Today our mission as members of “the church” that Paul called “the body of Christ” is as follows;

“… To Make All Men See [Gk. photizo, Give Light Of] 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 To the intent that now Unto The Principalities And Powers In Heavenly Places might Be Known By The Church The Manifold Wisdom Of God, ¹¹ According to the Eternal Purpose Which He Purposed In Christ Jesus Our Lord: Ephesians 3:9-11 (KJV)

Today’s unique dispensational age of the “fellowship of the mystery [Gk. mustrion, the secret]” (Eph. 3:9) is like none other. It has no religious rituals or rites to perform, and no Sabbaths or holy days to keep. Thus Paul wrote: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat [foods], or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” Col. 2:16 (KJV)

It has no religious fathers but God alone. It has no laws as to external dos and don’ts. It has no prescribed place of worship. Being “heavenly” and not being an earthly people, there are no divisions or religious denominations in this invisible “church, which is His body.” There is no human set above or over another, all members of “His body” are equal. Rather, “His body” is a living organism of “the Spirit” having its life “in Christ,” thus it’s not an earthly religious organization of man’s creation headed by men.

This is the invisible “Church, Which Is His Body” (Eph. 1:22b-23a) not distinguished by anything external. It has only Christ Himself as “the Head” of His “body” via “His Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2) indwelling each member (cf. Rom. 8:9). “His body” has no authority delegated to its members since All authority rests in Him alone as “the Head” of “the body of Christ.”

Its members were ‘foreknown to God before creation’ (Eph. 1:4). They were adopted by God, and placed into “His body” as “sons.” Nobody one can ‘join’ “His body” as one might join a manmade religious church organization. You must have to have been chosen by God and ‘joined to’ Christ’s body by the work of God who “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11) according to “His good pleasure” (Phili. 2:13). Therefore no one can boast of membership in “His body” for we did nothing to earn our way into “His body.” We are of “His workmanship created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10).

“For it is God Which Worketh IN You both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phili. 2:13 (KJV)

There were No trumpets and No shouts, to mark the beginning of “the Fellowship of The Mystery.” It was ushered in with the Acts period ‘fall of Israel’ (cf. Rom. 11:10-11) with the conclusive subsequent simple statement, “Be it known therefore unto you [Israel], that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear [Gk. akouo, hearken to] it.” Acts 28:28 (KJV)

Because none can point back to some great and amazing historical landmark, many are inclined to doubt “the Word of truth.” They can’t believe that such an important event could just happen without some outburst in nature or a great battle of world forces to point out a great change. And there is no Biblical evidence that the end of this dispensational age of “the fellowship of the mystery” will be any more spectacular than its beginning. It is likely that “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in [heaven’s] glory.” Colossians 3:4 (KJV) it will not make the headlines of the newspapers.

“His body” has been gathering secretly and silently at the hand of God during all these centuries since Paul first spoke those words of Rom. 28:23-28 to the Jewish leaders in Rome, while as its prisoner. The great bulk of believers today know absolutely nothing about this. It is still a “mystery” (Grk. musterion, secret), made known only to such as are the initiated “faithful” among “the saints” (Eph. 1:1). It does not become known by a study of the Bible alone as the book among other books. No amount of worldly learning or theological degrees can discover “the Mystery [secret]” that was planned and “from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God” (Eph. 3:9). One must have received “the gift of the spirit of wisdom and knowledge,” to thereby have their understanding “enlightened” (Eph. 1:15-18) as seen here by Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.

“Wherefore I [Paul] also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, ¹⁶ Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: ¹⁸ The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,” (Eph. 1:15-18)

There are those who might talk about ‘the mystery,’ but that is no guarantee that they really are its members or know it. Most then fail to recognize the dispensational boundary with the end of Acts, or know nothing of what lies beyond. This is true also of some sects which have agreed that there is a change of dispensation, but they remain unable to define “the Mystery.” You get no light on the subject from their writings.

The term “mystery,” at the time Paul was writing his epistles, was a word used among the heathen. It was the degrees or steps by which some were gradually led into the secrets of the idol worship. Paul’s mystery is “Great mystery” (Eph. 5:32) ordained of God. In any case, a mystery was something ‘revealed to an initiate.’

“Whereof I [Paul] am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me [Paul] for you, to fulfil [Gk. pleroo, complete] the word of God;

²⁶ Even [that is] THE MYSTERY which Hath Been Hid From Ages And From Generations, but NOW is made Manifest To His Saints: ²⁷ To whom God Would Make Known what is the Riches Of The Glory Of This MYSTERY Among The Gentiles; which is Christ IN YOU [plural], The Hope Of Glory:” (Col. 1:26-27)

So “the mystery” is something to be revealed to the initiate in ‘the things of God,’ but very few seek to know these ‘things.’ Few go on unto any perfection at all. One cannot be expected to know the Pauline Post-Acts “mystery” by merely professing to be a saved, regenerated Christian… it takes further revelation.

Essentially, there is little likelihood of anyone having part in or reaping benefits of something he does not know about. He cannot receive anything by faith till he has ‘heard about it.’ That is where many are deceived. They erroneously try to make “the mystery” a part of Israel’s kingdom program and Christ’s 2^nd coming to earth. They seem to think they can be ‘meek and inherit the earth’ and yet somehow get to Heaven also. They comingle the things pertaining to Two Different dispensations of God… saying ‘the dispensation of the mystery” will end ‘with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and a trumpeting.’ But these things refer to Christ’s 2^nd coming at the end of the terrible Tribulation period…. not “the Mystery” concerning “the body of Christ,” and the “faithful” whose destiny is to “Appear With Him In [Heaven’s] Glory” (Col. 3:4). This proves they don’t know and believe “the Mystery.”

Our mission today is “to make all men see [perceive] what is the fellowship of the mystery” (Eph. 3:9). Yet, we are very limited in that mission. Many Christians simply do not wish to see “the Mystery” and like Demas who forsook Paul, they ‘love the world’ and its religious traditions. Many are entangled in religion so deeply that they cannot escape. But we press on sharing the truth for today concerning this age of “the Mystery.”

Until the great dispensational divide of Acts 28:25-28, both spiritual and material blessings had only to do with Israel, the earth, the land that was promised to Abraham and to his faith descendants. The New Jerusalem will come down to the earth to be inhabited by that chosen people. This includes Abraham and those who are children of the ‘promise’ made to Abraham who “sought that city whose builder and maker is God.” (Heb 11:10).

By contrast, we note how abruptly in Eph. 1:3 there is the announcement that a special chosen people will enjoy God’s non-material, non-physical, “spiritual blessings In The Heavenly Places.” This is a part of the “Great Mystery [secret]” (Eph. 5:32) that “was hid in God from ages and generations.”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” Ephesians 1:3 (KJV)

All this surely must have been a great surprise to the believers of Paul’s time, Post-Acts. Not even a hint of such a thing had ever before been uttered until Paul received divine “revelation of the mystery” (Rom. 16:25) from the ascended Lord Jesus in heaven (cf. Gal. 1:12), from which Paul wrote his 2^nd set of epistles beginning with Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.