, these laymen, these laywomen, these Jew and Gentiles who had come to faith in Christ, they had a great responsibility to take the message of salvation in Jesus name to all that they could in their day and in their time. And church history tells us and scholars tell us that they did a good job. They were the flagship church of the region. Scholars speculate that the church at Colossae was birthed through the work of the gospel in the Ephesian church and through them. And what I'm trying to show you is this. They were faithful with their responsibility.

And for us, this mystery has been made known to us. We are Gentiles. We were those who are far off and we have been brought near to Christ. And we have a great responsibility. We have the responsibility to take the message of salvation in Jesus name to all that we can in our day and in our time. You might say, "Pastor, we're kind of small. Size doesn't matter." In a couple of messages in the book of Philippians, we saw that they were a weak church, very impoverished church, but they were some of Paul's greatest supporters. So size doesn't matter, folks. Now, I'll say this. I said it last week.

Not that we would be in competition with others, no. But we should be a flagship church in our community. God didn't lead us to town to just sit on the pew. We have the responsibility to reach our friends and reach our neighbors and reach those that we come in contact with every day. We should be a flagship church, even impacting other churches and even spreading out from this work around the world. The Ephesians did. They were responsible. They had a stewardship. And so do we. So what have we seen from verses 1 to 13? Really, verses 2 to 13. God's mystery made known.