Our God is a God of eternal purposes. God does
not do things partially, he does them perfectly.
God does not do things temporarily, he does them
eternally. Our God is not a reactor, he is in
fact the divine cause. God is never perplexed.
He is never surprised by events. Indeed, all
of history moves inexorably toward the consummation
appointed by God. In Ephesians 1, verse 10, we
have a word through the Apostle Paul regarding
what that consummation is. Ephesians 1, verse
10. When he speaks about the purpose of God with
a view to an administration suitable to the fullness
of the times, that is the summing up of all things
in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon
the earth. Now in that language, essentially
what he is saying is that God's ultimate eternal
purpose is... the uniting of heaven and earth
under the sovereign reign of Jesus Christ in
his eternal kingdom. In the working out of God's
kind intentions and his sovereign will, he has
purposed to bring about, to create, the church,
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not using
that term in the sense of a local gathering of
believers like we are here today, but I am using
the term church in its broadest sense, those
who have been saved during this age of grace.
The church, the universal church, this body of
Jesus Christ is unique. It is unlike anything
before it. And there is nothing in the future
that can be compared to the church. The church
is a body of redeemed people who will be united
with deity in the administration of the eternal
kingdom as mentioned in the Word of God. Perhaps
one of the great tragedies of our day is the
lack of understanding in the church. regarding
the church. That is who we are and what our purpose
is. Dear people, I hope that in this series that
we're beginning today on the church, the mystery
of the ages, that we will begin to understand
who in Jesus Christ we are and what God's purpose
for us is. For you see, we are destined for the
throne. We are royalty. We are the aristocracy
of God's eternal kingdom. Ah, somebody says,
don't you think that that's a little exalted?
Perhaps even presumptuous to talk like that?
Not in the least. For I'm simply relating to
you what the Word of God says. It says that we
are a royal priesthood. We are royalty. And it
says that we will reign with Jesus Christ. We
are the royalty of God's future kingdom. The
knowledge of Bible teaching regarding the church
is vital. It is crucial. in regards to one's
living of the Christian life as well as his proper
interpretation of the Scripture. If we are going
to be what God has called us to be in this world,
if we are going to understand what the Bible
says to us, then we need to have an understanding
of what the Bible teaches regarding the church.
It is crucial. Thus, we're going to undertake
an exploration of this theme. And we're going
to begin in the book of Ephesians, because Ephesians
has been called the epistle of the church. It,
of course, was an epistle to the church, but
it is the epistle of the church, because it perhaps
says more in its pages about the church than
any other single book in the whole Bible. Our
text today is found in Ephesians chapter 3, beginning
in verse 1. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner
of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles,
if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of
God's grace, which was given to me for you, that
by revelation there was made known to me the
mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring
to this, when you read, you can understand my
insight into the mystery of Christ. which in
other generations was not made known to the sons
of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy
apostles and prophets in the Spirit. To be specific,
that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow
members of the body and fellow partakers of the
promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of
which I was made a minister according to the
gift of God's grace. which was given to me according
to the working of his power. To me, the very
least of all saints, this grace was given to
preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches
of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration
of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden
in God, who created all things, in order that
the manifold wisdom of God might now be made
known through the church, to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenly places. This was
in accordance with the eternal purpose which
he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. I want
you to notice as we read the text three times,
the word mystery is used. The church of Jesus
Christ is the mystery of the ages. What does
this term mystery mean anyway? It is a Greek
word, mysterion. In fact, it is the origin of
our English word, mystery, mysterion. To the
Greek mind, a mysterion was a truth that was
once hidden, but has now been revealed. It is
something that has not been known before. but
has now come to our understanding. We see this
clearly expressed at least twice in our text.
For example, in verse 5, he talks about the mystery
which in other generations was not made known
to the sons of men as it has now been revealed.
And then again in verse 9, he says, to bring
to light what is the administration of the mystery
which for ages... has been hidden in God. You
see, a mystery in the biblical sense is something
which previously has not been exposed to us.
But now God has chosen to give us insight and
understanding regarding that body of truth, whatever
it may be. That is a mystery. When we concluded
the book of Romans a few weeks ago, we talked
about a similar definition found at the end of
chapter 16, where it says, Now to him who is
able to establish you according to my gospel
and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery, which has been
kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested.
You see, that's what a mystery is. It's something
which for long ages past was kept secret, but
now it is revealed to the sons of men. The church
is such a mystery. The Old Testament saints,
including the writers of Scripture, never saw
the church age. They did not imagine. In a thousand
years that there could be such a thing as the
church, it never entered their minds that there
would be an age which has lasted now some 2 ,000
years, which would be called the age of the church
or the age of grace. This age is something like
a valley between two mountain ranges, which was
not seen by the prophets of old. as they looked
ahead i remember the first time that i saw the
rocky mountains we were on our first family vacation
when i was 11 years old i had read about mountains
i had seen pictures of mountains but i couldn't
imagine what mountains were like and i must say
to you that i have not to this day ever gotten
over mountains my only regret about minnesota
is we don't have mountains I'd like to put Minnesota
right in a mountainous setting, and then I'd
be supremely happy. But I remember seeing those
mountains for the first time as we approached
Colorado Springs on a little two -lane highway
back in 1956. I remember coming up over a hill
and suddenly seeing this range of purple mountains
silhouetted against the darkness of the blue
sky. And it was gorgeous. As I looked at them,
they appeared to be a simply flat range of mountains.
They were just there, as though they were painted
on the horizon. It was not until a number of
years later, perhaps 20 years after that, that
I for the first time flew over the Rocky Mountains
and got a new perspective. And I was able to
look out of the plane's window and see all the
way up from Montana down to Denver, which was
right below me as we were flying over. And it
was absolutely gorgeous. It was a clear day.
And we could see the mountain ranges and the
snow caps on the highest of the peaks and the
lakes as they drifted off to the horizon where
the mountains still didn't stop. You've seen
that, perhaps. It's a glorious spectacle. The
Old Testament prophets were like me in 1956.
As they looked ahead to the future, they saw
prophecy, but to them it was flat. There was
no depth to it. They had no perspective on how
those things fit together. They only saw them.
But now in this age, with our New Testament revelation,
We are like those who fly over the mountains
of Bible prophecy and we're able to see the ranges
and the valleys in between and the beauty of
God's plan. You see, it was not revealed to them,
but today it is revealed to us. And we see that
this age in which we live has been the purpose
of God from eternity past. We have a perspective
which they did not have in the Old Testament
and what a difference it makes. Now regarding
this mystery of the church, there are a couple
of other characterizations that we see. In verse
3, for example, Paul says, By revelation there
was made known to me the mystery. In other words,
this mystery, this age in which we live, is not
the result of man's genius. This truth about
it was not discovered by man. It was not created
by man. But rather, it is the disclosure of God.
He has initiated it. We'll talk more about that
in a moment. But in verse 4, we see as well that
it's called the mystery of Christ. The mystery
of Christ. In other words, it cannot be separated
from Him. But even further, in verse 6, or verse
5 rather, it goes on to give us the nature of
his body. He says, which in other ages was not
made known to the sons of men, and then in verse
6, to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow
heirs and fellow partakers of the body and fellow
members of the body and fellow partakers of the
promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. In
other words, what we learn about this mystery
is, That it's the mystery of Christ, his body
in this age, his people. We learn that it's composed
not only of Jews, as it started out, but as well
with Gentiles and is now predominantly Gentile
in its makeup. But whether Jew or Gentile, we
who are saved share equally in the privileges
of Christ. as members of the same body. There
is no longer in Christ any distinction between
Jew and Gentile. He has removed the barriers
that were between us. Now we are one in Him.
To those of us who are Gentiles, that does not
seem like a difficult or amazing thing. But if
we were Jews... particularly Jews who were steeped
in the Old Testament, we would be amazed at that
truth. For to the Jewish mind, especially in
that day, the Gentiles were those who were excluded.
They were outside of God's plan. They were not
a part of it. The Gentiles were dogs. They were...
They were nothing because they were not Jews.
And now for the Apostle Paul to say to the Jews,
as he does here, that the Gentiles are a part
of the same body, that is something. And if you
read the book of Acts, you'll find it was so
something that many of them had a hard, hard
time. Coming to this understanding, the apostle
explains the relationship between Jew and Gentile
with three names. He says we are fellow heirs,
fellow members, fellow partakers. We are fellow
heirs. That describes our legal status. God has
made us his children equally with Jewish believers.
So that as Jews and Gentiles, when we come to
Jesus Christ, we're no longer Jewish children
of God or Gentile children of God. We're just
children of God. And as his children, we are
fellow heirs. We're going to share in the spiritual
blessings of the Messiah and of the Abrahamic
covenant. We are fellow heirs of all that God
has promised. That's our legal status. But then
he gives us a name reflecting our limb function.
He says that each one of us, whether Jew or Gentile,
plays a part for the good of all of the rest
in the body, for we are fellow members of the
same body. There are not two bodies, one Jew,
one Gentile, but there is only one body, one
group, and we're all members of the same body.
Then he describes for us our life principle in
the name fellow partakers. For again, whether
Jew or Gentile, we are made to drink of the one
Holy Spirit. We share the same eternal life of
God, whether Jew or Gentile. So we are fellow
partakers, he says, of the promise in Christ
Jesus through the gospel. And so that is the
nugget of what the mystery of the church is all
about. That God is doing something new in this
age. We are not a part of Old Testament Israel.
We are not a continuation of that Old Testament
people. We are a part of something brand new,
which was not even imagined by the Jews of the
Old Testament. We are part of a unique body.
There has been nothing like us before, and God
will do nothing like this again. Turn over a
page or two to chapter 5 of Ephesians and look
at verse 30. He says, we are members of his body.
And he's here applying this to the relationship
of husbands and wives. He goes on to say, for
this cause a man shall leave his father and mother.
shall cleave to his wife, and they too shall
become one flesh. You see, this is unity spoken
about here. Two personalities becoming one flesh,
being united in one, husbands and wives. Now
he says, this mystery is great. Notice the word
mystery, verse 32. But I am speaking with reference
to Christ and the church. Now here is another
aspect, folks, of the mystery. What I have said
to this point you may have heard before. What
I want to say now may be new to some of you.
One aspect of the unity of the church is that
Jew and Gentile are one in Christ. But another
aspect of this mystery and its unity is that
you and I and all the saved And Jesus Christ
are one. Do you know what that means? It means
that you and I have been eternally joined to
deity. I want you to think about that this week
and how that should affect your life. You and
I are eternally joined. It's not just that he
dwells in us, as though he were separate from
us, but just inside us. He does indwell us. But
the fact is that we have been united and joined
with deity. Not that we are God, but we have
been joined to God. So that we are inseparable
from God. That was not true of God's Old Testament
people. Israel is called the wife of the Lord,
but never in the kind of unity and union, rather,
that is expressed here. And people who will be
saved after the church is completed are never
said to enjoy the relationship that you and I
enjoy because we have believed on Jesus Christ
in this age and are a part of the church. We
are a unique body of people. There will be nothing
like us afterward. We are joined. We are united
to deity itself. Now, if you were to say that
out on the street, that you are united to deity,
they would say, bring the guys with the white
jackets. We got one here. Bring the net. We need
to get him in his jacket in the hospital. He
says he's united to deity. Police, pick him up.
He's a danger to society. That's right. If you
begin to understand what this is saying, your
life may be revolutionized by this truth. For
you are not just legally a son of God. As I said
before, it's not just that God lives in you,
but my friend, you and Jesus Christ have been
united into one. In such a union as a husband
and wife, you are inseparable from him. That
is why Paul calls this a mystery. It's something
that before this could never be thought of. The
Jews would never create something like this.
It could not even enter their mind. It was possible.
But God has done it and declared it to us so
that we can understand. who we are as the church.
You say, wait a minute. I thought the church
was made up of the despised and the base and
the weak and the nothings in the world's view.
And that's right. And to me, that's the most
beautiful, wonderful thing. It shows God's grace
so tremendously. You might think that if God
was going to, if God were like us, and he were
going to unite some humanity to himself, That
he would pick out the famous, and he would pick
out the royal, and he would pick out the powerful,
and he would pick out the rich. But God is not
like us. He has done the unexpected. And by and
large, he has taken that which the world calls
despised. And zeros. And the weak. And he has
united them to himself and declared us now to
be his royalty so that we will reign with him
on his throne. That's what God has done. Now
this has not always been understood, as I have
said. It's been hidden in ages past. But that
does not mean that the church is something new
in the mind of God. That does not mean that this
is plan B, that plan A didn't work, therefore
God is going to this plan. My friend, what this
means is that in the mind of God, the church
existed from eternity past, even before he created
the world, Genesis 1 and 2. God in his mind purposed
something to happen. And what he purposed to
happen was that after he would create and man
would fall and Jesus Christ would die and be
raised again, that there would be some who would
believe his chosen ones, and they would be united
with Jesus Christ, with deity, for all of eternity,
and would be his special people, his royalty.
God purposed that. before He even created the
world. You say, come on, where does it say that
in the Bible? Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ. Look at verse
4. Just as He chose us in Him, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him. Who are we? The church. In love he
predestined us, the church, to adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ to himself according to
the kind intention of his will. And he just goes
on then throughout this paragraph to reveal to
us that even before he created the world, he
purposed. that you would be saved and be a part
of the church, which is his body, that you would
be united and joined to deity forever. That,
my friend, is what the mystery is. That is the
truth we're going to probe and examine from various
aspects in the weeks ahead. You say, how was
this mystery revealed anyway? You said it came
by revelation, but how did it come to pass? But
we find back in our text in Ephesians 3 that
it was made known by God to Paul. In verse 3
he says that by revelation there was made known
to me the mystery. Verse 8, to me, the very least
of all saints, this grace was given to preach.
to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ
and to bring to light the mystery which for ages
has been hidden. The way that God chose to reveal
this body of truth that we're talking about is
through the Apostle Paul primarily and with him
other apostles and prophets according to Verse
5, it has now been revealed to his holy apostles
and prophets in the Spirit. Now the question
arises to a person who's thinking about this,
when did Paul receive this? I think the best
answer to that is that Paul spent three years.
the better part of three years, after his conversion,
alone, in the wilderness of Arabia. Now that
takes in a large area. We don't know specifically
where he went. But this much he makes clear in
Galatians chapter 1. Right after he was saved,
he did not go to Jerusalem, though that would
have been the logical thing to do. He did not
go there and meet with any of the apostles, Peter,
John, or any of the rest of them. But rather
he went by himself out into the desert. And it
was, it seems to me, during those months of isolation
from other people, that the Lord Jesus Christ,
in some manner we do not know, caused Paul to
understand the truth about the church. so that
he became then the primary vehicle by which God
revealed this truth to us in this age. That is
why the apostle Paul is often called the apostle
of the church, is because that truth about the
church, this unique thing that God is doing in
this age, which was not seen before, which will
never happen again, that this body of truth was
given to Paul. and has now been revealed through
him to us. Notice that he says that this has
come to pass, in verse 5, in the Spirit. It has
been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets
in the Spirit. That suggests to us the truth
of 2 Peter 1 .21, where it says that the prophets
were born along by the Holy Spirit. The same
idea. However it was that God chose to reveal
this to Paul primarily, but as well to other
apostles and prophets in those days, however
it was, it was the Holy Spirit who was the agent
that caused it to come to their understanding
and to be passed on through their lips and their
writing. It was the Holy Spirit who was the agent
of this revelation. So please understand that
the church is not the creation of Paul. Our Jewish
friends will say that to us. Some of them will
say, Jesus we don't mind, but Paul we despise.
Why do they feel that way? Well, they especially
dislike Paul. because they look upon him as the
creator of the church. Paul was nothing of the
sort. The church was created by God through Jesus
Christ. But Paul was his vehicle for expressing
this truth, revealing this truth to us, so that
we would understand what we're a part of in this
age. I like what is said in verse 5. where it
says, it has now been revealed. The verb tense
there in revealed is one that refers to action
that takes place once and for all. It is not
continuous action. You know what that means?
It means that truth is no longer being revealed
by God. God is not in the revelation -giving
business today. God has revealed once and for
all the truth delivered to the saints. And revelation
has ceased. That is underscored by the presence
of the word now in O .W. He has now revealed
it. That means now in the immediate sense, in
that day as it was being revealed, he was doing
it. And when it stopped, it stopped. It's not
being done in the now of our day. There are not
today legitimate prophets and apostles in this
technical biblical sense. I have a very good
friend with whom I went to Bible college who
is working with some churches in the Indianapolis
area, and it is his conviction that he is an
apostle. He is mistaken. There are no apostles
today. There are no prophets today in this technical
sense. You say, how do you know that? Well, here
in Ephesians chapter 2, he talks about the apostles
and prophets being the foundation of the church,
Ephesians 2 .20. My friend, once the foundation
is laid, you don't continue to lay the foundation.
The apostles and prophets were the foundation
of the church. Once the foundation was laid,
they passed off the scene having accomplished
what they were here for. And what was that, in
part at least? It was to declare to us the truth
of the church, this truth that God has revealed
to us in their writings. So God is not today
giving revelation, but we do have the revelation
given. And what our concern is... is to ask God
to be our teacher so that we can understand this
revelation that God has given. You say, yes,
but I get a magazine from somebody and he talks
about getting a kerygma from God or a revelation
from God. Don't you believe it? Yes, but I hear
somebody on television. He says, God has revealed
this. Don't you believe it? God is not giving
revelation today. Revelation ceased with the
word of the living God. It's over. Today what
our necessity is, what we must do, is to go to
God's revelation once for all delivered to the
saints and understand what God has said to us.
We need no further revelation. Paul calls himself
a steward of what was revealed to him. A steward,
he says, by the grace of God. For he calls himself
the least of the saints. Paul was not on an ego
trip here. He was not boasting in who he was
or what he was supposed to do. In fact, in another
place, he calls himself unworthy to even be called
an apostle. But God, by his grace, had appointed
Paul to be the proclaimer of this truth and to
be an apostle. Now, while there aren't apostles
and prophets today, And while we're not getting
new revelation from God today, you and I who
know Jesus Christ are nonetheless stewards of
the revelation he has given to us. We're stewards
of it. And it is our job to study it, to understand
what God says, and then to communicate that truth,
to pass it along to others. And just as the apostle
Paul looked upon that As a gift from God by grace,
so should we. God has not made us stewards of
the message because we are considered by the
world to be worthy of such a responsibility.
We're not. The world looks upon most of us as
being outsiders and as being very unworthy of
what we're talking about. And we look upon ourselves
the same way. But God says, I choose you to be
my steward, my ambassador. Now you go to the
world and declare to them this message. Do you
see what an exalted privilege God has given to
us? Do you see what a high and holy responsibility
we have in this age? Why was the mystery revealed?
Why has God done all of this? Well, the answer
is he's done it for his own glory. God has purposed
to unite an elect group of humanity to himself
for the purpose of glorifying himself and for
no other reason. The reason that Jesus Christ
died on the cross and rose again was for the
glory of God. You say, yes, it was for I'd get
saved. Yes, that's true, but that's secondary.
The reason that God does all that he does is
for his own glory and his own eternal purposes.
Everything else is secondary to that. The reason
that God has called into existence such a body
as we're a part of is that he wants to glorify
himself and particularly his wisdom. God wants
to make known how wise he is. You say, what is
the wisdom of God? Well, one aspect of that is
Christ crucified. Which to the Jews is a stumbling
block and which to the Gentile is foolishness.
But in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 22 to
24, it clearly says that Jesus Christ crucified
is the wisdom of God because it is by that act
of humiliation and sacrifice That God has brought
about the redemption of his own. That is the
wisdom of God. And to whom is God's wisdom being
revealed? To the angels. That is what is said
here in verse 10. Why has God done all of this?
Revealed the mystery which for ages had been
hidden? Verse 10. In order that the manifold
wisdom of God might now be made known. through
the church to the rulers and the authorities,
not on the earth, but in the heavenly places.
Now that is a technical term used in Ephesians
to refer to the spiritual realm, to another dimension
of things than the one in which we live. He says
to those beings, the rulers and the authorities,
he calls them. You and I are teaching the wisdom
of God. You say, don't they already know that
if they're angels? Yes, in theory they know it.
But they are learning how the wisdom of God is
worked out in things by watching us. They are
learning about various aspects of it, for it's
the manifold wisdom of God. They know that God
is all wise. They worship him for his wisdom.
But as they watch the church, they are being
instructed in the manifold wisdom of God. You
see, the church is God's grand living object
lesson. The more that you and I fulfill God's
plan and God's will, the more the angels are
caused to praise God for His wisdom. You say,
are you really trying to communicate to us that
the angels watch us? Absolutely. What I am saying
to you this morning is that right here in this
lovely auditorium, there are beings observing
us that we cannot see. On rare occasions, they
make their presence known. It happened in the
Bible. I think I've only talked to one person
myself who claims to have seen an angel. And
he wasn't a nut. I was tempted to believe that
at first, but I got to know him a little bit
better. He was not off the deep end. He wasn't
a candidate for the folks in white coats. But
he was a man who was a godly man, a man in his
70s, and he told me of two occasions when he
was in a certain auditorium and when he saw angelic
beings that no one else saw. Do I take him seriously?
Well, yes. I have no reason to not take him seriously.
And I know that they exist and that they're here
this morning. And that if it were the purpose
of God, they could manifest themselves. You say,
what are they watching us for? Let's just look
at three passages. Turn back to Luke real quickly,
to chapter 15. It says here in verse 10, In the
same way, I tell you, Jesus says, There is joy
in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents. Number one, the angels are
watching to see when sinners repent. And they
are aware of it. When one person trusts Jesus
Christ, there is a shout of joy that goes up
among the angels of heaven. They are observing
people getting right with God. They are observing
sinners who repent. Turn to 1 Corinthians 11,
verse 10. Here we have a context of the importance
of Christian women being in submission and indicating
that by the way that they act and live. In 1
Corinthians 11, 10, we're just going to pick
out this verse quickly that says, Therefore,
the woman ought to have a symbol of authority
on her head because of the angels. What does
that suggest to us? That they observe the actions
and the attitudes of believers in the church.
That they watch us to see how we react to things.
And particularly, it says here in this context,
they watch our attitudes and our relationships
one to another. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 5.
The apostle tells Timothy to publicly rebuke
elders who fall into sin. That is, before the
church, he says, you are to do this. And the
reason, he says in verse 21, I solemnly charge
you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus
and of his chosen angels to maintain these principles
without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
In other words, the angels observe church discipline.
Specifically here it's talking about the public
rebuke of a sinning elder. They are witness to
the discipline. of our church. And you see, by
watching all of this and more, the angels learn
some new facets of God's wisdom. I don't know
about you, but it reinforces my desire to live
a holy life when I realize that when I'm alone,
I'm not alone. For not only is God the Holy Spirit
indwelling me, but there are angels who are constantly
around me, watching me. And I'm sure there are
times they tip their halos and scratch their
heads and say, Lord, you sure you didn't make
a mistake with this one? You ever feel that way?
And yet as they see God patiently dealing with
us, bringing us back to the place of confession
and repentance and faithfulness and growth and
maturity, As they watch all of this, they learn
more and more and more about the wisdom of God
and praise Him. John MacArthur said, God is the
teacher, the universe is the classroom, the angels
are the students, the church is the illustration,
and the lesson is wisdom. And when the lesson
is taught well by a church, that is what it ought
to be. The angels glorify God. He goes on to
say, Beloved, if you can't get your act together
for your own sake or for somebody else's sake
in the church, could you at least get your act
together for the angels' sake so they can glorify
God? Well stated. You and I are a part of something
that is so special, words cannot describe it
to you. The church, the body of Jesus Christ,
is like nothing that has been before now and
shall never come to pass again as far as we know
in eternity to come. God, in this brief time
of history, in these some 2 ,000 years, is calling
out a body of people, both Jew and Gentile. He
is destroying the differences between them in
Christ so that they are one, united together
as a people. And then he is choosing to unite
those redeemed people to himself for all of eternity.
Since we have such a high and holy calling, how
ought we to live? Back in Ephesians, just after
talking about this and then praying that we might
understand it, the apostle goes on in chapter
4 to say, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling with which you have been called. Because
of who you are as God's chosen one, as God's
royalty, God's aristocracy. as those who are
destined for the throne of God's eternal kingdom.
Because of your calling, he says, walk worthy
of it. Then he explains, with all humility, those
who are God's royalty do not strut around in
arrogance because of who they are, but recognizing
who they are and what God has done by grace.
We are forced to humility and gentleness with
patience. And to walk worthy, we should show
forbearance to one another in love and be diligent
to preserve the unity of the Spirit in our church
in the bond of peace because of who we are. Are
you living as you ought to? Child of God. And
what about you, my friend, outside of Jesus Christ?
Do you want to get in on this? I can't imagine
a person understanding what I've said this morning,
or at least beginning to understand it, and then
turning around and saying, I don't want to be
a part of that. Do you want to be a part of God's
royalty? Do you want to reign with Jesus Christ?
Do you want your sins to be forgiven? Do you
want to be united with deity personally, yourself?
Do you want to be a part of God's church? You
can be. Today you will turn from your sin and
trust Jesus Christ and receive Him into your
life as your Savior. Will you do it? Heavenly
Father, apply, I pray, this truth to our hearts.
May we not only begin to revel in the truth of
what we are in Christ, but may that have a profound...
on the way that we live. May it make a difference
in the places we go and what we read. May it
make a difference in how we act and the words
that we use and our language and the stories
that we listen to and the priorities that we
have in our lives and the way that we spend our
money, the way that we use our time. Lord. Please
enlighten us so that we can understand what the
hope of our calling is in Christ. In Jesus' name
I pray, amen.