Ephesians 3:1-7
PAUL THE PIONEER PREACHER
Intro: In our last study,
we considered the content of verse 1. In that short, but powerful verse
Paul reminded his readers that he was the prisoner of Jesus
Christ. Paul might have been under house arrest in Rome, under
Jewish charges, as he waited to appear before Caesar, but he wanted everyone to
know that Jesus Christ was his real warden.
Pauls life was not controlled by Rome, the Jews, or by Caesar;
his life was under the direct, sovereign control of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is important information! If you become the prisoner of the circumstances and
situations of your life, you are going to be miserable. If you allow the
actions of people to imprison your heart and mind, you are going to have a hard
time enjoying your life. However, if you ever come to the place where you fully
understand that Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone is the controller of your
life and destiny, you can face any trial, any situation, any person, and any
problem with confidence, knowing the Lord is in control. That is where Paul was
and that is where we need to striver to be as well.
In verse 1, Paul has the intention of praying
for the Ephesian church. Instead of praying, Paul launches into a thirteen
verse statement concerning the nature of the church. Paul comes back to his
prayer in verse
14. In between these verses is some very important teaching that
we do not want to miss.
In verse 1, we considered the Paul The Prisoner. Beginning in verse 2
and continuing through verse 7, we want to take a look at Paul The Pioneer Preacher. Paul was given
the most unique ministry of any man the Lord ever saved and called to preach.
Part of that ministry is revealed here. These verses also reveal some truths regarding the church that were
hidden from mankind until the New Testament period.
In these verses, Paul draws back the veil from the mystery of the
church and allows us to see and understand what was hidden within the heart of
God for so long.
I. v. 1-6 PAUL THE PIONEER
Ill. These verses form a parenthesis in the thinking of Paul as he
explains to the church who they are in Jesus Christ. He wants the church to
understand the amazing grace and power of God in their salvation. He wants the
church to know that it is not an accident, but that it is the product of the
sovereign plan of Almighty God. In view of that, Paul turns away from his
original thought to tell us more about how the mystery of the church. His words
revel him to be a pioneer in the early church as he preached truth that had
never been heard before.
A. v. 2 The Ministry He Was Given - Paul says that
he was given a dispensation. This word
means, Stewardship, administration, or management.
This word refers to a person who was responsible to take care of the business
of another. Another person to manage a household, a business, or some other
concern trusted this individual. This person would have the oversight of all
the responsibilities that pertained to the business of the one who employed
him.
In Pauls case, he was given the oversight of
taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. He was tasked with telling
them about Gods live, His salvation, His grace and the place they had been
given in His kingdom, Rom. 15:15-16. Paul did not choose this
ministry for himself, he was appointed to it by the Lord, 1 Tim. 1:12-13. Paul wants
his readers to know that he was not some self-appointed preacher. He was who he
was by the grace of God, 1 Cor. 15:10.
In 1 Cor. 9:16-17 Paul says, For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory
of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the
gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my
will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. Paul
was compelled to preach the Gospel because the Lord had chosen him for that
task. He had been given a dispensation of grace, and it was his duty to
faithfully preach the Gospel wherever he went. He fulfilled his duty to the
very end of his life, 2 Tim. 4:7.
While none of us have been called to be the
Apostle to the Gentiles, we have each been given a
dispensation of the grace of God. The Lord gave each of us
certain spiritual gifts, talents, abilities, knowledge, and opportunities. We
are to be good stewards of those gifts and use them to the glory of God, for
the good of the Kingdom of God and for the good of people around us. In 1 Pet. 4:10,
Pater said it this way, As every man hath
received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God. Like Paul, we all have a
ministry, and it is our duty before God to fulfill it for His glory.
B. v. 3-5 The Mystery He Was Given - In these
verses, Paul makes it clear that he has been given a revelation
of a mystery. The word revelation refers to an
uncovering. The word mystery
refers to a hidden thing. It speaks of the secret
counsels of God, or to things beyond natural knowledge. In
other words, Paul is saying that God has lifted the veil away from truths that
were hidden with God. What Paul has been writing about is a divine secret. It
is a truth that was hidden from the ancients. People like Moses, Abraham,
David, Isaiah and others did not possess this knowledge. It was hidden from
them in the secret counsels of God.
In Gen. 12:3, God promised Abraham, ...in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
No one fully understood that truth until Paul was allowed to understand the
mystery and write, And the scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed, Gal. 3:8.
Isaiah wrote this, And he said, It is a light thing that thou
shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that
thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth, Isa. 49:6.
No one fully understood that truth until the revelation of the mystery was given
to Paul and he explained it this way, Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should
first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so
hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth,
Acts
13:46-47.
In verse 4 Paul says that he wants his readers
to understand his knowledge in the mystery of Christ.
In other words, Paul is telling us that he has been given special insight into Gods secrets, and that he
has been called to share those insights with us. Thank God for that.
Just for the record, no one is getting any
new revelations today. The Scripture is complete. Everything we need to know
concerning God and spiritual things is written in the Word of God. There are
many truths we will not know until we are home in glory with the Lord. Right
now, everything we need to know is written in the Bible. Read it and be wise;
believe it and be safe; live it and be holy! All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Tim.
3:16-17.
C. v. 6 The Message He Was Given - Paul has
already touched on this mystery in Eph. 1:9-12 and Eph. 2:11-12. In this
verse he explains it more clearly. So, what is the mystery Paul has been given?
The mystery is the truth that the Gentiles
have been included, alongside the Jews, in Gods plan to form His church. The
mystery is the truth that Jews and Gentiles are to be brought together in one
body: the body of Christ.
As I have mentioned in previous messages, it
is hard for us to understand just how revolutionary this truth was to the Jews
in Pauls day. It was on the same level as that lepers and other unclean people
should no longer be isolated. It was like saying that the chronically ill and
the healthy should mix together as if they were both the same. To the Jews this
idea was blaspheme.
They hated the Gentiles and allowed no
fellowship with them at all. Now, Paul says that, in Jesus, the barriers are
removed and Jews and Gentiles are on equal fitting before God.
Paul clarifies the mystery in these verses.
Notice the content of this mystery.
·
The Gentiles are fellow heirs - The Gentiles, who were once aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world, Eph. 2:12,
now possess the same legal standing as His chosen people the Jews. Every single
believer is on the same level. We are all given the same blessings, Eph. 1:3.
We are no longer strangers, aliens and outcasts. Now, in Jesus, we are the sons
of God, 1
John 3:1-3. In other words, as believers in Jesus, we share all
the promises of God to His people. We are fellowheirs
with all the saints.
·
The Gentiles are of
the same body - That is,
all believers in Jesus Christ share a common life in Jesus. The same life that
flowed through the spirit of Paul lives in your spirit today. Just as every
cell in your body shares the life of your body, so every believer in Jesus
shares the common life of God. In Gods eyes every believer is absolutely
indistinguishable from every other believer. As John MacArthur says, Spiritually, he has no genes but divine genes.
Paul reminds us of this truth in 1 Cor. 12:12-13, For as
the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or
free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit, 1 Cor.
12:12-13.
·
The Gentiles are partakers of His promise in Christ - Thus, all
those who are in Jesus Christ as inheritors of all Gods promises in Christ.
When the Jews looked forward to their Messiah, they were looking for One Who
would save them from sin, deliver them from their enemies, secure them as a
nation, and bless them with His presence and the goodness of God. All those
things are true for all those who are in Jesus, whether they are Jews or
Gentiles.
·
The Gentiles
achieve this standing by the Gospel - That is
by believing the Gospel message, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the
cross for the sin of the sinner, and that He rose again from the dead three
days later, lost sinners are saved by the grace of God, 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom.
4:25. The only way anyone is ever saved is through the Gospel. Believe it and
become a part of the body of Christ. Deny it and go to Hell.
So, the mystery Paul is preaching is the
truth that Jews and Gentiles are made on in Jesus Christ. By the way, everyone
who is not a Jew is a Gentile and vice versa. This means that a persons skin
color or ethnic background should not matter to us, since it does not matter to
the Lord. It is a sin to create artificial barriers between ourselves and other
believers. It is not pleasing the Lord, and it is not a good testimony of the
body of Christ. Ill. Now I beseech
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same
thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been
declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you
saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is
Christ divided? 1 Cor. 1:10-13a.
The reverse side of this mystery is the fact
that, not only are all believers in Jesus, but Jesus is in all believers as
well. Col.
1:27 says, To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The same Jesus Who
died on Calvary indwells the spirits of His people. He is in every saint of
God, regardless of his or her heritage. He is our common ground. He is our
unifier. He is the one element that makes us one. Jesus should be bigger than
differences in race, ethnicity, religious background, social status, economic
means, or any other consideration. All that matter is Jesus Christ, and when He
moves in, He makes us part of His body, and He lives His life through each of
us.
That is why we must strive for unity in the
body of Christ. We must not allow personal feelings, opinions, or actions to
disrupt the unity of the body of Christ. That is why Paul tells us, If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men, Rom. 12:18. Gods will for His church is
clear, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment, 1 Cor. 1:10. Also, Only
let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I
come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand
fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the
gospel, Phil. 1:27.
I. Paul The Pioneer
II. v. 7 PAUL THE PREACHER
Having revealed the mystery to his readers, Paul wants them to
know how he came to be in the office he occupied. Did Paul just wake up one day
and decide to be a preacher? Did he decide on a whim to turn his back on his
heritage, his religion, and his people? No, Paul wants his readers to know that
the life he is living is not one he chosen for himself, but it is a life for
which he was chosen. Paul the prophet tells us why he was also Paul the
preacher.
A. His Call - Paul did not choose this path
through life. In fact, he was a man of position and power before he met the
Lord Jesus. When salvation came to Paul, along with it came the call of God to
carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. Ill. Acts 9:1-16. Paul described it this way, But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared
unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these
things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear
unto thee, Act 26:16.
It was not Pauls education, his power, his
esteem among men, or any other thing that made him a preacher of the Gospel. It
was the sovereign will of God! Paul says that he was
made a minister. God took Paul, intervened in his life, and
made him something he had never been. God made a preacher out him and sent him
out with the mystery of the Gospel!
Again, thats how the Lord still works in the
lives of His children. He saves us for a purpose, and he fashions us to fulfill
that purpose for His glory. We need to remember that God has a will for our
lives, and that everything we face in life is merely preparing us to fulfill
the will and plan of God, Rom. 8:28-29; 1 Cor. 12:7-11.
Let me mention a couple of thoughts right
here.
·
First, any man who is preaching,
but who has not been called of God is a pretender. He has taken on him a mantle
that God has not laid upon him. He is involved in something that God has not
called him to do. That individual needs to determine the will of God for his
life and get about doing what the Lord has planned for him to do.
·
Second, We should never be
jealous of the call and ministry of others. The Lord does in our lives that
which pleases Him. He gifts us, and gives us opportunities to serve according
to His will. We should praise Him for what He is doing in the lives of others,
and we should do our best to fulfill the ministry He has given to us. Ill. John
the Baptist - John 3:25-30.
B. His Credentials - Paul says that he is a minister. This is the same word that is
translated Deacon throughout the New
Testament. It always refers to a servant.
It was literally used of a table waiter.
It comes from a word that has to idea of kicking up dust.
It is the image of an individual running from one activity to another at such
speed that they leave a cloud of dust in their wake.
That is how Paul saw himself. He did not see
himself as a man who was worthy of honor and esteem. He saw himself as a
servant of the church. He saw himself a man who was under that authority of his
master, the Lord Jesus Christ. He understood the truth that were it not for the
grace of God, he would still be a lost, religious Jew. He understood that the
blood of Jesus, through the grace of God, had redeemed him. He was not doing
what he was doing of his own initiative, but he saw his ministry as a gift of the grace of God.
None of us are prophets. None of us are
apostles. Some of us are Deacons. a few of us are preachers. But, all of us are
servants. First and foremost, we are the servants of the Lord Jesus, Who
redeemed us, and owns us, 1 Cor. 6:19-20. Then, we are the servants
of our brothers and sisters in Christ, Gal. 5:13. We each have a ministry and we
are to fulfill that ministry to the glory of God. There is no greater love than
to serve a brother or sister in Christ.
C. His Companion - Paul wants his readers to
know that he does not know what he knows because he is smart. He does not write
like he does because he is intelligent. He does not serve like he does because
of any trait or power within himself. Paul wants them to know that he is the
man he is because of the effectual
working of His power.
Paul was a made man.
God took Paul, saved him by His grace, and transformed him into the mighty
apostle to the Gentiles. Gods work in Paul was supernatural. It was sovereign.
It was personal. It was powerful.
Paul took no personal credit for fruit of his
ministry. He gave all glory to God. Ill. Who then is Paul,
and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to
every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase,
1 Cor.
3:5-6. Ill. Whereunto I also
labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily,
Col. 1:29.
It was God Who made Paul the man he was and he never forgot it.
When Paul preached, it was a display of the
power of God. When Paul wrote, it was display of the power of God. In his
preaching, his witnessing, and in his writing, Paul had a companion. He had the
power and presence of the Holy Spirit to enable him to do the work he had been
called to do.
So do we! When the Lord saved us, He moved
in. When He moved in, He came into us to give us the ability to serve the Lord
and to carry out His will in our lives. The Lord is the power behind the saint.
When we are yielded to Him as Paul was, we can expect His help to work for Him,
to live for Him and to serve Him in this world, Ill. Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:19. The
same Spirit that empowered Paul is the same Spirit that empowers us. Thus, He
gets all the glory for what He accomplishes through us.
What are you doing in your life that only be
described as God in action? Is there any
area of your life that can only be described as Him? We have a heavenly
Companion as we move through this world. The Spirit of God dwells in us and on
us to equip us for the ministry God has selected for us. We can trust Him to
enable us to carry out the will of God in this world.
Conc: Paul was both a pioneer and a preacher. He was both by the will
of God, for the glory of God. The Lord singled Paul out for a special ministry
and he fulfilled it by the help of the Holy Spirit.
I hope you understand that God has selected you for a special
ministry as well. If He saved, He saved you to serve. He desires to equip you,
to use you and to make your life a blessing in His kingdom work.
If you are not serving Him as you should, I invite you to change
that today. Come before Him and ask Him to use you. Ask Him to make your life
count for Jesus. As Him to do in you and through you everything He has saved you
for. Come to Him and yield your will to His.
If you are serving Him, but you arent
seeing the fruit you expected, I want to encourage you to remain faithful. It
is up to the Lord what impact our lives have in the world around us. We must be not weary in well doing, Gal. 6:9.
Let me encourage you to dedicate yourself afresh to His will, 1 Cor. 15:58.
If you are not saved, let me challenge you to come to Jesus Christ
today. Call on the Lord while He is near!
