Rochester Conference Part 3: The Mystery of Christ Revealed – Ephesians 3 Explained

Which has been given as a gift to me, according to the work of His power. His power and His grace are here tied together, saints. To me, the very least of all holy ones…you got it, brother; you have the gift now. To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, not this gift but this mercy unmerited, was given to preach to the heathen, the unfathomable, unsearchable riches of Christ. I’m just going to say it again.  It’s not only that we preach Christ, but we just preach Christ, and He gets richer, and we preach Christ, and He gets richer, and He gets more unfathomable, to the point you just can’t believe that there’s so much riches in Him. And we have touched on these things this week, such as your Christ being excited about inheriting you and God giving this incredible cosmological, creating Christ, giving Him to the ekklesia as a gift.

Those are unfathomable riches, and they can be fathomed. I am about to come to the conclusion that the organized church has reached a point, or has always been at the point, where the church feels uncomfortable hearing about the Lord Jesus Christ; at least Christian workers do. I can make a group of Christian workers within traditional Christianity nervous by talking about the Lord. And if we are preaching what we should preach, we should be preaching unfathomable. That means you can drop a rope over the side of the ship and you can drop it as far as you can and tie some more rope on and some more rope and then you rip the sails up and you make a rope out of them and you drop them and then you take all the people’s clothes and you tie that on and then you take all the other rope and hemp and the stuff that’s in the cargo hole, you tie that on, and then you can’t find the bottom.

That is the Christ that you have a right to hear about and to touch and know. I had just finished 8, didn’t I, and by the way, I’m not exhausting this, I hope you know I’m not exhausting this book. I’m just looking for some words to give to brother David over here. And…now this “and” refers back to his calling and to the mystery, the two points he made here, and that’s to proclaim the riches of Christ “and,” by the way, there’s always an “and” when we preach Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God. God, who created all things in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known…through YWAM. Excuse me, I apologize to YWAM. Campus Crusade for Christ. I apologize to Campus Crusade for Christ. Intervarsity. I apologize to Intervarsity. Do you understand what he has said? He has said that I am a steward of the mystery. It is my privilege to preach an unreached and unfathomable Christ to you heathen, and this grace was given me to preach this unfathomable Christ for you, and that the manifold riches of God that are revealed in this mystery are not only revealed by me in my speaking, but are revealed by the church, in the church, through the church. There’s always an end – and the end is that girl.

I am going to go back and read it again. And to bring to light what is the administration, the working out of the mystery, the mystery which has been hidden…he’s off the subject here…hidden in God. That’s God, the creator. In order for the manifold wisdom of God, that is, the wisdom of God to let the Gentiles know this, the wisdom of God to let you know Christ, the wisdom of God to let you know the mystery, the inheritance, the wisdom of God to let you know how rich Christ is. The wisdom of God, to let you have revelation of Christ and of the church. The wisdom of God is for the church to be the custodian of the gospel and for the church to be one with Christ.

All of this that the manifold, the many splendored, the multiplicity of the wisdom of God inexhaustible might now be made known by means of an instrument other than the church planter, but that which he has planted, that all these unsearchable riches, all the manifold wisdom of God, all the stewardship of the mystery can be made known by and through the girl. Brothers and sisters, the man is obsessed.

Now, this is serious stuff for me. I haven’t had enough time with any of the churches. I’ve not touched on this in any of the churches, and I may even skip some passages here. In fact, I think I’ll actually go turn this off. I want to do this in each of the churches.

…to the very least of all the holy ones, this gift was given to preach to the heathen the unfathomable riches of Jesus Christ and to bring to light, let it be known, what is the administration, the working out of the mystery which for ages was hidden by God the creator in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities on earth…no! In realms unseen, and for those of you who sit and listen to me minister and wonder why in the world I talk so much about the unseen, it is because we belong in unseen realms. We have a right to places that have no dimension. We have the right to walk in there, which is the disputed territory between Christ and the enemy, and we walk into the unseen realms, and we stand there, and we reveal to the principalities and powers just how smart God was in allowing the Gentiles to come and be a body, an inheritance, a partaking, a building. What else? Something else. A household, a citizenship, a nation, a temple, and also just how rich we are.

The Christ who has not been seen on this earth for 2,000 years, and to display to the enemy in real physical form in heavenly places that He’s still alive and that He was so smart and that He is unfathomable in His riches and that He had a mystery hidden in Him when the devil pulled His stunt, a mystery the devil didn’t know anything about. Satan had no knowledge of, and God is daily revealing it to him and literally taunting him for his really dumb stunt that he pulled to the principalities and powers. It has been given to the church to reveal the manifold wisdom of God, the unfathomable riches which are Jesus Christ in the church.

I hope you enjoy that hot tub. And all of that, the first, then we come to the end; and now he somehow makes a conclusion. All that I’ve just said to you was according to, and then here’s Gene Edwards’ obsession—the eternal purpose. People rib me about God’s eternal purpose, His ageless purpose. His eternal purpose, to save men from their sins. His eternal purpose, to evangelize the world. (sarcasm – these are not the eternal purpose) His eternal purpose, a purpose that preceded creation and will still be His purpose when creation is dissolved. A purpose that has nothing to do with the fall or redemption, an eternal purpose. The fall began; the fall shall end. The eternal purpose precedes it, is being worked out in the midst of the fall, and will continue to be worked out when there’s not a molecule left anywhere. And all things will simply be spiritual, invisible, and unseen. He will continue working out this eternal purpose.

What is His eternal purpose? Same thing as His mystery. Christ in the church made one, until we are indistinguishably one. You go ahead, join your movements; God has a purpose. You and I were destined to be in it. Find your satisfaction in organizations with His eternal purpose as a part.

Now, only when I get to Ephesians do I do this, I suppose. Okay, I do, and in The Divine Romance. I guess I was thinking of an intellectual explanation, like Living by the Highest Life and The Secret of the Christian Life. Well, you say, Gene, intellectual? Well, yes, I move away from the parabolic to the explanation, the expository. See, that’s the UCLA tape in the little pamphlets of the eternal purpose. Yes, the UCLA tape. By the way, somebody found an ancient edition; the one you probably own is a 10th or 15th generation. Somebody came up with a newer one, and we’re now using a much better recording.

Which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. Not that He will, but He did. All that has to do with the completion of the eternal purpose has been done. Isn’t that wonderful? All I have to do is go jump right in the middle of it. So, this is the outworking of the Gospel and the church exhibiting to the angels. All of this was in accordance with the eternal purpose which Jesus Christ has already established. In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. What do we have boldness to enter into? I do believe it’s the eternal purpose. Can you help me here? Am I mistaken? To what Christ has carried out, we have access with boldness. Therefore, I ask you…I don’t understand this. Colossae is hundreds of miles from Rome. Don’t lose heart at my troubles. That in itself is strange enough. What’s this sentence doing here anyway? Therefore, don’t lose heart at my troubles. That’s strange enough. Look at the rest of the sentence. My troubles are on your behalf. For they are your glory. And I have to sit and stop and say, do you mean to tell me that everything you’ve written, brother Paul, up until now in chapter 3:13, is simply to encourage these people to not lose heart over the fact he’s in prison? And the answer to that is yes.