1. THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN CHRIST CONCERNING CHRIST MYSTICAL, 3:1-13

This chapter reveals a secret that was hidden in God from before the foundation of the world. Through Christ we have entered the school of grace where the Holy Spirit is the teacher. The first great lesson He taught us in the Epistle to the Romans was about ourselves. We were dead in trespasses and sins and by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we received forgiveness and through union with Christ we have our position and standing in the Head. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul moves us into an advanced class and permits us to study these advanced lessons presented by the Builder of the Church in this great text-book that we are now studying. The first great lesson we learn here is about God, just what God did that we might come into possession of these Spiritual blessings and to have Spiritual life imparted unto us. We have been taught that we died and have risen in and with Christ. We have learned how He was substituted for us and now how we are identified with Him, therefore we are raised up together with Him and we are made to sit together with Him in Heavenly places.

We have studied the first great purpose (1:3-14) where we have learned what He has made Christ to be unto us. We are now beginning the second great purpose as we open this chapter—what He has made us to be in Christ—members of His Body. The Apostle concludes chapter two by showing that Jews and Gentiles are one Body in Christ (2: 16). They become so united through the power of Christ that they are builded together for an habitation for God through the Spirit (2:22). The Apostle thinking of this wonderful mystery of God brought about through the members of the Church, of which Christ is the Head, building a habitation for God says, “For this cause I, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.”� He feels his great need of communion with God in prayer. He is not a prisoner for the world or a prisoner for the Roman government, but a prisoner of Christ that Gentiles might become members of the Body of Christ and become material in this building and a habitation of God. However, the Apostle utters but a few words of prayer and in the act of doing so, the great subject of which his mind is full—the secret, the mystery that God was about to fully reveal through him—was forcing itself upon him and he holds back his words of prayer until this secret of God is first made known.

Verses 3:2-13 are in the form of a parenthesis. The material contained in these verses is very weighty and important. They contain much of the unsearchable riches of God. The foundation of all blessing is in the purpose of God Himself. The will of God is the source of all riches and grace. This eternal purpose, the mystery of His own will (1:9) is here made known. This eternal purpose, so much of a secret to many, is followed from Ver. 14 to the close of the chapter with a prayer that he might reveal this purpose. It is what God does and we are not able to see it through reason and mind, and so the Holy Spirit by prayer takes us to the throne of grace, showing us that no human wisdom is able in any sense to comprehend the great purposes of God as set forth in this great text-book for the Church.

Ver. 1. For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles.

In the fourteenth verse, the Apostle repeats the same phrase, “For this cause.”� The Apostle has been set apart unto the Gospel of God. He has been given a definite and specific mission. He is the Apostle of the Gentiles and Christ made him a prisoner that the Gentiles through faith might become members of Christ's Body. He here speaks of his own imprisonment. He realizes the fact that he is one whom Christ has put in chains. Christ, when He was about to be nailed to the cross, was conscious that He could have at His command legions of angels that would protect Him and that He would not need to go to the cross. However, He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross that through faith in that cross and Christ a union might be formed between Jew and Gentile who were enemies. A great wall was between them that only through sacrifice and death could be destroyed. And the same Spirit that was in Christ, that made him willing to go to the cross, is now incarnate in the Apostle, and he becomes a prisoner, not because Christ did not have the power to keep him out of prison, but because he must suffer as the Master suffered that Gentiles might know the Spirit of the Christ. He is therefore put in chains for the express purpose of bringing blessings to the Gentile world. Christ was put to death on the cross that blessings might be brought to the whole world.

When he thinks of being in chains, and in chains for the purpose of Christ, that Gentiles might be saved, his imagination is set on fire and it awakens in his heart a passion of gratitude. Who could desire a more honorable title? This title was given to the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit and has inspired thousands to greater stability in Christ's service. The Gentiles are made to see and feel that Paul was suffering imprisonment from the Lord that salvation, sanctification, and glorification might be theirs.

Ver. 2. If so be that ye have heard of the dispensation (stewardship) of that grace of God which was given me to youward.

The Apostle knows that they are in possession of this information. It is the dispensation of the grace of God. The grace is the thing that is emphasized here. The grace is explained by Romans (1:5). It is grace and apostleship. It is the living gift of commission and inspiration to preach Christ among the Gentiles. It is the Divine dispensation whereby the grace of God was freely bestowed upon the Apostle that men in darkness might be brought unto the light and knowledge of God. This grace was given to the Apostle. It is this particular thing that Paul means to express in these verses and he emphasizes the grace of God that is shown to the Gentiles.

He calls attention to the unsearchable riches of Christ, “given to me to youward.”� He is especially set apart by the Holy Spirit and put in possession of this gift of God's grace that at this particular time members of the Body of Christ might come into a more complete knowledge of this mystery. Paul means to say that a study of the truths set forth in this Epistle and a comprehension of the blessings God has for those who are in union with Christ, will make for steadfastness, unity, and harmony in Christian life.

Ver. 3. How that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in a few words.

The Apostle heard the Master's voice in that memorable journey on the way to Damascus. He was not appointed by any human agent to this great work of the Church. This call came to him from Christ himself. His was a holy call, and just as he was called by the Master Himself, the Master now makes revelations to him. He became a chosen vessel set apart by Christ, the Builder of the Church. He was an Apostle to the Gentiles and yet related to his Jewish brethren in the flesh. His great mission, therefore, was to be used as an instrument to break down the middle wall of partition, to get rid of every prejudice and tradition in order to make known how the mystical Body of Christ was to be built. For this very reason God revealed to him this secret—that which was hidden and kept a secret from the foundation of the world. This secret is nowhere revealed in the Old Testament; however, in the Book of Romans Paul spoke of it briefly (Rom. 16:25-27). This paragraph takes up that which Paul began to tell in the Book of Romans. This mystery was revealed and communicated unto Paul. It is no longer a mystery, it is no longer hidden. Paul was separated unto the Gospel of God, which is not a secret; however, in addition to the news unfolded by the Apostle that all who were sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, must accept Jesus Christ by faith in order to have eternal glory, the Apostle before closing the Book of Romans speaks of an additional revelation, a “my Gospel”� which was the secret that was hidden. The Jews, to whom were intrusted the oracles of God, had through traditional teaching been blinded to their own possibilities and now here one of their own number, the Apostle Paul, discovers the great secret of God that the Gentiles are incorporated in the Body of Christ and that through individual Jews and Gentiles He is making One new Man, His Body, a mystical Body, the Church.

Ver. 4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may perceive my understanding in the mystery (or secret) of Christ.

The mystery of Christ was the mystery which has the Christ for its object and purpose; the mystery revealed is that Christ is in us and through us, forming for Himself a body. The Holy Spirit is here to help us understand something concerning this secret. Give Him His way in your reading and allow Him to show you this secret or you will not be able to understand what Paul says in these verses. This Epistle is to be read in the different churches. Had the Apostle been addressing the Epistle alone to the Ephesians, he would no doubt have appealed to a previous passage in this epistle rather than to their personal knowledge for proof of his insight into this mystery.

Ver. 5. Which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.

What is it that was not made known? This secret, the eternal purpose of God as to what He made His people to be in Christ. Some interpreters limit this text or mystery to the fact that the Gentiles would be brought into the blessings in connection with Christ, and yet all who are acquainted with God's Word know that this never was a secret hidden in God and now made known to the sons of men until we find it here in Ephesians (3:9). That which God had in mind concerning the Head, Christ, the mystical Christ, the Church, was kept a secret hidden in God. Israel is without excuse and was absolutely responsible for the rejection of the offer of salvation through repentance made by Christ's servant, Peter.

Why was this kept a secret, a mystery? It is not for us to speculate as to what might have happened had Israel accepted the Christ instead of rejecting Him. We know that God had His purposes before the foundation of the world. He foreknew and had in His mind everything connected with the purpose of the ages. God does not, in His great plan, do what men do when they begin to erect a building—take away part after it has been built, or make additions never thought of by the architect before. God's plans are set out in His Word, and here we have one purpose of His kept a secret for centuries and when the proper time came He revealed it to man in order that His plan concerning the human family might be known, developed, and continued.

God's Word clearly teaches us that salvation through Jesus Christ—justification by faith—was the subject of Divine revelation all through the ages. Regeneration through faith, as set forth by the gospel, was God's plan beginning with Adam (Gen. 3:15). That good news—salvation by faith—made known to Abraham, was not hidden by God but was promised and was referred to (Romans 4:2) in the Gospel as witnessed by the apostles and prophets (Rom. 1:2). Israel was to be a blessing unto the Gentiles and that was revealed in God's Word. It was said to Abraham, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed”� (Gen. 12:3). Holy men of God, in speaking and writing, frequently call attention to the Messianic promise, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.”� These promises concerning the coming of the suffering Saviour are set out more clearly from one book to another until the Old Testament closes.

What, then, is this great secret? It is that individuals shall be taken out of all of these peoples, Jews and Gentiles, and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ be made one body, a mystical body (Eph. 3:9), of which Christ shall be made the glorious head in Heaven, His people here, the members of that body on earth. This is what was revealed to the apostles and prophets in the Spirit. The prophets, concerning the mystery, are associated with the apostles. The Old Testament prophets looked from the hilltop of Christ's suffering to the other hilltop of His glory. The Apostle Peter speaks of this great truth emphasized in the Old Testament (1 Peter 1:10-12). The prophets inquired and searched diligently concerning salvation. The Old Testament prophets looked forward concerning grace. The Jehovah Spirit was in them, testifying even before the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. These are some of the secret things, partially made known unto the prophets, but the mystery that we are discussing here is something that was hidden and never made known to the prophets and apostles until revealed to the Apostle Paul.

We know that the suffering of Christ was not a secret and that the glory that should follow was not. The Jews emphasized the glory and forgot the suffering, and because of emphasizing the glory and not willing to become partakers of the suffering, they became the instruments through which Christ was made to suffer. The prophets, however, conscious of the inner life directed by the Spirit, were concerned as to how long the period should be between the suffering of Christ and the glory which was not clear to them. We do not yet know the length of this period between Christ's suffering and Christ's glory or Christ's return. This period between the suffering and the glory would not have been long if the message of reconciliation that Peter offered on the day of Pentecost to the Jewish nation had been accepted. Israel would have then been accepted as a nation instead of rejected, remaining a scattered people until the Body of Christ, the mystical Church, is completed.

Old Testament prophecy began to be fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:16-22). The Spirit was poured out just as was foretold and a definite offer made to Israel as a nation (Acts 3:18). The things God foretold by the mouth of the prophet, that Christ should suffer, were then fulfilled. God was not mocking His people when He called to them for repentance. There are different passages in the New Testament that show that the apostles were associated with prophets in this age of grace (Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 2:20, 3:5).

Ver. 6. That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

They are to be fellow-heirs and this assures all Gentile readers of their final redemption and Heavenly glory. They are included in Christ's inheritance. Now Paul says here that they are of the same body and are part of the building described in the close of Chapter 2, where Jews and Gentiles were used as material for a habitation of God. The Gentiles are fellow- heirs and members of this body and now the Apostle emphasizes the fact that they are fellow-partakers of the promises. The Gentiles receive every privilege enjoyed by the Jewish believers when brought into this Body of Christ, or in making this New Man. They receive the same privileges, enjoy the very same blessings as those to whom the oracles of God were given. This is certainly a great mystery that can only be received by those who are regenerated out of this Jewish nation. The Jewish nation remains blinded to these blessings to be enjoyed by the Jew and Gentile alike.

Ver. 7. Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of His power.

Paul was made a minister of Christ. He speaks here of the grace that was given him to preach to the Gentile people Christ's unsearchable riches. Paul, a regenerated Jew, has a great task before him. The Apostle is raised up at this critical period. It pleased God to reveal His Son in Him that he might preach Him among the Gentiles. What boundless wealth in Christ is in store for this Gentile nation, brought to it through a converted Jew, discovered for it in the Jewish Bible. The Jewish nation will have to learn some day that their greatness is in Christ and that the light which lightens the Gentiles is their true glory. The mystery that the Jews and Gentiles are to participate in Christ is now revealed unto the sons of men. Let us make ourselves worthy that the veil may be lifted that now hides this blessing from the heart of Israel.

Ver. 8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable (untrackable) riches of Christ.

He no doubt knew of the part played by his brethren in putting Christ to death. He was a bitter antagonist to the Church; the one who stood by when Stephen was stoned. Is it any wonder that he says, “Who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given.”� The secret of Jesus is with them that fear Him and they endure through Christ's covenant. Such was the rule of revelation. He is the man who seemed to be at one time the greatest opposer of God and Christ, but who has become, through God's power, the man to accept Christ and has the conviction to stand. You can hear him say, “Here I stand; no matter what others may do, I will be true to Jesus Christ.”� It is to men of this type, who have conviction, to whom God can reveal His secrets. To such Christ says, “The pure in heart shall see God”� (Matt. 5:8). “If any man will do his will he shall know the doctrine”� (John 7: 17). The pure eye sees the true light. There are riches and wealth unsearchable and untrackable. We cannot enter into its depths, we cannot even experience its fulness, no matter what our relation may be with Christ.

The Bible, the Book of God, was written by holy men under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Men and women could come into possession of this great Book and search it and discover the riches of Christ foretold at least in part in the Old Testament. But we are taught here that there are unsearchable riches in this Word, “Unsearchable”� occurs twice; here and in Romans 11:33. The Apostle cries out, “Oh the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out.”� This means that which cannot be traced or tracked. It is a way that cannot be fully discovered. In Romans we are told that it is past finding out, and here in Ephesians we find it is unsearchable.

Now these untrackable riches of Christ, which the prophets could trace out, are not the mystery, because they were not concealed. Many prophets revealed the truth concerning the Gentiles. These unsearchable or untrackable riches of Christ are not merely the blessings that are for the Gentiles (Acts 15:3-4), but the taking out of individuals from different nations to form a body for Christ. The Apostle calls attention to this mystery in Romans 16: 25-27 and in Colossians 1: 24-27. The Apostle also speaks of his ministry being for a specific and definite purpose, that a mystery which hath been hidden from the ages was to be made known unto the saints, and that God would make known the unsearchable riches of the glory of this mystery. We are frequently reminded of the blessed hope of the regenerated who are the members of the Body of Christ.

Ver. 9. And to make all men see what is the dispensation (stewardship) of the mystery (or secret) which from all ages hath been hid in God who created all things.

Paul, as well as all ministers of the Gospel, has a great commission. They must first see themselves before they can make other men see. The more we have to do with God and His Word, the more our own nothingness is emphasized. The more we feel the need of the power of the Spirit to help us out of our weakness into these greater things that God has for our hearts to feel and to know, the better we are prepared to help other men into this union with Christ.

Just what is the duration of this present interval? (1 Pet. 1:11.) What do we know of the creation of the Kingdom and its consequences? (Matt. 11:12.) These are some more things that are kept secret. We do not want to lose sight of the secret or mystery which is Christ mystical, the Body, and that is what the Apostle Paul says he was unveiling and making known unto the saints of God. Paul teaches (1 Cor. 12: 12), “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”� When we talk about Christ mystical, we mean the Body of Christ, the Church of the invisible God, “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks”� (1 Cor. 12:13). Christ, the Church (the Body of Christ), is the great secret, and if we bear this in mind, light will come to us on other Scriptures that are not clear to our minds.

The Head of this Body is already in glory. As the members of this Body, we have now only to be received up into glory. The Christian, having died and risen in Christ, is seated in the Heavenlies with Him (Eph. 2:6). Death may come to some and not to others. If Christ should come, then those living on the earth need not die. Death is absolutely certain unto all those who are unredeemed and remain under the direction of the first Adam. However, those who are in the second Adam, Christ, have already died and if they are living when Christ comes, they will not die again, but shall be translated. We are further taught about this mystical Body of the Christ, “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it”� (1 Cor. 12: 26). When our Head suffered and died, all the members of this Body suffered and died with the Head. If the Holy Spirit leads us in this great secret (mystery), then we can fully understand what death means to the Christian. It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul said, “For I am already being offered, and the time of departure is come”� (2 Tim. 4:6). The Apostle said (1 Cor. 15:51), “Behold I tell you a mystery (behold I tell you a secret) we shall not all sleep (die).”� That is a blessed secret that we will all be changed, and all appear with the Head and be caught up to meet the Head in the air.

The Church is here called the Body of Christ. The husband and wife are one in the flesh (Eph. 5:31; Gen. 2:24), so Christ and His Church are one in the Spirit. The Head of the Body had His appointed suffering and death and the members of the Body now have theirs.

“Who created all things.”� Thus God is marked as the creator of the universe with all there is of Heaven and earth. The same power which created all things, and made a world so complete that man was created and given the privilege of all the blessings, now offers the mystical power of redemption to man, and thus, just as through God a world was created and given unto man as an inheritance, so God has brought redemption for man by His own power and all His redeemed ones are promised “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you”� (1 Pet. 1:4).

Christ had suffered personally as he finished His part of the work in redemption. Paul and all the faithful ones in Christ Jesus, as members of Christ's Body, are now suffering. The early Church made progress through sacrifice and suffering and thus emphasized the fact that they and the church were in direct opposition to the world. This in a large degree is not true of the modern Church. The modern Church is searching for similarity and prone to emphasize the things that are similar instead of the things that make the Church stand out as an absolute instrument different from the world. The afflictions of the members of the Church are for the benefit of the Church as a body. Any sorrow which any one of us may experience is for the sake of other members who are of the same body. The body is one and so we speak of the unity of the body which the Scriptures teach. It is not the unity of the visible Church or any bodies of men. This unity in Christ is a unity which exists in spite of all contention, division, and factions which mortal men may have made. Men have tried to make a visible unity and have miserably failed. God has made an invisible unity in Christ and it is a glorious and eternal creation. Now this union, the Body of Christ, is something that cannot be lost or broken. No man can experience or get in possession of what is here expressed except through the gift of faith.

Ver. 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through (by means of) the Church the manifold wisdom of God.

Paul is setting forth here the breadth and grandeur of the dispensation of grace, the infinite range of the Divine plan and operation of which it forms the center. Its secret was cherished in the Divine mind, and Paul is here, in a measure, telling what God has done for fallen humanity, and he is doing everything through the Spirit to set it forth that his readers might, in a sense, comprehend what God has prepared for those who make up His habitation. The Apostle says this in order that through the Church there might be made known unto the principalities and powers the wisdom and secrets of God—the secrets that were never made known until the age of grace. Jesus says, “There is nothing covered which shall not be made known.”� This is in the plan of the ages which was developed through Christ. God designed, by our redemption, to bless higher races along with our own. The purpose of the revelation of the mystery being the manifestation of God's wisdom, the time was to come, when in some mysterious, powerful way the same privileges were to be granted unto Jew and Gentile, and supernatural power brought to bear upon both in making One new Man, one Body.

To the Gentile was granted the gift of adoption. Some of the Jews were enlightened upon this great principle, while others are still blinded because unworthy and disobedient to the Word of God. God's plans are still a mystery to them and they look upon the Church and do not understand in it the unfolding of the wisdom of God. It is through the Church that God is manifesting this wisdom. God has given unto the individuals of all nations an invitation to receive His Son through faith and become fellow-heirs of the same body and partakers of the same promise. It is the manifold wisdom.

Everything that the Apostle says tends to exalt our Redeemer and to enhance our confidence in Him. In His own hand is the key of the mystery. He himself is the center of Israel, Israel of the unknown ages.

Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted—He hath poured forth this which ye now see and hear”� (Acts 2:33). The resurrection from death, the demonstration of the Holy Spirit proved Jesus Christ to be that which He claimed to be, the Saviour of men, and the eternal Son of God. The angels with their intelligence could not penetrate God's intentions concerning this world. The incarnation, the cross, the proclaiming of the Gospel, the resurrection, the ascension, the outpouring of the Spirit, were all full of surprises to the Heavenly watchers. The angels sang at Bethlehem. They hid their faces and shrouded Heaven in darkness at the sight of Calvary. They bent down in eager observation, searched for, and desired to look into the things made known unto men (1 Pet. 1:12).

The Apostle, as he writes on this great subject of grace, feels that there are other eyes bent upon him than those of his fellow men, and that he is acting in a grander arena than the world. The Saviour's mission on the earth created a problem for the angels, the development of which they followed with an earnest and sympathetic interest. How they must be watching the conflict between good and evil, and the progress of God's Eternal Purpose among men.

Ver. 11. According to the eternal purpose (according to the plan of the ages) which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul hastens to say that the manifestation of God's wisdom, now revealed through himself, was no result or accident of circumstance, but was purposed by God from before the ages. The purpose existed before the universe was created, and was fulfilled in and by Christ. God made man in His own image, placed him in the garden and gave him dominion over everything. He lost his place as the head of the race through disobedience. It took many centuries to prepare the world until Christ the Head of the new race appeared. Out of the material that was then upon the earth, Christ through His death and resurrection made it possible for a new race, a new, regenerated humanity, to come into possession of the redeemed earth. It is this eternal purpose, forming this new Body from Jew and Gentile that was Paul's part in this age of grace to make known unto the Church. It is this purpose of God which has been worked out through Jesus Christ. God has a purpose to make known in every dispensation and this was a specific, definite purpose made known through the Apostle Paul, which can be known when we are in Christ and Christ is within us.

Ver. 12. In whom we have boldness and access in confidence (with assurance) through our faith in Him.

The Apostle Paul heard the Master's voice. He knew Christ as his Redeemer. He believed that He had bought him. He believed that through His death and resurrection he received his deliverance from sin and death. It was such knowledge as this that gave him his boldness. Without the Christ, the Mediator, man feels himself estranged from God and hides himself from Him. Through the knowledge of Christ, a knowledge of His death, suffering, and resurrection, we come into conviction and confidence. Through faith we realize our union with Him. When we have such a knowledge, we come to God with the confidence of a little child. Faith always begets confidence and confidence begets boldness in which we approach Him. This holy confidence in God is illustrated often in the Acts and the Epistles. If the reader will turn to these passages and make this inspired Word his, he will go in conviction and confidence to God (Rom. 8:11-15; 8: 38-39; Acts 4:13; 4:29-31).

Ver. 13. Wherefore I ask that ye faint not at my tribulations for you (in your behalf) which are your glory.

“Wherefore”�—seeing that I have been the means of bringing you into this state of sonship. If this be true that we are adopted and fellow-heirs, this itself ought to be a matter of glory and inspire confidence. The Apostle knew how his friends were fearing and worrying over his long captivity and because of this he writes to the Philippians, “I would have you know, brethren, that the things which have happened to me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel”� (Phil. 1:12). In writing the letter to the Colossians he expressed joy in that he was able to suffer for their sake (Col. 1:24).

The Church was no doubt concerned about Paul's persecution and impending death, especially the weak of the Church who would be influenced by this imprisonment and perhaps become more indifferent as to individual service. The Church, however, which was so dear to God and for which God gave His own Son to die that He might make Him the Head of the members who had faith in the Head as a Body and habitation, is grounded in His eternal purposes. If this be true, then let all friends of Christ take courage, and even if some have to go into prison as Paul did, let suffering and imprisonment be only the means of our giving additional service that others may know the Christ. The Church is the greatest institution on earth, and an institution freighted with such fortunes cannot sink. Paul was a prisoner and became a martyr for Christ. All those who love Christ and know His sufferings for our salvation, who realize what it cost Paul to bring us this valuable message, should boast rather than grieve over afflictions.

This paragraph opens with prayer (Ver. 1), which is not continued until after we come to the close (Ver. 13). The Apostle sets forth in the former chapter the wonderful blessings enjoyed by the Christians, and in another place he says, “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward”� (Rom. 8:18). Now Paul, with this thought in mind, after setting out before us the eternal purpose of God concerning this mystery, takes us into the following paragraph in communion with God in prayer, that the Holy Spirit might more fully unveil these great truths and secrets of God through grace to those who love and serve Him.

QUESTIONS

• What was the cause of Paul's imprisonment?

• Why does he say, “A prisoner of Jesus Christ”�?

• What is the meaning of dispensation?

• What was the purpose of God in the first chapter? (1:3-14.)

• What is the purpose of God in these verses? (3:2-13.)

• What is the meaning of apostles and prophets in Ver. 5?

• What was hidden from the foundation of the world and revealed unto Paul?

• How did Paul obtain his ministry?

• Tell us something about the unsearchable riches of Christ.

• What is the mystery of Ver. 9, and the fellowship of the mystery?

• What persons would weaken in faith because of Paul's imprisonment?

2. FILLED UNTO ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD, 3:14-21

In verse fourteen the prayer is resumed which the Apostle was about to offer at the beginning of the chapter when the current of his thoughts carried him away. As before stated, the book contains two great prayers following two great purposes. The first prayer (1:15-23) is offered there by the Holy Spirit after setting forth what God did that we might have our standing in Christ, showing that we were in the mind of God before the foundation of the world. Now through the Apostle Paul we are told what God did for us that we might have our blessings through His Son who is the Head of the Church. To make these things clear to us, to enlighten us and open the eyes of our understanding, the Holy Spirit takes us to God who is able to answer our prayers.

The chapter we are just now studying sets forth the second great purpose of God concerning the mystery in Christ, the mystical Church. This is another eternal purpose of God, and just how individuals living in sin, no matter to what nation they belong, can be delivered from sin and death and united through faith in Christ into this mystical Body to become a habitation for God, is as difficult to understand as the matter presented in the first chapter. So again, Paul through the Holy Spirit takes us unto God whose children we are, that he may, through the Spirit, help us to come into a deeper fellowship and a more pronounced experience as members of the Body of Christ.

Ver. 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father (of our Lord Jesus Christ).

This prayer opened with the first verse of this chapter, and it is continued here. Verses 2-13 are in the form of a parenthesis so the reader could read from the first verse omitting all and beginning again with the fourteenth verse.

The Apostle told us his part in disclosing this secret unto the world and of the interest it excited among those who dwell in Heavenly places. The Apostle is conscious not only of the fact of those dwelling with him who are flesh and blood, but knows that above him are dwellers who are interested in what is accomplished among men as to redemption.

The Apostle calls our attention to the attitude of prayer (Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60). This is in perfect harmony with the boldness and confidence expressed in Ver. 12. The words, “of our Lord Jesus Christ,”� are used in some very ancient documents, including the Syrian and Latin versions, but the Church fathers omitted them, believing that the Latin copies were in error.

In introducing the two prayers, two relationships are announced at the outset—God and the Father. “God”� has reference to creative power and that is for whom the prayer was offered in the first chapter, and the prayer is introduced by “Father”� and refers to covenant relationship and the grace. In this prayer we have reference to what God has purposed in Christ concerning us in the making of one family in Him, members of His Body, sons and heirs in Christ and with Him in all His glory. Hence the second prayer commences with this title. The first prayer is addressed to God of our Lord Jesus Christ. This prayer we are now studying is addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ver. 15. From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

The prayer is unfolding the mystery that Jews and Gentiles are made one in Christ Jesus and are spiritually descended from one ancestry as they have become joint-heirs or partakers in common of the promises made to the descendants. They are of their Father's house, of the habitation of God, and angelic beings are included in it (1:10). This increases our confidence to know that whether we belong to earth's redeemed family or the Heavenly redeemed, that even in name we are not forgotten.

Ver. 16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of His glory (wealth) that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man.

We have all confidence that God will grant unto us the things the Holy Spirit here sets before us if we have not betrayed His trust. Paul is praying that we might receive from God according to the riches of His glory; that God, who is the source of all our wealth and who has purposed everything, should give us not only according to His riches in glory, but in addition to the riches of His glory, strength with His might.

The Apostle himself is in prison. He has already cautioned his brethern not to faint because of his tribulations and here he carries his readers—the same persons—to God and asks that they might be strengthened with God's strength. Christ said to his disabled servant, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”� Never did Paul rise to greater heights than at the very time he was smitten and all but destroyed by persecution, when through the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, he prays that all who read his message may enjoy the riches of His glory and may be able to endure with the strength from God.

The Apostle emphasizes the inner man as the seat of in- vigoration. The world buffets, stones and imprisons, and murders the Christian, while God gives victory and joy by infusing his Spirit with power and strength. The tired, weary and persecuted body of the prisoner Paul was a mark for the world's scorn; however, there lives a strength of thought and will mightier than the empire of Caesar, a power of the Spirit.

Ver. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.

Here Christ's residence in the heart is to be viewed, neither as the result or antecedent of the strength given to man. This is a unity effected by petition which results in His coming and making His abode within us. The heart of the Christian and the Church are both the Divine dwelling place. Faith is the condition without which neither the Spiritual life nor the indwelling of Christ can exist. It must be the faith of submissive trust in the Promisor which is the effecting and maintaining act.

“That ye being rooted and grounded in love.” This must be closely connected with what precedes. Whoever is made strong by God's Spirit must necessarily be rooted and grounded in love. Love is another name for the ordinary working of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man, and where God's Spirit is, there is love. Love is the soil in which the Christian is rooted and the foundation on which he is grounded.

Ver. 18. (That ye) may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth.

In this part, the Apostle is calling our attention to the fact of our membership in the great family of God and that God is rich and is able to make us rich according to His glory. Not only is He rich, but He is mighty, and the inner life can constantly be strengthened. Paul prays that we might have a wider range, a mighty strength of thought and faith and as redeemed, be perfectly assured of our footing. We ought to be able to understand in some respect this minute and very careful change that has come over us.

Paul prays that we may be able to comprehend the depth of this Divine love—that which has just been named, the love of Christ, the love of God. It is this love expressed in the eternal and sovereign purpose of God, that no matter to what nation the individual may belong, and no matter to what depth of sin and degradation he may have sunken, a union is being formed by the miraculous power of God, to bring him into fellowship with this mystery.

Ver. 19. And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.

“The love of Christ”�—that which he did for love's sake. All this passeth human understanding. However, we may know something of it, and know it more and more as we are strengthened by His Spirit, enlightened by faith, and rooted and grounded in this love.

We have really come to the climax of the prayer offered here that all who are Christ's through His death and resurrection might be filled with all the fulness of God; that we might be filled with grace to approach more and more towards the perfection with which God alone is filled, “That ye may be so filled as God is filled.”�

“That which passeth knowledge,”� if it is to be enjoyed by man, must come to him through some other channel than by the communication from man to man. This can come only from a superior to an inferior.

Ver. 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

We know something about the power of God through His creation and redemption. The God who works within us is helping us to know what we do not know, and thus leading us on to greater knowledge that we could not realize without Him, and in this we can gain some idea of His omnipotence which is able to do and will do that which we cannot ask for or even think of. The Apostle knows that we ask for some things and we can think about some things, but he is beginning to realize that the Christian is in need of something he cannot ask for. He is in need of something that he cannot think of, and now he leads us into the confidence and conviction that even that is open to the Christian. This God who is ours, who has so miraculously set forth our Head and brought about a Body, the Church, which is being formed in this age of grace, is so intensely interested in all of us that He not only answers what we pray for, but He answers the unexpressed desires of the heart which cannot be put into human language. This is all done according to the power of God which worketh in us.

Man cannot follow a power so great. It is beyond man's reason. Prayer is not limited to man's thought but goes out into the realms unknown in search of help and guidance. There is a mighty power at work within the heart of those who make much of their Spiritual lives. This power that is working within is unlimited. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”�

Ver. 21. Unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations (of the age of the ages) for ever and ever. Amen.

It is that Church whose splendor has been first brought to light by a union of Jews and Gentiles into His Body in Christ. No glory can be derived for the Church except it be a glory coming immediately from Christ the Head, or immediately from His mystical Body, through His members in so far as they are in Him. The Church that communicates strength and power to another must first receive such from Christ as the Head.

“Unto the generation of the age of the ages.”� All ages are the various periods from the beginning of time, and have run their course, thus adding dispensation to dispensation until Christ the Head of the Church shall receive the inheritance lost through disobedience and shall become King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are living in a great age. We as the Body of Christ are separated unto the Gospel of God. God has called us, commanded us to deliver the message of the Head of the Church that the body might be made perfect and complete for the day of His coming.

QUESTIONS

• At what verse does the prayer begin?

• Why the expression, “For this cause/' in Ver. 1 and 14?

• What was Paul's attitude in prayer before the Father?

• What persons comprise the membership of this family?

• Why does Paul call attention to the riches of His glory?

• What is the prayer of man who needs strength?

• How may Christ become the guest of each individual?

• Tell how a person may be made able to comprehend.

• What was promised to all saints? (Ver. 18).

• Tell us something of the love of Christ that we must know.

• What is the climax of Paul's prayer?

• What is the extent of the glory?