Sermon Tone Analysis

Ephesians 3:1-13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell ©1999

 

Mysterious Voice

 

A nurse  neglected to tell her new patient, a little boy, how his hospital room intercom worked.

Soon his light flashed.

I called his name and asked what he wanted.

There was complete silence.

I repeated myself.

After a long pause he said, "Jesus, I hear you but I don't see you.

Where are you?"

Because the little boy didn't know any better he thought the intercom was Jesus trying to talk to Him.

He didn't know about this mysterious form of communication.

The same is true of God's secret plan for the Church.

God's plan was worked out before He created the world.

But nobody knew about it until after Christ revealed it.

Until then it was a mystery.

Introduction

 

Last Sunday morning we looked at God's great peace plan.

We saw how that Christ reconciled sinful men to God.

We also saw how He reconciled Jew and Gentile to form a new man.

Christ broke down the barriers that previously had separated them.

Through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, God has formed one nation, one family and one temple.

In Chapter 3 Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ starts to pray for the Ephesian believers that they might realize this wonderful*/ mystery/*.

But he stops and explains more about the mystery and why He is a prisoner.

A mystery is a divine secret that God has now revealed.

This mystery is very important to all creation.

I.

It Was Important To Paul

II.

It Was Important To The Gentiles

III.

It Was Important To The Angels

IV.

It Is Important To Christians

 

I.

It Was Important To Paul

 

/a.

Paul Was Christ's Prisoner/

 

*Ephesians 3:1* /For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—/

/ /

Paul became a prisoner of Jesus Christ after he took the Gospel to the Gentiles.

The reason Paul was awaiting trial in Rome was because of his Gentile ministry.

The Jews became very antagonistic towards Paul since he had dared to remove the distinction between Jew and Gentiles.

They accused him of being prejudiced against his own people.

Paul sought to heal this conflict between the Jews and Gentile churches by bringing a financial gift to help the poor in Judaea.

But instead of receiving Paul the Jews accused him of bringing a Gentile into the temple.

They tried to kill him and this resulted in his arrest by the local Roman commander.

Paul tried to diffuse the situation by speaking to his people.

They listened to his testimony of salvation until he shared how God had told him to go to the Gentiles.

Then they went wild again.

As a result he was transferred to Caesarea to stand trial again.

After two years at Caesarea Paul was sent to Rome.

Paul had always wanted to go to Rome, He just didn't expect to go as a prisoner.

But God used even this to spread the Gospel through out Caesar's household and the Praetorian Guard.

Paul was Christ's prisoner.

But he gladly suffered because the message was important.

/b.

Paul Was Also Christ's Steward/

/ /

*Ephesians 3:2* /If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, /

 

Paul was given a dispensation of grace to serve the Lord among the Gentiles.

Dispensation means law of the house or stewardship.

God's principles do not change.

Salvation has always been by faith.

But His methods for dealing with people have changed over the course of  history.

In the Old Testament God dealt with people according to Law.

Now He deals with people according to grace.

God gave this dispensation of grace to Paul when He called him on the Damascus Road.

*Acts 26:15-16* /“So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’

And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

‘But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

/Paul had received a stewardship, so he must obey the Lord.

/c.

Christ's Mystery/

 

*Ephesians 3:3-5*/ How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:/

 

Paul was commissioned by God to go to the Gentiles and declare to them God's salvation.

This message was previously hidden.

It had been a */mystery/*.

But now God had revealed it.

A revelation is religious doctrine viewed on its illuminated side; a mystery is the selfsame doctrine viewed on the side un-illuminated.

Paul had written to them about this in chapter one where he called it /the mystery of His will/ in verse 9. We looked at this mystery last week when we saw how Jews and Gentiles formed one nation, family and temple.

In previous ages God had not revealed His secret plan.

But now He revealed it through His holy apostles and prophets.

Paul was given this dispensation to take the Gospel to the Gentiles.

God has given us a commission to.

This message was so important to Paul that he was gladly imprisoned for it.

We have been commanded to take the Gospel to every creature.

We are to make disciples or followers of Christ./

/The message is important.

People are going to hell because they don't know it./

Are you obeying Christ's commission?

/One day we will give an account for our response!

*Proverbs 24:11-12* /Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?

He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?

And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone who is lost?

*The Gospel was important to Paul.

So important that he was willing to suffer for it.*/

II.

It Was Also Important To The Gentiles

 

*Ephesians 3:6 * /That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,/