THE STEWARDSHIP OF A STEWARD

SERIES TWO
STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD

Message One
Stewards of the Mysteries of God

Scripture reading: Gen. 1:1, 26, Eph. 1:9-10, 3:2-5, 9-11, Col. 1:25-27, 2:2, 1 Cor. 4:1-2, Rev. 4:11

I.In eternity God purposed a will, and this will was hidden in Himself and was therefore a mystery—the mystery of God’s will—Eph. 1:9, Rev. 4:11:

A.The mystery of the universe is God, the mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church—Gen. 1:1, Rev. 4:11, Col. 2:2, Eph. 3:4.

B.The economy of God revealed in the New Testament has mainly two mysteries—Col. 2:2, Eph. 3:4:

1.　The first mystery, revealed in Colossians, is that Christ is the mystery of God; this God is the God who is embodied, explained, interpreted, expressed, and can be seen—2:2.

2.　The second mystery, revealed in Ephesians, especially in chapter 3, is that the church is the mystery of Christ—v. 4.

C.Christ and the church as one spirit are a great mystery; this great mystery is the meaning of the universe and human life—1 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 5:32.

II.The church is the hidden mystery of God’s eternal economy—Eph. 3:9-11:

A.God’s eternal economy is out of His eternal purpose, which is God’s determined intention; God has a definite and strong determination to obtain the church—1:9, 3:10-11, 2 Tim. 1:9.

B.According to Ephesians 3:4, the church has a particular name—the mystery of Christ.

C.God’s economy is His plan and arrangement to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity into His chosen people so that He may gain the church—the Body of Christ, which is the mystery of Christ—to be His corporate expression, and thus there is the economy of the mystery—1:3-23, 3:9.

D.The economy which God planned and purposed in Himself according to the good pleasure of His heart is to head up all things in Christ in the fullness of the times; this is through the dispensing of the rich life supply of the life-factor of the Triune God into all the members of the church—1:10.

III.God’s hidden purpose is a mystery, and the unveiling of this mystery is revelation; therefore, the Bible speaks of the revelation of the mystery—Rom. 16:25, Eph. 3:3, 5:

A.The mystery of Christ—the church—was hidden in other generations, but in the New Testament age it has been revealed—v. 5.

B.This mystery has been hidden in God throughout the ages and generations, but now the New Testament believers have been enlightened to see it—v. 9.

C.God’s hidden purpose is a mystery, and the unveiling of this mystery in the mingled Spirit is the revelation of the mystery—vv. 3, 5.

D.The mystery of Christ was revealed in spirit to the apostles and prophets—v. 5:

1.　The New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church was revealed to the apostles and prophets through the mingled Spirit—vv. 3, 5.

2.　When our spirit is mingled with the divine Spirit, our spirit becomes the organ in which the mystery of Christ is revealed—1 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 1:17, 3:5.

E.If we would see the revelation of this hidden mystery, we need to be strengthened into the inner man, which is our regenerated spirit, and let Christ make His home in our hearts—vv. 14-17a.

IV.The economy of the mystery became the stewardship of the grace of God given to the apostles and all the believers—vv. 2, 9, Col. 1:25, 1 Cor. 9:17:

A.In Ephesians 3 Paul used the Greek word oikonomia. This word has two meanings—vv. 9, 2:

1.　To God, this word refers to God’s economy—v. 9.

2.　To us, this word refers to the stewardship—v. 2.

B.When the economy of the mystery came to the apostles, this economy became God’s stewardship—1 Cor. 9:17, Eph. 3:2, 9, Col. 1:25.

C.God’s stewardship is according to God’s economy; in God, it is a matter of economy; in the apostles, it is a matter of stewardship—Eph. 3:2.

D.The economy of the mystery and the stewardship of the grace of God are actually one; this means that we should do what God is doing—carry out the economy of the mystery through the stewardship of the grace of God—1:10, 3:2, 9.

E.The stewardship of the grace of God is the ministry in God’s New Testament economy—2 Cor. 4:1.

V.We, the believers in Christ, should all be stewards of the mysteries of God; the mysteries of God are Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ—1 Cor. 4:1-2, Col. 2:2, Eph. 3:4:

A.The word steward in this verse, from the same root as economy in 1 Timothy 1:4 and Ephesians 1:10, means a distributing steward, a household administrator, who distributes the supply in the house to the members of the household—1 Cor. 4:1.

B.The apostles were appointed by the Lord to be such stewards, distributing the mysteries of God—Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ—to the believers. This distributing service, this stewardship, is the apostles’ ministry—Col. 2:2, Eph. 3:4.

C.Paul was such a distributor, dispensing Christ into all the believers; through receiving such a dispensing from Paul, the believers were able to grow by the supply they received; from this we can see that Paul’s ministry was a dispensing ministry, dispensing the unsearchable riches of Christ into us so that we can grow and become the church—Eph. 3:8, 4:1.

VI.As stewards of the mysteries of God, what is required most is that a steward be found faithful—1 Cor. 4:1-2, Luke 12:42, 2 Tim. 2:2, Rev. 17:14:

A.Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 4:2, saying, “Moreover, it is required of stewards here that one be found faithful.” Here means in the stewardship, in the dispensing ministry. In this dispensing ministry what is required most is that a steward be found faithful—v. 2.

B.If we would be faithful in our stewardship, we need to be one with the faithful God; only God is absolutely faithful, and we can be faithful only by being one with Him, by being constituted with Him, and by being the same as He is in His attribute of faithfulness—2 Tim. 2:13, 1 Cor. 1:9, 10:13, 2 Cor. 1:18-19, 1 Thes. 5:24.

C.If we care for others’ criticism of us or if we examine ourselves, we are not faithful; on the contrary, we may be political and try our best to avoid criticism in order to have a better feeling; we need to turn from such a situation and commit the judgment to the Lord; then we will be faithful—1 Cor. 4:5, Rom. 2:1.

VII.To be God’s dispensing stewards for the church—God’s building—we must be men of prayer, praying ourselves into God—1 Cor. 4:2, Col. 4:2:

A.Prayer is the realization that we are nothing and can do nothing; prayer is the genuine denial of the self, the rejection of our self, that we may enjoy Christ as our everything—Col. 4:2, Gal. 2:20, Phil. 3:3, 4:6-7, 11-13.

B.To pray means to pray ourselves into God; to pray ourselves into God is to love Him, to set our entire being absolutely upon Him, according to the pattern of Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet to hear His word—Luke 10:38-42.

C.When we pray ourselves into God, we receive His riches (signified by the bread, the fish, and the egg) into us as our supply—Luke 11:5-13.