The Transformative Treasure of the Gospel

At the Federal Reserve Bank in NYC, five stories below ground, 50 feet below sea level, and locked behind a 90 ton steel door, lies a maze of 122 vaults containing a stockpile of gold from the various nations of the world, deposited there for safekeeping. The weight of the vault and the gold inside is greater than the limits of almost any other foundation. A single compartment can house some 100,000 bricks of gold, each weighing approximately 30 lbs and valued in six figures each. As of October 2001, it held the largest gold repository in the world with approximately 7,700 tons of gold bullion, more than Fort Knox.

The vault is able to support this weight because it rests directly on the bedrock of Manhattan Island.

What I want you to see is that true wealth can not sit in any foundation. But the foundation for true wealth must be strong enough to bear the weight of the wealth.

The reason I bring this up is that the letter to the Ephesians is about the true, eternal wealth that believers have in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Eph. 1:3

Ephesians 1:7–9 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ

Ephesians 1:7–8 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

Ephesians 1:11 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

To have eternal riches like that, there is no foundation that can hold that wealth save the rock solid foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Over and over we find the phrase “in him” or “in Christ.”

Paul wants Ephesians and other churches to know the unfathomable riches that they have in Jesus Christ. True wealth is no measure by how much money you have in the bank, your net worth, what kind of vacations you can afford to take or at what age you get to retire. True wealth is found in the grace of Jesus Christ. A grace that is supported by the person and work of Christ.

Paul wants us to think about what is truly valuable.

2,200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon: Arranged Topically or Textually and Indexed by Subject, Scripture, and People Wealth

1483Saving is good, but the first thing that a man has to do is to see to the saving of his soul. And there are some who always look so much to the saving of their wealth that their soul stands very little chance of being saved.—52.67

One day we are all going to die and no matter how much earthly wealth we have or how little we have, we will leave it all. But the riches that Christ has lavished us with last forever. Riches like being predestined for salvation and sanctification, forgiven of sin, adopted into God’s family, sealed and secured by the guarantee of the Holy Spirit.

One day we are all going to die and no matter how much earthly wealth we have or how little we have, we will leave it all. But the riches that Christ has lavished us with last forever. Riches like being predestined for salvation and sanctification, forgiven of sin, adopted into God’s family, sealed and secured by the guarantee of the Holy Spirit.

This is very important to Paul.

I. Christ is the treasure worth losing all treasures for.

Ephesians is considered a prison letter because it was written around A.D. 62 while he was imprisoned in Rome, where he would ultimately martyred for his faith.

Most scholars actually think that this is actually a circular letter written to be read not only to the Ephesians, but all of the churches in the region of Asia MInor. For one, we don’t see the kind of personal greetings that we typically see in Paul’s letters, especially to a place that he had spent as much time as he had in Ephesus. But what we see is at the end of his life Paul had a burden to write to the church in general a summary of the great truths of Christianity.

Those truths were so valuable that Paul was willing to suffer and die in prison to keep. He wanted so much for the church to understand the treasure that they had in Christ and never trade in heavenly riches for earthly comfort.

Matthew 13:44 ESV

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matt. 13:

Why would anyone do that? The treasure in the field has to be worth more than everything the man has. That is Jesus point. What we have in Christ is worth more than all than everything else we could own.

What are some of the treasure Paul wants us to cling to?

1) Though we are sinful and dead in sin, God chose us in Christ to be his people, to be redeemed from sin, and to walk in holiness.

2) Christ is uniting all people, Jew and Gentile, into his one body the church as a new creation.

3) Since we are declared holy in Christ, we should seek to live holy, consistent with who our new identity is in Christ.

4) God has given the church the authority and power to defeat the enemy of the devil and his work in the world.

*What toy would you not give up no matter what? For me, when I was a small child, I slept with a stuffed animal, Tiger, from Winney the Pooh. I would give up everything else before I gave him up. I would give up my baseball glove, my bicycle, my brother, my parents, but no matter what I would not give up Tiger.

Paul is saying, no matter what never give up Christ. Be willing to die before you give up the treasure you have in Christ. Jesus would say it like this:

Matthew 10:28 ESV

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Our treasure in in Christ.

II. The gospel has the power to transform the world.

During Paul’s third missionary journey, Paul went through Ephesus and stayed for almost three years preaching the gospel and discipling the church. Ephesus was an unbelievable pagan and wicked place.

Very similar to New Orleans which is a port on the MS river, Ephesus was a port city on the Cayster River. Because port city brings in all kinds of people, it also brings in all kinds of religions. Ephesus had become a bastion of paganism. Particularly big was the worship of the Greek goddess Artemis, also called Diana by the Romans. Ephesus was famous for its great temple which was a shrine to the goddess. She was a goddess of fertility and hunting. The temple of Artemis was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Her shrine was 425 feet long and 220 feet wide. It was composed of 127 white marble columns, each of which were 62 feet high. It was decorated with ornate carvings and priceless paintings. On it was an image of Diana which was said to have fallen directly from heaven to earth. This temple was so famous that Ephesus emerged as the religious centre of all Asia.

But Paul brought the gospel of Christ into the darkness and it started changing people.

Let’s look at the impact the gospel had in Ephesus:

Acts 19:8–10 ESV

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Acts 19:17–20 ESV

17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Acts 19:

This is the most pagan environment that you can possibly fathom, but when the gospel was preached, God began to work changing society. People were broken over their sin. They began repenting and putting faith in Christ. Then they wondered what they should do with all these pagan black magic books. So, they brought them out together in the city and had a massive bon fire with them. 50,000 pieces of silver translates to about $500,000 today.

+Here’s what I want to say about that. We live in a dark day where we are actually having discussion about abortion up to the moment of birth. Here’s the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ can transform any society.

There will be pushback, but Jesus Christ can overcome any obstacle.

The worship of Diana and other pagan worship was big business in Ephesus. You had to have your own private idol. And Paul’s gospel threatened the economy of some power people in Ephesus. Because people worshipping Christ stopped worshipping false gods. There are no need for man made idols in Christianity.

Acts 19:23–28 ESV

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

This scene ends in a riot because those opposing Christ realize that Christ is challenging majesty and power of Artemis. This leads to a major riot in Ephesus and led Paul ultimately to leave the city. So, who is greater Diana of Jesus. There are currently no worshippers of the cult of Diana and we are gathered together with millions today to proclaim, “Great is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

+The gospel of Jesus Christ is the treasure that can and will transform the world.