The Mystery in Ephesians
Part 2




"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. '' (Eph. 1:3)

BLESSED BE GOD WHO HATH BLESSED US

Paul writes this epistle as a prisoner. There is not one note of disappointment, not one tone of sorrow in the entire epistle. At the very outset of the letter he blesses the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It should be kept in the reader's mind when this epistle was written. This was written after Israel was no longer the center of God's purposes. It was written after Israel, as a nation with all of her privileges, was set aside. The Apostle Paul had pronounced blindness upon the whole nation as fulfillment of Isa. 6:9-10. The Holy Spirit led the Apostle to say in Acts 28:25-28,

"Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the Prophet unto our fathers (i.e. the fathers of Israel), Saying, "Go unto this people (i.e. Israel) and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive; For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.' Be it known therefore unto you, (i.e. Israel), that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.''

Paul said this to his kinsmen according to the flesh. For l5 years or so the Apostle had been a minister to the Gentiles. ministering the Gospel of God. He had been performing the work of a priest in offering up the Gentiles to God that they might be acceptable to Him (Rom. 15:16). As the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13) he magnified his office by working harder than any of the other apostles (2 Cor.11:23) and by not being ''a whit behind the very chiefest apostles'' (2 Cor. 11:5). Paul's office was magnified by the "abundance of revelations'' he received; for he says, "for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles'' (2 Cor. 12:5). Truly the signs, wonders, and mighty deeds were done by him as the Apostle to the Gentiles, all for the purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy. Paul's Acts ministry was one of being an "able minister of the New Testament'' (2 Cor. 3:6). This new testament was the one God had promised Israel in Jer. 31:31- 33. However, as long as Israel was in unbelief as she was during the Book of Acts, the old testament (i.e. covenant) was not done away with; the new covenant was simply superimposed over the old for those individuals who had been made partakers of the Abrahamic blessings - that is the "promise of the Spirit'' (Gal. 3:14). The nation was still under the old, Paul's desire was for the new to be established. For when God would establish the new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, then the "times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord" and the Kingdom would be restored to Israel. For years Paul labored among the Gentiles as their Apostle. He taught and witnessed both to the small and great saying nothing except that which was in harmony with what Moses and the prophets said should come to pass (see Acts 26:22).

Paul's overriding desire during his Acts ministry was for his nation. His labors were in their behalf. Even though his basic work was among the Gentiles, it was for the purpose of making Israel jealous, that they might emulate the faith of the Gentiles and be saved (Rom. 11:11-14).

"I say the truth in Christ, and lie not . . . That l have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Who are Israelites...'' Rom. 9:1-4.

But all his efforts to win Israel culminated in a Roman prison where he calls the chief men of the Jews in Rome together and explains that he is BOUND FOR ISRAEL'S HOPE (Acts 28:20). To these he expounded out of the Scriptures and testified concerning the Kingdom. He spoke out of both the Law of Moses and the Prophets all one day from morning till evening (Acts 28:23). The Roman Jews agreed not among themselves. The Spirit of God moved upon Paul to pronounce the Nation's total blindness. The axe is laid to the root. The Hope of Israel and all that Paul had ministered for ended abruptly in Acts 28:28. The anticipation of the returning King, Jesus Christ, was set aside. Signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost ceased. The restoration of the Kingdom was NOW impossible. Israel reached the great crisis and failed to enter "Into His rest" because of unbelief'.

It would appear that all of Paul's efforts had failed. You might expect him to really be experiencing heaviness and continual sorrow, for it looked as though years of ministry was "down the drain''. But now in Ephesians we learn that he received a subsequent revelation. It was such a grand and glorious revelation that he bursts forth with . . . BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. That is to say in Plainer Words: "Speak well of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.'' Why? Because He HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST.

He is saying BLESS GOD because HE HATH BLESSED US. Paul received a new and fresh revelation from God concerning His secret purpose called ''the Mystery''. The truth connected with the Mystery is such a higher and more glorious truth than Kingdom truth that Paul no longer experiences sorrow for his kinsmen after the flesh. But rather he blesses God for having made known to him the "revelation of the Mystery.''

Paul no longer finds himself in prison bound for Israel's hope but rather he learns that he is "an ambassador in bonds'' to make known the Mystery (Eph. 6: 19-20). It is as the prisoner of the Lord that he learns the present testimony of our Lord (2 Tim. 1:8). The Lord's present testimony is made known fully in the Ephesian Epistle. It concerns the fact that a new company of believers is formed which is to make up a body of believers over which Christ Jesus is the HEAD. It concerns a truth that Christ is now among the Gentiles and is their Hope of Glory. The truth concerning the Mystery is so glorious that it now overshadows that which Paul had previously worked so hard to see come to pass. Now that the Mystery is made known to him by means of a personal revelation from Christ he can only be filled with PRAISE AND PEACE. Thus the praise is BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS

As members of the Church of the One Body we are to bless God because He has already blessed us. We don't pray to be blessed but rather we praise God because we have already been blessed with all spiritual blessings. We are not to seek blessings, but we are to speak well of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because HE HATH BLESSED US. The "us'' is the Church of the One Body. The blessings of the Church of the One Body are not limited; they are limitless. They include ALL the BLESSINGS that are in "heavenly places". The Church of the One Body is to enjoy every blessing in the heavenlies. These blessings are the RICHES OF GLORY.

Spiritual blessings are in contrast to blessings of the Spirit, (i.e. "spiritual gifts''). The Church of God, the company of believers which was in view from Acts 2 to Acts 28, received gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts were Divine enablements. They were supernatural in character and enabled the believers to perform supernatural arts. The gifts of the Spirit during the Acts period were nine in number: (1) the word of wisdom. (2) the word of knowledge, (3) faith, (4) gifts of healing, (5) the working of miracles, (6) prophecy, (7) discerning of spirits, (8) divers kinds of tongues (i.e. foreign languages) and (9) the interpretation of tongues. l Cor. 12:8-10.

The spriritual gifts were the "promise of the Spirit'' referred to in Gal. 3:14.,

"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.''

The Abrahamic blessings are not the blessings of the Church of the One Body. The promise of the Spirit was to Abraham and his seed (i.e. those who walked in his steps). The promised Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost. The Church of God was endowed with power from on high (Lu. 24:49). The one hundred and twenty on the Day of Pentecost formed the remnant that received the Abrahamic promise of the Spirit. From that day in Acts 2 until the great dispensational landmark was reached in Acts 28 the miraculous abounded. The gifts of the Spirit prevailed. The believers were granted a foretaste of the powers of the age to come (Heb. 6:5). When the crisis of Acts 28:28 was reached and blindness pronounced, the miraculous ended abruptly. With the ending of the miraculous the outworking of the Kingdom purposes of God ended. With the Kingdom purposes being set aside, God also set aside His use of the Church of God. The Church of God was His instrument in accomplishing His earthly purpose. So with Israel's failure to believe, He set aside the Church of God. This was not because of the failure of the Church of the Acts period but rather it was because of Israel's unbelief. The nation was given every opportunity to acknowledge Christ as Messiah and the Son of God. The Lord stretched out His arms for over 30 years to the disobedient and gainsaying people. They would not respond in the main. Thus the crisis is reached, Israel's hope is abandoned, the olive tree is rooted up and the "spiritual gifts'' are buried in Israel's grave, only to be revived with Israel's restoration in a future age.

When the landmark of Acts 28:28 is reached prophetic truth ends. A new and fresh revelation is committed unto the Apostle Paul. The Mystery of the Church which is Christ's Body is made known to Paul. The blessings connected with the Church of the Mystery are spiritual in nature. These are now in contrast with blessings which are physical, or supernatural. The blessings of the Church of the new calling are those riches which are awaiting us in heavenly places.

Whatever the riches of heavenly places are, no matter how many there are, every one of them belong to the Church of The One Body as our inheritance. The spiritual blessings are ours now; we are to enjoy them by faith. However, as members of the Church of the One Body, we will enjoy them in reality in resurrection. This is a fact which is hard to grasp. All of the riches in the realm of God's Right Hand, Far Above All, falls into the category of "all spiritual blessings''. None are omitted.

As one reads verses 3-6 he becomes aware of the fact that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has willed certain things to the Church of the One Body. He willed ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS to the Church of the One Body; not to Israel, nor to the Church of God. With every blessing stored and banked in heavenly places for the members of the Church of this dispensation there is no need for a second blessing. He has willed everything in Glory to those who make up his family in the sphere FAR ABOVE ALL HEAVENS. In view of what is ours in the heavenlies, to ask for more would seem to be ungrateful. Yet there are Christians who continually beg God for more. All the while ignoring the fact that He has already blessed us with ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.

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