The Mystery Solved Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. For thousands of years, God's dealings with humanity were primarily carried out through His chosen people, the Jewish nation. But after the death and resurrection of Christ, God revealed a new plan, a plan hidden in His secret councils. Today we'll encounter a mystery.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, I for one am very glad God decided to expand the family of blessing to include Gentiles like me. Well Dave, I'm very glad that God expanded His plan, not only to include Gentiles like you are and like I am, but rather to include people from the whole world. And we here at Running to Win are so committed to go to other countries.

As a matter of fact, right now, Running to Win is in 21 different countries in four different languages and we are expanding. Let me ask you a question. Would you consider helping us? Here's what you can do.

You can go to rtwoffer.com. And when you're there, I want to encourage you to click on the endurance partner button. Endurance partners are people who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. And if you contribute during this period of time, your gift will be doubled. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let's continue to expand the good news of the gospel as far as we possibly can.

Go to rtwoffer.com, click on the endurance partner button, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. We here at Running to Win are committed to what the Bible teaches about the worldwide appeal of the gospel. I believe that it's true that all of us love mysteries. Even those of us who have never read a mystery would love one, I suppose, if we read it, whether it's Agatha Christie or whether it is Sherlock Holmes. I personally never read mysteries because I have enough trouble with reality, let alone fantasy. But I think one of the reasons we would like mysteries if we read them is for the same reason that we like to watch the bulls play. Number one, there is a storyline and things are moving somewhere.

And number two, you're not sure where it is all going to end. Now, let me say that I've often thought in my less than sober moments, and I do have those from time to time, perhaps more often than some of you who don't know me well would realize, I've thought to myself, you know, I think that to be God would be very boring because God always knows the outcome of all things. There is no surprise. He does not have to read the mystery.

He does not have to watch the game. He does not have to wait until the doctor's report comes to us, and he knows all things both actual and possible. Well, he not only knows all things, but he's planned all things. And today we are going to be able to pull back the curtain and look into the text of Scripture and see that there is a mystery that he is enabling us to at least take a peek at. The text is the third chapter of the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter three, and the Apostle Paul here is talking about the church and his relationship to it.

And may I say that when this message is over, number one, I hope that we will understand the mystery of God better, and number two, equally important, may we get our lives in line with God's agenda. With your Bibles open, notice first of all, Paul says in verse one that he is a prisoner of Christ. For this reason I pull the prisoner of Christ for the sake of you Gentiles. I need to pause and to say he does not say I am a prisoner of Caesar, though he was under Caesar's rule and he was a prisoner of Caesar. He says I'm a prisoner of Christ. Does your understanding of the providence of God, is it great enough and wonderful enough and transforming enough for you to be able to see the demotions as well as the promotions as part of God's agenda and providential care?

Paul says here I am in Rome, I'm a prisoner, but I am not a prisoner of Caesar. Under the sovereign guidance of God, I am a prisoner of Christ. Blessed is the person who sees life from the vantage point of God's providence. Sometimes I'm going to preach a series of messages if God providentially guides me to. Preach a series of messages on the providence of God, how it would make life easier.

Think of all the less things that we would have to worry about if we understood God's providence. Paul says first of all I am a prisoner of Christ. Secondly he says, and we're going to look at a few verses down in the text just in a moment, he says I am a minister of Christ. He says in verse 7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power although I am less than the least of all God's people this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Notice that Paul says he is not only a prisoner of Christ, he's a servant of Christ. And he even invents a word to help us to understand how he felt about it. He said I am the leastest of the saints, less than the least. You say well was Paul just trying to be humble? No, I think that's the way he felt most assuredly. And all of us when we see God's holiness feel that way. I was at a prayer conference or I should say a revival conference this past week and it was one of those times when God begins to show you your shortcomings and your sins and your inadequacies and you just cast yourself in God's presence and you feel even as if there's nothing that you can say because you don't know where to begin. We all feel that way. We all feel as less than the least.

Wasn't that Tuscany? Was he not a composer or a conductor rather of an orchestra and someone was applauding him and he said I am nothing, the orchestra is nothing, Beethoven is everything. So I say to you today I am nothing, you are nothing, Christ is everything. Christ is everything.

Are you content with that? Now notice what the Apostle Paul begins to talk about. He talks about the mystery, the mystery of God hidden in the ages past now revealed.

And he uses that word mystery four or five times in this context because what he's going to do is to say that there is a mystery of the unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ. You have two responses. I can see what you're thinking, particularly those of you who are in the front row. I know exactly what you're thinking.

I can't speak with as much accuracy for those in the back but I know what you're thinking. Two things. First of all we already know that because you'll remember those of you who attend here regularly will know that that was the topic of a message, not too long ago in Ephesians 2 where Paul says God broke down that wall of partition between Jew and Gentile and Jews don't have to become Gentiles, Gentiles don't have to become Jews and God created one brand new man. That's your first response. Second response might be big deal.

Is that all that there is to this mystery? The reason we respond like that is for two reasons. Number one, we don't understand how the Jews were so exclusive. They believed that in order for you to come to know God you had to become a Jew. Secondly, we forget the animosity and the downright hatred that existed between Jew and Gentile. And so when Paul says that these two are one, in those days it was unthinkable that there could be this kind of unity. Now what I'd like to do is to zero in on verse six because here's where Paul specifically defines the mystery and may I say that he really invents three words that will occur nowhere else in the New Testament to get his idea across. Verse six, he says this mystery is that through the gospels the Gentiles are, catch these phrases now, heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, sharers together in the promise of Christ.

Let's look at those words individually. The Jew and Gentiles would be first of all heirs together, heirs together. In order to be an heir you have to inherit something. They have the same inheritance.

They are equal. And this is predicated on two very solid biblical truths. First of all, the brotherhood of Jesus Christ. You see, that's why we can be heirs is because he's our brother. If Jesus were not our brother, we could not be an heir of what God wants to give us. That's why angels are never heirs. Never have been, never will be. Marvelous in their opportunities to be in God's presence, wonderful fellowship with God, but never heirs.

Why? Because they are not brothers to Jesus. Bible says that he did not take upon himself the form of an angel, but rather took upon himself the seed of Abraham, that he might be a merciful and high priest, that we might be brothers and therefore when the last will and testament of the universe is read, we show up because it's a family matter. We are heirs together, thankfully, because Jesus is our brother and parenthetically he is not ashamed to be called our brother, if you can believe it.

We might be ashamed of him, shame on us if we are, and we've all been ashamed at times in ways that are embarrassing. But I want you to know today that Jesus is our brother and there's something else and that is the wealth of Jesus. You know what it says? He who is faithful, he will inherit, catch this now, all things, all things. And it says that at this moment, with all the confusion and the problems of the world, we do not yet see all things under Christ's feet. He's waiting for that to take place and when he does and all things are under his feet, we inherit all things, not making it up. My father is rich with houses and lands. He holds the wealth of the world in his hands, of rubies and diamonds of silver and gold. His coffers are filled.

He has riches untold. And I'm a child of the king we used to sing. Remember when we used to sing that song? It's been a while, but I'm a child of the king.

Follow it carefully, my friend. Our big problem is we like to confuse two worlds. We want the riches that God is going to give us someday, but we want it now and when things don't work out, we become filled with unbelief and we wonder whether or not God cares about us. Will you remember that he does? But Jesus promised a couple of things to us. He says, in this world I'm going to give you peace, in this world I'm going to give you forgiveness, and in this world I'm going to give you a lot of trouble, a lot of trouble.

We say, Lord, I like the first gift, I like the second, but I'd like to return the third. It's part of being believers. My dear friend, God doesn't take us through those difficult circumstances to discourage us, but to grow us and to remember that there is another world coming. Of course there's injustice in this life.

Just ask Christ. Now the world is deteriorating. The law of entropy says that everything is running down. Things are getting worse.

Everything is headed toward decay. My dear friend, you own something. You are an heir together. Unknown, feeling unloved, but if you're a believer in Christ and it is limited to believers in Christ, we're not talking about some kind of universalism here. If you're a believer in Christ, you are an heir together of riches that we cannot describe for their beauty and for their wonder and for their eternality. It says that we shall judge angels, not because they need to be judged, but we shall rule over them because they can't be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, as I explained. Wasn't it Reverend Francis Light when he was about to die wrote, change and decay all around I see. O thou who changest not, abide with me and he'll be with us and we are heirs together of a marvelous inheritance.

That takes care of the issue of ownership. Well, notice that the text goes on to say that we are not only heirs together, but we are members together, members together. How does this come about? When you receive Christ as savior, you receive the blessed Holy Spirit of God within you. Same Holy Spirit that I receive, that members of the staff receive, that everyone has received throughout all of history. And that in itself binds us together, does it not? Is not there a unity of the gospel that is awesome because the Spirit indwells us?

But that's not the end of the story. It says that by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greek. And it is, you see, the baptizing work of the Spirit that says, I am connected to you in a way that is special and real because we are members of the very same body. Wow. Equal inheritance, equal acceptance, equal acceptance. Now, you know, my body is fairly well coordinated.

Played tennis yesterday and lost. There's just a little thing wrong with the coordination there, just a matter of an adjustment, as they say. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the body of Christ was coordinated as your body or mine? You know that when you trip and fall, you are willing to bust an arm to save the head and the eyes. The arm says, I'll take the hit.

Have you ever taken the hit for somebody else who's falling? And you say, I'll take the hit. I'll absorb the shock.

I'll take it. That's the way the body is to operate. And it says here, members of one body.

Why? Because we share the same life. We are a part of the same body that is really connected. That's why, you know, this old idea, well, you know, I'm backslidden, but it doesn't matter to other members of the body because I'm doing my thing. My dear friend, if you are not walking with God and if you are a true believer — there are dozens of people who aren't walking with God because they aren't, but we're talking about those of you who are — let me be very clear and say, we all feel the effects of your lawlessness.

The body is weakened because of it. Why? You can't get away from it. Even if you stay away from church, you can't get away from it because you're connected to the body. So we share the same life. We share the same father. We're members of the same family.

And that's the way the family is to behave, you see, as members. That's why, you know, our vision statement here at the Moody Church, to be known as a caring, culturally diverse community that seeks the transformation of lives. Why is it that we want that? It's because we believe that the body of Jesus Christ should be filled with loving diversity. Loving diversity. And that's why we welcome to the Moody Church the Asians and the African Americans and the Hispanics and the Anglos. You come and you believe in Jesus and you are a part of us. We are one. You say, well, Christians sometimes don't get along.

Yeah, that's true. Sometimes they don't get along. You know, I've been thinking about this and, you know, Rodney King asked the question, why can't we get along? Well, one reason, of course, is because you know that sin always divides. But why can't we as Christians get along? You know, I think that we build up walls in our hearts that prevent us from experiencing the unity that God intended.

All kinds of barriers. Some of these are created within ourselves. We look at other people and we say, well, you know, they think that they are so good. Well, they may or may not think that, but that's our perception. And that becomes the wall where unity is oftentimes challenged and unity is oftentimes not experienced. And then you have all those little cherished sins, don't you?

The ones that you love. And sometimes it's because of other people that we hide those sins. I know a man who told me that because his pastor did something insensitive, this was not at the Moody Church.

I don't think that would ever happen here, but we're talking about other churches in other states, if not other countries. I'll never forget what he told me. He said, after that happened, I never heard a word, he said again, even though I sat in the services. I thought about that and said, you know, I wonder if there's someone here, thankfully I don't know of anyone, but is there someone here who says, I do not hear a word about what Pastor Lutzer or any other pastor in this church says because.

Watch it, my friend. It is sin that divides. It is humility and forgiveness and reconciliation that strengthens. And the text says we are equal heirs and we are equal members of the body, equal in relationships. Don't allow Satan to do what he wants to do, namely to divide and to cause perceptions and past experiences to bring disunity. We can never be what God intended us to be as long as all of that is harbored in our hearts. And that's why you see when God works mightily in a church, one of the indisputable signs of the working of the Holy Spirit of God is reconciliation where there's forgiveness that is both asked for and granted among families and church members.

Why? Because we are one. We are one.

Paul says keep the unity of the Spirit. It's there, but are we divided in our hearts even though physically present? Physically present. You're present. You're not voting.

You're not a part of what is happening. My dear friend, I want to put the responsibility today on you if you're a believer in Christ because you are one. What barriers are you cherishing that won't let you overcome those barriers? Okay, number two. Number two is we are members together.

And number three, you'll notice we are sharers together. Sharers together, equal in our inheritance, equal in our acceptance, equal in our blessings. Sharers together of the promise of Christ.

What promise? Well, Holy Spirit of God, Jesus said, you go to Jerusalem and then he says you wait there until you be endued with power until you receive the promise of the Father. The baptism of the Holy Spirit took place. The filling of the Spirit of God took place. That's part of the promise of Christ. The hope of resurrection is a part of the promise of Christ and it is no longer limited now to Israel with all of its covenants and all of its blessings. We are now all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ and heirs of Abraham and his promises.

It doesn't mean that God doesn't have still something special for the physical seed of Abraham, but what it does mean is that spiritually we're now in the mainstream even though we are pagans, even though we are Gentiles, God made us as one. And what a privilege that is. And he says heirs, yes, and members together and then he says sharers together of the promise in Christ, the promise in Christ. This is Pastor Lutzer. I want to ask you a question. Are you blessed as a result of the ministry of running to win? Would you like to help us expand those blessings to other countries, to other places in the world that they too might find the beauty of Jesus Christ and the gospel?

I have some very good news for you. Every gift that you give during this period of time will be doubled. And furthermore, I encourage you to go to rtwoffer.com and when you're there, click on the endurance partner button. You can also become an endurance partner by calling us at 1-888-218-9337. Now you ask the question, what is an endurance partner?

An endurance partner is someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. And remember, any gift that you give during this period of time will be doubled. Let me give you that info again.

Hope that you have a pencil handy so that you can write this down. Go to rtwoffer.com. Click on the endurance partner button and you'll receive all the info that you need. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. I want you to see yourself as part of the Running to Win family. Go to rtwoffer.com. Click on the endurance partner button or call us at 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Pastor Erwin Lutzer has brought part one of The Mystery Solved, the ninth message in a series on Between Heaven and Earth, taken from the book of Ephesians. Next time, more about the real world implications of a mystery revealed. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.