Who Are We? // The Mystery [Ephesians 3] (Geoff Smith)

Well, I am delighted to be with you again.

I'd like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to get out of

Auckland. It was so good coming down this

morning. What a beautiful way to go to

church. You get on the Southern Motorway

and get out of it, and you come down here among the pastures and

it's just beautiful. So thank you for that.

We're in Ephesians Chapter 3. If you're not familiar with the

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Bible, it's the second-half of the Bible.

If you don't know where Ephesians is, you can look it up

on your table of contents at the front of your Bible.

Or you might do what I do because I get mixed up.

Where to go in which book? So I've memorized the letters of

Paul in this section and I just say to myself, Gentiles eat pork

chops and that will give you Galatians, Ephesians,

Philippians and Colossians. So you won't go to the wrong

book. Well, we're at the eat section

for Ephesians. That's my favorite section, as

you can see, and we're taking our reading from Ephesians,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Chapter 3. For this reason.

I pull the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of

Eugentiles. And then he pauses.

Digresses. Surely you have heard about the

administration of God's grace that was given to me.

For you, that is the mystery made known to me by Revelation,

as I have already written briefly in reading this.

Then you will be able to understand my insight into the

mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other

generations, as it has now been made revealed by the Spirit to

God's holy apostles and prophets.

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are airs

together with Israel, members together of 1 body and sharers

together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's

grace, giving me given me through the working of His

power. Although I am less than the

least of all God's people, this grace was given me to preach to

the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make

plain to everyone the administration of this mystery,

which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all

things. His intent was that now through

the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to

the rulers and authorities in heavenly realms, according to

His eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our

Lord, In Him, and through faith in Him, we may approach God with

freedom and confidence. I ask you therefore not to be

discouraged because of my sufferings, for you which are

for your glory. For this reason.

And now he picks up what he said in chapter 3, verse one.

For this reason, before the Father, I kneel before the

Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth

derives its name. I prayed that out of his

glorious riches he may strengthen you with power

through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell

in your hearts true faith. And I pray that you, being

rooted and established in love, may have power together with all

the Saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is

the love of Christ. And to know this love that

surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all

the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do

immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his

power that is at work within us. To him be glory in the Church

and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever.

Amen. If you are familiar with the

book of Ephesians, you will know that in this book, as in most of

Paul's letters, he divides the book in two parts.

The first part is doctrinal goes from chapter one, verse one, to

chapter 3, verse 21. The 1st 3 chapters of Ephesians

give us information and then the last three chapters of Ephesians

4-5 and six give us instruction. So we're in this section this

morning that is about information, and in chapter one

we have learned what God has done for us.

He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the

world to be holy and blameless before him.

And through the death of Jesus Christ and our faith in Him, He

has forgiven us all our trespasses and has blessed us

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

Jesus. So chapter one is about what God

has done for us. Chapter 2 is about what God has

done to us in terms of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has raised us up with Christ and has seated us in the

heavenly places in Christ, far above all power and

principality. And He has transformed us and

and raised us up to be with Christ.

This is what God has done to us. Last week we broke into Chapter

3 and we began thinking about what God has done between us.

Now, in the passage before us, it's between Jews and Gentiles.

You and I don't have that kind of classification anymore, but

we are people from different backgrounds, different cultures,

different ethnicity, different nationalities.

And here we find ourselves coming together in the body of

Christ, which is the church, and we begin to think what God has

done between us. In Chapter 4, you break into the

practical section. Let me just give you a heads up.

Chapter 4 in the first part is about unity.

In other words, we're talking about Jew and Gentile now coming

together in the Church. Now when you get to Chapter 4,

you move from the information to the instruction.

Therefore keep the unity that the Spirit has created in the

bond of peace and walk together in unity in the world that is

shot through with division and hatred and tension.

We are to be lights in the darkness and to show the world

how true unity between peoples of different backgrounds,

ethnicities, different social classes, can come together in

love and in harmony and in unity.

So it talks about unity. Then it goes on to talk about

purity. Then it goes on to talk about

authority, because you cannot have unity without authority.

And it talks about authority in the home, talks about authority

in the workplace, and then it finishes up with victory as we

put on the armor of God. And when the evil day comes,

we're left standing. So that's the book of Ephesians.

Well, we're breaking into chapter 3 about this amazing

mystery. And chapter 2, verse 11 to the

end of the chapter has reminded us that God has reconciled us

not just to himself through Christ, but to one another

through Christ. He has brought us together.

You know, one of the things that sin has done, and you see it in

the Garden of Eden, is that the moment sin entered the world,

the moment that Adam and Eve rebelled against God and sin,

everything started to fall apart.

Have you noticed that? That's where alienation began.

And that's when Adam says it would have been all right except

for her. The woman you gave me, she gave

me the fruit to eat. So there's blame going on, this

alienation going on. Hard to imagine that maybe just

a few hours before Adam had been in the garden, and God had put

him into a deep sleep. And God had brought from his

side a woman woke him up from the anesthesia and and there she

was. And he was amazed.

He'd been looking at the animals, naming the animals Mr.

missus hippopotamus, Mr. missus rhinoceros, Mr. missus monkey at

but no Mr. missus human. And then God said not good for

men to be alone, and he put at him into a thick and dreadful

darkness, a bit like what comes over us.

Church on a Sunday morning, and in a deep sleep he takes from

his side a woman and fashions her to be his wife.

But you know, it's only a matter of hours, and that beautiful

harmony is splintered. And Adam is not only separated

from God, separated from his wife.

There's tension there now. There's discord there now,

Disunity now. Now he's separated from the

world he lives in, and instead of it being under his control,

he has to work by the sweat of his brow, and he has to sort out

the weeds and the thorns and the thistles.

And what used to be paradise has now become sheer frustration and

hard work. But that's not all.

There's more separation to come for God, said to Adam.

In the day you eat that fruit, dying, you will die.

And Adam knows that until dust returns to dust, he's going to

live in a world of frustration and alienation and tension.

That's where it all began. But thankfully, God sent the

Lord Jesus, and he stepped into this world of alienation and

disunity and disruption. And He has brought us together

in Christ. We've not only come home to God,

we've come home to one another. When you get to Ephesians

chapter three, you find out something else.

God has not only reconciled us, He has equalized us.

Now I I face up. I'm not sure if if equalized is

a word. Is it a word?

I I'm hoping. Well, if it wasn't, it is.

Now it's up there, it's too late and words are important, as you

know. Well I shouldn't have said that

because that reminds me of the story of a lawyer in London who

went up to Edinburgh for a a court case and he hired a con as

he was driving around Edinburgh. He went through 1 intersection

and suddenly blue and light, a red light started flashing

behind him and and the the Scottish police had pulled him

over and they said good afternoon Sir.

Do you realize you've just driven through the stop sign And

the lawyer said well I'm sure you noticed I slowed right down

he says I I noticed but the sign didn't say slow down.

The sign said stop and you did not stop.

He said well you know I'm I'm a lawyer and you're a police

officer and between the two of us we really know there isn't

too much difference. I slowed right down, look left,

look right and I very carefully went through the stop sign.

I he said I noticed it but you did not stop and the sign says

stop and the lawyer said look, I'll give you £500 if you can

tell me the difference between stop and slow down, he says I I

think I can do that for £500. Would you kindly get out of your

vehicle? So the lawyer got out of the

vehicle and the glass wedge and cop pulled out his his baton and

he started to beat the living daylights out of the lawyer and

he said, now would you like me to stop or shall I just slow

down? Words are important, huh?

This word, very important. He has not only reconciled us,

he has equalized us. Now, if you and I were Gentiles

back in that day, the only way that you could get close to God

would be by becoming a proselyte to the Jewish religion.

You'll remember an X, Chapter 8. The Ethiopian eunuch is

traveling from Africa up to Jerusalem to worship.

He was a proselyte. As a gentile, you could not come

into the religious system of Israel.

As a Gentile, you had to become a proselyte.

You had to bow down to the Jewish laws and rules.

You had to be circumcised to become part of that community

and so you realize that you were not an equal as a Gentile.

You virtually had to become a Jew in order to find God.

Well, the wonderful thing is that according to Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, God has got rid of that.

God has broken down the middle wall of petition that is the

Mosaic Law and He has brought us, who were far away from God,

near to God. And he's not only brought us

near to God, he's brought us near to one another.

And this is the great mystery that you have in Ephesians

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. The mystery is not that the

Gentiles will be saved. A mystery is a secret that has

been hidden for ages, as you find over there in Ephesians 3,

but has now been revealed by God's spirit to his holy

apostles and prophets. A secret or a mystery is

something that had been hidden but now has been revealed.

It's been unveiled. It's been disclosed.

It had always been true that God would save the Gentiles.

That's why he called Abraham. You find it in Genesis chapter

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

12. Through you and your seed, all

the families of the earth will be blessed.

And in calling Israel into existence, God has spilled the

beans. He's done it specifically to

bless all the families of the earth.

So God did not choose Israel to be an end in itself.

God chose Israel as a vehicle, as a as a conduit, if you like,

to administer His grace and His blessing and His forgiveness to

the whole world. And as you go through the Old

Testament, you find this over and over again.

Isaiah Chapter 11. The nations will rally to him.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

In other words, God has chosen Israel not just to be his pet

child, but that through Israel he will reach the nations of the

earth who will come as nations separate nations to worship the

Lord. And Isaiah looks forward to that

Kingdom age when the gentile nations will come and worship

the Lord. The reason he called Israel

Isaiah 42 is that they might be a light to the Gentiles and then

nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of

your dawn. So God's anticipating that non

Jews will come to worship the Lord.

The nations on every shore will worship him, Zechariah.

And then Malachi says my name will be great among the nations.

So it was no mystery that God would move to save the Gentiles

and bring them to worship himself.

That had been this plan, and that was a major reason that God

had called Israel. When all the nations of the

earth had rebelled against God, plunged the world into virtual

spiritual blackout. In mercy he reaches down, takes

Abraham and says, I'm going to create a great nation out of

you, and you'll be great not only numerically, but you will

be great spiritually. You will be the light to the

Gentiles who are now in darkness.

So that was not a mystery, and it was not a mystery that the

Gentiles would overtake Israel. There's a a teaching going

around the world today called replacement theology that God

has saved the Gentiles and he's wiped the floor with Israel.

The moment they put Jesus on the cross, he ditched them, said

it's over, Red Rover, I'm done with you, I'm through with you.

And now I'm I'm going to work with the Gentiles.

But when you get into Romans Chapter 9, you find out that to

Romans 9 · chapter mention

them belong the adoption of sons.

And Paul is saying in Romans Chapter 9, you know, if I could

Romans 9 · chapter mention

be cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of

the race of Israel, if I could be cut off, I would be, if that

were possible, such as my love and my passion and my concern

for people of my own race. Now this is after the church has

been born and Paul is still thinking about Israel in

national terms. He's still thinking about the

salvation of Israel. He's still thinking how Israel

is God's peculiar and special nation.

There's is the adoption of sons, there's the divine glory to them

belong the covenants to them, the receiving of the Lord and

the temple worship, and so on. All of these blessings He gave

to Israel and they remain with Israel.

In Romans Chapter 11, you read these words.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

I do not want you to be ignorant of the mystery brothers so that

you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced hardness

in part. How you say.

What does that mean? Well, it means that God has set

aside the nation of Israel to be disciplined.

And so a hardness has become has come upon that nation, but only

in part because some Jews still get saved.

And we know about Messianic congregations today where Jews

come to Jesus and find him to be their Messiah.

But nationally speaking, God has set aside the nation of Israel,

and he has placed them under divine discipline.

Now, please, let's get this straight.

God has not finished with Israel.

Some people say all, but he's not dealing with Israel now.

Oh, sure he is. He's taken them to the woodshed.

That's exactly where they are. They're under divine discipline.

You know, I used to go stay with my uncle and aunt out in what

was the edges of Auckland City and they lived up the back of

Glen Eden and and they had this old villa there.

And at the back of the old villa was a woodshed and whenever we

got in trouble we got taken to the woodshed.

They had a beautiful big Magnolia tree there and we used

to run inside, my cousins and I, more them than me.

And we used to get a roll of toilet paper and we would sit

under the Magnolia tree, pick the dried leaves, roll them in

toilet paper. These in the days before

marijuana. And as soon as we got caught off

to the woodshed, bend over and down came the hand of

discipline. Well, that's what God's doing

with the nation of Israel right now.

For these hundreds of years, he's taken them to the woodshed.

And they have been under Gentile domination and depression ever

since. But that hardening is only in

part. Individual Jews come out from

there and come to faith in Jesus Christ, and one day the whole

nation will repent. God is going to take them

through the woodshed of the tribulation period, and when

they can't bear it for another minute, they shall look to Him

whom they have pierced, and they shall wail and mourn in

repentance because of what they did to the Lord Jesus.

And then Messiah will return and he will save them on a national

basis, and Israel will return to what Deuteronomy says.

They'll be the head and not the tail.

They'll be the top and not the bottom.

Now what Paul is saying here in Romans to the churches don't

become conceited. God has handed Israel over in

part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in and

then all Israel will be saved. Now I don't know what else to do

with that scripture except to say that as a Gentile when the

full number of us have come to faith and not a minute sooner,

then God is going to take up Israel again and the whole

nation will come to faith and experience the blessings of the

new covenant. So it doesn't mean that Gentiles

will overtake Israel or supplant Israel or replace Israel, not at

all. Have a look at this from Romans

Romans 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11. As far as the gospel is

concerned, they that's Israel. Are the enemies on your account.

Their enemies on your account, but as far as election is

concerned they are loved on account of the patriarchs.

Did you get what this text is saying?

Israel are considered enemies when it comes to the gospel, but

when you talk about God's choice of them, God's election of them,

they are loved on account of the patriarchs.

Did you get it? Did you get it?

This is really important. They are enemies of the gospel,

but they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts

and calling are irrevocable. Now that's true with Israel.

And let me tell you something, it's true with you and me too.

Once you're saved, you're in for good.

You can never be booted out, you say, but doesn't matter how bad

I've been. You mean I'll never get booted

out? No, you won't.

You get taken to the woodshed. That's that's the way God works.

And down will come your your trouser and you'll be bent over

and you'll be glowing in the dark.

I can tell you that You'll see the serious side of the severity

of God, but you'll never be booted out.

Why? Because the gifts and calling of

God are irrevocable. If Israel can be lost, so can

you. If we cannot be lost, then

neither can Israel. They are enemies in terms of the

gospel, but they are loved as enemies.

They're still loved on account of the patriarchs for the gifts

and the calling of God. Irrevocable.

Well, what does it mean then that has happened?

It means that we have come as Gentiles to experience the

spiritual blessings of Israel. Now what did God promise in the

New covenant? He promised he'd write the lore

in their hearts and in their minds.

He promised that he would never remember their sins again, that

he would forgive them and give them complete freedom from their

sin. Now we've come into that.

He then said, I will put my spirit upon them.

We have experienced the Holy Spirit.

That's how we got saved. We came under the influence of

the Holy Spirit, and the moment we came to faith in Christ, the

Holy Spirit stepped in to us, into our lives and then dwelt

us. And His presence is the seal

that keeps us until the day of redemption.

Now these are spiritual blessings that God promised to

Israel. But we as Gentiles are

experiencing these blessings. We're experiencing the blessing

of the blood of Jesus that cleanses us, as Gentiles from

all sin, all kinds of sin, and every single one.

Now see, we're sharing in the spiritual blessings, but we

don't take over the physical blessings of Israel.

No, Sir, we we don't become a great nation.

We don't possess the land. We don't have victory over our

enemies. All of that is promised to

Israel. God never promised that I'd be

the top and everyone else would be the bottom.

God never promised that I'd be the head and y'all would be the

tail. No, He promised that to Israel.

Those are geopolitical blessings that belong to Israel.

And when they come to faith in Christ, they're going to

experience those geopolitical blessings.

But as a Gentile, I come and I am enjoying the spiritual

blessings that I get from Israel's Messiah.

Now here it is. Now, however, I am on my way to

Jerusalem in the service of the Saints.

There from Macedonia and Archaea were pleased to make a

contribution to the poor among the Saints in Jerusalem.

They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them.

For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews spiritual blessings,

and we have, then they owe it to the Jews to share with them

their material blessings. I'll stop for a moment and let

the Holy Spirit rivet that into our minds.

We have received their spiritual blessings.

Have we overtaken Israel? No, Sir.

We are now in the whole new family and the whole new body.

We've been equalized in the church.

You don't find the Church mentioned in the Old Testament.

It can't be in the Old Testament, for the church is the

body of Christ, and the body didn't have a head until Jesus

was raised back to heaven after his resurrection.

And so the church is a whole new ball game.

It's where Jew and Gentile come together, and they are heirs

together and they're members together of 1 body and their

sharers together of the promise in Christ.

Until that wonderful day when when you hear the sound of the

trumpet and the call of the Archangel and we're caught up,

we're raptured, we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

And then at that point God takes over and starts dealing with

national Israel again. But right now we're equal in the

body. Did you get that?

We don't have to become Jews. We don't have to get into

Messianism in that sense, where we come as Gentiles.

As a Gentile, I have perfect access to the Father.

As a Gentile, I have my sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

As a Gentile, I enjoy the indwelling power and ministry of

the Holy Spirit of God. I have all of those blessings as

a Gentile. I don't have to change my

background. I don't have to change my

ethnicity. I come just as I am, for way

beyond the world ever began. God had set his heart on the

nations of the world and Israel was but of me means to those

nations, Wow. It's a wonderful thing.

Now, when Paul's done explaining that, he says now the reason I

kneel before the Father from whom his whole family in heaven

and on earth derives its name. I'm praying that out of his

glorious riches he may strengthen you with power

through his spirit in your inner man, that Christ may dwell in

your hearts through faith. We're going to finish here.

You know what he's saying? I just got through telling you

that you Gentiles and you Jews are equal members of the one

body, the new man. And I've created out of both of

you one new man. And you are members together of

the body. You are sharers together of the

promise of Christ. And you have become a

habitation, A dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

He is here. He indwells this local body of

believers. The church is vitally important

to God. The Bible tells us if we destroy

the temple of God, the church, He will destroy us.

He'll take us to the woodshed. You.

You don't mess with the Church, but can you see what he's

saying? I just told you that you are

equal sharers together in the body.

You are a habitation of God in the Spirit.

He lives in you as a body. But now I am praying that the

Holy Spirit will take you as individuals and that he will

strengthen your inner man to the point where the Lord Jesus will

be pleased to be at home in your body.

Now He's in the body collective. But now we're talking about the

body of the individual Christian, and he's praying the

Lord Jesus will be at home there.

We all know you can't be a Christian unless Christ is in

you. If you don't have the Spirit of

Christ, you don't belong to Christ.

No, we know that at the moment of cry of conversion, Christ

comes into our heart. That's not what he's talking

about here. He's saying, Yes, that's true.

At the moment of conversion, the Lord Jesus became a resident,

but now I'm praying he'll become the president and that he will

dwell in your hearts by faith. When I was a young believer, we

were all given a copy of this lovely little book called My

Heart Christ's Home, and it was a book that helped you

understand how to let Jesus into every area of your life.

And just like your home has many rooms, so our lives have many

rooms. And Paul is praying that the

Lord Jesus will be at home in those many rooms.

Now nowadays you would have a media room.

Is the Lord Jesus at home in the media room?

Does he have access to the drawers or have you locked the

door? Is that a secret place where he

can't go? What about in the in the social

activity of your home? In your living room?

In the place where you mix it with friends?

What about on the patio? Is he at home there?

What about in the kitchen? What about in the bedroom?

What about in your child's room? He's praying that we will be

strengthened by the Spirit to let Christ be at home in every

room of our heart. And you know what happens when

Christ is at home in every room of your heart while he takes

over and you become more and more like the one who's

occupying your dwelling? That's a beautiful thing.

Long time ago, a book was written by Keith Miller called A

Taste of New Wine. I read it when I was 14 or 15

years of age. In it he tells a story I've

never forgotten. He relates the story of a

Christian businessman who was in New York and he come to the end

of the day and he was on his way home and he headed for Grand

Central Station. Anyone been to Grand Central

Station? It's a zoo.

It isn't licensed, but it's a zoo and it's just this massive

humanity pushing and pulling every which direction as they

all converge down on the on the subway to go home.

And this man had had a real day of it, and it was the end of the

week and the end of the day, And he was heading home.

And as he came down the steps of Grand Central Station onto the

platform, he saw his train and the lights of the sign were

flashing, letting him know it was about to depart, put his

head down, held on to his briefcase.

And with the rest of the animals, he made a beeline for

his train when all of a sudden he banged into a little boy who

was carrying a box of jigsaw. And the jigsaw puzzle pieces

went everywhere. The women in stiletto heels were

puncturing them. People were crushing them.

And the businessman looked at the train and it started to

move. He looked at the little boy.

He looked at the train. Then he put down his briefcase,

and he got down on his hands and knees in his New York lawyer's

suit, and they began picking up the pieces, and he didn't stop

until every piece was back in the box.

He stood up and handed the box to the little boy who looked up

at him and said, Excuse me, Sir, is your name Jesus?

I'd give my right arm for someone to ask me that this

week, that Christ is so at home in the rooms of my life that

when you knock on the door, you'll find Jesus.

Wouldn't you love that? That, to me, would be the

ultimate compliment. And here's the challenge.

That's exactly what the Holy Spirit wants to do.

He wants you to so open your heart to Christ in every room

that when you bang into a little boy, Jesus will come through

you. And you know people can tell.

People can sense it. Where did you get this

individual who is so different to the others who are pushing

and shoving? Well, he belongs to a unique

group. God lives in that group.

He belongs to. Is he a Jew?

No, he's not a Jew. He's a Gentile.

But he belongs to this whole new body where Christ lives.

And not just in the body, but in His body.

Our Father in heaven, you have blessed us beyond imagination

this side of Calvary. We we don't realize what it must

have been like to try and get close to you, and to be near

you, and to be in fellowship with you.

But we thank you that with the coming of your Spirit, you have

created this new body, and we all belong to it.

And now we're all Jew and Gentile, regardless of our

ethnicity, our age, our background, we're equal sharers.

We're members together. We're heirs together.

We're partakers together of the promises in Christ for bringing

us into this place of unparalleled blessing.

We praise your name, and we ask our Father that we will be

conscious of the work of your Spirit to quietly but

determinedly change us into the image of your son, because

that's why you saved us. We bring you our morning worship

in Jesus name. Amen.