Memory Text: Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV “20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Sunday, November 6 The Contents of the Mystery
Ephesians 3:1-6 MKJV “1 ¶ For this cause, I, Paul, am the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you nations, 2 if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me toward you, 3 that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in few words, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 that the nations should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partaker of His promise in Christ through the gospel.”
Ephesians 3:6 PEOPLE’S NT COMMENTARY The wall of partition broken down, Jews and Gentiles equally received, heirs alike of the gospel, fellow-members of the church, fellow-partakers of the gospel promises.
Deuteronomy 14:2 KJ21 “For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself above all the nations that are upon the earth.”
Matthew 10:5 NRSV “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,”
John 4:9 NRSV “The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)”
Acts 10:26-28 NRSV “26 But Peter made him get up, saying, "Stand up; I am only a mortal." 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; 28 and he said to them, "You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.”
Galatians 2:11-14 NRSV “11 ¶ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 13 And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"”
Galatians 2:14 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN The high authority of Peter would constrain the Gentile Christians to regard Judaizing as necessary to all, since Jewish Christians could not consort with Gentile converts in communion without it.

Monday, November 7 Evidences for the Mystery
Genesis 18:18 NKJV “"since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?”
Isaiah 42:6 NKJV “"I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,”
Isaiah 49:6 NKJV “Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’"”
Isaiah 56:3-8 NKJV “3 ¶ Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"; Nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." 4 For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off. 6 "Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants—Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant— 7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [Will be] accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him [Others] besides those who are gathered to him."”
Isaiah 60:3 ESV “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
Jeremiah 16:19 ESV “O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: ‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.’”
Zechariah 8:23 ASV “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days [it shall come to pass], that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Tuesday, November 8 Through the Church
Ephesians 3:10 ASV “to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly [places] might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,”
Ephesians 3:9-13 KJ21 “9 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, 10 with the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He hath purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. 13 Therefore, I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which are your glory.”
Ephesians 3:9-13 20th Century NT “9 And to make clear what is God’s way of working out that hidden purpose which from the first has been concealed in the mind of the Creator of all things; 10 So that now to the Archangels and to all the Powers on high should be made known, through the Church, the all-embracing wisdom of God, 11 In accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master. 12 And in union with him, and through our trust in him, we find courage to approach God with confidence. 13 Therefore I beg you not to be disheartened at the sufferings that I am undergoing for your sakes; for they redound to your honor.”
Ephesians 3:9 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The allusion, according to him, is to the mysteries of the ancient pagan religions; and he supposes that the apostle designs to contrast those "mysteries" with Christianity. In those "mysteries" there was a distinction between the initiated and uninitiated. There was a revelation, to some of the worshippers, of certain holy secrets from which others were excluded. There were in some of the mysteries, as the Eleusinian, great and lesser doctrines, in which different persons were initiated. In strong contrast with these, the "great mystery" in Christianity was made known to all. It was concealed from none, and there was no distinction made among those who were initiated. No truths which God had revealed were held back from any part, but there was a common participation by all. Christianity has no hidden truths for a part only of its friends; it has no "reserved" doctrines; it has no truths to be entrusted only to a sacred priesthood. Its doctrines are to be published to the wide world, and every follower of Christ is to be a partaker of all the benefits of the truths which Christ has revealed.


Wednesday, November 9 Wherefore
Ephesians 3:12-13 KJV “12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. 13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.”
Ephesians 3:12-13 God’s Word to the Nations “12 We can go to God with bold confidence through faith in Christ. 13 So then, I ask you not to become discouraged by the troubles I suffer for you. In fact, my troubles bring you glory.”
Ephesians 3:13 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY The apostle seems to be more anxious lest the believers should be discouraged and faint upon his tribulations, than for what he himself had to bear. He asks for spiritual blessings, which are the best blessings. Strength from the Spirit of God in the inner man; strength in the soul; the strength of faith, to serve God, and to do our duty. If the law of Christ is written in our hearts, and the love of Christ is shed abroad there, then Christ dwells there. Where his Spirit dwells, there he dwells. We should desire that good affections may be fixed in us…Those who receive grace for grace from Christ's fulness, may be said to be filled with the fulness of God. Should not this satisfy man? Must he needs fill himself with a thousand trifles, fancying thereby to complete his happiness?

Thursday, November 10 The Knowledge of His Love
Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV “14 ¶ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what [is] the width and length and depth and height—— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:18 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES Chandler supposes there is an allusion in all this to the temple at Ephesus. It was one of the wonders of the world--exciting admiration by its length, and height, and dimensions in every way, as well as by its extraordinary riches and splendour. In allusion to this, the object of so much admiration and pride to the Ephesians, he supposes that Paul desires that they should become fully acquainted with the extent and beauty of the spiritual temple. But I do not see that there is clear evidence that there is allusion here to the temple at Ephesus. It seems rather to be the language of a heart that was full of the subject, and impressed with its greatness; and the words are employed to denote the dimensions of that love, and are similar to what would be meant if he had said, "that you may know how large, or how great is that love." The apostle evidently meant to express the strongest sense of the greatness of the love of the Redeemer, and to show, in the most emphatic manner, how-much he wished that they should fully understand it.