7. Ephesians 4:29-5:2

Ephesians 4:29-5:2

Time For a Change... continued.

We are continuing on from the last session. Paul gives us 5 examples of taking off our old self and putting on the new. We looked last time at 1 : Put off falsehood and speak truthfully (v.25), 2: Put off anger (vv. 26-27) and 3 : Put off stealing and work for a living (v.28) , now we look at the final two.

4 : Put off unwholesome talk and instead speak what will build up others. Speech is a powerful tool, it can be used for good or for evil. Speech is like the ‘bit’ that goes into a horses mouth, something small that can be used to turn a big animal easily this way or that. Speech is like the rudder on a the biggest of cargo ships or the smallest of sparks that starts the forest fire. A single person, using speech, could get a nation to start a war.

5 : Put off bitterness, rage, anger and malice and instead show love. I don’t think there is much to be said about this that it doesn’t say itself, however when we combine the last two, we can see Paul bringing together the acts of spiritual patience and bearing with one another in love.

Who amongst us has had a moment (or maybe many moments) in our life where something someone has said or done instantly makes the smoke come out of our ears? The red rag of rage comes over us and we say something hurtful in anger. What could we do to prevent this? We could maybe remind ourselves of the old ‘count to 10 before speaking rule’. Maybe we could take a deep breath and try and measure our response. But Paul is asking for more than that here. We go into more detail in a moment but he’s saying we are to put off our former selves. We are to get rid of it all altogether, to remove the desire to want to say the hurtful, angry words in the first place, to not have them cross our minds at all.

Follow God’s Example.

William Barclay calls this ‘the highest standard in world’, Alexander MacLaren calls it 'the sum of all duty’. To Martin Lloyd Jones it was ‘Pauls supreme argument... the highest level of all in doctrine and practice... the ultimate ideal’.

When we look at the passage in which the command to follow God’s example occurs, we see at once that it is not just an attribute of God that we are being told to follow. What Paul has in mind here is imitation of God’s love. Without a doubt, this is what ties in Ephesians 5:1 to the end of Chapter 4 and also links to the following verse. (Ephesians 5:1-2 are part of the preceding paragraph, even though it is the start of a new chapter).

What kind of love is this? The passage answers this question in at least three ways, God’s love is a Forgiving Love, a Giving Love and a Living Love.

Forgiving Love.

Since God the Father forgave us through the work of Christ, we are able to forgive one another. This is right at the centre of love’s nature.

The link between God’s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others is important, it’s only through knowing that we are forgiven that we are set free to forgive others lovingly. People are in desperate need of forgiveness. In his book on confession John Stott quotes the head of a large mental hospital in England as having said, “I could dismiss half my patients tomorrow if they could be assured of forgiveness.”

That is what we have in Jesus Christ - forgiveness - and because we find forgiveness there, we can, in turn be forgiving. This part is important, God’s forgiveness is far more than simply overlooking our sin. It’s not the case that God thinks to himself some “Well, boys will be boys” (or girls will be girls) or perhaps “We’ll overlook it this time but don’t let it happen again”. God takes sin with such seriousness that he deals with it fully at the cross, and it is on that basis - the death of Jesus - that we know we are truly forgiven.

Think about it, if we know, and I mean deep down really know, that we are all sinners and fully deserving of God’s wrath - and that we are forgiven only because God’s full wrath was taken by Jesus Christ on the cross, we should forgive others as God forgives all who turn to Christ. Think of it the other way, If one was to think of themselves as a pretty good person who doesn’t really need to be forgiven, they would naturally find it hard to love and forgive others.

Read Romans 3:10-18.

That is the way God sees us. If we were to see ourselves through Gods’ eyes, knowing about our rebellion against his love and his moral standards and yet finding ourselves forgiven then we will inevitably love and forgive others. For nobody can act as badly toward us as we have acted toward God, and yet he has forgiven us. When we see ourselves as forgiven sinners, we are set free to love others in the imitation of God, and therefore, forgive them

Giving Love.

The second thing the verse teaches about the love of God, which we are to follow in his example of, is giving love. Again, God is a model of such love, and the point at which it is most clearly demonstrated is on the cross.

Read John 3:16, 1 John 4:10, Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20, John 15:13 and Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus did not give things to save us at the cross, he gave himself. He did not give up only the things which were outwardly seen, for example his glory, the service of the angels and the his position at the right hand of God the Father. The point is Jesus GAVE HIMSELF, indeed his very life, for those he loves.

Living Love.

The third example the passage teaches us about the love of God which we are instructed to do, is to be living love: forgiving, giving but also living. This is mentioned in verse 2 where Paul says “and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”.

There are two things that a living love suggests. Firstly that it is a practical or active love. If we were to ask the questions “What does it mean to ‘live a life of love’? The answer would be the very thing that Paul has just been writing about:

1: Put off falsehood and speak truthfully.
2: Put off anger.
3: Put off stealing and work for a living.
4: Put off unwholesome talk and instead speak to build others up. 5: Put off bitterness rage and malice and instead show love.

The second thing ‘living love’ suggests is that it is made alive by the very life of God and is therefore an eternal love, as God is eternal. Earthly love is often faltering, weak, variable and seasonal. The love of God, never falters and never fails.

Can we imitate God in such an eternal love as that? If we rely on ourselves, of course not. But if we look to God, the answer is yes. The very man who wrote Ephesians 4:1 also said “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” - Philippians 4:13

However, we must spend time with God if that is to happen. If God’s example is the one we are to follow, if we are to repeat his actions, echo his speech, duplicate his behaviour. How can we do that if we don’t spend time with Him? We cannot, as we wouldn’t know what his behaviour is. So as we close this study series, that’s the final message. With an encouragement to spend time with God, in prayer, Bible study and in worship. I suspect that Paul would also add a reminder to us to do these things with each other as a unified church - as the Body of Christ.

Questions.

There are no set questions for this session, rather spend the time as a group discussing what we have thought about over the last two sessions.

Consider the five ways Paul tells us to puff off and in contrast how he calls us to put on. Spend some time talking through the threefold way we have thought about Gods love, forgiving, giving and living love.

Maybe read and consider Romans 8:35-39 - and discuss the passage in view of everything we have looked at over the last two sessions.

6. Ephesians 4 : 17-28

Ephesians 4 : 17-28

Time For a Change.

You probably know the old saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” and what it means? It is an encouragement to conform to whatever social situation you find yourself in and to do as everyone else is doing. If you are among sophisticated people, act sophisticated, if you amongst fools, act foolish. Regardless of the situation, you are encouraged to fit in, not to stand out, to be like everybody else. In human terms, this isn’t necessarily bad advice, but spiritually, conformity to the world’s ways is fatal. Paul is very clear as we get into the next section of Ephesians. It’s why he said in verse 17 “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do”. The Ephesians were Gentiles and had lived with other Gentiles in the past, however they were called out of that life and are now called into the life of discipleship and holiness by Christ. They were to be in the world - just as we are today - but not of it.

Paul changes the theme in Ephesians 4:17 and it is a theme that he carries through to the end of the book. In the first three chapters, Paul talks of the nature and origins of the Christian’s salvation, showing that it flows from the grace of God and has its goal in the revelation of the manifold great wisdom of God in and through the Church. Then the rest of the book applies these doctrines to the life of the Christian, whilst still in the secular world. Or in other words, Paul tells us to be one holy Church, he’s just told us how to be one, now he instructs us on how to be holy.

This is an extremely important point. Christians are to live holy lives, not just because morality is good in itself, or because it promotes happiness or success or anything else, but because of what God has done. Because of Gods action towards us through Jesus Christ, we should live our lives as God wants us to live.

Paul reminds the Ephesians of some very important truths, firstly, the true nature of the world view that they have been delivered from and the reasons it got to be that way in the first place. So far as the nature of the present world system, Paul describes it as the “futility of their thinking, they are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts”.

What is wrong with the world in which the Ephesians (and all other Christians) find themselves is that it has hardened itself against God. The One who is the Christian’s joy and glory is the worlds enemy. So we are not on the same team as the world, we do not have the same goals or loyalties. If we are going to get on with anything like the life we are called to have, we need to see that. We should never think to ourselves at any time as “in Rome...”

Jesus, the Great Divide.

Have you ever thought about how we register time. I’m not talking of the hours around a clock but rather how we register the years. The Christian calendar begins with an approximation of the year of the birth of Jesus Christ, then we number in two directions, backwards in a receding series of years which we call BC, and forward in an increasing number which we call AD. By this reckoning we testify that Jesus of Nazareth is the dividing line in history.

Jesus is the great divide in more than a historical sense, He is also a personal dividing line for everyone who has been saved by him. As the Gentile becomes the Christian, they acknowledge that they had their life before Christ and now they have their life with Christ. Paul describes what the world is like, being without Christ, he then states that it was “not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus”. This is Paul’s introduction to what is going to be an extensive description of the Christian life. So it is important to note that it begins with reference to Christ himself and nothing that may have come out of the depraved hearts or futile efforts of mere human beings. There are several belief systems that promote “self discovery” or “personal enlightenment”. Real changes comes in none of these ways. The only truly transforming power that has ever come into the world is that of the person and teaching of Jesus Christ.

The School of Jesus.

The way Paul begins to explain this further is to use three ideas that would be commonly used in education.

Paul writes in vv. 20 -22 that we heard about Christ, we learned of him and we learn through him. In this passage Christ is the subject of the lesson. To an extent this would be learning about the man Jesus, where he was born, where he grew up, his occupation, perhaps even when we learn about his teaching. But more importantly, Paul means that when we come into a relationship with Jesus, that is when we come to really know him, because that relationship affects you, you want to live your life in accordance with Jesus’ teaching. To just learn about the man Jesus of Nazareth wouldn’t necessarily make you a Christian, just as reading about Neil Armstrong wouldn’t make you an astronaut.

So as we learn about Jesus, we come to “know” Jesus personally, then we are taught in him. The puzzling word about this last expression is “in Him”, you would normally expect the phrase to be “by Him” or “about Him”. But it actually says “in Him” and it probably means that Jesus is the atmosphere within which the teaching takes place. We might say that that Jesus is the school, as well as the teacher, as well was the subject.

When we learn about Christ in this way, as Paul describes, we take off our old selves, we should abandon our old lives which were “corrupted by deceitful desires”. When a person hears about Jesus, comes to know Jesus and lives in Jesus, they are compelled and strive to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”

Time For a Change.

Paul now begins to deal with Christ’s conduct, the practical application of the great doctrinal teachings declared in the first three chapters. Paul reminds believers what they were before God saved them. He then reminds them that that in spite of their dark history, they nevertheless have been saved by God and have come to know Jesus Christ. But what is this new way that is In Christ, How do we walk it?

Paul goes on to give five examples at the end of chapter four. We are going to look at the first thee in this session. Before we look at these three though, it is worth considering how Paul gives the examples. Most of them are given both negatively and then positively, just as Paul instructed to “put off our old self” (v. 22) and to “put on our new self” (v. 24). Another way to think of that is is to consider that we, like Lazarus, have been brought out of death and into life by Christ. As part of that spiritual miracle our old, tattered, ruined grave clothes have been taken off and we have been dressed in wedding garments in preparation for that great wedding supper of the Lamb. From this point onwards we should act like members of the wedding party.

1 : Put off falsehood and speak truthfully (v.25) In addition to the relatively simple instruction of “don’t lie and be honest”. The Greek word translated into “falsehood” is actually to pseudos which means ‘the lie’. This is also the word that John uses uses in 1 John 2:20-23 when he talks of the antichrist. When Paul wrote Ephesians, he could well have meant, to put off the lie and tell people the truth. That is, he is telling the Ephesians who had turned their back on false idols, false gods or satan, to speak of Jesus, who is the “truth” - John 14:16.

2: Put off anger (vv. 26-27) This is slightly different to the other examples as Paul doesn’t give an expressed positive side. This is because anger itself is not a sin, but Paul tells us not to sin in our anger. Scores of Old Testament passages speak of the anger of God against the wicked and even his own people when they persist in disobedience. Indeed Jesus himself was angry on occasion (Matt.21:12-13; Mark 3:5) and even we can experience righteous anger. That is why Paul introduces this subject by saying “in your anger do not sin” which makes a distinction between sinful and sinless wrath. What Paul does tell us is to deal with the anger quickly, or to be precise, by the end of the day. He instructs us to not let anger get a foothold, do not let it fester and swell, this allows the devil to get a foothold. The only thing to do is to confess the anger to God and root it out as rapidly as possible.

In the case of righteous anger we should be “slow to become angry” (James 1:19) If we heeded this, we should be angry far less than often than we are.

3 : Put off stealing and work for a living (v.28) Each of these instructions are linked in one way or another to the Ten Commandments, but in this case, Paul is being explicit. The eighth commandments says “You shall not steal” - this is exactly Paul’s command. There are of course many different ways that we can steal.

We can steal from God when we fail to worship him as we ought or when we set out our own interests before his interests. We steal from him we fail to honour him by living our lives as he calls us to or we fail to tell others of his love. We steal from employers when we do not give our best work or we waste time. We steal by borrowing and not repaying. We steal from ourselves when we waste the time, talents or resources God has entrusted to us. The list goes on, but what Paul has chiefly in mind is taking things or money that do not belong to us. Paul’s instruction here is to instead, do “something useful” with our own hands.

Here is a big difference between Christians and the secular world. The world will tell you to “do something useful” with your own hands, to make yourself lots of money so you can buy lots of nice things and feel good about yourself. Paul says you should work rather “[because you will then] have something to share with those in need”. There will always be those people who, through no fault of their own, genuinely have needs. Who is there to help such people? Paul states the poor must be helped by Christian people who work hard precisely so they will have something to give to those in need.

Questions.

These are not necessarily questions that need answers, they are rather to be used as conversation starters.

1 : What are some the actions of living as the world lives? Why is it so important for Christians to no longer live as the world lives?

2 : When we turn to Christ, the Holy Spirit changes us, can you think of examples of how you have changed since becoming a Christian? Or if you have been a Christian a long time, how you have continued to change?

3: How is living, or wanting, after the things of this world clouding out judgement, and alienate us from he life God has for us?

4 : Have you ever become “numb” to the things of God? How did you recognise that is what had happened? How did you deal with it?

5 : What effect does speaking truthfully to fellow Christians have on our lives, and the recipient of that truth? Is it difficult to speak the truth at times? Why?

6 : Can you think of a time you have been truthful with a fellow Christian? How did you start the conversation? Does it matter in the way that you are truthful?

7 : Can you think of a time when speaking the truth has caused a disruption within the Church? Why would that happen? What can be done to avoid the resulting dis-unity?

8 : Think of the last time you were angry, was it justified? Would Jesus have become angry about the same thing? Would he have acted differently?

5. Ephesians 4 : 14-16

Ephesians 4 : 14-16

God’s Purpose for God’s Church.

Before looking at this passage, spend a couple of minutes discussing this question; what would you say is God’s purpose for the church?

Now, some of you may have said evangelism and mission, remembering Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Since this command is repeated in all four Gospels and in the book of Acts is it obviously of great importance and is neglected at the church’s peril. Is this the purpose of the church?

Others may think of the Church in the terms of its social concern. They remember that Jesus spoke of helping others, we are instructed to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, look after the sick and visit those in prison. (Matt. 25:31-46). Is this the purpose of the church?

Still others may regard the church as a retreat from the world, and their image of it is a fortress. In the world there is conflict, we are attacked by those who do not know Christ’s lordship and are opposed to the church and Christ’s rule. The Church is a safe place to go where we can nurse our wounds with other Christians, we can be fired up up by a good sermon and be ready to fight another week. Is this the purpose of the church?

No doubt, Paul would have very little argument with any of the above, but these are simply instructions on how the church is to function. The purpose is a more embracing concept, and when Paul writes about it as he does here, he is thinking of God developing wholeness or maturity in his people. His image is that of of Christ’s body, and his concern is that it be built up. See how Paul writes it, God gave “some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (vv.11-13).

Then, after speaking of the opposite of maturity, namely the church remaining spiritually immature, like children, he says, “instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become, in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (vv.15-16).

In these verses, Paul speaks of maturity and building or growing up four times. It means that for Paul, God’s chief purpose for the church is that it might become fully-grown and that each of its members might contribute to that maturity by becoming spiritual adults. So that the functions of the church, noted above as evangelism, mission, care of the community a safe retreat etc, can be accomplished as they are supposed to be.

One more time... UNITY!

Paul is being really specific, and when you look at the last few weeks studies, you’ll see the point he is driving home. Yes, the church is to become spiritually mature but how, and in what way does that maturity exist? The first answer Paul gives, the very first specific goal, the overriding purpose is . . . unity. The very point that Paul has been making all along.

Up to this point, Paul has been talking about unity within the church as a necessity. As we’ve looked at in previous weeks, he accepts that there will be diversity within the church, however stresses the point that what we have in common is far more important than the things that are causing that diversity. That being one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Vv.4-5). The church possesses these great unities. Paul instructs us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Vs 3). A unity like this can only be given by God as a spiritual gift and maintained through the church.

But in vs 13, Paul speaks of reaching “unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God”. This unity is to be attained, it does not yet exist but is an expression of the full maturity to which the church and its members should aspire. It has two clear parts, unity in the faith and unity in the knowledge. This twofold knowledge - of the head and of the heart - is what Paul says the mature church should strive to attain. Wherever possible, we should have an outward, visible, supernatural unity, for Jesus prayed that his church might have a unity on the basis of which unbelievers might be stimulated to faith (John 17:23).

This shouldn’t be a superficial, ‘everything is great on the surface but don’t look too deep’ type of outward unity, rather a deep, inward, motivational unity that comes from the believers growing in knowledge off the truth, as we find in the Bible, and living that truth in day-by-day fellowship with Jesus Christ. This reality is way beyond any barrier that may effect the unity of the church.

Growing in Truth.

Another goal of maturity within the church is truth. Without truth there is no real maturity. Paul writes in verse 15, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into his who is the Head, that is, Christ”. The contrast here is with the nature and conduct of infants described in verse 14. Children are great to be around, but they are fickle, they will be interested in one thing for five minutes, before getting bored and going onto the next. Also, children can be easily fooled. It’s why parents have a special responsibility for the careful guidance of children. The characteristics we receive as children, we take with us into adulthood. Depending on what we are taught as Children, we can be strengthened in later life, or weakened in character. This is particularly unfortunate when the same principle happens within the church, if we are taught “bad” characteristics whilst within the infancy of our faith, we take the bad traits with us into maturity.

This is why Paul started by talking about “teaching” gifts - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. It is by no means that these are the only gifts or the only gifts of worth, not at all! But he lists these since they are the ways the church is to grow out of spiritual infancy into maturity. One of the tragedies of our day is that the church can be immature in this area, and that it can get swept up in the worlds latest fads or be lead astray by false theology. The only real cure, is teaching, followed by teaching, then a bit of teaching, finishing off with more teaching.

Truth Combined With Love.

HOWEVER! It is not just teaching and truth in isolation. We cannot simply bombard people with facts. Truth is important, without a doubt, but don’t forget we also need to speak the “truth in love”. Love is also essential and a specific expression of maturity.

Read John 17:13-26.

Jesus highlights six marks by which the church is to be recognised: joy, holiness, truth, mission, unity and love. Each of this is important, but love runs through all the others.

Take love from joy, you end up with a hedonistic revealing which is found in the secular world, the pursuit of pleasure for pleasures own sake. Joy becomes distorted.

Take love from holiness, the result is self-righteousness, the kind of thing that distinguished the Pharisees of Christ’s day, and allowed them to be filled with hatred, so that they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ when he came. Sanctification is destroyed.

Take love from truth, the result is a bitter orthodoxy. Truth remains, but is proclaimed in such an unpleasant, harsh manner, that it fails to win anybody for Christ.

Take love from mission and you have colonialism, where we would work to win people for our denomination or organisation (or country?) but not for Christ.

Take love from unity and you have ecclesiastical tyranny, in which a church imposes human standard to those within it.

BUT if instead of subtracting love, you express love, for God the Father, for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Holy Spirit, for the Bible, for one another and for the world. You will find that all the other marks will naturally follow. Love for God leads to joy, nothing brings more joy than knowing and loving him. Love for the Lord Jesus lead to holiness; as he said “if you love me you will follow my commands” (John 14:15. Love for the Bible leads to truth, we will read it and grow in knowledge of what the Word contains. Love for the world leads to mission and love for one another leads to... UNITY!

Paul refers to the Church’s maturity in terms of bodily growth, and growth takes time. The church does not become mature overnight no more than do we as individuals. We trust in the Lord as we mature and should be patient as we grow.

Questions.

These are not necessarily questions that need answers, they are rather to be used as conversation starters.

1 : What are some worldly philosophies and practices that takes away form the model of Church that God lays out? Is there one that affects us more than others?

2 : Do we tend to go to one extreme or the other, focusing on truth or love at the expense of the other. Can you think of examples of both sides?

3 : Is it difficult to speak the truth in love? What is the difference between this and evangelism? Is there a difference?

4 : When we think of growing in spiritual maturity, is there an age group that comes to mind? Even though Paul mentions infants, do you think he is speaking of children? What else could he mean?

5 : Consider your own spiritual growth, can you think of times when you’ve had one of those “mind blown” moments - where a great revelation was made lear to you that you had not considered or thought of before?

6 : Ephesians 4:16 gives us a beautiful picture of the church. The image of the course is that of a person’s body. Could you try and draw a body, with different parts noted as different characteristics? For example - The ears could be to hear the needs of the community. If not can you list 10 characteristics?

7 : Which of the characteristics do you feel we do well at MIE? And where do we struggle? Pray for both?

8 : What could, as individuals and as home groups, you do to help strengthen the areas we struggle?

4. Ephesians 4 : 1 - 13

Ephesians 4 : 1 - 13

It’s All About the Balance.

When you spend time in Paul’s letters you will note that they always start with an outpouring of love, gratitude, worship and praise to God. After this doxology Paul then goes onto instruction and gives directions for Christian living, he tells those that have been called to follow Jesus how to live their life in a way that it worthy of the calling that they have received. In one short sentence here Paul gives us 5 very specific characteristics of how to live the life worthy of the calling.

1. Humility. Everyone knows that Christians should be humble. Humility is the opposite of pride or self-assertion. If we are saved “by grace, through faith, not by works, so that no-one can boast” (Eph. 2:8), it is clear and common sense that a Christian should never boast that they are saved. It is by grace alone that we are saved, therefore how can we boast in our own actions?

2. Gentleness. If you look in a thesaurus at the word gentleness, the words you are presented with are kindness, tenderness, humane, merciful. It is important to note here that to be gentle does not mean to be weak.

3. Patience. This is a different characteristic because it takes time to learn patience, and there is really only one way to learn to be patient, and that is to be in situations that require patience. Unfortunately the situations that require patience are not normally good ones.

4. Bearing With One Another. Now whilst this is similar to patience, there is a difference as this relates to how we interact with other Christians. There are two things worth noting here. Firstly, Paul doesn’t say that Christians will never disagree, quite the contrary, he is saying WHEN we disagree we need to bear with one another “in love” - and this is the second thing to note. When you are in love you endure the wrong and suffer the slight. By doing that as Christians, we demonstrate a way of life to others. We show society this supernatural connection that we have with each other. The special unity which is ours from the Holy Spirit.

5. Unity. The first four, you may have noticed, are all connected and all lead to the greater concern of unity. It is almost too obvious to say that Christians should live in unity with one another. It's the unity of the spirit which we are asked to “keep”, to keep the unity of the spirit means that we already have the unity that comes with the spirit as we are called.

When you become a Christian you receive the Holy Spirit into your heart, it’s is the same Holy Spirit that enters the heart of every Christian that has ever and will ever live, so Paul urges us to keep the unity that is given to us when we give our lives to Christ.

Unity, Unity, Unity, Unity, Unity, Unity, Unity.

In three verses (4-6) Paul uses the word “one” seven times, it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise when we consider that the number “one” in the Bible is suggested to represent the primary symbol of unity. This alongside the thought that the number seven is thought to represent spiritual unity or perfection, drives home the point that Paul is making.

He starts this great “one-ness” with “there is one body”. He is of course referring to the one body of Christ, being a metaphor for the Church. There are many good metaphors for the church in scripture, even just within this letter. It is compared to a kingdom, a family and a temple in chapter 2. In chapter 5 it is compared to a bride. Comparing the Church to a body is particularly appropriate in this passage. Consider a human body, there are many parts to the body and they must all work together if the body is to perform as it should.

If we continue this thought, that a body is a metaphor for the Church, then we can think back to the very early church. To begin with it was very small, it consisted of just Adam and Eve, but the church grew as others were added. There was Abel and Seth, Enoch, Methuselah and Noah. Abraham was added, and as his his spiritual family increased there were people, like Isaac, Joseph, David, the prophets and all those who believed in God throughout those early ages. These early Christians were all part of the Church, all part of the body, as were the saints of the middle ages and the heroes and martyrs of the reformation. Those who believe today are all part of the body. Every single one of these people, we all share in the unity of the one Holy Spirit.

Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first three “ones” that Paul tells us about in verse 4 go together. They are focusing on the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the one Spirit to graft us into the one body and give us the one hope. Then in verse 5 another set of three “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” are clustered around the one Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes the way we may hear Christians talk, you would expect there to be many Lords... One person may say “The Lord I follow calls me to do this...” or “I don’t follow that Lord, that’s not the Jesus that I know and love” or “The Jesus I know doesn’t expect me to talk to others about my faith, thats someone else’s job” and so on. This is what Paul is picking up on here, that there is only one Lord.

John T. MacNeil, a Scottish preacher and evangelist in the 1920’s took this idea further and gave a brilliant example of what happens when we lose track of the one Lord Jesus. MacNeil imagined a conversation that might have taken place between the man who was born blind who was healed by Jesus in John 9, and the other man who was blind that Jesus healed in Mark 8.

In John 9, Jesus heals a man of blindness by spitting on the ground and making clay, which he then uses to heal the mans sight. This did not happen in the case of the man whose story is told in Mark.

MacNeil imagined these two men getting together to discuss how Jesus healed them. The two men would tell their story, one with the spittle and the other without. One would say to the other “You missed out the part where Jesus spits in the dirt, made clay and placed it in your eyes”

“I don’t know anything about that,” the other would reply.
The man from John 9 would then say “It has to be that way, because that’s the way Jesus gives people their site. You must have forgotten, let me tell you, Jesus spits on the ground, he makes clay, he puts it in your eyes, he then sends you to wash in the pool of Silam.”

“Oh, no,” the man from Mark would say “he didn’t do that with me, he just spoke and I received my sight”

The first man digs his heals in. “That isn’t right, Jesus heals with clay! If you haven’t had that exact experience, I am beginning to doubt whether you can really see at all!” Thus originated in the early church the denominations of the “Mudites’ and the “Anti-Mudites”.

This is what happens when we allow our eyes to focus on the modes of Gods working rather than upon the Lord who works. Something as simple as this example could cause such division within the Church - the one body, or one Church that Paul reminds us of.There is one Lord, and he works in all of us in different ways through the one Spirit.

In the same way, Paul says one Baptism. This has certainly divided churches. Do you sprinkle? Do you pour? Do you immerse? What about Children - do you baptise them? Paul is not concerned here with the mode of baptism, rather with what baptism signifies, that the person being baptised is receiving a sign of regeneration or new birth. As it says in Article 27 of the 39 articles “those who receive baptism in the right manner are grafted into the church, the promises of the forgiveness of sin and of our adoption as children of God by the Holy Spirt”

Verse 6 then contains the 7th “one”. The first three were centred on the Holy Spirt, the second three centred on the Lord Jesus Christ. The final one, concerns God the Father
- the first person in the Godhead. The verse talks of “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”. There is a good point of thought that comes from this “one” passage as a whole. If it is grouped around the trinity - which it clearly is - why does Paul mention the trinity in the order he does? Holy Spirit first, Then Lord Jesus and finally God the Father? When we talk of the trinity it is usually the other way around. We say Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Here, Paul writes, Holy Spirit, Son and then Father. Why?

Paul is putting his argument forward from the effect back to the cause. The unity of the Holy Spirit working in the church, the church that was formed by Jesus Christ to worship the God who is above all and through all and in all. Whatever else we may say

about the church, the church is Gods church. It is composed of Gods people, it is the result of Gods work and it exists for Gods glory.

Christ’s Gifts to His Church.

How often do we hear a preacher give a sermon, or a singer sing a song or a musician play an instrument and they say one another after the service something like “insert name here” is really gifted isn’t he?” Or “insert name here” sang so beautifully today, hasn’t she got a gift!”. These gifts are all God given and used to praise his glory. It’s easy to think that only the people who stand up at the front of Church, or who are most seen within the Church are the ones with the gifts. Yes without a doubt they are gifted, but Paul talks of gifts in vs 7 - 8 being given to each and every one of his people.

There are two things worth noting about Christ’s dispensing of these gifts. Firstly, as they are given by Jesus, they are to be used for the purposes for which he gave them, namely the service of the Church. They are not to be used for personal or selfish gains, and certainly not for for drawing attention to the one using them. Secondly, the gifts are given to every Christian, that is that everyone has at least one gift - and for that reason the Church is only fully healthy when all are using their gifts they have been given. The gifts that we are all given are for the use of serving others in one way or another. The laity (church congregation) serve the Church and the world, the clergy serve the laity particularly in helping them to realise, develop and use their gifts.

There are many gifts that we receive as Christians, Paul mentions a few, however there are many more, there are actually five “lists of gifts” have a look in 1 Cor.12:8-10, 28-30; Rom. 12:6-8; Eph. 4:11 and 1 Peter 4:11. Most of the gifts mentioned are almost a “header” or “title” with many levels. For example, someone may be blessed with the gift of confidence in talking with strangers, whilst this is not mentioned directly, we need to ask ourselves how can that gift be used to glorify God and serve the church? It doesn’t take much to see that perhaps this person may be able to use their gift for evangelism, or welcoming people into the church, or table a leading in Alpha... the list goes on.

You may well ask now, “How can I discover what my gifts are?” But before we look at that question, many of us will feel uncomfortable talking about our own gifts. Yes, we do need to be careful not to boast or brag, but we should also recognise that the gifts we have are God given and should be used. Once we have recognised our gifts, we should be confident in using them, God gave you these gifts to use and we can only fully use them when we know what they are. So how do we work out what are gifts are?

Firstly, we can begin by studying what the Bible has to say about spiritual gifts. The Bible is Gods primary provision for spiritual growth, and there is no better way of searching for what God has to say on a subject, than getting into the Bible. Secondly, we must pray about our gifts. The only way we’ll work this out is to lay it all out to the Lord in serious, soul searching and totally honest prayer, and ask that he speaks to us through his Word to show us the gift he has given us. Thirdly, make an assessment of our gifts and how they can be used to serve the Lord. The fourth and final thing you can do is to seek the wisdom of other Christians, and what better place to do that than with Christians who know you well, that you may meet with every week... a group of people that you meet (or used to) in someones home, as a group maybe. You don’t need to be a prophet to see where this is going...

Questions.

There are no set questions this week.

Spend time as a home group talk gin through each others spiritual gifts. Share with each other what you are good at, give thanks to the Lord for those bits, and pray together on how to best use them.

“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 throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”

3. Ephesians 3 : 14 - 21

Ephesians 3 : 14 - 21

For This Reason...

Paul starts Ephesians 3 with the words “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner go Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...” he then goes into everything that we have looked at the last two sessions, then almost like he remembered the point he was started with, he starts again in verse 14 with “For this reason”. So what is the “reason”? What is it that moves Paul so deeply that he kneels before the Father in heaven?

There are two parts to the answer, it is both the reconciling work of Christ and also Paul’s own understanding of it by the special revelation that God has given to him. This being so, an important principle of prayer then emerges, the basis of Paul’s prayer was the knowledge of the mystery (verse 6). It was because of what God had done in Christ and then revealed to Paul that lead Paul to drop to his knees and pray for the {early} Church - which was Jew and Gentile reconciled through Christ.

Paul is praying for the church created by God because the church being created was Gods will though the actions of Jesus. This is a perfect example of why Bible reading and prayer should always go together. For it’s in scripture that God has disclosed his will, and it’s in prayer that we ask him to do it.

Another way to think of it is to notice that Paul is praying for Christians as Gods family and as he does so with a boldness a family relationship provides. Our prayers for Christians are normally different to those who haven’t yet accepted Jesus as saviour. When we pray for Christians we pray for those who have already responded to the gospel and we know what God is doing in them and through them. God is making them more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ, teaching them to live and serve, and (as we looked at last session) even suffer. We are therefore bold in these prayers because we know from scripture that this is God's will for Christians.

We should carry this boldness into our prayers for all Christians just as Paul does. He prays for the whole church {family} on earth - Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, male and female, young and old, educated and uneducated - he prays for every Christian on earth - for it is through this family that Gods great purpose of making known his manifold wisdom is fulfilled. This is a great lesson in prayer, when we pray, we must remember to pray for the whole world-wide church of God, not just those in our little circle. We must ask God to strengthen the Church throughout the whole world, and we should be encouraged by what God is doing through his people everywhere.

A Prayer Staircase.

This is one of the examples of the brilliance of how the scriptures are written. Paul goes on to pray for the whole family of God and shows not only whom we should pray for and why we should pray, but also gives us an outline of what to pray.

John Stott compares this to a “Prayer-staircase” consisting of several steps, which is quite a good way to think of this passage. There are six parts, or steps, to this prayer.

1. That Believers may be strengthened internally through the Holy Spirit. Paul has been talking about suffering just a few verses prior to writing this, and probably has suffering in mind when he writes this and starts with a prayer for strength through the Holy Spirit. We do not choose to suffer, we tend to try and avoid it. Consider Jesus in the garden, he draws back from suffering and asks that if it is possible, if there was any other way, to let the cup be taken away. Jesus prays this three times, but each time accepting that it is Gods will. If we are to show Gods wisdom in such times of suffering, God will give us the strength to face it.

Still, it is not only in times of suffering that we need to be strengthened, we need strength every day of our lives and in every circumstance, whether it be strength to avoid temptation, to make moral choices at work, to witness effectively or, for some, simply getting up to face the day. When Jesus prayed for God to send the Comforter or Holy Spirit to be with his disciples, he used the word “parakletos” means “one called alongside to help” The Holy Spirit helps us to do the right things in difficult situations.

2.That believers may be in-dwelt with Christ by faith. Without looking further , it would be very easy to skip over this line considering it an obvious statement, for what makes a Christian a Christian is having Christ within, if he does not indwell the person they are not a Christian. Unfortunately this is one of the times that the translation is let down.

Paul uses the word here katoikeo rather than the similar word paroikeo. Both of these words are translated to “dwell”. The second word - which Paul does not use - means dwell in a place as a stranger, it was used to describe Abraham when dwelling in a land that was not actually his own. The first word (katoikeo) is the word that Paul uses and it means much more settling down and dwelling in a place and becoming a permanent resident there. Pauls prayer here, is that Christ will “settle down” in our hearts and become a permanent resident there.

3. That believers may be rooted and established in love. The first metaphor (rooted) here is botanical. It compares the believer to a plant that is rooted in the love of God. The second (established) is architectural, it compares the believer to a building established on love as a foundation. Whilst (so I’ve been told) it’s less than perfect English, it is sound theology. In the first case love is pictured as something that nourishes us (which it does) and in the second case it is pictured as a solid foundation (which it is).

4. That believers may be able to grasp the fullest dimensions of Christ’s love. In the last century, when Napoleon’s armies opened a prison that had been used by the Spanish Inquisition they found the remains of a prisoner who had been incarcerated for his faith. The dungeon was underground and the body had long since decayed, only a chain fastened around an anklebone showed the sign of his confinement. But this nameless prisoner, long since dead, had left a witness.

On the wall of his small, dismal cell, this faithful soldier of Christ had scratched out a rough cross with four words surrounding it in Spanish. Above the cross was the word “height”. Below was the word for “depth”. To the left was the word for “width” and to the right was the word “length”. Clearly this prisoner wanted to testify to the surpassing greatness of the love of Christ, even in his suffering.

When Paul speaks of width, length, height and depth, he is probably trying to show the vastness of the love of Christ. However it would not be wrong to say that the love of Christ is “wide” (or broad) enough to encompass all of mankind, “long” enough to last for all of eternity. “deep” enough to to reach even the lowest of sinner, and “high” enough to exalt him in the heavens.

5. That believers may know this love that surpasses knowledge. Paul here is making a point that there is a difference between “understanding” the love of God and “knowing” the love of God. Maybe a way to consider the difference is to think about baking a cake. You can be shown the ingredients, you can follow the recipe and put the ingredients together in the right order and put them into the oven at the right temperature, leave it to bake for a certain amount of time and out comes a perfectly prepared cake. You can be taught to understand the principle of cake making. But to fully know what a cake is, you need to eat a slice and experience the taste and texture.

This is, in a way, what Paul is praying for. Yes, that we will understand and grasp the height, width, length and depth of Gods love, but also through experience, that we will know Gods love.

6. The believers may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. This audacious prayer is the top step of the prayer staircase. The phrase “fullness of God” can be read in two different ways, it could be read objectively, meaning the fullness of God would be the fullness of grace that God bestows on us. Or it could be read subjectively meaning the fullness would be Gods own fullness, that which fills himself.

Because of the wording used in the original texts, the subjective meaning is usually favoured. Audacious as the prayer may be, Paul is praying that the Ephesians (and indeed all Christians) may be filled up with that which fills God, that being love. One way this has been described, is that the fullness of God in us is like some of the ocean being in an empty shell. I think this is still selling short the gravity of what Paul is saying about the infinite love of God, but it helps you to see the grandeur of the prayer.

Paul is praying that we will be filled with the love of God, for all eternity and that we will be filled and filled and filled and filled - forever, as God out of his infinite resources, increasingly pours himself out into the those sinful but now redeemed creatures he has rescued through the work of Christ.

Now To Him... Be The Glory...

We may not know or understand the mechanics of how God is going to do that, something being poured out infinitely is beyond our understanding, but we are in good company, because Paul doesn’t understand it either. We can assume this because of what Paul goes on to say after he has finished the prayer.

Paul writes “to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all WE ask or imagine, according to his power the is at work within us...”. When Paul writes “we”, he is including himself. He is saying that even he, the great apostle and founder of the Church, cannot fully understand or even imagine all that God is going to do, is doing and will do. But Paul does know that God can do it, and not only is God able to do it, he is able to do it immeasurably, which is to say unmeasurable and therefore indefinitely.

To finish off this session, or any session, or any act of worship or prayer, there is no better way to close than to read aloud Ephesians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21.

“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 throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”

Questions.

These are not necessarily questions that need answers, they are rather to be used as conversation starters.

1. Paul says he kneels to pray, does this make a difference to his prayer? Why? Or why not? If it makes no difference, why does he say it?

2. What emotions do you feel as you read vs 16 - 19? Considering both the words that Paul uses, yet also that he is saying it for you? How do we, or should we respond to that prayer?

3. What can we learn about how we pray from this passage?

4. Paul says that Christ’s love “surpasses knowledge” in vs 19. How could you explain that to someone who is exploring their faith?

5. When we do anything for the church, how do we ensure that we are always working to Gods glory? Can you think of a time where you have forgotten that and started working to be seen to work, or to put it another way, to work for any other glory that God? Would you be willing to share the experience?

2. Ephesians 3 : 7-13

Ephesians 3 : 7-13

Before and After.

What is history? When we think of history, what do we think of? Secular historians study kings, queens, politicians, inventors, countries, wars, battle, peace treaties, geography, boundaries, revolutions, warlords, plagues and viruses - as they try to bring some form of meaning to the total chaos of events throughout history. But as Paul continues to write the book of Ephesians, he turns turns to the Church and considers it as the focal point of world history. This is the point upon which God’s purpose is focused, Paul writes in vv 10-11, “His (Gods) intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Paul’s view of the historical significance of the church could not be more in conflict with secular opinions of history.

Secular history will focus on people such as Kings, Queens, politicians and inventors, what you might call the historical VIP’s. Whilst in contrast the Bible focuses on the saints (or the believers). These people usually appear insignificant but they are God’s people, and for that reason they might be unknown to the world but they are well- known to God.

Secular history will always focus on wars, battles and peace treaties. The Bible concentrates on just one war, the only war that ultimately matters, the war between good and evil. It focuses on the decisive victory won by Jesus Christ over the power of darkness and on the peace offered to all by the blood He spilled on the Cross.

Secular history concentrates on the changing map of the world, as one nation defeats another and gains territory, then loses it again to another nation. The rise and fall of empire after empire. The Bible concentrates on a multi-national community called “the church” which has no territorial boundaries, which claims nothing less than the whole earth for Christ, and whose empire will never come to an end.

This is the great reality that Paul holds before us as he makes known “the administration of {the} mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God? (v.9). The church (should) stand directly above all secular history, she is beyond secular VIP’s, she is beyond all earthly wars and beyond all territories and regions.

Yet it is not only us, being members of the church, who Paul wants to look at this mystery. Paul also writes in v10 that “The rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” are also said to be looking at the place where Gods “manifold wisdom” is made known. So what is this “manifold wisdom” that we, and the heavenly rulers, are directed to look at?

Manifold Wisdom.

The word manifold simply means many and various, so when we consider manifold wisdom, we should think if it as “Gods many levels of wisdom’ being made known throughout he Church. As we look at this passage as a whole, there are (at least) 3 different parts of Gods wisdom to consider.

1: The bringing together of otherwise divided individuals in Christ. We’ve already looked in week one of this series at the mystery of unity that Paul speaks of. As it comes up again here, we can be confident of the importance of this particular message. Remember this letter is written to (ex) Gentiles who are now one with Jews through the fellowship of Christs church. However, so far Paul has focused on the the historical change that took place because of Christs death, where Jew and Gentile were brought together. Now Paul looks further back and reminds us that “God, created all things” v9,

Here, Paul is referring to the very beginning of time. The few days in Earth’s history where it was perfect. Before it was marred by the fall and sin entered the world. Before the fall, there was harmony between the first man and woman and also with the Godhead. It was a unity of mind, purpose, goals and will. After sin entered, that unity was broken. The man and woman hid from God and tried to escape his presence. It's a dramatisation of their rupture with God. But immediately after that when God called them to come forth and answer questions regarding their conduct, they instantly began accusing others and even blaming God, thereby showing their alienation firstly from from each other, and also from God

In Genesis 3:11, God asked Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Adam replies “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it”. By saying this Adam blames God (The woman you put here), he blames Eve (she gave me some fruit), and shows his own self righteousness (and I ate it). Adam in one line, displays the wretched self-righteousness which is a present and devastating fact of human history.

In the church, God is bringing together these otherwise alienated, self-righteous and mutually accusing people on a a basis that excludes any cause for alienation. The church of Christ is is a community of sinners redeemed by Christ and forgiven by God.
If salvation could be achieved by works, as we might like (or think), and perhaps even the watching Angels might have thought it would be, the alienation would not have been removed. One person would still feel superior to another which would lead to boasting of moral or spiritual merit and would fracture the church. But salvation is not achieved by works, God has achieved it and made it available to us by grace alone! Thus any boasting, arrogance, pride or self-righteousness is excluded, and people of all nations and races meet as forgiven sinners within the Church’s fellowship.

2: The displaying of Christ by the church in the world. So far we have been thinking about the church as the focus point of world history, but it is equally right to speak of Jesus as the focal point of world history, which of course is exactly what Paul does. Ephesians 3:9-10 uses the word “mystery” of the church, but an earlier reference is to the “mystery of Christ” (v.4) with the remaining references being to the “gospel” which is of course centred on him and describes the salvation of the church - which is his body.

It is this idea, the idea of the church as Christ’s body, which hold the two points of Pauls thoughts together. In Paul’s view, the church is the focal point of history only because it is the focus point of Christ’s work.

3: The principle that suffering for the truth leads to glory. Paul reminds us that the way of Jesus will very often be the way of suffering. Jesus is quite clear on this point too. Read John 15:19-20. It would be ludicrous and unbiblical for us to think that following Jesus would make us blissfully happy, that giving our lives to follow Jesus would solve all our earthly problems or make us materially prosperous, successful and healthy. We look to history, the people in the Bible, as demonstrations of the people who have been saved from sin by Jesus.

When Satan rebelled against God and took the host of fallen angels (now demons) with him to eternal ruin, of course God could have destroyed the rebellion, and annihilated Satan and his hosts forever. It would have been just and reasonable, it could even have been merciful, as in if Satan was removed from history, he would never have been there to tempt Adam and Eve in the garden and sin and death would not have come upon the earth. But this wouldn’t have shown God’s “manifold wisdom”. It would have shown his power and perhaps mercy, but it would not have shown that God’s way, the way of truth and righteousness, is the only really good way and the only certain path to eternal happiness.

So instead of destroying Satan, God took a very different path. God had already determined to create the human race, He knew because He knows all things. God knew that by allowing Satan to survive, he would tempt and seduce humans and plunge them into misery. Satan will think that he has won, but the whole time Satan is doing that - turning the human race against God, against themselves and fighting wars and famine and so on - God will create a new people who rejoice in doing what is right, even when it’s not popular, they will delight in pleasing God, even when they suffer for it.

If God were like a vending machine that gave us everything and anything we wanted, if God never allowed us to become unwell, if he protected us always from the world and the evil in it, Satan could say that we only follow and worship God because he gives us everything and we don’t suffer. But here and there and in a variety of ways, God allows abuse and persecution of the Church, God shows that by the actions of those suffering, that not only will they (we) continue to praise God throughout their (our) suffering, but that they (we) would be rejoicing and be even happier in that suffering than Satans people will be with their maximum shares of earthly prestige and possessions.

Here and now, we are all part of history. Satan is still attacking, and the angels are still looking on. As Christians, we are called to follow Jesus, we are called to live like Jesus. If we ever wanted to see that suffering will be part of a Christians life, we should once again look to the life of Jesus. When we as Christians look at history, we should look to Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and all the others in Christian history. All these people, as so many others named and un- named, they all suffered, they all repented of their sins, they endured their sufferings with thanksgiving and looked beyond the distress of this life for the eternal reward.

Questions.

These are not necessarily questions that need answers, they are rather to be used as conversation starters.

1. What does it mean to suffer because of faith in Jesus Christ?

2. When you read the first question, did you think of what it means to suffer to us here in the UK? Or Elsewhere in the world? What time period did you first think of?

3. Nearly every week we (if we go looking for it) read about the persecuted Church around the world - but its rarely headline news or in main stream media - why do you think that is? Can we / do we really relate to the suffering of the persecuted church around the world today?

4. If the answer to question 3 was “no” - what can we do about that? If the answer to question 3 was “yes” - then what can we do about that?

5. Re-read Chapter 3:12 - How and why can we approach God with freedom and confidence? Is that just a statement of fact or something to celebrate... or both?

6. Assuming that we rejoice and celebrate that we can approach God with freedom and confidence through Christ... what do we do about that now? Do we just wait patiently and quietly?

7. What impact does having this knowledge have on our lives? What impact should it have? Should we tell someone about this good news?

8. Paul considers that through Jesus Christ the Church is the focal point of history. What do we think about that idea? Does that fit with what we think about the church and our life within it?

1. Ephesians 3 : 1-6

Ephesians 3 : 1-6 Mystery, Mystery, Mystery.

In the 6 verses from todays passage, the word mystery is used 3 times. But what is this mystery?

This shouldn’t take too long to answer - it is clearly written in verse 6.

A more pertinent question might be how is this a new mystery seeing that the OT referred to Gods purpose to bless the Gentiles? As far back as as God’s calling to Abraham we read “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3). It is true of course, that God announced his intention of saving Jew and Gentile from the beginning. However before Christ, it generally meant that the Gentile would have to become a Jew. Or to be more accurate, a Gentile could approach the God of Israel, but only if they became an Israelite.

The “new” mystery revealed to Paul, is that this action was no longer necessary. Christ has broken down that wall, making one new people out of two previously divided people. So, as we looked at in the last Ephesians study, both Jew and Gentile approach God equally, on the new basis, as one people, the people of Christ, the Church.

Today, with this time period being centuries behind us, we may find it difficult to grasp how radical this new disclosure was, however looking at verse 1 gives us an idea. You will note how he starts the chapter, but then breaks off to write his long sentence (vv. 2-13). In verse 1 Paul speaks of himself as “the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles”

This was literally true. Paul had been initially arrested in Jerusalem, which led to his imprisonment and later he was arrested again in Caesarea. After an appeal to Caesar he was eventually transferred to a prison in Rome, which is where he wrote the letter we now know as “Ephesians”. In all these areas there was fanatical Jewish opposition to the proclamation that through Christ both Jew and Gentile are equal before God. We see this in Acts 21. Have a look at vv. 21-22 for a glimpse of the Jewish reaction to Paul.

Of course, the prejudice was not all on one side. It was especially intense among the Jews because for them it was a religious issue, and any disagreement of this nature stirred up powerful emotions. So yes, the Jews despised the Gentiles, however the feeling was mutual. The barriers between Jew and Gentile at this time, were absolute, (dare I say maybe even more fierce than the Ipswich / Norwich divide!?). This division between the two had been built in and encouraged for generation after generation. We cannot understate the controversy caused when Paul talked of the great mystery “not made known to man in other generations” but now “revealed by the Spirit to Gods holy apostles and prophets... that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”. (vv5-6).

Together, Together, Together.

Pauls spends vv. 2-5 building up the importance of what he has to say in verse 6. Telling us there is a mystery, a mystery that has not not been made known to generation after generation, but after the Spirit had made known to Paul the revelation of this mystery, Paul was going to tell everyone what this mystery is...

The main point that Paul is making about this mystery of God creating one new people in Christ, is that Jew and Gentile, as well as all other men and women, hold the blessing of salvation equally and jointly in Christ’s church. This blessing is possibly clearer in the greek texts than in most English versions of this passage. To make his point Paul puts together (and in the opinion of some commentators, invents) three parallel expressions. In the Greek these words all begin with the prefix syn-, which means “together with”. This prefix is added to the words kleronomoi which mean heirs; soma which means “body” and metocha meaning “partner” or “companion”. Think about it, that Paul is thought to have invented a whole new expression for this mystery, gives strength to the point of how utterly ground breaking this message was.

Various Bible translations have this passage worded slightly differently, however the NIV is very effective in its translation as it repeats the word “together” three times, just as we have the word mystery three times, almost to drill home the point of the mystery and the togetherness. The NIV says in vs 6 “heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise on Christ Jesus” These three phrases are worth looking at in further detail.

1 : “Heirs together with Israel” (remember this letter is to”ex-Gentiles” who are now “Gods Holy People in Ephesus” Vs1)

The words “heirs” is a very important one for Paul, he uses it in many of his key passages. Romans 4:13 Paul uses it when talking about Abraham were he refers to Gods promise that he should be “heir of the worlds” through Christ’s righteousness. In Galatians 3:29, Paul extends “heirs” to all believers by saying “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise”. Paul speaks of a future inheritance in Titus 3:7 “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Galatians 4:1-7 however makes a much more immediate reference, contrasting the heirs position to a child (when he was little more than a slave) with his position now as a fully grown son who therefore has “the full rights” of a heir. In Romans 8:17, Paul uses one of the phrases (as he did in Ephesians) that he may have invented and uses the words syn- kleronomoi, saying, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and the co- heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory”.

The importance of this is vital to our understanding of Christianity. There is no inner or outer circle of the saved. ALL who are in Christ inherit all God’s blessing and inherit them jointly.

2 : “Members together of one Body”

If you look back to the end of the preceding chapter, Paul compares the church to a kingdom, a family and a temple. He goes back to a theme introduced at the end of Chapter 1. “God placed all things things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” vv22-23.

Keep this in mind when we get chapter 4 in a few weeks, v.4 “There is one body” and then as the verse continues Paul goes on to describe how God has built us all into a single body. Have a look at chapter 4 vs 11-16.

The way Paul describes the body, is that of a mystical and spiritual union possessed by all God’s people in the church, and is something that (as we have looked at and considered before) goes way beyond one dimensional friendships. This union is something that must grow and that God’s people should strive towards. That is the supernatural union that joins all people, even Jew and Gentile along with all groups of society.

How is this to happen? Maybe discuss this for a moment before moving on...

It is to only happen as we grow in the love and the knowledge of the One who brought us all together. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says in his discussion of Ephesians 2, “We are equally sinners... We are all equally helpless... We have all come to one and the same Saviour... We have the same salvation... We have the same Spirit... We have the same Father... We even have the same trials... And finally we are all marching and going together to the same eternal home.” It is a knowledge and appreciation of these things that will, or at least should, draw us together.

3 : “Sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus.”

The Bible has many promises for those who trust God and come to him through faith in Christ. But the word ‘promise’ in this case is singular rather than plural. I think this is Paul referring to the “promise of redemption, made first to our parents, repeated to Abraham, and which forms the burden of all the Old Testament predictions” (Gal. 3:14, 19, 22, 29)

To have that (redemption), as Paul declares the people of God do, is to have a share in the greatest of all possible human blessings. To share it with others from a great variety of races, people and cultures and to participate in the mystery which was revealed to Paul and declared by him.

If we fully grasp this, fully grasp that every single person, anywhere in the world, shares in the same glorious redemption that Christ offers those that follow him. That will bring us into a union with anyone and everyone throughout history that has ever or will ever call themselves a Christian. This should build in us a deep and un-relenting desire to worship Him who called us all together, together.

Questions.

These are not necessarily questions that need answers, they are rather to be used as conversation starters.

1: When we think of a united church of Jew and Gentile - do we fully grasp how “big” this would have been?

2 : What opposing groups can you think of in todays society that it would seem impossible to unite? Could you ever see them put aside their differences and become one?

3 : Is there biblical unity in the worldwide church today? Can you give some examples of where the worldwide church has worked together? And the same for when it has not?

4 : Closer to home, is there unity within the Church of England? Can you think of examples of where the Church shows its unity... and times where it does not?

5 : Even closer to home, is there unity between the 3 congregations at MIE? Where are the areas you feel we are unified? Where (if at all) is there work still to be done?

6: As members of the Church, we are all called to grow and strengthen the bonds with all other Christians, how can we grow this idea at MIE? Both as individuals and corporately.

7: What could we do as a Church to develop and grow the unity with the wider Church?

8 : More personally, can you think of (and perhaps share) a time where you have not prioritised unity within the Church? Perhaps something someone has said or done has led to a falling out or difference of opinion? Is it still affecting your relationship with others? How could you begin to think about resolution?

9 : Considering that we are all called to be part of the Church, what are you going to do within the Church to further strengthen the bonds we have with one another.

10 : Consider someone form the outside of Church looking in, how would you describe the unity, fellowship and support that the Bible instructs us to have.