Reformation, Not Revolution

“For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” (, ESV)  

Prayer:

“and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (, ESV)  

Intro:

Mystery is that the gospel -- good news is for the Gentiles, too - [v.6] Paul makes the mystery clear:   “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” ()

Why do they care? Why are they impressed? Paul preaches to them and tells them about the unsearchable riches of Christ, tells them of his love and sacrifice for them, and goes to prison himself for them. The best news in the universe is not reserved for the wealthy class, the Jewish class, the Roman class, the educated class, etc. The best news in the universe is for all people, and it’s Christ crucified and resurrected.

Main theme: A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A small seed that dies grows into a large tree. [Reformation, not Revolution]

Saint Patrick

Think of the transformation of the Roman Empire to Christianity. The seed had to die. The small leaven leavens the whole lump.

Blood of the martyrs is the seed [of the Church].

(ESV) — 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles -- 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.  

For what reason? [See below]

 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” (, ESV)  

 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (, ESV)  

Summary: Paul became a prisoner to bring this good news - this mystery - to the Gentiles. He was willing to suffer for their sake. The new temple is being built on the cornerstone of Christ and is made up of different bricks (color, class, culture, etc.) from all of the nations.

(ESV) — 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.  

Paul is an authentic Apostle sent by Christ.

(ESV) — 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  

The mystery is explicitly this --- “the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel.”

(ESV) — 7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.  

Paul is authenticated by God’s grace to him.

(ESV) — 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,  

Why is Paul the very least? He was willing to imprison Christians, and now is willingly going to prison for them. Unsearchable riches -- Bring this mystery to light. How is Paul doing that (bringing the light)? That is the question!!! Go back to 3:1 for the answer: “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—” (, ESV)  Also, see v. 13:  “So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” (, ESV)  

Summary: The suffering is intentional. The unsearchable riches are that Christ would love us - even to his own suffering.

Read for more application of Paul’s suffering for the Gentiles and also this from :

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (, ESV)  

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

This is the bread and butter of the passageYeast working through the loafThe Church displays the manifold wisdom of GodHow? Why? Suffering like Christ for the good of othersSuffering like Christ to bring good news of unsearchable richesHaving a people who obey the True King’s law willingly, even when it goes against their natural and sinful passions. They become a living Temple of the beauty of God.

Sproul says, concerning the rulers and authorities:

“God’s intent was that through the ministry and mission of the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. Paul is saying that this mystery is revealed to the apostles to be expressed and taught to men. But even angels and demons did not know of this secret counsel of God. So it is to be made known to the powers and principalities, and to angels. It is the task of the church to make God’s plan of salvation plain to the whole cosmos, even to the heavenly beings. This is according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 78–79.

Go to 1 cor 1 for more on the wisdom of God to the nations

  “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”” (, ESV)  

See Carey Illustration below [Longer excerpt below]:

To this I added, suppose a kingdom had been long overrun by the enemies of its true king, and he, though possessed of sufficient power to conquer them, should yet suffer them to prevail, and establish themselves as much as they could desire, would not the valor and wisdom of that king be far more conspicuous in exterminating them, than it would have been if he had opposed them at first, and prevented their entering the country? Thus by the diffusion of gospel light, the wisdom, power, and grace of God will be more conspicuous in overcoming such deep-rooted idolatries, and in destroying all that darkness and vice which have so universally prevailed in this country, than they would have been if all had not been suffered to walk in their own ways for so many ages past.”

(ESV) — 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.  

Confidence, boldness and access. This is for the whole world through faith in Jesus Christ. There are no second class citizens. No one comes in fear or according to their rank.

(ESV) — 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.  

The suffering speaks volumes. The suffering should encourage those who are afraid about the validity of God’s love, not make them more afraid of worldly tribulation.

Suffering for your glory?   “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.” (, ESV)  

Carey Illustration [do this one first]:

“Let me illustrate this from the life of William Carey, the father of modern missions who gave 40 years of his life in India and who never went home on furlough. (Taken from p. 13 of A Vision for Missions, by Tom Wells.) 

In 1797, four years after he came to India, Carey tells us of being confronted by a Brahman. Carey had preached on and 17:30 and said that God formerly allowed all men everywhere to go their own way, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent. 

The Brahman responded, “Indeed I think God ought to repent for not sending the gospel sooner to us.” 

Here is a crucial need for deep Biblical doctrine. It is not an easy objection to answer. Listen to the kind of answer Carey gave and see if you would have thought of such a thing. 

To this I added, suppose a kingdom had been long overrun by the enemies of its true king, and he, though possessed of sufficient power to conquer them, should yet suffer them to prevail, and establish themselves as much as they could desire, would not the valor and wisdom of that king be far more conspicuous in exterminating them, than it would have been if he had opposed them at first, and prevented their entering the country? Thus by the diffusion of gospel light, the wisdom, power, and grace of God will be more conspicuous in overcoming such deep-rooted idolatries, and in destroying all that darkness and vice which have so universally prevailed in this country, than they would have been if all had not been suffered to walk in their own ways for so many ages past.”

What an answer! The sovereign God rules the nations in such a way that even the ages of unbelief will redound to his glory in the most pagan of countries when the gospel victory comes! Carey did not say that God was unable to get the gospel to India sooner simply because of his stubborn and disobedient people. He knew that such impotence is simply not worthy of the name of God. 

 John Piper, A Holy Ambition: To Preach Where Christ Has Not Been Named (Minnapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2011).

Illuminate/Illustrate:

Leaven and loafSeed and tree

Demetrius and Ephesus:

  “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. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 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. 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.” When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.” (, ESV)  

Onesimus:

A footnote about that. Around A.D. 110 an early Christian leader, well-known to all church historians, named Ignatius the Bishop of Antioch, wrote a letter, and in 110 he wrote this letter to Ephesus. In that letter he addressed the pastor of the church at Ephesus, multiple times, time after time in that letter. And he says the man whom he’s addressing, the pastor of the church at Ephesus, is a man named Onesimus, Onesimus. Could it be the same Onesimus as Philemon’s runaway and reconciled slave? There are very many reasons to think it is, in fact. The timing of it would be identical to what would be expected, because in 110 Onesimus, if he was a young man in his twenties when he ran away, would be in his seventies. And at the age of 70, he would be certainly identified as an elder, appropriate for a bishop or a pastor of significance in the early church. [MacArthur, https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-395/mark-and-onesimus-a-tale-of-two-runaways]

[Reformation not Revolution]

  “but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.” (, ESV)  

  “no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” (, ESV)  

What does it look like for us to die? What is our leaven?

What does Paul say later in Ephesians about how the Church displays the wisdom of God? Look through ch’s 4-6 --- there is so much that Paul is saying that goes against the grain of ‘the world’. Sexual purity, self-sacrifice in marriage, anger without sin, forgiveness, the letting go of bitterness, children obeying parents,

  “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (, ESV)  

Communion:

 “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” (, ESV)  “So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” (, ESV)