[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       We are continuing along in the book of Ephesians today. We are going to be getting into chapter 3, and chapter 3, verses 1 through 6, will be our focus. Let's go ahead and read. Let's just read verse 1. And we'll probably just do each verse one at a time, since we only have six verses. So Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1. “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” (ESV).

       We notice right at the beginning that Paul brings up the fact that he's a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Now that's an interesting way for him to have phrased that. And the implication seems to be that because he's doing, obviously, what Christ has called him to do in sharing the gospel with the Gentiles. He's saying he's a prisoner of Christ Jesus versus a prisoner of some group of this world, like whether that be the Roman government or the Gentiles or whoever. He's saying he's a prisoner of Christ Jesus because that's what he's doing. He's doing Christ's work. It's for Christ's sake. That's why he's doing what he's doing. And why is he doing what he's doing? Well, it's so that more people can come into a personal relationship with God. That's the whole point. That's why Paul is out speaking God's truth to the Gentiles to try to reconcile people back to himself because ultimately their ancestors at some point knew God. So even for the Gentiles, even for the Gentiles, it's kind of a reconciliation process.

       And we can actually look at Colossians 1:24, and that's another thing we are going to be jumping around quite a bit in this message. Let's go to Colossians 1:24: “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” (ESV). What Paul's saying to the Colossians there is that he took on further sufferings. Whether that was from the Jewish people or whether that was from Gentile peoples, Paul's suffering really is Christ's suffering. One way to look at it is that Christ had somehow not been crucified and rose from the dead. If he had stayed and somehow continued to proclaim his message, which obviously he's doing through Paul, but Christ would have endured the same pushback, right? So he endured pushback from the Jewish people, but had he continued out, I think it's most likely he would have endured pushback from the Gentile peoples. Well, Paul, in continuing that message, because Jesus is back in heaven, he is filling up what would have been Christ. That's one way to look at it. But the bottom line is, another way we could look at it is, it wasn't as if what the Jewish leaders did with Jesus and getting him crucified, it was as if that wasn't enough. That wasn't enough punishment in their eyes against Christ, and now they have to come after his servants like Paul. That would be another way to kind of frame that and look at that.

       Let's also look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and I want to go to verse 8:

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (ESV)

Paul is describing there how he and his companions faced persecutions, just as Jesus said the disciples, his disciples, those after him, would experience persecution. It wasn't just the original 12 or 11. It was anyone who would follow Christ, even up to this day. All of us who are following Christ, trying to with our whole hearts, at some point, even if it's on a minor scale, we're going to experience some form of persecution for our belief in Jesus, for our adherence to what God tells us in his Word. It just is what it is. That's the way it works in our current fallen world. And that would be the death that Paul is talking about . But it's also true that the life of Jesus is manifested through what Paul and his companions said, even to this day, even to our current time, and it's manifested in what we say because we bear the message of good news. We bear the message of life that anyone who believes in what we are saying can have the life that we already say that we have. That's the beautiful thing.

       So "death is at work in us, but life in you.” What Paul's saying there is to the Corinthians, he's saying, “Well, you guys really aren't facing the persecution, at least like we are. You get the life we're doing, all the hard work and the suffering that is causing you to, and others, to gain that life.” And I think that that's a good one for us here in 21st century America to think about, because for the most part in our American society, we don't face a lot of persecution. I mean, maybe if we are on the public scene, maybe if we are doing a lot, we might experience a higher level of persecution, but like I said, we'll all experience some form of persecution, but it doesn't seem to be a regular thing for most of us, I don't think. And so it seemed to be, as Paul's saying with the Corinthians.

       Anyway, let's go back to Ephesians chapter 3. Tap back there and consider verse 2 : “assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you” (ESV).

       Let’s consider this idea of stewardship. So, God entrusted Paul with the gospel message toward the Gentiles. And that's a good thing to note . Now, Paul's calling in and of itself was obviously a bit unique. But the idea is that whatever our ministry is, God's entrusting us with that. For pastors, ministers, Bible teachers, any kind of role, even in the church, like spiritual gifts that we practice, whatever that is, God has entrusted us with that to carry out those responsibilities, big or small. That's the way God operates. He doesn't control every little move we make, just like a teacher doesn't control their students or a boss doesn't control their employees. So it is with God. It's the same thing. He does not control every little action we make, but he gives us responsibilities and expects us to carry those out in a proper manner. And this is why we even share the gospel in this day and age because that's kind of the chief responsibility, is it not? That's what Jesus gave to the disciples there at the end of the gospels to go and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation and then to have people be water baptized. That is why it's that responsibility that people who preach or teach God's Word, they feel that responsibility to proclaim the good news. And they really want to, because they want people to have that good life experience, that relationship with God that they already have. It's not something that's done out of just obligation or command, but it's a true deep desire that wells up, and I think could even well up more as time goes on.

       I do want to look at Galatians chapter 1. And if we tap over there, let's go ahead and consider verses 11 through 15. Let's try that and see where that gets us. Paul told the Galatians,

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone…” (ESV) and so on and so forth. Let's stop there.

A couple of things we can point out just to gain some clarity of Paul's own unique calling, since that's what he's discussing to the believers in Ephesus. He says that he wasn't taught. And what could that mean? In other words, how is what Paul is doing new? Well, one way we could look at that is what he is talking about in Ephesians. Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2 in our text today. And that is that the Gentiles are included. That was a mystery revealed to Paul.

       Now, some might say as well that, and this one is definitely up for debate, that when Peter preached the Gospel early on in the book of Acts, that at that time, if we were to take a dispensational approach, that at that time, that early church time, that water baptism might have also been necessary for salvation. And then when it gets to Paul, it transitions into faith alone. So water baptism is no longer required for salvation. That's just another thing we can throw out there from a dispensational vantage point if we plug in another dispensation there from the early church up until Paul. People can debate about that all day, but I just want to throw that out there since it is out there. But the other thing I want to point out about what Paul's saying is, see, Paul was a Pharisee. He uses the word “violently,” that he persecuted the church of God “violently and tried to destroy it,” he says.

       So, Paul, from his Pharisee perspective, may never have believed in Jesus unless Jesus had appeared to him on the road. Remember, on the road to Damascus, he appears to him in a vision, basically, but in the sky, he's up there. Paul will say that he is the least of the saints. Remember that. And it might be that he says that because in order for him to believe, he actually had to see Jesus face to face. Like most of us who believe nowadays, we've never seen anything, right? Well, Paul had to actually see Jesus face to face, hear his voice. There's a good chance had that not happened, he would have never believed since he was so strongly against Christians. And that might be why he says that he's the least of all the saints because for him, faith alone, just believing it wasn't going to work for him. He had to see, and we remember what Jesus said about that. He said it's better that blessed are those who have believed basically without seeing, right? If you have to see to believe, that's not as good as just believing without seeing.

       Paul also says that God set him apart before he was born. He says, verse 15, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born.” So that's very interesting because it shows us a little glimpse there into the mind of God and that God seemed to have a strong sneaking suspicion that it was going to get to the point that the Jews would assuredly reject Jesus. We know they got that last-minute chance in Acts chapter 7 through Stephen's preaching to believe again, even after they crucified Jesus. If we say that Jesus standing up in that scene is him ready to return, ready to return at that point, but he does and he can't because they reject Stephen. They reject the message. They kill Stephen. And it's like at that point, that's it. That's when God says, all right, I'm going to do this, this is how I'm going to bring the Gentiles to the scene. So he initiates this plan that Paul says he was set apart before he was born for. Well, Paul appears to have been born around 5 AD, according to the theologians. Very interesting, right?

       It wasn't that God wanted all this to happen, or even, dare we think, it planned it all to happen. We can say he planned for Jesus to die for the sins of the whole world and to raise from the dead, right? But he did not plan for people to go against him, to reject him, for Paul to violently persecute his church. That wasn't something that God desired to happen. God had this plan in place, and it comes to pass. And Paul, we know that back in Genesis 12, all the way back there, that God had said that through Abraham, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. We know that at some point, the Gentiles were going to come into the inclusion, right? Some think that parts of them were already being brought in covertly, secretly before that. So, bottom line is that God's foreseen this now initiates the plan. Paul does what he does, and now all the Gentiles can be included through Jesus Christ in this wonderful plan of God, of salvation.

       And the other thing, if we go back to the verse in Ephesians, Paul said, the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you. Let's focus on that for you for a second. That's the thing, is it was for the Ephesians. It was for us even today. So what Paul did, this calling of God on Paul, this different and dramatic calling on Paul's life, was that so all of us would have a great portion of the New Testament, and that's God's instruction for us, and how, what we are to believe, and how we are to live our lives. And that is the big picture there of Paul's for you in this verse. That had major, major implications.

       And let's go ahead and continue to verse 3. Paul says, “how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly” (ESV).

       If we go to Acts chapter 22, I want to consider verses 17 through 21 there. So Acts 22, verse 17:

“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, ‘ Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” (ESV)

So that’s when it happened. That's the quick version of Paul's call to the Gentiles from Paul's perspective. And in Acts, he was telling his story. Paul was telling his story to the Israelites in Jerusalem. That is a really interesting perspective there of how it went down.

       And if we look at Acts chapter 26, and we'll look at verses 16 to 18. This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.

“But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (ESV)

So there it is. That was Paul's mission from the very beginning, because Paul is recounting this encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 26. And we see that Jesus initiates that plan of Paul going to the Gentiles. It is carried out here. And a big thing we can note is Jesus notes that he wants the Gentiles to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. That's pretty powerful language there that spells it out, right? And then he says that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. There, Jesus must be referring to the Israelites that have already believed.

       So that's the point, right? The reason the Gospel is shared is not just because it's a good possibility among many possibilities, not because it's just a good package to live by. It's presented because it is the way for people to live. It is the truth. That is what the actual reality is, that in heaven there is God. There is the Jewish God, and his son is Jesus Christ, who's also God. And it's through him, through what he came and did, by dying on the cross for everyone's sins, and rising from the dead, it's through that, that anyone can come to place their faith in what Jesus accomplished and actually know God, know the real God, the God of the universe, the God who holds everything together. That's what we believe as Christians. This just isn't another possibility. This just isn't another option. We're saying that this is the reality. This is how it really is.

       And I want to consider Romans chapter 16. Like I said, we're jumping around a lot today. There's a lot to unpack . There are a lot of verses that really help us understand Paul's background and his call, and really, as I just mentioned, the reality of how things are. Paul says to the Roman believers in verse 25, so Romans 16, 25 to 27:

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” (ESV)

Paul brings up another point, and that is, as I briefly mentioned from Genesis chapter 12, but there's way more than that. And that is that the Old Testament points its fingers, points the finger toward Jesus. And the fact that it even tells us hints that the Gentiles are going to be included. Now the people of old didn't understand that; that was a foreign concept to them. But it makes sense, doesn't it, as we grow in our faith, as we get to know God more, as we get to know God's heart more, and how God really is, we understand that surely his heart's desire is to include everyone in his plan, his program of salvation, and that's exactly what he has done. It's really an incredible, fascinating thing.

       Back to Ephesians, let's go to verse 4. So Ephesians 3, 4. “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ” (ESV).

       Okay, so what's this mystery now that he's talking about? Well, it's what we've been discussing. All right, so God revealed many mysteries to Paul, several mysteries to Paul. And one of them is that the Jews and Gentiles are included as one people, one body through Jesus Christ. There's no longer that wall of separation where God is primarily focusing on the Jewish people. God is focusing on everyone now, and that started with Paul on a big scale. We know God used Peter 2 in Acts chapter 10, and obviously it branched from Paul. That's what we're getting at. Another would be the Rapture, right? That's another mystery that God revealed strictly to Paul. And there would be more. But we really don't have time to dive into that aspect today.

       But let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 6. Paul tells the Corinthians, “Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things” (ESV). So it wasn't that Paul was able to share the gospel with the Gentiles because he was a particularly gifted, elaborate, charismatic, we might even say, speaker. That wasn't why. It was because, he says, he wasn't skilled in speaking. Remember, we can think of the scene of the guy that fell out the window. I mean, I don't want to say he fell out of the window and fell asleep and fell out of the window while Paul was speaking because Paul was so boring of a speaker. But Paul tells us that he was unskilled in speaking. The point, though, is that he's not unskilled in knowledge because God has endowed certain truths to him through the Holy Spirit. And that's why he wrote a lot of the New Testament, right? Because God used Paul in a special way, a way that he doesn't use most other people. Most of us are not endowed with special mysteries or even words from God, for that matter, at least in the American Evangelical church, in our setting anyway.

       Ephesians chapter 3 verse 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” (ESV).

       As stated, it's written in the Old Testament that God, and I brought up Genesis 12, that God would include the Gentiles, but it was not spoken plainly, it was not made crystal clear, so much so that the people of the Old Testament, the prophets. Even the apostles did not know about this until they were informed of it. It was something that they learned, hence Peter in Acts chapter 10 with Cornelius. But one thing we can note is that because of this, because it's one group, one body, there's now no societal or cultural barriers to this newfound religion, this newfound faith through Jesus Christ. There's nothing based on race. Like in the Old Testament, when God's focus was on the Israelites, they were a race of people, right? Well, there's none of that now. There is no particular group of people that God is focusing his attention on. So now everybody, no matter what their physical makeup, God is focusing his attention on to bring them into salvation. It includes everybody in the whole world. Nothing, nobody is excluded from this opportunity, and it's an incredible thing.

       And our final verse, verse 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” (ESV).

       So there it is. Paul spells it out plainly. He tells his Ephesian listeners, his readers, why, what the mystery of God is. And that, you know, because the Ephesians are Gentiles. He's telling them that, hey, just as God used to focus on the Israelites, now he's giving that same undivided attention to you. So if there was anybody in Ephesus that would have been concerned about being excluded from God's plan because they weren't Jewish or whatever, Paul's saying, nah, you don't got to worry about that. You don't got to think about that. That's not an issue. And so it goes all the way to this day. Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verses 12 to 14.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” (ESV)

There it is. Doesn't matter if you're Jewish or another race, and for people who even find themselves enslaved in the world, that does not exclude them from being able to know God through Jesus Christ. And I included verse 14 there, though it's technically talking about the different roles of the church, but it also rings true to what Paul just said, for the body does not consist of one member, but of many. And if we were to think of that, it doesn't just consist of Jewish people, but of many. That's why I included that there.

       And so Paul will come back to this in Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter 5, actually. And we'll dip into that real fast to get a glimpse of where the conversation will go. But in verses 8 and 9, he says, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)” (ESV). He's telling them that now, through their choice of belief, they are part of God's plan, they're not in darkness any longer. He's encouraging them to work out that faith, to walk in the light. And that's the beautiful thing. It doesn't matter what background a person has, what background you have. It doesn't matter what sins you've committed as far as that excluding you from God's grace. Anyone can have a personal relationship with God, regardless of their physical makeup, regardless of the sins they've committed. Now, those sins may still reap consequences in this world, but there are no consequences as far as denying your ability to have that personal relationship with God through trust in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead. And anyone that chooses to believe that in the whole world today can have that relationship with God. So that'll do it for our talk in Ephesians 3. Hope everyone is doing well and for those of us who believe, continues to walk in that light. Peace.

- Daniel Litton