Grace Points: The Manifold Wisdom of God (Part 1)

"Mr. Watson, come here; I want you." These were the first words ever spoken over an invention called the telephone. Of course, the inventor who uttered this famous phrase was Alexander Graham Bell. Bell had devoted his entire life to helping the deaf to speak. Both his mother and wife were deaf, which inspired him in his lifelong work. Perhaps his most celebrated student was Helen Keller.

A well-known lecturer, Bell became a professor of vocal physiology at Boston University in 1873. It was during this period he began work on his renowned invention. Since Bell was not proficient with his hands, he recruited the services of Thomas Watson, who enthusiastically designed the apparatus for transmitting sound electrically. One failure after another plagued the project, but finally their long nightly vigils began producing tangible results. On a cool windswept Boston evening in March 1876, the first sentence was successfully transmitted by telephone. Alexander Graham Bell's historic words were spoken to his assistant, Thomas Watson.

Little did Alexander Bell realize that his discovery was to revolutionize the field of communications. The endless hours of toil were instantly forgotten when his voice echoed over the receiver. Although this event was a major turning point in history, it pales by comparison to the discovery of the manifold wisdom of God. Today, God is speaking to us through Paul's epistles to communicate the riches of His grace. Themanifold wisdom of God has to do with His secret purpose for the Church, the Body of Christ. As we shall see, this is the greatest discovery of all!

"Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power." -Eph. 3:7

Why Paul? God already had called twelve apostles of the kingdom. Although Judas had fallen in transgression, the seat of his apostolic office was filled by Matthias preceding the day of Pentecost. Insofar as Paul was unconverted at the time, he could not have possibly fulfilled the qualifications set down by the Holy Spirit to be numbered with the twelve (Acts 1:21-26).

Of course, there are many dispensationalists who would agree with this interpretation, but teach that God ordained Paul to be the thirteenth apostle of the kingdom. Perhaps you have heard the saying, "They jumped out of the frying pan into the fire." In other words, we have gone from bad to worse, which is certainly the case with this view. The number twelve is stamped throughout the pages of prophecy, thus eliminating the possibility of a thirteenth apostolic office (Matt. 19:28 cf. Rev. 21:12-21).

What logical explanation then can we give for Paul's apostleship? Before the foundation of the world, God foreordained that He would raise up a new apostle to reveal His eternal purpose for the parenthetical age of Grace in which we now live. Hence, Paul says: "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen [Gentiles]..." (Gal. 1:15,16).

When God temporarily rolled up the building plans of prophecy and placed them aside, He made known a secret set of plans. With this program came a completely new set of blueprints. According to the counsel of His will, He had predetermined to call Paul as the masterbuilder of the project. So then, the instructions for our building program are found in Paul's epistles. Little wonder the apostle says: "I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon" (I Cor. 3:10). It is essential to use Pauline construction materials (grace doctrines), simply because someday soon the Building Inspector will examine our workmanship to determine if we followed His codes.

This helps us understand the apostle's statement here in Ephesians that he was "made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me" Those who question Paul's apostleship claim he was merely self-ordained. However, this passage clearly states otherwise. God calledPaul to be the apostle of the Gentiles and commissioned him to dispense the ministry of reconciliation (Acts 26:16 cf. Rom. 11: 13). He was given the gift of grace according to the effectual working of His power to carry out this divine commission.

Although seminaries do their best to turn out preachers, unless they are truly called of God their ministries will avail little. The gift of God's grace enables those who are charged with this calling to effectively expound the gospel. It brings insight, discernment, truth, and leadership capabilities. Sadly, the concept of a great preacher today is a "commanding presence" and "eloquence." But does this coincide with the biblical record? Surely, Paul was the greatest preacher ever to proclaim the gospel of the grace of God. Yet, he had this to say about the Corinthians' perception of him:

"For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible" (11 Cor. 10:10).

Well, so much for a "commanding presence" and "eloquence." Beloved, the means through which God accomplishes His will isn't human ability or strength; rather, it is the effectual working of His power. God is the one who convicts, forgives, enlightens, blesses, strengthens, comforts and restores the broken hearted. Paul says, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Why? "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (I Cor. 2:5).

Although Charles Spurgeon did not fully understand the Word, rightly divided, he was nevertheless faithful to the light God had given him. Mr. Spurgeon is a good example that those who preach the gospel are merely instruments in the hand of God. D . L. Moody related the following story regarding one of his visits to London:

"We had an early meal and Mr. Spurgeon suggested that we go into a quiet room to pray. As Mr. Spurgeon got down to pray, a great burden came upon him and he sank down almost to the floor. The burden of his prayer was, 'Lord, I am not worthy; not worthy to preach in Thy name!' And he was like that for two hours. Then the burden was lifted, but he was so wet with perspiration that they had to change all of his clothing. He was put into a cab, for it was late, and hurried to the auditorium to preach where thousands were waiting

"They had to help him to the platform because of his physical weakness from that burden, and that burden was, 'Lord, I am not worthy to preach!' Mr. Spurgeon preached for one hour. Marvelous strength of body was given to him. Everyone seemed to move back and forth with the swaying of his body. The entire congregation broke down in tears as he preached on, 'He was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification.' How many were saved that night no one will know until eternity."

Of course, there is always the danger of some abusing the authority structure that God has ordained for the Church (11 Tim. 2:16-19 d Heb . 13:17). Those who are called to preach the gospel must take great care not to think too highly of themselves. Godly leadership never lords over God's heritage; instead it sets a godly example for all to follow (I Peter 5:3). It has been correctly said: "When a minister of the gospel exalts himself and begins to work in his own human strength, and according to his own plans, he competes with God and forfeits his spiritual power."

There are none who have done more for the cause of Christ than Paul. Yet he was the first to humbly acknowledge:

"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given..." (Eph. 3:8).

"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Cor. 15:10).

Did you catch all those key phrases? "Unto me ... is this grace given." "By the grace of God I am what I am." "His grace which was bestowedupon me." "The grace of God which was with me." Those who falsely accuse Paul of being a boaster should read these passages. Paul clearly understood that everything he had accomplished for Christ was not due to his own ability, but to the grace of God. Therefore, it is unwise to compare ourselves among ourselves: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). We would do well to remember the poignant words of the hymn writer: "To God be the glory, great things He hath done!"

"...that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the Mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:8,9).

If you were to search the archives of ancient history (B.C.), would you expect to find a reference to the telephone as a form of communication? You're probably thinking, that's absurd! the telephone wasn't invented until 1876 (A.D.). This is precisely the point Paul is making in regard to the revelation he received from the Lord of glory. The apostle calls the message he preached among the Gentiles the unsearchable oruntraceable riches of Christ. In other words, the doctrines of Grace taught by Paul are untraceable in the Prophetic Scriptures (Genesis-Acts 9 and James-Book of Revelation [It should be remembered that Acts Chapter 9 marks the conversion of Paul, which begins the transition period from God's Prophetic program to the Mystery. The Book of Hebrews on the other hand appears to be an epistle of confirmation, therefore, it may well form a bridge back to prophecy]).

Now, if you are from Missouri, the show me state, we challenge you, or anyone for that matter, to find these Pauline teachings in the above Prophetic writings: Israel set aside in unbelief, the Church, the Body of Christ made up of Jews and Gentiles without distinction; commission of reconciliation, i.e., God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; salvation by grace through faith alone; terms of salvation-Christ's death, burial, and resurrection presented as good news; our spiritual baptism into Christ by the Holy Spirit; blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies; seated with Christ in the heavenlies; a heavenly hope and calling; the pretribulational Rapture; etc. Inasmuch as you are searching for the unsearchable, you may want to keep an eye out for references to telephones as well!

This brings us to our responsibility as members of the Body of Christ. We are to "make all men see what is the fellowship [oikonomia-dispensation] of the Mystery. " For some unknown reason, the King James translators departed from the Majority Text here (The reader should bear in mind that there is approximately a 10 percent variation between the Majority Text and the so-called Textus Receptus, as the above demonstrates. Most fail to understand that the King James translators (1611) did not use the Textus Receptus, commonly called theReceiued Text. Elzevir completed this text in 1624 well after the translators had finished their task. We do concur, however, that the Stephen's Text (1550) which they did use as the basis of their translation work is very closely related). Apparently, they drew the Greek word koinoniatranslated "fellowship" from a smaller family of manuscripts. Since the rendering 'koinonia' is only supported by scant manuscript evidence, we prefer to follow the rendering of the Majority Text, as do the vast majority of Greek authorities. More importantly, we believe this translation best fits the context.

We must also keep before us that the KJV translators did not have a knowledge of Paul's gospel, which undoubtedly influenced their decision making process in some cases. Here we are reminded of the counsel of the KJV translators themselves. In their letter To The Reader, they state:

"Some, peradventure, would have no variety of senses to be set in the margin, lest the authority of the Scriptures for deciding of controversies, by that show of uncertainty should somewhat be shaken. But we hold their judgment not to be so sound in this point .... Doth not a margin do well to admonish the reader to seek further, and not conclude or dogmatize upon this or that peremptorily [i.e. "leaving no opportunity to question or debate]? ... They that are wise had rather have their judgments at liberty in differences of readings, than to be captivated by one, when it may be the other."

While the King James Version of the Bible can be classified as "Old Faithful," there is a need at times to consult the original languages in order to arrive at the proper sense. Furthermore, we are in the enviable position of having additional manuscript evidence which corroborates theMajority Text that was unavailable to the KJV translators. Thankfully, God has placed numerous "reference works" at our disposal to assist us in this effort, since most students of the Word are not Hebrew and Greek scholars.

Having said this, it is our responsibility then to "make known the dispensation [Gr. oikonomia] of the Mystery." Consequently, we are to proclaim the whole counsel of God in light of the Pauline revelation. We are to open our mouth boldly to preach Christ according to the Mystery, placing special emphasis on His heavenly ministry. Great care must be taken to distinguish between the old economy and the new economy. That is, between law and grace, Israel and the Body, Christ's earthly kingdom and His heavenly kingdom, etc.

Bryan Leech has made this insightful observation: "Our lives should be a living illustration of the truth, but they are frequently hard to read and even some times misleading." Unfortunately, many who have been graced with a knowledge of the Mystery are living undercover. They fear the retaliation of the Christian community if they defend Paul's gospel. But are we serving God or men?. Whether or not we stand for this message, God has given us a knowledge of His will; therefore, we are ultimately responsible to make it known, and we will be judged accordingly.

Yes, it is a sacrifice! You will likely be criticized! You may even be ostracized! And probably you will be misrepresented! Pastor O'Hair used to say, "When you stand for the truth, you have to have the hide of a rhinoceros and the heart of a dove." But these things will pass like a morning mist when you hear the sweet voice of our Savior say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!!!"

Most members of the Body of Christ seem to think that their responsibility is to provide programs and entertainment for the congregation. They reason that this will draw larger crowds, which is an indication of God's blessing. Actually, we could invitean unsaved sports celebrity to a large church auditorium here in Milwaukee and literally pack the house. Numbers do not necessarily indicate God's blessing. In fact, God often passed by the multitudes and did His greatest work among small groups of saints who were obedient (Matt. 13:2,10-17; Acts 1:15).

"...which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:9).

As we have seen, the Mystery is untraceable in the Old Testament. It was not hidden in prophecy nor foreshadowed in the types. Rather, it was hid in the mind of God. When God revealed His secret purposes, the angels of heaven were astonished, Satan and his host were dumbfounded, and the inhabitants of the earth mused at the wonderful workings of God among the Gentiles. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33).

Interestingly, Paul reminds us that the Mystery was hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. This is significant for this reason: We are taken back to creation to refresh our memory that, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He has a program for the earth and Christ's reign upon it. And He also has a plan and purpose for the heavens where the Body of Christ will reign with Him in glory. Of course, the latter is the theme of the Pauline epistles.

Reprinted from The Berean Searchlight, the official organ of the Berean Bible Society. Volume LVIII, Number 3