Ephesians 3:1-13

Like many of you, we had a gathering this past week of children, and sons-in-law, and grandchildren, and two different families of them coming over and seeing the kids run around with glee, a whole lot of screaming.

I'm pretty sure that my closet in my office, which is one of the bedrooms, I think the kids must have been having a good time. One of them must have gotten knocked into the sliding doors because one door is bent.

Now.

It's family, it's family, it's all good. One of the realities, as we're in the book of Ephesians, is that the mystery is revealed and in God's view, there's one family, and there's no longer Jew and Greek, there's no longer male and female, there's no longer bondservant and free, but we are all one in.

Christ.

And we've studied that as we've come into this, and we get into this section in Chapter 3 now, and last night we had our small group and we're studying the book of 1 John. The book of 1 John is somewhat thought to be a letter from John to the church at Ephesus.

It is a circular letter, it was meant to go around. And John starts that section in Chapter 2, verse 18, with the word children. And we studied what that word children could mean in this particular context, the Greek pedia, is different than in John 1 12, but as many as receive him, to them he gave the right to become children of God.

That's a different name, that's a different word, that's techna. What you have in John 1 12 is your identity is now a child of God, it is a completed transformation. We talked about your passport no longer says you're a citizen of the world, you're a slave to the world.

Your passport now says you are a child of God, it is a defined identity. That's techna, pedia is more of a reality that you are not a completed, grown, totally mature person yet, you are still learning, you are still growing.

In fact Jesus uses that word pedia as he talks to Peter and John that are out on the boat, this is after his resurrection, and the guys go doing what they only knew, they're fishermen, they were out fishing, didn't catch anything, and Jesus calls them my children.

The implication there is that there is still growth to be experienced, there is still understanding to be gained. This is an important concept because what we have at this point in time is this letter that Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, and he's just gone through chapter 2 where he took the transition from, and you have he quickened who are dead in your trespasses and sins, describes our situation, and then but God in his great love for what he loved us has raised us up together.

And then it goes into verse 8, for by grace are you saved through faith, and then it goes on to the last half of that, a chapter, and it talks about that we are, the dividing wall of the partition has been broken down, the veil has been torn, we are being built together into an habitation, the reality of you don't look at each other differently now, you are the same.

And so then we get into this section here in chapter 3, and he's going to be emphasizing this reality, and my one thought here is that in God there is one family, those who are.

Of faith.

In God there is one family, those who are of faith, Romans 1, 16 and 17, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to them to believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. There's one, one family.

We're going to see how that plays out in these verses. Pastor, would you open us with a prayer? Absolutely.

So Father, we thank you so much that you have grafted us in and made us a part of this one family that you have. Thank you so much that you chose us. We know that we have not chosen you, but it is you that chose us.

Thank you God for your grace toward us to bring us in. We at one time were strangers and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, we were without hope and without God in the world, but now you have brought us in.

By grace we have been saved through faith, and so we thank you God for these things. It is all to your glory. And now we pray for my brother John as he teaches Lord that you would give him the clarity of thought, the words to say, that he would stick with your word and that your word would come forth to us in Jesus' name, amen.

So the beginning of this chapter, verse 1, is kind of like an introduction, if you would, a mini-introduction. For this reason, I call a prisoner of Christ on behalf of you Gentiles. It's just a mini-introduction, but what goes on now between verse 2 all the way through verse 13 is one sentence that is in verse 2 and verse 13, and in the middle of it is an explanation of it, okay?

So if I read verse 2, it starts out, for this reason I call a prisoner of Jesus Christ on behalf of you Gentiles, and then he goes on and he says, assuming that you have heard the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, then to verse 13, so I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is for your glory.

This is a passage of assurance, of encouragement for these Gentiles. Now again, I'm going to go back to the thought that perhaps 1 John is a letter written initially to the church at Ephesus to be spread about.

We're talking the end of the first century, and that he calls them children. The reality is that they have not yet attained, they have not achieved, but by the grace of God and through the power of his Holy Spirit, there will be growth.

And so these young believers who have just gone through chapter 2, where they were what they were, but God, and they responded in faith, and now they are all joined together, being built together into a habitation, now he wants to encourage them on how this change should be, this encouragement should be made available to them.

We start out in verse 1, for this reason. Now when you seek for this reason, what does that do to you?

It gives you more knowledge of what happened.

He's going to go back to what I've already set, and now he's going to give you the reason.

For it.

He's going to give you an explanation of it. What has he already set, what he's already set, goes back into chapter 2. And again, I want us to remember that this, for this reason, is to bring the readers of this letter into an acknowledgment that my life has been transformed, and it is undeniable.

It's been transformed. And again, Ephesians 2, 1 -3. My life was dead in trespasses and sins. My life becomes different, starting in verse 4, because God, but God, who is rich in mercy, has nothing to do with their becoming good enough, it has nothing to do with their being in the right religion club, it has nothing to do with them performing enough acts of worship, it has nothing to do with that, it has to do with, but God, who is rich in mercy.

And then comes the transition action, which in verse 2, starts out with God, it's His.

Grace.

It's His grace, because their hearts could never respond, except for Pastor Jeff, you did an amazing job on that on Sunday.

Oh, thank you.

Sunday was a good one.

Thank you.

And can we serve like that?

Let's go.

Well, that was like a meaty kind of sermon, you know what I mean?

We dug deep on that one. Yeah, by God's grace.

That was cool.

In Christ's, in God's view of things, there's only two types of people in this world, those who have and those who haven't. Those who have gone through this transformation, because of what they were, because of Christ's love, and then because of grace, then the response with grace, by faith, okay, you're either there or you're not, you're either a sinner or you're saved.

And then Ephesians 2 .18, again, this is for this reason, okay, this transformation is assured if you've gone there. This is a warning, if you haven't really gone there, then you're not even going to understand all of this kind of stuff, but we all now have access to the Father.

And for the Jews, this would have been massive, because they didn't have access to the Father. There was that curtain, there was the priest, there was all this stuff getting in the way, and for the Gentiles, they weren't even allowed in the synagogue.

Talk about not even getting into the Holy of Holies, there was such a separation, but we all have access to God, that's for this reason, and that we're all being built together, that's for this reason.

I want you guys to take this reality of definition, and now let's build upon it, because I got some words of encouragement to you. But he starts out by saying, for this reason, I call a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.

What does he mean by a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles?

Because he was in prison for preaching the gospel.

There you go, he was actually, literally was in prison. Yeah, I find it, that's such an easy answer, but so real. Many of his letters, not all of his letters, he either starts by saying, I Paul, a servant of Christ, or I Paul, an apostle of Christ.

And on one or two occasions, he says, I Paul, a servant of Christ, an apostle of Christ. He claims both of them, I think one letter he doesn't use any of them, he just gets right into the meat of it. But the purpose there, I Paul, a prisoner of Christ, talks about his surrendering to the authority of Christ.

What he has to say, I'm surrendering myself to the message of Christ, I'm a servant of.

His.

Or I Paul, an apostle, is going into situations where his apostolic authority helps to validate the significance of what he's got to teach. But in this case, he takes this little thing and he says, I Paul, a prisoner of Christ.

Now, if we go to Galatians 1, verses 15 and 16, Sandy, I'm going to ask you if you would read that, please, in Galatians 2, John, back there, I'm going to ask you if you would read Galatians 2, and let's just read these two, because Paul's ministry to the Gentiles isn't something that he approached the council in Jerusalem and said, I want to be the guy to go to the Gentiles.

That's not how this all got started.

Yeah, John.

So, when he uses apostle, servant, or prisoner, he's not using them similarly, or as synonyms. They're three distinct...

Correct.

Correct.

There is an emphasis that he wants to place on what he's got to say. And in this case, he's saying, my message is what was so important. I was willing... Lisa, you said it quite well. I was so willing to preach it, even though I was going to go to prison for it.

That's the power of this message. He is not going to be held back. He's going to say... Sandy, do you have Galatians 1, 15 and 16?

But when God, who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consent with flesh and blood.

He has this ministry to the Gentiles, and that's what he's really writing this to right.

Now.

It's not trivial, because it was God-ordained in the very, very first place. John, do you have Galatians 2?

John?

Do you have Galatians 2? 2 what? Alright, never mind. Galatians chapter 2, verses 7 to 9. I'm in Galatians. Chapter 2, verses 7 to 9.

Seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised, for he who affectionately worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised, affectionately worked for me also to the Gentiles.

There was a debate, should he be doing this? Is this appropriate that he should be doing this? He goes to Jerusalem, and there was this discussion. It was like, well, Peter has been sent to preach predominantly to the Jews, and we acknowledge what is going on in your ministry, and that you actually have been sent to the Gentiles.

What he's got to say here in this section is validated by the call that he specifically has for the Gentiles. One of the things about Paul, in the reality of his ministry, it's recorded in Acts, in his various journeys, where did Paul initially go whenever he would go to a new city?

Where did he go? He went to the synagogue. And he would preach Christ to the synagogue. How was that received?

Poorly.

Not too well.

Not too good.

They chased him out of town.

I'm going to say that there were two reactions. There were those who accepted, because there were those who did accept. And then there was those who wouldn't accept, and he would do one of two things.

He would either be physically chased out of town, or he would go elsewhere besides the synagogue and preach to the people that would be willing to listen. But it says in Acts 9, 22 -23, that Paul's preaching confounded the Jews.

I believe what we're seeing there is that the message he had hurt them, but they didn't.

Know why.

Because God is God. He does reveal himself. But it hurt them to the point they were so upset, they sought to kill him. In Acts 21, the city was stirred up, and they actually... Yes, Stan.

He said he confounded the Jews. And through a reading, you know, over to the Scriptures, God also hardened their hearts.

Yes.

So even if Paul was given the right message, their hearts were still hardened. And God had to open up their hearts to really receive the gospel.

And that brings us into what we call the Church Age. Because it does say in Daniel that there will be 70 weeks, and after 69 weeks, Messiah will be cut off. And the Jewish story stops at the end of the 69th week, and doesn't resume until the 70th.

Week.

We know that as the seven years of tribulation. And what's in between this parentheses is called the Church Age. And Stan, you're absolutely right. Paul just pours his heart out. I wish that my brother would only receive the message.

Okay.

But what happens is for those Jews who choose not to be, the branch now, the vine now has branches grafted in, and that's the Gentiles. So yeah, you're absolutely right. But the Jews respond violently, and they seek to kill him.

This was God's plan.

Okay?

This is how we as Gentiles, who are now getting the word to be accepted into his kingdom. Prior to that, we were like, out in the field. Now, all of a sudden, with Paul, we're allowed to come in. And that's Paul's teaching, especially on the street corner.

And there is going to come a time in the tribulation where God is going to work in the hearts of his people again. And their story resumes in the book of Revelations. There are those who believe that the church will be gone before the book of Revelations.

Starts.

And what do you believe, sir?

I was asked that question last night. I've taught the book of Revelation.

Let's talk about a pre-church rapture.

No, no.

I mean, what do they mean when they say the church isn't, like, what's at the end of the age of the church? Are you saying the rapture happens after that? And then the church isn't on the earth?

Yeah, so some people think the rapture happens before the tribulation, which is what I hold.

I'm a panther.

What is that?

It will pan out. It will all pan out.

I'm with you, actually. I can't believe we agree on something.

And I will actually teach all four views of tribulation and then let it up to the people that I'm teaching to look to the scripture and seek out the guide of the Holy Spirit and be convicted for what they have said.

That being said, that being said, Paul has a problem. And he ends up going back to Jerusalem. And if you read into Acts 22, he goes from here to there and everything. He is actually sent to be scourged by the Romans, because the Jews couldn't do that.

He's actually sent to be scourged, and he says, I've got a question for you. Can you scourge a Roman citizen? Because I'm a Roman citizen.

I'd love for you to go.

Yeah, I do, too. I do, too. I do, too. And so they weren't able to scourge him. Barb, I'm going to ask you to read Acts 26, verse 12. So all this is going on, and there's this question about Paul has been desecrating the temple by bringing a non-Jew into the temple.

And all of these accusations going back and forth, Paul defending himself. And it gets down to the point where I think, if you're reading this and you're watching it like a movie, well, Paul's going to get set free.

Until you get to chapter 26, verse 32.

You said 32?

Yeah, 26, 32.

But you said 12.

I swear he did, too, because I'm actually 26 years old.

I do this often.

OK, tell me again.

26, 32.

OK.

I am not insane.

I am.

I thought you were reading.

I was.

I am not insane, most excellent best gifts, Paul replied. What I am saying is true and reasonable.

OK, that's not the best.

The king is familiar with these things, and I speak them freely to him.

OK, that's not the verse I wanted. There's a verse that talks about. We could let him go, but he appealed to Caesar.

OK, that's 32.

That's 32?

Yeah.

That's what I want.

But Rippa said to Festus, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

This is why he ends up going to Rome. Because in the trial, he says, you guys can't scourge me. I'm appealing to Caesar. He actually gets sent to Rome. This is sometimes called Paul's fourth missionary journey.

Because quite frankly, if you read that, it's awesome. He ends up in prison, chained to a Roman guard, witnessing to this guy who's chained to Paul. Paul's not chained to him. The Roman guard is chained to Paul.

But he ends up in prison. So this is him being in prison because he dared to speak out and preach to the Gentiles. Tina, you were absolutely right on that. He's in jail because he preached to the Gentiles.

And so he says here, for this reason, I call a prisoner of Christ on behalf of you Gentiles.

All right.

So now the stage is set. The validity is there. The foundation is set. And if we read the sentence, I need to get there first of all. A chapter in verse 30, Ephesians 3 beginning, Assuming you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace given to me for you.

That's the first half of this sentence. The second half is verse 13. Paul calls himself a steward of God's grace.

What is a steward?

A servant.

A servant?

Someone who's put in charge.

Someone who's put in charge.

Of a manager's property or manager.

Who's responsible.

In particular.

All of this is the right answer. First Corinthians 4 .2 calls it a trustworthy servant. That's the steward is a trustworthy servant. Colossians 1 .25 is actually going to use this concept of stewardship As one who is put in charge from God to preach the mystery.

There is a calling. There is a job description, if you would. The steward is given the charge from God to preach the mystery. Luke 16 .1 and 2 has an important concept into it. So Elisa, could you pull out Luke chapter 16 for me?

And read verses 1 and 2. To be identified as a steward has a blessing, has a calling, has a opportunity. But at the backside, if you're not a worthy steward, there is... Well, this ain't going to go good for you.

Do you have that?

Yeah.

Go ahead.

16 .1, right?

And 2.

And 2.

Now, he was also saying to the disciples, there was a rich man who had a steward. And this steward was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called for him and said to him, What is this I hear about you?

Give an accounting of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.

If you are a steward of God's word, Pastor, if you are given a charge by God to proclaim his word, and you're not faithful to it, Scripture, God proclaims judgment on you stronger than on others because he's given you a charge.

Paul is given a stewardship. And because of that stewardship, he is going to proclaim, but he also says that I am a steward because of God's grace. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul acknowledges that I'm the least of all.

I am not fit, but by God's grace I am.

And John, I just had this Bible open to 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is the judge, preach the word.

Absolutely.

That's a stewardship.

That's a stewardship.

Is that only for men?

Yeah.

I'm going to get out of this soon.

Let's do a little bit of rabbit trail, but I'm not going to go far. The office of pastor is a male role.

It is.

Right.

The calling to proclaim the gospel message is given to women with women.

Okay?

Women teach women.

I don't see anywhere in the Bible where it says women are supposed to do the gospel anywhere. I only see men being told to do it.

The older women are to teach the younger women.

Well, yeah, okay. It does say that in 1 Timothy.

That's Titus, yep.

Yeah, and the great commission is given to the church, which is men and women. So Acts chapter 2, the spirit then clothes both men and women to go and prophesy to the world. So that's not in the church.

That's out in the world. Everybody should be sharing the gospel. That's not just men sharing the gospel. But in the church, there's...

But then when they start asking you questions and stuff, then you're in the role of teacher.

Well, see, here's the difference.

Then that gets kind of messed up.

Yeah.

In the household of faith, there is a stewardship. There's an administration. There's an order. And in the household of the faith, you have male elders. And so you don't have women teaching men. But when you're out in the world witnessing, it could be that a man would ask questions.

Say you're sitting on an airplane, and you're sharing the gospel, and it happens to be a man. You could answer questions to a man. You are allowed to evangelize. That's not against the order of the church.

So you've got to look at each passage in context.

I'm trying to get out of that, but okay.

You don't want to share the gospel.

Well, he's a woman thing for something.

Yeah, and you have to use discretion, too. You don't want to be offensive in how you present.

We have women in our church who, by all observations that the church leadership has had, are gifted with the gift of teaching and proclaiming the gospel truth. Last night, we were talking about the dangers of antichrists that come and preach falsehood.

So any person who is put in a position to either teach a class like this or to teach the women's precepts, the women's Bible studies, to lead a group, there's a very careful examination, I'm going to call it, or evaluation before we give the keys of teaching to just anybody.

But we have women in this church who are definitely gifted with the gift of teaching and evangelism. Well, those are two that come to my mind. And Jill. Those are three that come to my mind. And there are others.

Janice Biddle.

Janice Biddle. There are others that have this gift. And it actually says that in Romans 12 .6 that the gifts are given according to God's grace. So you read that verse. Read that 4 .1 again.

Yeah, and this is given to Timothy as a pastor.

Correct.

As a pastoral epistle.

Correct.

I charge you, Timothy, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

The only way that Paul can give that to Timothy with confidence is because God gives Timothy the grace to do it. You cannot fulfill that command unless you're relying on the grace of God and the power of his Holy Spirit within you.

But if you deny those powers and you try to go off on your own, you're probably going to go woke in today's vernacular because you'll compromise. Okay, Paul says, you have heard of my stewardship. And then he goes to the end of it in verse 13 and he says, so I'm going to ask, because you've heard of my, and I've got some things here, don't lose heart over what I'm suffering for you, which is your glory.

I don't want you to lose heart. Isaiah 41, Rich, if you would get that verse 10. 2 Corinthians 4, Stan, if you would get that. The exhortation to not lose heart strongly implies that there could be this feeling of losing your courage or being discouraged or perhaps feeling it's just not working.

I'm not, I'm not. Where does that discouragement come from?

The world, the flesh, and the devil.

You are on a roll today. You are on a roll. The world, the flesh, and the devil. He is going to try to take God's servants, who by the way have God's grace, or God's people, who by the way in that other letter, they're called children.

You're growing.

You're not there yet. God knows that, but he's bringing you along. You're just children. He's bringing you along. Defying reasons to discourage you. Because I don't know enough.

I tried.

Whatever it is, this is all about it. I don't want you to lose courage. Isaiah 41, 10, Rich.

Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I love that passage. Put that on a screensaver. Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be discouraged. I am your God. Whatever the world is going to try to tell you, you can put that on top of it. As much as the reality is I sin.

Just talk to my wife. She'll tell you. The reality is that I fall short.

Really?

I've spoken harshly to people, and it's wrong. Satan is up at the throne of God. That guy, John, he's terrible. You don't want him. But when God looks down at me, how does he see me?

He loves you.

Why?

Because you're covered in the blood of Christ. You are on a roll. You're teaching my lessons.

Jesus is your advocate, standing right next to God.

He's saying, I covered that sin. When he looks at me, he looks at me through the blood of Christ.

I'm sorry. I meant we all fall short. I didn't mean just you.

But I take this very personally with victory, because I can look at these times that I have failed. I could be discouraged. But I choose to look at the life situations through the filter of Isaiah 41 .10.

Read that again.

Isaiah 41 .10.

Want to do that?

OK.

Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my right hand. With my righteous right hand.

Righteous right hand. I don't care what the world throws at you. Look at it through the filter of that verse. It's a good one to memorize.

Oh, yeah.

Look at it in the filter of that.

He said the same thing to Joshua.

Who's got 2 Corinthians 4? You got that standard?

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed.

We are not crushed, church.

Amen.

We're not crushed. I don't care how harsh the world is at you. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when, blessed are you when men insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad. For in the same way they also persecuted the prophets who were before you. I am persecuted, I am afflicted, but I am not crushed. So he says, for this reason, assuming you have heard of the stewardship of my grace, do not lose heart over what I'm suffering for you, which is for your glory.

Romans 8 .28, what does it say? All things are fun.

Work for the good.

For the good. For the good. Now, we've got a little bit of time. I'm going to go quickly through this passage here, and I'm going to highlight the substance of the encouragement that he has. In verse 2 and in verse 7, it says, I, Paul, have received grace to reach you.

What he has given and what he is going to teach and the message that he has and the gospel message and his very position as a minister to them is all by God's grace. It's all by God's grace. John 1 .16, into the fullness we receive grace for grace.

It's God's grace that makes it. That's a source of encouragement. And then in verse 3, it says, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. I'm sorry, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation as I have written this.

The mystery in Colossians 1 is that in Christ, he's the hope of your glory. There's no longer Jew and Gentile. It's the hope that we have. That mystery has now been revealed. It was hidden before, but now it's revealed.

It's all about the hope of glory, Christ in you. It's no longer, do you have, do you got the business card that says I am a card carrying Jew? That's not it anymore. It's the hope of glory that's in you.