The Mystery, the Ministry, and the Mission

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Announcements

Join us on Sunday Mornings at 9:30 am dor Sunday School, Wednesday evenings at 6 pm for our Study on Puritan theology.

Next Week is Lords Supper and we will have a potluck dinner following service.

Prepare for Worship

Call To Worship

Responsive Reading - 28 Psalm 86:1-13

Confession

Prayer of Confession

Eternal God, in whom we live and move and have our being, whose face is hidden from us by our sins, and whose mercy we forget in the blindness of our hearts: cleanse us from all our offenses, and deliver us from proud thoughts and vain desires, that with reverent and humble hearts we may draw near to you, confessing our faults, confiding in your grace, and finding in you our refuge and strength; through Jesus Christ your Son.

Assurance of Faith

Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love.

Confession of Faith

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church*, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Worship

159 O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus

353 O Church Arise

356 I Know Whom I Have Believed

Prayers of the People

Prayer Request

Lords Prayer: Found on the back cover of the Westminster handout

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done

in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

Amen.

The Mystery, the Ministry, and the Mission

I truly enjoyed preparing the past 6 weeks of messages on the Reformation, but I am excited to get back to Ephesians, if only for a few weeks before Advent season begins.

We spent the better part of the summer reading and working through Paul’s letter to the church in Asia Minor. And in it we have see a number of beautiful truths.

Today we pick up in Chapter 3. we will look at verse 1 thru 13. Probably the largest section of passages I have covered at one time to date.

In this letter that is thought to be a circular letter, Paul for the first time addresses the reader in a somewhat personal nature. Not like his other epistles, but he does seek to connect with the reader on a personal level.

Looking back to chapter 2, which we will not go and read, we find that the last section we covered there was talking to the church about how before Christ they as Gentiles were strangers to the covenant, but how in Christ they were made anew and all believers are now one in Christ.

And now here in chapter 3 we see Paul expound upon that principle. Eph 3:1-13

Ephesians 3:1–13 ESV

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.

There is alot to take in here. Paul talks about being a prisoner, and the nature of his calling to the Gentiles, about the mystery of Christ that is now revealed, and how this revealed mystery through his ministry accomplishes the mission of God in the church.

We all have a great desire to belong. Being excluded regardless of age, position, or wealth, creates a lump in the pit of our stomach. We beat ourselves up, thinking there must be something wrong with me, did I say something wrong, am I not attractive enough, am I the wrong economic class? Or we turn our distress outward, lionizing those who excluded us, they must all be jerks, they don’t know a good thing when they see it, or they are just ignorant and self absorbed.

Regardless of how we react, we know that to be left out, regardless of the situation is something that none of us desire.

But what if you didn’t even know you were being left out? Or the group that left you out didn’t even realize that you could be included?

Today we all take the multi-ethnic nature of the church for granted. We cannot even imagine the idea of excluding someone from the grace of God because of where they were born or their ethnic make up. Notice I did not mention race here, because that was not the nature of the exclusion in the OT, rather it was the lineage of your birth. In the NT we even find the exclusion of ethnic Jews, the Samaritans.

Paul in chapter 2 quickly mentions the that the Gentiles were once far off, but now were part of the covenant of promise. Here in today’s Scripture we see him expound on the nature of that new inclusion.

How God’s plan was veiled in mystery, but through the unveiling ministry of Paul, it is revealed the mission of the Church. And most importantly how when we see this amazing revelation through the eyes of the Ephesians we can see new importance in our calling today.

The Mystery

In many bibles this section of Scripture is titled The Mystery of the Gospel revealed.

And today we might ask ourselves what was so mysterious about the Gospel? We can look at Scripture and see a clear revelation in the OT about the life and death of Christ. His work on the cross, His role as the suffering servant, his once for all sacrifice for sins.

1 Cor 13:12

1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Paul was talking to the Corinthians here and he likened their understanding of God’s plan to that of looking in a poor reflecting mirror, not like ours today. And he indicates that in the end when we are face to face with God we will know more fully.

But what is amazing for us to look at is that today we have an even greater clarity of the Gospel than these original recipients did. And because of that we often miss the point of a piece of Scripture such as what we are looking at today.

Neither the Jews nor the Gentiles were able to fully see or understand the outcome of the coming of the Messiah

Jews and Gentiles

Paul speaks to the gentile recipients of this letter in a manner that clearly delineates the fact that he is a jew and they were not. I Paul, a prisoner of Christ, on behalf of you Gentiles.

Today we would speak of ourselves a Christians, followers of Christ regardless of our ethinc make up, as long as we are all followers of Christ. But that would have made no sense to those people at that time.

Paul was bringing a message of hope from the Jews to the Gentiles. A message that the Jews had not foreseen as intended for anyone other than the nation of Israel

The Mystery Revealed

So what was the mystery that Paul says is now revealed and is at the heart of his ministry? That God's plan for salvation included all of mankind.

So the question is did the Jews have it wrong? Did they exclude the Gentiles out of hatred or spite? Yes and No

No, because God had called Israel to the purpose of filling the earth with those who would follow him. Ex 19:4-6

Exodus 19:4–6 ESV

‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

In fact Abraham was told that it would be through his offspring that all the families of the earth would be blessed.

The prophet Isaiah is told by God. Isa 49:6

Isaiah 49:6 ESV

he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

But, When the Jewish people thought of the coming Messiah, they saw a conquering King that would lift the nation of Israel up above all nations, and all nations would come and serve Yahweh. But ultimately they did not understand their role, that of priest, that of servant, the inter mediator between the nations and God. God had called the nation of Israel to be missionary, but according to Paul, even though God revealed it in his word clearly, it was “not made known to the sons of men in other generations.”

We find that the truth of God's plan is often veiled behind the man’s pride and sin. This is even clear in and among the apostles during the early days of the church.

So then how is the mystery revealed? “it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” v5

Our Hope

So here we find ourselves today, recipients of the clarified mystery that God in His infinite wisdom saw fit that through we might be included in His plan of salvation.

There is great hope in that for us. But it is not a hope based simply in the idea of inclusion, but rather in the fact that we were part of the plan all along. We look back and see the commission on Israel to serve as a nation of priest, because the whole world was his.

We can look at the clarity with which Paul lays out the gospel in chapter one seeing that God had laid these plans before the foundation of the world.

We have unending hope knowing we are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

The Ministry

Paul makes it a point to tell these first readers of this message about the ministry that was given unto him, to bring this gospel to them, who would have otherwise not heard it.

Ministry of Revelation

Paul tells the Ephesian that the mystery that He was the minister of was given to Him by revelation.

It was not something that he deduced through careful study and self reasoning.

No, this revelation was so profound that it was given to him through a miraculous encounter with God himself. The resurrected Jesus revealed to a Jew who had made it his business to persecute the followers of this Christ.

This revelation came through the Spirit, and was given to all the apostles. This is important to note, because if it had simply been Paul coming and telling them about this miraculous encounter he had and that He now had to go preach to the Gentiles, I think it might not have been well recieved in the church in Jerusalem, but rather the Spirit made it clear to them all that this was the case and that Paul was to be the messenger.

But this revelation while miraculous, perfectly comports with God’s prior revelation in Scripture. This is the basis upon which they and we today can look back and see that it is absolutely grounded in truth.

Ministry of Sacrifice

Paul had began this passage with indicating that he was a prisoner of Christ, while the actuality of the situation is that he was under house arrest in Rome under Emperor Nero.

But Paul, gave no credit to the madman that imprisoned him, but rather attributed his current situation to his Savior.

The fact that he had brought this message to the gentiles, to bring them the understanding that the Messiah of the Jews was not merely a king to the Jews, but rather was the one that would sit upon the throne and exercise authority over all the earth. This is the reason he was imprisoned.

This is why it was so important to reveal to the Ephesians that they were included. This was not a new message, but a message of old. God had sent the promised savior, and before it would have been thought to be only a message for the nation of Israel. Elaborate!! Paul’s infliction, his sacrifice was for us. It is not merely an example of pious behavior.

Paul’s sacrifice was for his King. He brought a revelation of a mystery to bear on the whole world. This was not merely a early church planting endeavor in which he sought to wins souls to Jesus. No, Christ had put him in the position of the harbinger of the good news of the new King of the world.

And this revelation would obviously involve suffering and sacrifice as the enemies of God fought back against this message.

Ministry of Glory

But Paul closes this passage telling the reader to not lose heart over what he is suffering, for it is their glory. His ministry of revelation and sacrifice, found it culmination in the glory of the church.

But how does sacrifice of Paul equal the glory of the church in Ephesus? or our church today? The answer is found in the revealed mission of the church

The Mission

Ephesians 3:7–12 ESV

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.

Lets look at back at that again. Paul is called into this ministry in which it is guaranteed that he will suffer for the work of , and eventually be put to death for. And how exactly does this bring about glory?

Revealed to Paul

We have already discussed how this mystery of the inclusion of the gentiles was revealed to Paul.

But Paul adds a couple notes here about the nature of his ministry here.

Given by God's grace

Given to the unworthy

Given through God's power

Just before Paul reveals the mission of this plan, he makes clear that this is not of him, but solely of God

This is important then and now for the believer to understand. The words we read, though they are written in Paul’s hand, and Paul’s vernacular, are of God and therefore cannot be discarded and ignored as we seek to live out our lives in Christ.

Revealed to the Church

The mystery is revealed to Paul, who then passes it to the church, through preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ and therefore bring to light the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God.

Just as the first church recieved this word, we too must now look to it and find our purpose. The plan is revealed

Remember that this word turned the entire world upside down. This letter to Ephesus, provided that church in particular with clarity of purpose and function.

The revelation of this mystery was not simply a personal comfort to individual believers, but gave the church a grand understanding of what their role now was in the world.

What had happened was not merely a switch from the Baptist church to the Presbyterian church. No this was a change in their entire worldview. They now understood the whole world differently. And they now had a clearer understanding of purpose and mission.

Revealed to Rulers and Authorities

Ephesians 3:10–11 ESV

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,

The church is the mechanism or the tool that God has ordained to make know the wisdom of His plan to the powers and authorities in the heavenly places.

But who are these powers and authorities. Is it Satan and the demons? Yes, but we must remember that these beings are not constrained simply to an other worldly realm. They have influence in the world. And before the coming of Christ they exercised power among the nations, deceiving them of who God truly was.

In chapter 1 we are told that Christ is on the throne, defeating his enemies. But we must realize now as it was then, this battle is not constrained to some other worldly battle between angels and demons out of our sight and not of effect on us.

But rather the battle is raged daily, within each of us, within our families, churches, cities and nations.

His plan is revealed to those who oppose him in us the church. In our blessing, in our obedience, and in our multiplication.

Conclusion

Paul in the first half of a very short letter has laid out so many wonderful truths, we can not rehearse them all in the matter of a single sermon or discussion. But it is important for us to see that the gospel of the coming of the Messiah as contained in the Holy books of the people of Israel, was a message of hope to every nation on the earth.

And when the veil was lifted, and Jew and Gentile alike were made aware that this God was the God of all, and had a perfect plan for the salvation of all of his people across every ethnic line, every time, and place, the world was turned upside down.

And since then the church has marched on. God has blessed the telling of the good news in every place it has gone. It has brought victory to the throne of Christ in all places in all ages. Faithfully increasing the size and scope of the body of Christ. Including in it people groups and nations that were not even dreamed of in those day.

Our hope in this message is that God’s plan regardless of what we think it is, or how it is currently going, will be victorious. It will have victory over His enemies, and the power that is found in the gospel is not found in us. But in His victory we get to glory alongside of Him.

I am sure that the church in Ephesus in finding that their apostle, the greatest man of God they knew at that time was imprisoned and would most likely be killed, felt defeated. I am sure they were discouraged and maybe even were unsure about this message of hope they had recieved previously. It is hard to see the victory of the Kingdom when things are not going the way we think they should.

But Paul has made it clear to us that even in seeming defeat God is bringing victory through Christ who is our hope.

Doxology

Closing Prayer

If anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to catch me afterwards. And a quick reminder we do have plates in the back for anyone who desires to worship through giving today. The plate to the right is general giving, and the one to the left is specific for our missions giving.

Join us as we sing the doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.