THE GRACIOUS GIFT OF GOSPEL SERVICE
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 8, 2023 under 2023 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Sermon Message; January 8, 2023 from Ephesians 3:1-7
Theme: If we saw our service in the gospel as Paul saw his, we’d consider our work a great gift of grace.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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When I consider the men and women who have been influential in my Christian life, I feel very blessed. By God’s grace, I have been tutored by many devoted followers of Jesus who have given me some great examples to follow.
But when I take inventory, there’s one man who stands above them all. I’ve never met him; but in all honesty, I believe that he would be second only to the Lord Jesus in the power of his example to me. And that man would be the apostle Paul. His life story, his thinking, his letters, and his devotion to Christ have all had a greater influence on me than that of anyone else I can think of. He was an imperfect man, of course; but he strove harder than anyone else to follow our perfect Savior. And I believe that God has given him to us as an example of living for our Lord.
It’s right that I think that way. Paul himself—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—wrote and said;
The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).
He once wrote to his fellow believers; and very boldly encouraged them;
Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
And what’s more, of all the things that God had given him to write for us, the epistle to the Ephesians—which we have been studying together—has been the most influential to me personally. I love all of the letters that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write; but I particularly love this letter. In it, Paul (a brilliant Jewish scholar) writes about the immeasurable riches that now belong to you and me (believing Gentiles) because of our shared faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In writing this letter, Paul has given us a life-transforming gift; and I’m thrilled to read from it about all the things that are now ours in Christ. I hope you feel that way about it too.
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And there’s another thing that I love about this letter. And that’s the excitement that Paul himself exhibits in writing it. The things that he shares in this letter are amazing; and it’s obvious that it was all very thrilling for him to be able to declare them to us.
This is especially clear when we come to Chapter 3 of this letter. Let’s just walk through a little bit of this chapter—starting with the first verse, and going all the way to the fourteenth verse—and pick up on some of his excitement. After having written in the first two chapters about our riches in Christ, he begins by saying;
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— (v. 1).
So; he is about to tell us something he wants to say because of it all. But he suddenly stops; and as it were, shifts his focus to talk about something else first:
… if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you … (v. 2).
Have you ever had an uncle or a grandfather that would say, “Did I ever tell you the story about how …”; and then go on to tell you a story that you already knew because you’d heard it a hundred times from him? Well, of course that old relative would be retelling that story because it’s very important to him. And that’s a little like what Paul was doing here. He was about to tell us something that sprang from his authority toward us as an apostle. But then, he suddenly stopped and—in a sense—said, “By the way; did I ever tell you the story of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me for you?”
… how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets …” (vv. 3-5).
Paul was thrilled, you see, to be given the privilege from God of conveying a message to the world. And what was that message?
… that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power (vv. 6-7).
There had been a time in his life when he hated that message. In fact, he used to hate the Lord Jesus that it declared. He fought viciously against the message of the gospel; and dragged Christians off to jail and to execution for believing it. But the resurrected Lord Jesus suddenly came and met Paul along the way. He said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” That encounter drove Paul to his knees. But I don’t believe that those words were spoken by the Lord in anger or in a vindictive tone. I believe they were spoken in compassion; and in such a way that Paul became overwhelmed by Jesus’ love for him.
The Lord Jesus transformed Paul’s heart; and turned him from a vicious persecutor into a missionary and evangelist. And from then on, Paul was thrilled to preach the message that he once fought against. He looked upon it as an unspeakably great privilege that a sinner such as he—a very great sinner indeed!—would be allowed to preach it to the world. He went on to write;
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory (vv. 8-13).
And by the way; please pay special attention to that last verse—verse 13. Do you see what he says in it? He didn’t want his readers to, in any way, become fearful or discouraged by what was happening to him because of the preaching of this message. It had resulted in him being thrown in prison. Did you know that, at the time that he wrote this unspeakably encouraging and joyful letter, he was in jail? But even though the message had cost him his freedom—and would eventually cost him his life—he was nevertheless thrilled at the privilege of fulfilling the ministry that God had given to him. And it’s only then—in verse 14—that he finally took up once again what it was that he began to say in verse 1; and wrote …
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 14) …
In other words, verses 2-13 are a parentheses in his letter—one in which he couldn’t help but say how thrilled and honored he felt to be able to preach this wonderful message. Is it any wonder that I love this man so much, and want to learn all I can from him about how to follow Jesus Christ?
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Now; the great theological truths that the apostle Paul writes about in this portion of his letter are wonderful to consider. We need to take our time to think carefully about them. But one of the things that impresses me the most, in this portion of his letter, is the excitement Paul had for the ministry God gave him for declaring them. It cost him greatly to do so. To declare the message God gave him brought a great deal of trouble and hardship into his life—even beatings and imprisonments. And yet, he called his ministry ‘a grace’—a gift from God. In verse 2, he called it “the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you”. In verse 7, he called it “the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power”. In verse 8, he said, “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ …”
And I wonder, dear brothers and sisters; do you and I look at our part in the work of the gospel that way? We have to admit, of course, that Paul’s ministry was very unique. God called him to a very special role as the apostle to the Gentiles. There had never been anyone before who had been called by God to a ministry like his; and there never will be again. He was a true ground-breaker in the spread of the gospel; and a true foundation-builder in the declaration of the truths of it. But even though you and I do not have the same calling as he had, we nevertheless are involved in spreading the same gospel that he declared. Do you and I share his sense of privilege and excitement in it all? Do we, like him, consider it ‘a grace’—’a gift’ from God—to have any part at all in the advancement of the gospel of Jesus in this world?
You know; when I think back on all of my preparation and training for ministry, I think one of the most important experiences for me was in something that you wouldn’t ordinarily think of as ‘formal ministry training’. But it truly was. In my most formative period of Christian development, I was the church janitor.
Now; the person that takes care of our church building today is also our church administrator—a very important role. But in my case, I didn’t have anything like that going for me. I was the janitor—and that was pretty much it. I had to listen to people speaking about all the various church ministries in this way: “From the pastor, all the way down to the janitor.” In terms of the work of the church, it was a very humble place to be. But after a while, I learned to see my work as a church janitor in terms of the big picture. The church that I was cleaning up was a good, faithful, Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church. It was a place in which people heard about Jesus’ love for them. And I got to keep it tidy and presentable so that people came to a pleasant place to hear the message of eternal life. The more I thought about it—and thought rightly of it—the more I began to feel the honor of it. My role may have seemed minor in the eyes of this world. But I had a part to play in the work of the gospel. It was an honor to clean up God’s house and keep it in good shape. I began to pray for the ministry of the church as I vacuumed every pew. I learned to dump the trash baskets to the glory of God. I grew to consider my ‘janitorial ministry’ to be an honorable gift from God.
And folks; if you can think that way—and see your ministry as a ‘grace’ from God; even if it’s ‘all the way down’ to the most humble task—then you can see any genuine calling from God in the work of the gospel as a great privilege. As Paul’s example shows us; if we saw our service in the gospel as Paul saw his, then we—like Paul—would consider our work a great gift of grace.
So; let’s look at verses 1 to 7; and see some of the things that Paul saw.
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First, we would see our work in the gospel as a great gift from God …
1. IF WE UNDERSTOOD THE DIVINE MYSTERY THAT THE GOSPEL ENTRUSTED TO US REVEALS.
Paul called the message God gave him ‘a mystery’. And we shouldn’t understand this to be a ‘who-done-it’ kind of mystery—one that can only be solved by a brilliant detective. Rather, Paul describes this ‘mystery’ as something in the plan of God; “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (v. 5). It was something that could not be learned by the cleverness and intellect of human beings. It could only be known by the fact that God revealed it to His apostles and prophets. And what was the content of this great ‘mystery’? It was something that no one would have expected. It was, as verse 6 tells us, “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (v. 6).
In the Old Testament, the God of Israel had already promised to also bless the Gentile people of the world. The idea of that promise was that, when the Messiah came to this world to reign as King of kings, He will reign over His people Israel. And then, all the other nations of the world would be blessed under His reign over the Jewish people. That promise will still be fulfilled in due time—during the millennial reign of Jesus on this earth. But in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus, a new thing was declared. A mystery was revealed. It is that—between the time of Jesus’ first coming and His second coming—God would take those of the Jewish people who place their faith in the cross of Jesus in a redeeming way, and those of the Gentile world who also believe on Jesus in the same redeeming way, and unite them into ‘one new man’. As Paul explained it in Ephesians 2:13-22;
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 both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:13-22).
What an amazing message! It’s the revealing of a mystery from God—now declared to all, so that all may enter into the fullness of the blessings of Jesus the Savior by faith! No wonder Paul was thrilled to proclaim it! No wonder he was willing to suffer for it! As he wrote in Colossians 1:24-26;
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints (Colossians 1:24-26).
Brothers and sisters in Christ; we now declare today the mystery that God revealed to Paul. And to the degree that you and I understand the greatness of this revealed mystery—and what good news it is for the whole world—to that degree, we’ll consider our ministry in it to be a great gift of God’s grace!
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Now; it’s not enough to know about this grace from God that is ours. We must also actively lay hold of it. And so, we will also see our work in the gospel as a great gift of God’s grace …
2. IF WE WOULD EMBRACE OUR PARTICULAR PART IN THE WORK AS WE SHOULD.
Now; Paul knew the unique place he had in this great work. He called it a ‘dispensation’; that is to say, a ‘stewardship’ or an ‘entrustment’ from God that he was to fulfill. He was the one who was appointed by God to declare this mystery to the Gentiles. As he said in verses 2-4; “if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) …”
When did he write about this ‘briefly’ before? It’s hard to say for sure. There may be a letter that he had written at some previous time to the Ephesians that told them about it. Or this may be a reference to some of the things that he already wrote in the first and second chapters of his letter to the Galatians about how God had revealed the gospel to him. But in any case, he knew that it was a stewardship that God had given him for the gentiles—a revelation of the mystery of God’s grace to them through Jesus. As he wrote in verse 8;
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (v. 8).
And he fulfilled that stewardship faithfully and sacrificially. He even once said that he labored more than all the other apostles in declaring this gospel to the Gentiles. He wholeheartedly embraced the unique part in the work that God had given him, and applied action to it.
And dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we need to embrace our part own too. It may not be that we have the unique calling from God that Paul had. Or it may be that we are not called to minister the gospel in an up-front kind of way—such as a preacher, or a teacher, or an evangelist. Those things may not be our gift. Our calling to the work may be to a behind-the-scenes kind of work. But we all have work to do for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ; because we all—every one of us—have been called by the ‘great commission’ of our Lord to make disciples of people from all the world. We all have a part to play in the fulfillment of it. Are we actively embracing our part in the work to the glory of God? Are we doing the work He gave us to do?
The apostle Peter wrote something about this. He, like Paul, referred to the part we play in the work of the gospel as a “grace”. But because we are all called in different ways, Peter called it ‘the manifold grace of God’. In 1 Peter 4:10-11, he wrote;
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).
In this ‘manifold grace’ of God’s call to declare the ‘mystery’, some of us are up-front speakers. Others of us are behind-the-scenes ministers. One is not better than the other; and all are essential in getting the gospel out to the world. If you will faithfully and wholeheartedly embrace the part God has given you in the work of the gospel—and put it into action—you will grow to rejoice in it as a great gift of God’s grace.
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And there’s one more thing. We can know something about the ‘mystery’ that it is our privilege to reveal; and we can embrace our part in the work. But we also need to feel the honor and excitement of it. That’s what keeps us going when the times are hard. And so; as Paul’s example shows us, we would see our service in the work of the gospel as a great gift of God’s grace …
3. IF WE REALIZED WHAT A GREAT PRIVILEGE IT IS TO BE IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST.
Look at how Paul put this. In verse 1, he wrote, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—” Do you remember what we noticed earlier? When he wrote those words, Paul was in prison—shackled with chains. But do you see how he viewed himself as he sat in that prison cell? He was “the prisoner of Christ Jesus” for the Gentile believers to whom he ministered the gospel. He wasn’t just any ol’ prisoner! He was the prisoner of Jesus! Those chains he wore were like badges of honor to him! His suffering was so that the glory of Jesus Christ might shine in him, and so that God would advance the message through him. It was all for the sake of the life-changing, soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ; of which, as he wrote in verse 7, “I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; I can tell you from many years of experience now that the ministry of the gospel involves sacrifices that are different from anything else in this world. If viewed strictly from a horizontal, ‘under-the-sun’, flesh-based viewpoint, giving yourself to the cause of declaring the mystery of the gospel seems like a decision that doesn’t make good, practical sense. You suffer the loss of financial security, peace and comfort, worldly esteem, respect from family and friends, and sometimes—as in Paul’s case—even personal freedom and liberty. But all of those things will eventually fade away anyway. The privilege of faithfully serving in the cause of Jesus Christ at His call—and of, one day, hearing Him say, “Well done!”—is something that no security, or fame, or treasure in this world can match.
Here’s how Paul put it in Philippians 2:14-18—while sitting in a jail cell. He told his readers;
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me (Philippians 2:14-18).
It’s worth everything effort we could extend, to give everything we have, in order to serve the One who gave His all for us, so that others might have life in Him. And we’d consider our work in the gospel to be a great gift of God’s grace, if we realized what a great privilege it is to serve Him.
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So; I have grown to love this man Paul for many reasons. But I think that I especially love him for his example of sacrificial service to the Lord Jesus Christ. He considered his particular service—that of revealing the mystery of the gospel to the Gentile world—to be a gift of God’s grace. That’s because he saw it as the Lord Jesus saw it. What an example he sets for us!
And dear brothers and sisters in Christ; it doesn’t matter whether or calling to the ministry of the gospel is an up-front one or a behind-the-scenes one—seemingly big or seemingly small. It can even be as humble of a ministry as a ministry can be. It still remains true: If we saw our service in the gospel as we should, we’d consider our work a great gift of grace.
May God help us to look to Paul’s example in this … and to do as he did!
AE
