Stewards of Grace

Stewards of Grace

Ephesians 3:1-13

I want to take a moment this morning and ease us back into our study of the book of Ephesians. We have been away from this study for more than a month, so I think it is important to bring us up to speed and reintroduce this letter.

This is a letter written by the Apostle Paul from a prison cell in Rome. He is writing to the saints at Ephesus who are in Christ. And I think that is an important distinction to make. Ephesus is where they lived but they were faithful in Christ. The same thing can be said of us; we are Christians who live in Monroe or Wayne County, but we are in Christ. That is our position in God. We live in this world, but we belong to a new community that has a heavenly home.

It is important we understand that one of the main themes of this letter is “Jews and Gentiles are now united in Christ.” Why is that important? Well because the racial division that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles in the first century is something that we cannot even comprehend, not even in our racially divided world.

The Jews thought of the Gentiles as dogs and would not even touch something a Gentile touched. If a Gentile came into the home of a Jew, the entire house was considered unclean. In the Old Testament a Gentile had no access to God, no sacrifice or forgiveness for their sin. If a Gentile wanted to know God, they had to be circumcised and begin to live like a Jew. Why does that matter? Well because you and I are Gentiles.

Now you can begin to see how radical this letter would have been. Because Paul was proclaiming that Jews and Gentiles were now one, equal and united in Christ. It was so radical the Jews wanted to kill Paul just for saying it. In fact, that is why Paul is in prison when he writes this letter.

Paul’s message is that all believers are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. And now, are a part of a new temple being built by God; we call the church today.

That brings us up to speed in our study of the book of Ephesians. You and I are a part of this new radically different, racially united, diverse community we call the church. We are the people of God from different backgrounds and different walks of life.

The question then becomes what is our responsibility? What is our duty to God as a part of this new family? What we learn from this passage is we are to be good stewards of God’s grace. (Read Eph. 3:1-13)

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;

3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.

4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.

8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;

10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

12 in whom we have boldness and confidence access through faith in Him.

13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. (Pray)

In our passage this morning we see the heart of the Apostle Paul. He was a missionary whose purpose in life was to spread the gospel to the world. He is a great example for all of us of how to live a life full of meaning and purpose. He teaches us what it looks like to be a good steward. He served God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength and he sets the bar high for all of us to see.

Now we may not be able to live up to the standards of faith set by the Apostle Paul, but we can strive to be like him. We can be good stewards of God’s grace.

We are all familiar with the concept of stewardship, and what it means to be a good steward. Being a good steward is to be responsible and take care of the things you have been given.

The question is, what kind of steward are you with the things of God? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have been forgiven and set free. Your life is headed in a different direction than it once was.

What are you going to do with that? How will you live? Will you carry on like everyone else in the world around you, or will you be a good steward of the grace of God? From this passage Paul shows us three characteristics of what good stewardship looks like, and I want to share with you today.

Number one, a good Steward is willing suffer for God’s cause. Vs. 1 & 13. Paul had experienced a lot of suffering in his life, but what he went through to serve the Lord, he considered a duty and responsibility.

Notice Vs. 1 “I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus.” Paul was an innocent man under house arrest in Rome. He was chained to an imperial guard night and day. But he didn’t think of himself as a prisoner of Caesar, he thought of himself as a prisoner of Christ. Why?

Because He believed in the sovereignty of God. He believed that God was in control no matter what he was going through. If Paul was in prison, it was because that was where God wanted him to be, and Paul was going to make the most of it. He was going to serve God.

Paul didn’t view any event in his life as being separated from his faith. So many times, Christians want to compartmentalize their faith. Church is something they do on Sunday and work, or school is what they do on Monday. But not the Apostle Paul, whatever his situation or circumstance it was all by God’s design.

It might be a difficult for you to accept or believe, but if you are struggling with something today, maybe it’s because there is something God wants you to learn. Maybe it is because God wants you to grow from it. I can promise you this, there is nothing that is happening in your life that will ever be wasted by God. He will use every moment to mold us for eternity.

James 1:2-4 says, “consider it all joy my brothers when you face trials of many different kinds knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and let perseverance finish it’s work so that you are complete not lacking anything.”

The idea is if we can view our life through the lens of God’s sovereignty then we are given the grace to overcome any situation in life. David would write in the Psalms that pain lasts for the night, but joy comes in the morning. In other words, no matter what you are going through trusting God is always the answer.

Now I want you to notice what we don’t see from Paul. We don’t see any bitterness or resentment. He isn’t angry with God about his situation. He is a prisoner of Christ, but it is for the glory of God.

It’s amazing to me how some Christians only feel blessed when things are going well. And the first sign of trouble we think we have been abandoned by God. Jesus said in this world you will have trouble but be of good cheer I have overcome the world. He never said it was going to be easy. But His promise is to be with us through the good times and the bad.

No one in their right mind wants to suffer. We don’t choose to suffer, but it is important to understand, sometimes suffering is a part of God’s plan. That is a principle we find throughout the scriptures. (Joseph, Job, Daniel and ultimately Jesus; the Son of God who served God’s purpose by dying on a cross for your sin and mine).

Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.” It is difficult for us to accept, and many false teachers, teach the opposite, but clearly sometimes suffering is a part of God’s plan, and we don’t like that. We think of suffering as a sign that God is absent from our life and nothing could be further from the truth.

Paul wasn’t only a prisoner of Christ, but he was also a shepherd of the people. Notice Vs, 13 He says, “Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.” Paul is the one in prison, yet he is concerned about the feelings of the people. He says don’t give up on God because of what I am going through. My afflictions are for you. The same thing is true in each one of our lives. The things we go through are meant to teach others not to give up, but to keep living out their faith.

Herchel Hobbs is famous for saying, “When the hardships of life come to God’s people, they find the strength to endure and grow. Valuable violins are not made out of soft pine but out of hard wood and the same thing is true of the Christian character. It is refined in the fire.

So, the first thing we see from the life of Paul is a good steward is willing to suffer for God’s cause.

The second thing we see in this passage is ; A good steward understands God’s mystery, Vs. 3-6 & Vs. 9-10. What I mean is; if you are a child of God, you ought to have some insight into God’s Word. You might not be able to expound on scripture but certainly you should be able to understand the gospel.

In John chapter 7 Jesus said,“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know His teaching.”

Now we love a good mystery. We love detective stories and Agatha Christi books. We love a movie plot with a hidden twist. But can you imagine what it must be like to be God. I mean think about it. It would be boring to be God because there are no mysteries. He is the one who reveals the mysteries, and He does that through His Spirit and His Word.

Three times in this passage Paul uses the word mystery. A mystery is something secret. Something that was hidden. Something that was not known in previous generations. But what was the mystery that was revealed to Paul? Vs. 6 tells us specifically, Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ Jesus.

Well that’s not a mystery. We have heard that before. Why does it matter to us? Well, it means that Jesus was not just the Messiah of the Jews, but He was the Savior of the world.

Now we might not think that’s important, but Verses 9- 10 tells us, “This was a mystery hidden in God, the creator of the world. This is a mystery that today is made known through the church.

That is pretty important. In other words, no one knew about this in the Old Testament. In fact, no one knew about it in all eternity.

Vs. 10 says, He has made it known through the church to whom? “Rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” In other words, this mystery is even being revealed today to the angels of heaven.

What is the mystery? It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. God sent His Son into the world to save sinners like you and me, and that is the greatest mystery ever revealed.

Have you ever been told a secret that was just too good to keep to yourself. I mean you couldn’t hold it in, you had to tell somebody. I remember when Taylor and Bobby first told me we were going to have a second grandchild. Taylor was barely out of the room, and I was calling everyone in the family to let them know. Taylor was so mad about it but how could I keep that a secret.

Well, the same thing is true about the gospel. If you are a good steward, you just can’t keep it to yourself. You’ve got to share that with people.

Now that doesn’t mean you need to stand on the corner with a sign and a bull horn that says “Jesus saves.”. But it means your family, your neighbors, your friends should see and hear about your love for Jesus.

The world we live in is filled with so much hatred and division, and I’m not just talking about politics. There is division between husbands and wives, children and parents, students and teachers. Division in all of its different forms is one of the greatest problems we face today. Because as long as we are divided there is very little hope of our world being reconciled to God.

God’s eternal purpose has always been to create a new body of believers, a family who would love Him and each other. That is what is known as the great mystery of Christ. God sent His Son into the world to reconcile the world unto Himself.

So, you and I have to ask ourselves, “Am I apart of the problem or am I apart of the solution. Because a good steward is seeking God’s solution, and God is seeking reconciliation.

So, the second thing we see from the life of Paul is a good steward understands the mysteries of God.

The third thing we learn from this passage is A good steward is humbled by God’s grace. Vs. 7-8. In these verses we see just how humble the apostle Paul was and how much he appreciated the grace of God.

Did you know that 70% of those who win the lottery (I’m talking about the big money) end up broke and penniless. In fact, 44% went bankrupt within the first five years. Why is that? Is it because they are bad stewards with their money? I think it is more of an indictment against the human condition. You see when we don’t work for what we have been given we take it for granted. We don’t appreciate it and we squander it.

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have more than won the lottery. You are saved and have an inheritance for all eternity in heaven. But you didn’t do anything to earn that. It has been given to you freely as a gift from God. The question is, are you going to take it for granted? Are you going to squander it? Or are you going to live with a heart of gratitude for the grace you have been given?

Paul appreciated the grace of God. Notice where he says this grace came from. Vs. 7 “It was given to me according to the working of His power.” It is all about the power of God. God transformed a racist a violent man like the apostle Paul into a man that loved and fought for the very people he once hated. And God can do the same thing in your life and mine.

Maybe your salvation didn’t happen in a dramatic way like the Apostle Paul, but everyone’s salvation happens the same way, by the power of God.

Maybe you were raised in a Christian home like I was, and as a child you went to church, and if you did that’s great. But you still need to be rescued from self-righteousness, pride, hypocrisy. All of us struggle with lust, greed, and a multitude of other sins. Don’t be fooled by cultural Christianity. Don’t think that because you live in a Christian country and go to church that your different. We must be transformed by the power of God.

Notice the privilege Paul felt because of the grace he was given. Vs. 8 “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given.” This isn’t the only place in scripture Paul refers to himself this way. This isn’t some false since of humility. This is what Paul believes about himself.

1 Tim. 1:15, It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 1 Cor. 15:9, “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle.”

Paul was humbled because he realized God had pulled him out of the darkness and set his feet on the rock, what about you? Has God made a difference in the way you act and think and who you are? What will you do with the grace you have been given?

Growing up I loved sports, but I was never content watching the game from the sidelines, so I would do everything I could to get in the game. To many Christians are satisfied watching the work of the Lord from the sidelines and they never get in the game.

Yogi Berra was a great catcher for the New York Yankees. They were playing a game that was tied with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The batter walked up to the plate, and stepped into the batters box, and he made the sign of the cross on home plate with his bat.

Well, Yogi was a devout Catholic. He didn’t like that, so he took his glove and wiped the plate clean and he said, “why don’t we just let God watch this game.”

Unfortunately, that’s the way to many Christians live their lives. God is just watching us go through the motions of this thing we call faith.

1 Cor. 9:24 Paul said, in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize, run like you want the prize. Run like you want to win, don’t live out your faith in vain. Give God your very best so that you can receive the very best God has in store for you.

So, we have seen three powerful characteristics from the life of the Apostle Paul in this passage of what good stewardship looks like. He was a man who was willing to suffer for God’s cause. He was a man who understood God’s mysteries, and he was a man who was humbled by God’s grace.

None of us may become the missionary who go out and start churches like the apostle Paul, but we can all strive to serve God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and that’s what it means be good stewards of the grace of God.