Ephesians 3 - The Mystery Is Out - 04/26/26

 The mystery hidden for ages is now fully revealed — and it changes everything about how you see yourself. Pastor Billy unpacks Ephesians 3 and the staggering truth that you are a fellow heir, rooted and grounded in a love that surpasses understanding. Don't miss this one.

Ephesians 3:1-21  

1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 

2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 

3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 

4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 

5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 

6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 

9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 

10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 

11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 

12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 

13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 

16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 

18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 

19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 

21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Ephesians 3, verses 1 through 12. For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you. How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. This is the word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Thank you. Praise God. Amazing. As we continue with the word today, we have a declaration that we want to declare over each of us tonight. I do want to, well, I'll do it after a declaration. You guys make yourself available to the Lord. Just close your eyes, lift your hands, whatever it is feels good to you. And Father, we thank you today. God, as we come before you, we thank you for your mercy and your grace. Your grace that abounds perfectly in all of our lives, God. And today we decree. I decree in the mighty name of Jesus that the mystery of Christ is being revealed in this house right now. We're not a people left out, we are a people brought in. The wall of division is being demolished. We stand together as fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. We are strengthened with power in our inner being. Christ dwells in our hearts through faith. We are rooted and grounded in love. We comprehend the incomprehensible love of Christ. We are filled not a little, but not barely enough, but with all the fullness of God and who He is. Open our eyes, Lord. Let revelation flood this room. Let chains break, let walls fall, and let hearts awaken. I walk with victory, not to it in Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen. Now you can be seated. Thank you so much. Hey, listen, we do have the classroom down that way for the four and unders. And uh if you'd like to take them down there, you need to, that would be great. It would be great if you could stay down there and help out. That would be awesome as well. Uh all the other ages, we have a table back here that they're coloring at. That's amazing. We're so glad that they're in here. I want to tell you, we believe that the kids should be with us, um, especially five and up. They're going to school already, they're already having to sit through and listen. And what better to listen to than the word of God? Amen? So today we'll be, as you know, we'll be in Ephesians chapter 3. And in week one, if you remember, we found out who we are in Christ. You guys remember that? Let me just remind you what it said in week one. You're chosen, you're loved, you're predestined, you're adopted, you are forgiven, you are saved, and you are sealed. And so that's what the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter one. That's who we are. That's the identity that we need. And so Paul in Ephesians 1 just lays out to you what your identity is. And the quicker that you become to know who you are in Christ, the better you're going to be in your walk. The better you're going to be able to stand against the things that are against you. Now, last week, if you were here, my son, Ben, I heard he did a good job. He was here and he brought the word. And he brought something. I thought, oh, thank you, Ben, wherever you're at. You did amazing, son. But he brought out something very simply, and the way he put it is this we learned that the gospel does not simply make bad people good, it makes dead people alive. And so Ephesians 2 is saying that uh it's bringing you from a place of your sin and death and bringing you to a place of life. And so, how many of you are thankful for the life of Christ? Amen. And so that brings us to Ephesians chapter 3. And I'm going to lay this out for you the best I can. And it just explodes onto the page. Paul chained in a Roman cell. If you remember in Ephesians 1, we were talking about Paul was locked up. And Ephesians is the place that Paul had gone to for the longest time out of any place. He spent three years in Ephesians. But at this point, when he's writing this letter, he's in a Roman prison and he's in chains. And we discovered in the first week that even being in chains, he was able to understand that he was serving something bigger and greater than whatever was happening to him in the natural. And so in the spirit spirit realm, he was able to uh push back uh what was going on in the natural and push into what God wanted to do. And so he reaches out to the Ephesians, and if you remember, Ephesus was a terrible place. It was a place of a lot of witchcraft, a lot of uh idolatry, a lot of sexual sin. Uh uh the temple of Artemis was there, one of the biggest temples. At the time, it was the seventh wonder of the world. It was so big. And all of Ephesus, matter of fact, they were making their income from what was coming out of or going into that particular temple. And so here's Paul at this time in chapter three. He's still in chains and he's writing this letter, and he just begins to go into all of these things. And as he's in the cell, he just pulls back the curtain of what the mystery is. How many of you like to find out? How many of you like mystery movies? You like to, you know, you're you're trying to stay with it and figure out what's going on. You just like the mystery. Well, Paul just pulls back the curtain in this time of the mystery. And that's the main focus. And as he begins to unveil what's going on, there's this thunderclap that happens. And what he's saying is he says, the outsiders are now insiders. The Gentiles with no claim, no standing, no seat at the table, are now fellow heirs. They're partakers, they belong. That's important for each of you because it means for you that you belong. And so he's writing this letter and he's telling him, He says, Listen, there's one Savior, and it's Christ Jesus. The wall is down, is what he tells them. The excluded are embraced, the strangers become sons, and that is urgent. Life-giving news for everyone who ever believed they were beyond the reach of God. We we sang, Casey did an amazing job. The whole team did an amazing job, but he did an amazing job putting the songs together because he was singing about it as well. He was singing about he'll never fail. He was singing about all these things about who God's character is. He'll never fail, he'll never leave, he will break chains, and everything he promised and everything he spoke, he will accomplish those things. And the problem for a lot of us is we don't know our identity, and because we don't know our identity, we don't actually attach to what his identity is. And because we don't know who we are, it's hard for us to understand who he is. And when you begin to know who you are in Christ, then you can begin to see, ah, that's who God is. And he reveals himself in a greater way. And so here's Paul. He's writing this letter, and he starts out with this bold statement, which we'll get to in just a moment. I want you to understand that this is a this is not some abstract theology that Paul's doing here. This is actually, Teddy, this is actually a theological, this is a pastoral call that he's gonna put out. He's gonna use theology, but forget all the people that have learned and understand what's going on with the Torah and everything in the past. He's actually going to be pastoral in the moment to the Gentiles, and he's gonna change their life. So this is a moment for each of us that will change our life as we begin to understand what's going on. And so let me give you a little idea before we get into the scripture what it meant to be a Gentile in Paul's world. Humanity was divided into two categories. Now, in our world, there's a lot of categories. There's the color of your skin, there is, are you a Jew? Are you not a Jew? There is how much money you make, you don't make, do you know your sexual identity? Do you do you not? All these different things. There's all kinds of things that are separating us, and people draw lines through all of that. They put you on the are you a Democrat? Are you a Republican? Are you a Christian? Are you not a Christian? Are you this? Are you that? It's all of that is going on in our world today. But in that world, it was basically, are you a Jew or are you a Gentile? And that's who he's writing to. And here's why it stands out to us. Because all the different divisions and all the different walls that are put up today, it's the same wall. It's the same thing that divides us. It's the same thing thinking he's better, I'm better, she's not, all the different things. And the reality is none of us are better than in the eyes of God. What Christ came, he came to do for you, and he came to do for you, and he came to do for you. Doesn't matter where you've been, doesn't matter what's in your bank account, doesn't matter the color of your skin, the car you drive, or anything else. What matters is who you know. And it's not that you know me, it's that you know him. And so Paul is just starting this this uh this journey with them. If you're if you were a Gentile, a non-Jew, then you had nothing. You you know the Jews had this. The Jews had the Torah, they had the priests, they had the prophets, they had all these things going for them. They had everything they could lean on, but the Gentiles had nothing. They had no hope when it comes to this faith, to this God. And so here he is, he's just laying that out. Matter of fact, with that being said, it brings out Ephesians 2 that Ben talked about last week. Strangers. Here's how Paul describes it. He says, Gentiles were strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Those are sobering words. Those are words that make you go, they had no hope without God. And here's the thing about where they were at they had no hope of hope because they weren't allowed in. They couldn't go beyond a certain wall in the temple. They could only go so far, and then they couldn't get to the other side. And Paul is wrecking the theology of the day. You know how upset they got with Jesus when he would come in and he would preach? They were mad. They were upset with Paul because here he was, he was one of them, and now he's tearing down all the walls, and he's saying, You get to come in. And you should rejoice in that today because that's allowed you to sit in this room and sing his name. Sing his name and get into the place of glory, get into the place of his presence, and allow him to work in you the way that Paul's talking about in this circumstance. And so, as you as you look at this, that was this standing of the Gentile in the first century Judaism that they had no hope and they were without God. It wasn't just a spiritual designation that you're gentile and you don't have God. It was actually architectural. It was actually a building that meant you didn't have God. That's what the temple was. The temple was for the Jews and they could go in. You're a gentile, you can't go. He's not your God. You can't go there. And so it wasn't just spiritual, it wasn't something that you just thought up or you just thought about. It was actually in the architecture. No, you're not allowed. Aren't you thankful today that you're allowed? I'm thankful that I can come to the throne room of God and I can come with boldness, and I can come into his presence with boldness, and I can declare his name with boldness. If we want to be the gathering, if we want to be what God has called us to be, we have to know who we are, and then we have to have boldness in our life to be able to tell somebody, I don't know what you've done, I don't care what you've done. What I do know is he tore the wall down, he ripped the veil, and he's allowed you to come in. And what you've done in your past, he said, I'll take away your past so you can come into my presence. That's the God that I serve. And this is what Paul is doing in this moment. In the temple in Jerusalem, let me tell you a little bit about it. It had a literal physical dividing wall. It was called the Soreg. S-O-R-E-G, the Soreg. And it was a stone blosterod or a low stone barrier. And so when you came into the temple, there was this lone stone barrier that everybody that was a Jew could go on the other side of it. Everybody else couldn't. And so if you're a Gentile, you couldn't go on the other side of that. And so, up until this moment, if you didn't understand, or if you weren't a Jew, if you weren't of that faith, then you couldn't go into the holy places. You couldn't go to the other side. You had to stay on this side and watch people go. And so everybody that came into town where the temple was, they knew we can't go there. That's just what it is. We're not allowed. We can't go into that place. And on the wall was inscribed this. This was all over the wall. Everywhere we went, it said this. And this is put it more into your understanding language, but this is this gets concept. No foreigner may enter beyond this barrier. Whoever is caught doing, so will have himself to blame for his death, which will follow. And so there's the barrier, and there's the sign. You're not a Jew. You want to come over here. Your death is on your hands. You don't belong here. Man. This was not a suggestion, it was actually the law. Gentiles could come to the outer court, they could observe from a distance, but they could not cross the wall. They could not enter into the inner courts. They couldn't get into the place where God was. Even if they wanted to, they weren't allowed. Can you imagine if we ran churches like that? Some churches are doing that today. You know, here at the gathering, what we like to say is there's a seat at the table for everybody. It doesn't matter what you look like, doesn't matter what you smell like. We'll probably talk about it. You know, just trying to help you get better, like, whoo, man. It doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter if you give, doesn't matter what you do. What we're hoping is that you're coming to know Christ and to grow in what Christ has called you to be. Because we know this. If you seek out Christ, if you seek him out, if you search for him, he'll change your heart. You'll become a generous giver. You'll become a generous gift giver. Not just your money, that's what everybody talks about. I'm talking about your talents and your time. I'm talking about what God has put on you that you can reach other people. You'll be generous with it because when you get into his presence, there's nothing else you can do but be generous with what God has given you. If you are in the place where you're trying to hold on to everything God has given you, you haven't met the real Jesus and allowed him to change who you are. And so we know that in this place. That we're here today, not to be in this large gathering like we are right now. We're here to come to get what God wants, and so that we can scatter and go give what God has given us to somebody else. That's the call of the church. And so we were y'all, this wall was not a symbol, it was stone, it was real. And every Gentile who came to Jerusalem saw it and knew exactly what it meant. You can come this far, but you can't go no further. Matter of fact, in Ephesians 2.14, Paul says that Christ himself has broken. Listen to this. This is Paul in Ephesians 2.14. He says that Christ himself has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. You don't think Paul knows what he's writing and what he's saying? He's writing all this to these people who are living in a place that there is so much nastiness, so much uh sin and destruction of life going on. He's writing to them and telling them, Christ came and he came to tear down the wall, the wall of hostility, the wall that pits you against that person. He says, I'm not pitting you against each other, I'm bringing you together as brothers and sisters. That's what I'm doing in this. That's how I'm gonna make this thing work. And he he points it out in Ephesians chapter 2 and then brings it together in Ephesians chapter 3. He's not being poetic, he's describing this seismic theological switch that's happening. He's changing everything. I I just want to stay there for a minute because I just feel like you gotta understand. Everything was you can't come. And then Christ came, and everything was, I want you. I need you. I want you in the family. I want all of you in the family. And so if you're trying to think, you're sitting here tonight and you're like, man, you don't even know what I was doing three hours ago. You don't know my life six months ago, six years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago. You don't know what I did. I don't need to know what you did. I need to know what he did. He tore down the barrier. And no matter what you did six hours ago, he says you could come to the other side and come into my presence. And when you come into my presence, those things that are not of me, I will get rid of them. You won't have a choice. You'll either run back to where you were or you'll be changed. You see, a seat at the table is a transformation, and that's what he's calling for all of us. He wants you to be transformed. He wants you to be changed. So does any of this sound familiar to you? You know, I hit on it just a moment ago. We're not talking about Jerusalem. We're talking about right here in your city. We're talking right here who's sitting next to you, who's in your family. We're talking about people who have been told by their past, by their failures, by their shame, by their churches, by their works places, by their parents, that you're no good and God will never love you. That's what we're talking about tonight. We're talking to those people, and they're in the room now. Some of you have been going to church for a long time, but you're still in that place of, I don't think God would use me fully like he would use somebody else. I'm going to tell you that's a lie from the pit of hell. And your past experience will keep you in a place you've always been when you desire to go to a place you've never thought you could get to. And I'm telling you today that Christ has torn away the wall, and if you'll just release yourself, he'll remove you out of the place you thought you never could leave, and he'll place you in a place you never thought you could be. And that's who he is. And that's exactly why Paul writes the letter. It's exactly why he interrupts himself in the middle of a prayer to make sure every Gentile and every outsider, every person who grew up on the wrong side of the wall, as we say today, on the wrong side of the tracks. He wants to make sure that everybody knows they have a place. He's got room for them. He's got destiny for them. He's got a promise for them. You're sitting here tonight, and I want to tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, he's got a place for you at the table. He's got something better for you. You never could imagine, you never thought you could be, and he's got it for you. And the mystery's out, and it changes everything. Paul writes from chains, but chains don't define him. He said it in week one, and he bears repeating because we're going to keep saying seeing it in this letter. Paul opens in Ephesians 3 the same way he opened Ephesians 1. Not with a complaint. He doesn't open with a request of sympathy, not with a list of grievances against Caesar or the Romans. What does he open with? He says, For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ, on behalf of you Gentiles. He doesn't give you a list of all the things that are going wrong. That's what we like to do. Marcos, here's my life. And Paul doesn't do that. Paul's in struggle. But what he does do is he says, I know who I am. And I'm in chains with Christ. I'm not in chains in the Roman jail. I'm in chains with Christ. And what he's chained me up for, there's a reason behind it. There's something that's coming out of it. It changes your dynamic when you can realize Christ has me here for a reason. Why are we at the gathering? There's a reason we're at the gathering. Christ has us here for that reason. Six months ago, I'd have told you I have no idea. What are you talking about? Today I'll tell you there's a reason. There's a reason that we're sitting here worshiping together and studying his word. He opens with his identity. He says, I'm a prisoner with Christ. Let me read that again to you. Ephesians chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. I, for this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you. How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Verse 6. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gifts of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. You see, Paul describes himself as the least of all saints. Anyone here feel like the least of all saints? I would say you should. But the reality is, we all in some way are the least. We all are. And Paul recognizes it. And for you, I mean, you know the whole story, so you're looking at Paul and you're like, oh yeah, that's false humility. But I want to tell you, when he was writing this, he was in the midst of the story. He really didn't know everything that was happening to him. He just knew what God was giving him in the moment, and he was writing the story as he was going. And so you miss that sometimes because you have the whole book and you see the whole thing. And so you just think, well, he knew, and he look, he's just trying to play that part. And that's not what he was doing. He was trying to tell them. I used to come after these people I'm telling you to join. I used to persecute them. I saw the first guy get martyred. I was there. This is what he's saying to them. And yet, he was the one entrusted with the mystery. He says, I'm the least, but yet he was given the mystery. He did not volunteer. He was a persecutor of the church. He was the last person anyone would have picked. But that is how grace works. Grace does not choose the most qualified, it qualifies the chosen. Spent my entire life after I knew Christ knowing Christ. Especially in the beginning, thinking, why me? What can you do with me? I'm a sorry no-good dog. And I am. But yet he qualifies you for the mission. You're not qualified. You'll never be qualified. You can't do it on your own. You can't stand in the place where you see other people stand. You could never do that. Yet, his grace is sufficient to work out what needs to be worked out. The very fact that you're in this room, grace has been poured out over your life. God does not call those who are ready, he makes ready those who he calls. I wrote this, I put this on Facebook for you this morning. Your assignment in the kingdom is not tied to your resume, it is tied to his grace. And his grace is sufficient for whatever he has called you to do. His grace is sufficient. Rome thought it had Paul. Caesar thought chains were enough and defined him. But Paul had already settled who owned him. And once you know who you belong to, no circumstance can keep you down. No circumstance can keep you from what God has for you. You got illness in your life, that circumstance cannot keep you from what God is called. He can heal it in an instant. Here's Paul sitting in a Roman cell, and he's writing like a man in the throne room. He's writing like a man who has no cares. He's more worried about the people out there that are on the other side of the wall that didn't know that the wall had been torn down. He's more worried about you than he is himself sitting in a prison chained up. He knows that the message has to get out, Stephanie. That you are free. Completely free. And that Christ is calling you. I haven't even started the sermon yet. Your situation does not define you. God defined you before your situation existed. Paul did not choose his assignment. Let's look at Ephesians 3, 7 through 8. I just read it to you. I want to read it again, because there's some things that you need to pick up. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. You see, he was by his own account the last person anyone would have ever chosen. This is the man who held the coats while Stephen was martyred and killed. This is the man that drug wet men and women to prison cells. This is the man that shunned Christ. This is the man that thought Christ was fake. This was the man that had been taught and learned and knew the Torah and knew the law, knew the prophets. This is the man that God chose. He said, You're the one I'm sending to the Gentiles. You're the one who will carry the mystery. This is not a story of Paul's qualifications. This is a story of grace and what it does. This is a story that God chooses and he qualifies. God does not call those who are ready, he makes those he calls ready. So maybe you've been disqualified yourself. Maybe you've done things. Maybe you've decided that God can use other people. Maybe you've decided that people that are more disciplined, that read their Bible more, that get up in the mornings early, that stay up late. Maybe you've decided that you've just done too much bad and you could never do enough and he couldn't use you. This message is for you today. This is your message. This is Paul writing to you. Your assignment in the kingdom is not tied to your history. Your assignment in the kingdom is tied to his grace and his call. It is tied to his grace, which is sufficient for whatever he's asked you to do. I told you a couple weeks ago when I was here, or maybe it was in the class, and those of you are in the class, that's probably when it was. A lot of things happening. But I told you a lot of people say this. I don't know what my gifting is or what my calling is. Hey girl. I don't know what my gifting or what my calling is. I don't know what God wants me to do. I'm just gonna like break the news for you. I don't like CNN, so I won't say I'm CNN. Breaking news. He's called you to be a disciple and to make disciples. He's called you to go to Okinawa to be a Marine that loves Jesus and show other people how to love Jesus. That's it. So you're trying to do all this figuring out, and how do I, am I supposed to be on the worship team? Am I supposed to preach? Am I supposed to, what am I supposed to do? Just be a disciple. Be like him and share it with somebody else. And just make disciples of Jesus. Not of yourself, of Jesus. Powerful. We could go home. You could just start doing that. But we won't, because I wrote all this and I want to share it. In that, it talked about stewardship in that scripture I read you just a moment ago. And that Greek word is almost Okinawa, by the way. Okinomia. Okinomia, which is stewardship. It literally means the law of the household. That's what stewardship is. This word means. It's the management of God's household. Paul was instructed instructed with a specific stewardship to make known the mystery. That's what he was given. That's what he has to do. I'm gonna go a little bit farther for you, off of what I just said. You have been entrusted with being a disciple of Christ and making disciples. So if you'll be good stewards of that thing, then you'll accomplish what he has for you. You'll do exactly what he's asked you to do. That's life-changing. If you look around this room, which is pretty cool, right? We're sitting, you can see everybody, you're looking over at them, looking over here at them. It's hard for me because I'm like, but if you look across the room at the people that are over there, and you just begin to look at them, you begin to think, you know what? If I picked up my portion and they picked up their portion, then there wouldn't be room enough for people in this house or any other house in this city. Because we would reach this city and people would be calling, going, what's going on in that city? And we say, Well, we just decided we're gonna be disciples and make disciples. We just decided as believers, we were just gonna be and do what he called us to do. We're gonna make disciples. That's all we have to do. And you're like, How do we do that? Start by reading your word. See what he says about you, know your identity. All right, let's get into this. The mystery revealed. Uh chapter 3, verses 5 through 6. Which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, it has not been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, or now been revealed. I'm sorry. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. So there's three things. Here's the mystery. Write them down. Three phrases, three explosions, fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise. You're not a second class heir. He says you're co-heirs. You're joint. You're not an associate member, a junior, junior Christian. He said, you're on the same level. You're in the same place. You're not conditional partakers. Well, if you'll do this, then you get to partake. You're fellow heirs, you're the same body, you're full partakers. Think about what Paul is saying. For centuries, the covenant was Israel's. Israel's were Israel was the only one that got to take care of this or got to be a part of this covenant. And he just shredded it in a few lines. And he said, You're in. You're not just halfway in, you're all the way in. It's totally you. You're part of this deal. You're in the family. And now Paul says, in Christ there is no wall. The inheritance doesn't go to Israel first and then trickle down to the Gentiles. Actually, the inheritance, there's one, one body, one promise shared fully, equally, completely in Christ. This wasn't a plan B. This is what God was doing all the way through this. He actually, I believe, He actually got Israel, as everybody thinking, Israel, the chosen people, Israel's chosen, they're the ones so that he could get Messiah into our history, so that when Messiah came into our history, he could say, now I am taking everybody as my family. So he had a plan the whole way. I'm gonna make a people that are called, and everybody's gonna go, that's his people, it's the Jews, it's the Israelites, they're the ones, and God got them into history, everything was going well, and then he brought the Savior into the world. And when he brought the Savior into the world, he said, I am going to reunite everyone with me. And it wasn't like, oh, Adam and Eve messed up, not gonna come up with another plan. It was, I know how all of this is gonna go about. I told you just a few weeks ago that this is the thing about God and time. He's in yesterday, he's in today, and he's in tomorrow all at the same time. He knew what happened, he knows what's gonna happen, he knows what's happening right now, and because he's in all of those places at one time, his call on your life is yes and amen. He meant for you to be in this spot where you're at right now, and he meant for Christ to be able to come out of the Israelites so that he could redeem you and bring you into the family. You've been called into the family of Christ, and it was all on purpose. I felt good about that one. You see, this wall that was always temporary, it was always there for just the time. And grace has always been unlimited. Always. You see, the church is the display case of God's grace and his wisdom in the earth today. Now, here's where Paul says something that should stop us cold in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10. So that, I don't know, many years ago I taught a message on the so that prayers. When you pray, you're praying something, and then you say, so that this will happen. In other words, you finish your prayer, not just, Lord, heal me. Not Lord, heal me, heal me of my kidney stones, heal me of what's going on in my body. Not just that, but then you say, God, heal me of what's going on in my body, so that I can glorify you to everybody around me, that you put your healing on top of me, that you touched me in Jesus' name, that you brought, so that you would be glorified in the earth today. And so here's Paul saying that in verse 10. He says, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. He said, Through the church. Who's the church? Wait, who's the church? Thank you. He didn't say through angels, he didn't say through the stars or the moon or the planets or nature. He said through the church, he said through the ecclesia, he said through the called-out ones and the sent ones. He said, Through you, those who are believers, that's the ones that are gonna have the manifold wisdom of God that will be shared in the earth today. That's what he said. Through the church, this gathered, imperfect, diverse, blood-bought, spirit-filled assembly of God who have nothing in common except the cross of Christ. Some of you do things do things with cows. I don't. But we still have things in common. It's the cross of Christ. You see, here's where it all hits for each of us. Josh, this is where it's all different. Because he says, He looks square at you in the eyes, and he says, Man, I know it all. And I know you're not like that guy, you're not like that lady, but what you are like is the design and the promise that I have for you that I'm gonna change everything from your past. I'm gonna make it things all new. Your relationships will be restored because you've centered yourself on Christ. That's the Christ, that's the cross, that's the difference in what he's doing. When you center yourself on Christ, everything you thought was lost, he can return, and he can return it more than. I gotta get another drink. Hold on. Think about this. I want you to think, who's he talking to? He's talking to the Ephesians. You remember? You had the temple of Artemis, and they were worshiping there. You remember they had sexual sin and prostitutes and all the things going on. You remember the Pharisees were also there. This is the church of Ephesus. The Pharisees are there, the learned of the Torah and the promise and the prophets, they're there. The prostitutes are there, the the guys that were selling money and trinkets in the in the temple, they're there. All these people are in this room, just like you, all different, all the way around. They're in the room, and he is speaking to them, and he's telling them in this place, this is it. You're called, you're called, you can go in, you can be in that place where Christ is at. You can run to the throne room of God and be in his very presence. You and you and you changes the dynamic of what church is, and yet we complicate it. I don't know if you've heard this before, but we're not just a pastor, a pastor leads this thing and does everything. We're a church and we do it all together. We come together, we gather together, and then we go love on people and we take care of people. It's not about one, it's about all of us. But you have to know your identity. When the church loves across racial divides, God puts his wisdom on display. When the church forgives the unforgivable, God puts his wisdom on display. When the church holds together in unity across culture and background, the unseen world sees something it cannot explain. When we are the church and we're unified by the cross, there's nothing that can hold it back what God is gonna do. Nothing. And that's who we are going to be. That's who we are. The church is not just a meeting place, it's a cosmic announcement. The Greek word for manifold that I said, he said manifold wisdom. That's what he said in verse 10. Manifold wisdom. The Greek word is the polupikleos. And this is what it literally means. It's manifold, but it means mini-colored, many patterned. Mini-colored, many patterned. It's used of intricate embroidery. So when he says you're gonna get the manifold wisdom, you're gonna get the mini-colored, many patterned embroidery, tapestry of God. The wisdom of God. It's gonna have the fullness. If you can think of some tapestry that fills this whole wall, problem they had one. It just went, it's just this whole wall. It was a tapestry, it filled it. That's what he said. It's the mini-color, mini pattern, manifold wisdom of God. And he wants to give it to his church. And you're the church. He's not waiting just to give it to me or him or an elder or a kindergarten teacher or a four-year-old teacher. That's my wife's down there. That's you, baby. He wants to give you the mini-colored, many patterned wisdom of God. Do you want it? And you're like, yes. Give that to me. This is what he's throwing out there here in Ephesians chapter 3. Let me get through this for you guys. You sleepies. When we come together across every line that divides the world, we are the embroidery. We are the tapestry. You want to know what a healthy church does to the spiritual atmosphere of a city? It announces something. You know what we're gonna do here in this city? In the cities around, we're gonna announce something. We're announcing that the kingdom of heaven is here, that this is the moment, this is the time. And I'm not I'm not knocking any other church or anything anybody else is doing, but this is the time that God has set us to be here, the gathering, and we're announcing that the kingdom of heaven is advancing from this place through these people. There's a kingdom that no earthly kingdom can replicate. There's a kingdom of God that wants to be. There's a unity that no political party can produce. There's a love that no ideology can manufacture. It's through Christ, it's through his church, and that's who we are. Paul says something here in Ephesians 14 through 19. Let me read it to you. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. You know, Paul falls to his knees right here as he's writing, and he says, and everything that he's written, he's at the mystery and he's and the grace and the display of divine wisdom. He goes to his knees and he notice, and notice what he doesn't pray for. Notice, I want you to notice what he doesn't pray for when he prays for you, when he prays for the Gentile. He doesn't pray for their circumstance. He doesn't pray that his uh chains would be lifted off. He doesn't pray that for their finances, their health, their comfort, or their safety. He prays for the inside of them. He prays for what's going on on the inside of them. Strengthened with power in the inner being, Christ dwelling in their hearts through faith, rooted and grounded in love, comprehending the incomprehensible field with all the fullness of God. Listen, this is not a small prayer. This is big. This is not just some manageable prayer that somebody prays. This is a prayer that only God can answer. What he's praying for these people, what he's praying for you. Paul prays that they wouldn't know what surpasses knowledge. How could you surpass knowledge? It's impossible. It actually sounds like a contradiction for him to say that. How do you surpass knowledge? It's not a contradiction, it's a paradox of grace. It's a paradox of who God is. How do you surpass knowledge? Because God is knowledge. The love of Christ is so vast that it cannot be reduced to propositions. It cannot be contained in a theological category. It must be encountered, it must be experienced, and it must move from your head to your spirit. We've got to get out of our head knowledge and get into our spirit, allowing us to lead. One of our convictions is that we're spirit led. We're word driven and spirit led. And this is what God is calling us to. Removing this, we're trying to figure it out. And allowing the Spirit to lead you. He wants them to know the length of it, that there is no distance God will not travel to reach you. The breadth of it. There's no person outside of his reach. The height of it. There's no ceiling to what he can't that he cannot lift you to. The depth of it. There's no pit so low that his love cannot find you there. And the crown of the prayer is this filled with all the fullness of God. Listen, he didn't say he wanted to fill you halfway. He didn't say he wanted to fill you up to just to the top. He wants to fill you to overflowing. Where it's pouring out and running over. Where there's more in you. There's more on the inside of you that is pouring out of you. That when actually people can get around you, they feel the grace of God, the difference of God coming out of you. Because he's not praying a prayer that's just to stop at, hey, give them enough so they can make it. He prays a prayer over them, says, give them more that they can even stand or take, so that the overflow will go to those that are around them, so that the men and women that are in your life they can feel the presence of God like they've never felt before. There's a change, a transition in the room when you walk in. There's something happens when you come. He wants the fullness. He wants you to understand the height, the breadth, the depth, the length of who he is, and he wants to fill you with the fullness of God so that as you step into a place, things scatter and run. Those things that are not of God leave and flee in Jesus. You don't even have to say anything. They just leave. It means to fill overflowing, as I just said. He's praying for a flood, a vessel filled with the plairude, the overflowing. It's not a partially full, it is filled to the top, running over, unable to hold more. It's what God intends for his people. Not a measure of himself, his fullness on your life. He wants to fill you until you overflow onto everyone else. Then he goes into verse 20 and 21, this doxology. This declaration, this worship, this praise. It says in verse 20, he says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. You see, Paul has just prayed the biggest prayer in the New Testament. The biggest prayer in the New Testament was just prayed by Paul. And here's what he's doing. Here's what he's saying. He asks for power, he asked for the fullness of God, he asked for knowledge that surpasses knowledge. And then as if it all that is not enough, he pivots to praise. And here's what he says. He breaks into this doxology, a burst of worship because the truth he is about to state is too large for a quiet conclusion. Far more abundantly is what he says. Far more abundantly than you could ask or think. You know why? Because he knows that we as humans can only think to a certain spot, and it's not far enough. It's not big enough. You're not thinking big enough about what God wants for your life, your family's life, and the people around you's life. God is wanting you to go far above, abundantly, of what he has, what you can think he has for you. It's just this pouring over, pouring out, blitzing you, washing over. I remember years ago, being at this church building, and they were gonna join with the last church I was at, and I remember standing there and seeing this vision. And this vision was a tidal wave that washed over that church. And God said, I'm gonna make all things new, and I'm gonna wash over it with abundance. And then that church ended up joining us, and we became part, and that church has been a blessing and changed everything about that church, changed things about us, but it was a tidal wave, a blessing. And that's what it is here. And you see, for some of you that are just so hungry, that as the wave just hits you, some of you will be like, whoa. Not like a Benny Hinn thing where I do the jacket, I won't do that. But like you actually feel a tangible thing in your spirit that washes over you. And the thing that's on the inside of you, it's that thing, you got that deep dark thing. That thing that you know that you don't, you shouldn't have, but it's there, and you've been wanting to get rid of it. Tonight is the night that it can go. Because there's a wave coming that's gonna wash over you in the spirit, that's gonna cleanse you and clean you, that's gonna uh get rid of those things that have held you back and kept you from what God has called you to. And I'm gonna tell you that don't be scared of it, embrace it. Say, God, I want you to I want you to do whatever it takes in me so that I can be who you want me to be. Because all of you have a family, and all of you have somebody in your family that needs you to change, that needs the wave of God to come over you so that they can feel the tangible presence of God, and this is the moment. Ephesians chapter 3. He said, the fullness is far abundantly above anything that you could ask or think. Anything. You're over here thinking, I mean, could I just have enough to pay my electric bill? And he said, That's it. That's it. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He's the creator of the universe. Let me just remind you who he is, real quick. He's the creator of the universe. He's the alpha and the omega. He is the first coming in and the last going out. He's above and not beneath. He is your rear guard and your forward guard. He calls you blessed, he calls you more than a conqueror. He is the king of kings and the lord of lords. He creates, he's the rose of Sheridan. He is the one who can walk up to you, and in an instant he can touch you and change your life. He can grab you out of the pits of hell and he can put you right into the throne room of God. He is the king of all kings and the lord of all lords. And if you're not worshiping as your Lord or your king, you're in the wrong place. He has created you for more than anything that you're doing now. He's got a call on your life, and he's changing you in this moment. I didn't mean to go there. You see, the real God is bigger than your biggest thought about him. You prayed for open doors, and God's building things you haven't even prayed about yet. You're asking God, is this the door I walk through? Or is that the door? What do I do? You know, you do, you just do. I'll be honest with you. I didn't mean to be standing right here. We didn't mean to be doing this right here. With the door open. And here we are. This is what we'll do. Until he says, don't do it anymore. And then you need to start living your life like that. Put me in a spot, God. You're bigger than this. You've believed you've believed for healing and God's writing a testimony that it will outlive you. You've hoped for restoration and God's building legacy. The limitation is never on God's side. Limitation's on your side. Look at the phrase, according to the power at work within us. The power is not out there, waiting to come in. Where does he say the power is? It's at work in you. The question is whether you will yield to it or not. Imagine a river dammed up behind the dam, immense pressure, immense capacity. The river hasn't gone anywhere. The water isn't gone, it's held. What it needs is not more water, it needs the dam to be removed. So the water can go where it needs to go. Let me just talk to you for just a moment. What's your dam? What's holding up? What's keeping the blessing of God to keep roaring through your life? The river's flowing, but it's hit something in you. You know what it is. He knows what it is. But you've just been scared to let go of it because it's been a crutch. It's been a thing. And he says, if you'll give it to me, I'll let the river flow over you. It'll flow over you, it'll flow over your family, it'll flow from generation to generation, from your kids to their kids to their kids. God said, if you'll just give it to me, I know there's I know there's things. I know I'm I'm a man too. I'm talking to all you men. There's pride sometimes that held that holds us back from getting where God wants us to be. But I want to tell you something. God said, I'm gonna release the damn. Yeah, I know you've got some hurts and some things that have just been bugging you and holding you back, and you're just kind of shaking your fist sometimes. Well, I want to tell you something, Ronnie. I want to tell you that he wants to let loose on you the river of God. It's been damned up and it is time for it to flow out. God's gonna release you into the mercies and the greater callings. God's gonna release you into the things that He's had for you. So when you were living over in that place and thought, what am I going to this place for? God says, You're here for this moment. I'm gonna release the river of God over you, and you're gonna see the anointing and the prosperous uh call of God upon your life. God is gonna release you. All you have to do is say, God, here's the thing. I'm giving it to you. And God said, I'll move it, and I'll move the river right through your life. This is fun to have this big room. Listen, you haven't asked for too much. You've probably asked for too little. Casey, if you're ready, I'm about ready. Don't cap what God hasn't capped. Don't stop what God hasn't stopped. Don't be fearful. Embrace God. Embrace that He's called you. Embrace that this is your moment. So I'm just thinking maybe you came in here today. I'm just gonna ask you, as they begin to play a little bit, I'm just gonna ask you to search yourself. Search your heart. Maybe you came in here today with a quiet, deep-seated lie that the promises of God are real. They're just not for you. Maybe you came in here thinking everybody else gets it and I don't. It's a lie. God doesn't take, doesn't play favorites. Just gonna ask you to begin to search your heart and say, here he knows. Just tell him. God, I know you know, but this is it. This is the hurt, this is the thing that's bothered me. Could be relationship, could be past relationship, and you're in new relationships, and the past relationship's affecting your new relationship. It's time to move on. Maybe you spent years standing in the outer court and didn't know you could go to the other side. Maybe you've been watching from a distance and seeing everybody else. Maybe you've been told by your past, by your failure, by someone who should have known better that you can come this far, but you can't go all the way. I'm here to expose the lie. You can go all the way with God. You also don't have to stay bound up, chained up. He can deliver you from whatever it is. You don't have to tell anybody, just get with him. Ephesians 3 tells us the wall is down. We have access. You're not a Gentile standing outside the temple, you're a fellow heir, a member of the same body, a full partaker of the same promise in Christ Jesus, not a partial partaker, not a conditional partaker. You're a partaker of God, of Christ, and all that He has. Today I'm gonna ask you to lay down your feeling that God doesn't love you, that He doesn't have good for you. Lay down your feeling of disqualification, lay down every lie. Somebody has spoken over you and told you you weren't good enough. You never could. Every lie that tells you to wander, to go away, nobody loves you, lay it down. It's not the truth. That lie that's told you you failed too many times, lay it down. Lay down the ceiling that you placed on yourself and said you could never amount to anything. Lay it down. Get rid of it. If you hunger to be strengthened with power in your inner being, if you want Christ to dwell in your heart through faith in a deeper way, if you desire to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge and to be filled with the fullness of God, then I believe this is your moment. We haven't done this in weeks past. But I'm gonna open up this altar, which is all the way around. When I have you stand to your feet, I'm gonna ask you, be bold. And I have some young people, some old people, some prayer warriors to lay hands on you, and we'll pray with you that this is the moment that the power of God is ushered over you. You guys go ahead and stand to your feet. If you feel bold enough, just step forward right up here. The mystery's out. God's not holding back, He's able to do far more abundantly than everything you can ask or think or ever imagine. According to the power that is already at work within you. Praise God. Listen. Here's the crazy thing. You're like, who goes and prays for them? If you're a believer, pray. Somebody stand in front of you, pray for them. Look at your neighbor now. Say, man, do you need any prayer? I'd love to pray with you. Young people, ask somebody's parents, people around you, do you need any prayer? I'd love to pray for you. This is a joint effort. Father, we thank you. God and I thank you as these people come as they pray for each other. If you're out there and you haven't come forward, that's okay. Just begin to lay hands on the people that are around you. Just begin to pray that God would strengthen them right now in Jesus' name. Yep, and I thank you for your miracle working power. Yeah, but I thank you that you're working in their lives right now in Jesus' name. Yeah, but I thank you that you break. Yeah, but I thank you that you're moving right up on their behaviour. You're glory running over them right now in Jesus Day. Thank you in Jesus Day. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. You gotta just raise your hands. Keep praying for these. Just wanna speak a blessing over you. Encourage you as you head out. You can stay and pray as long as you need. Thank you, Father. May the God who broke down every wall that stood between you and his presence remind you this week that the barrier is finished. You do not have to stand at a distance, you draw near with boldness, with confidence, in faith, because Christ is your access. May the Father who named every family in heaven and on earth remind you that you belong to his. Not as a guest, not as a probationary basis, as a child fully adopted, fully received, with your name on their inheritance. May the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, the same spirit who breathed the universe into existence, bring to you in the inner being this week. Not with a trip, but with a flood. May you be rooted so deep in love that when the storms of the week come, they find there's something in you that cannot be moved, that cannot be shaken. May you walk into your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, and your difficult conversation this week. Not because you have it all together, but because the one who holds all things together lives on the inside of you. The mystery of Christ is in you, the hope of glory, and go live like it in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen and amen. Hey, love and somebody keep praying for each other. Thank you so much.