Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Introduction
We live in a world divided—black/white, Arab/Jew, male/female, rich/poor.
In , the world was no less divided.
Then the basic distinction was Jew/Gentile.
For that reason some Jewish Christians had trouble accepting Gentile converts.
Some even insisted they must first become Jews (see ; ).
Paul shows the Ephesians how God answered the world’s plea for oneness—it was in Christ.
I.
The Former State ()
A. The Greeks despised those outside their cities; they called them the ethne—pagans.
The Jews hated those not of their race; they called them Goi—Gentiles.
Neither group had any use for the other.
Spiritually speaking, the Jews had the edge.
Salvation was of the Jews.
God had revealed himself through their prophets.
B. The Gentiles were not so blessed.
Paul lists five dramatic aspects of their condition: Christless, stateless, friendless, hopeless, and godless.
Many today are just like them.
Do we care about them?
Are we concerned about those different from us, separated from us?
It took Christ to bring unity out of division in that day and He is the one who alone can do it in our time.
II.
The Broken Wall ()
A. The barrier between Jew and Gentile was both figurative and literal.
An unseen wall of hatred stood between them.
But at the temple in Jerusalem stood a real wall, one that kept Gentiles from the temple proper.
On it were these words: “No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds this sanctuary and enclosure.
Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”
Those who set brother against brother today are doing nothing new.
It took the blood of Christ to destroy the dividing wall (vv.
).
B. All people—Jew or Gentile—can come to God through Jesus.
In His death He not only brought harmony between man and God, but also between man and his fellowman.
Only Christ’s blood can save us.
Only He can break down every wall that exists today—ethnic, social, political, whatever it may be.
He calls us all—weary, despondent, fearful, troubled, bereaved, disappointed—to himself.
There He offers reconciliation, peace, and access to the Father (vv. ).
III.
The New Structure ()
A. In Christ the whole building grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord.
William Hendriksen notes that Christ is not only the principle of the church’s stability and direction, but also of its growth.
The Lord brings us all together and builds us up in Him.
The apostle compares our new relationship to a house, a building.
While we are built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, it is Christ himself who is the chief cornerstone.
B. In Christ, we are given a new outlook, a new relationship, a new hope.
In a Florida church paper a woman wrote this note after her husband’s death: “Thank you for grieving for George with us.
I urge you to not grieve more for him than you do for God’s Son, whose death made eternal life possible for us.”
We are a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.
Jesus has brought us together.
Illustrations
Those We Don’t Care About
Lil Dickson was a missionary to the mountain people of Formosa.
She told of going across miles of mountain trail, only to come to a long, high, swinging bridge, badly in need of repair.
A villager was directing her.
He would point out the loose boards, and the gaps where a board was missing.
Finally she asked fearfully, “Have people been drowned here?”
“Oh, yes,” was his careless reply.
“But it didn’t matter.
They were from another village.”
If our Lord were to ask us about the lost in the world what would we tell Him? “Yes, but it doesn’t matter.
They are of another social class, another skin color, another religious faith.
It really doesn’t matter.”
It does matter.
It mattered to God.
That’s why He sent Jesus.
Sam E. Stone, Sermon Outlines on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, ed.
Sam E. Stone, Standard Sermon Starters (Cincinnati, OH: Standard, 1995), 23–24.
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