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Category: Ephesians (Page 4 of 6)
Where is Jesus right now and what is he saying to you? I was sitting in a 10×10 office on a cream colored chair with a small green pillow in my hands across from a small middle-aged woman sitting in a rocking chair. She asked me this question after I’d explained some of the events of my childhood and some of the events of the last few years of my life.
I love my wife. I love her a lot. We would have massive issues if I didn’t. But think about this. If you came over to our home and you experienced our relationship in a more up-close and personal way and what you experienced was not, me actively loving my wife but instead you could see that there were some major issues in our marriage, what would you think?
Things that need power don’t operate at their fullest potential when they aren’t connected to a power source. What happens when something is disconnected from a power source? In a house, the lights go off and you live in darkness. On a construction site, production ceases. A car’s engine stops running when the battery is dead. The same is true with people.
Sometimes I pray for the wrong reasons or I pray to false images of who God is. It seems difficult to keep up a steady rhythm of prayer sometimes. I start praying and I get distracted. I make a decision to spend some time in prayer and I fall asleep. I spend time in prayer and sometimes it feels dull and lifeless. Sometimes I don’t know what to pray about and sometimes I don’t know what to say. What I need is to be set free by what God’s Word says.
Confidence is an elusive topic. It’s hard to describe confidence to someone without putting skin or clothing on the subject. And if we aren’t careful, we can easily dress up this subject with very unhelpful illustrations that communicate a sense of just pulling up our bootstraps through self-reliance or self-help. Let me just head that off at the pass right now by reminding you that the Bible doesn’t encourage self-confidence or self-help anywhere.
Over the last few weeks we’ve been examining Ephesians 3:1 – 13 and we’ve been looking at this theme of confidence in the midst of suffering. When suffering comes knocking on your door, where do you find confidence? When sin and trial and temptation come knocking on your door, where do you search for confidence?
Where does your confidence come from? The American vision of confidence is in shambles. The Hollywood version of a man looks like overgrown boys who spend too much time on their video games, jumping from job to job while living in their mom’s basements. Or they look like race car driving, womanizing, adrenaline junkies who live outside the law. The Hollywood version of a woman looks like under dressed, lonely, carefree party animals that need to cut loose. Or they look like the female version of their race car driving, gun toting, beer-drinking counterparts with less clothing on.
The average person consumes 4.7 hours of television a day (this doesn’t even account for social media use) while the average Christian consumes less than an hour a day of Scripture study, biblical teaching and Christian community. What do you think the long-term end result of this will be? Most guys can quote lines at length from their favorite movies or stats from their favorite sport while in the same breath lamenting their lack of time spent in the Scriptures. Many women I meet can quote Oprah or lament their favorite romance movie for hours but when pressed on what a godly vision of womanhood looks like they can’t carry the conversation past Jesus loves me.
So where does your confidence come from? Listen, I don’t want to be critical just to be critical. I think this is a real problem. The pop culture American dream that Hollywood force-feeds us every day is a sham. And I know that in one sermon, I can’t create in you the desire to know God’s Word or the knowledge to piece together a better vision for your life. But I do know the Holy Spirit can and that’s my prayer today.
I pray the Lord helps me to communicate a powerful, Spirit-filled vision of what it looks like to be men and women who are filled with Spirit enabled confidence. I pray the Spirit of the living God creates confident men and women who lean into their role of stewarding God’s grace through the message of the gospel. I pray the Spirit helps us to see this as serious as it actually is. Listen to how serious Paul thinks this is.
Ephesians 3:1 – 13…
1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles – 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
In verse 13 Paul says “don’t lose heart when you see me suffering for you”. Paul definitely wasn’t competing with Hollywood prototypes but he still preached against a false vision of what it looks like to be a confident man or woman. He’s sitting in a prison cell waiting on his trumped up death sentence because of his radical, courageous, preaching of the gospel. He knows that his listeners will be tempted and tried from every side to cave into the pressures of Satan, sin and the world. So what shot in the arm does Paul prescribe? What model of confidence does he prop up?
Interestingly enough, he uses himself. In the first verse he describes himself from a redeemed point of view (Tall Saul is redeemed into Small Paul) and he reminds his listeners that he isn’t captured by anything other than Christ. Paul is enslaved to none other than Christ Jesus himself. He’s not enslaved to sin. He’s not enslaved to other people’s expectations. He’s not even enslaved by his Roman guards. He’s enslaved to Christ and set free in the gospel. What a paradox!!
And as he continues forward he describes himself as a responsible manager of God’s grace with a great revelation to share with the world. Talk about someone who needed confidence. This isn’t the confidence you need when thinking about asking the girl out on a date or the kind of confidence you need when making that next big purchase to fulfill the American dream. This is the kind of confidence that takes the world by storm because actual human lives depend on what you know to be true.
Where do you get this kind of confidence? How do you not cave under the weight of such responsibility? Hollywood certainly falls terribly short of giving us what we need here. Where did Paul’s confidence come from? What does Paul know that we need to know? What does he know that will give us the kind of Spirit-filled confidence we really need?
#1. Paul knew he was a steward of God’s grace (2)
Paul didn’t cave under the responsibility of his calling as a Christian or his calling as a minister of the gospel because he knew that he was the middleman. He was tasked with stewarding or managing the grace of God that had been given to him. This gift of God’s grace wasn’t something to be locked up in the basement of Paul’s personal life experience. Paul didn’t separate his life into compartments of personal experience and public performance.
This is why Paul says “I assume that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you”. The grace of God was not something Paul earned. The grace of God was something that was given to him. The grace of God was not something that Paul received only for himself. The grace of God was something that was both personal and communal. Paul experienced God’s grace at a personal level when he became a Christian but he knew that this experience wasn’t meant to be kept to himself. The grace of God was meant to be shared with others. It was for the sake of others that God saved Paul by his grace. And this gave Paul great confidence in the midst of really extreme circumstances.
This confidence in the face of pain and suffering was rooted in Paul’s experience of meeting the face of grace in the person and work of Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to Earth for selfish purposes. Jesus didn’t come to earth begrudgingly. Christ’s obedience to the Father at the cross of Calvary on behalf of his enemies is the vision that gave Paul his confidence. You won’t find this picture of confidence very often in our Hollywood saturated American culture. It’s a picture of confident sacrifice. It’s a picture of others-centered living. It’s a picture of gift giving that is reciprocal.
When we receive gifts we find it too easy to think that the gift is all about us. Imagine a woman getting a brand new cookware set for Christmas but only using it to make herself meals instead of using it to bless her family or her community. How selfish would that be? Imagine a man receiving the gift of a brand new truck but only using it to serve his own needs rather than using it to serve his friends and family. How self-centered would that be? Imagine a man who marries a woman only for the intimacy he wants to experience. How self-centered would that be? Imagine a woman who marries a man only for the sense of security or she hopes to gain. How self-centered would that be?
Everything we have is a gift from God. Every breathe, every possession, every ounce of our energy is a gift from God. And those good gifts flow out of the gift of God’s grace. Grace is unearned kindness and generosity. Grace is like receiving a paycheck even though you didn’t come in to work all week because you were too busy partying every night and talking trash about your employer. When someone experiences true grace they become gracious people. When you and I truly experience the generosity of God in contrast to our own sinfulness and selfishness we become truly generous people.
When I see people giving their time, their talent and their treasure away for the sake of the gospel, especially in the midst of their own pain and suffering I am humbled. The picture of God’s grace through people humbles me. What causes introverted people to come out of their shell to love on other people and welcome them into friendship? What causes extroverted people to tone it down a little and be present with the person in front of them so that they can care for them? What causes selfish people to become generous? What causes people to leave their homes and become missionaries? What causes people to give themselves away in gospel community every week? What causes people to support the church and missionaries financially?
The only thing that can give us the confidence to become these kinds of people is the grace of God. The grace of God was not given to each of us so that we could hide out in our own little bubbles. The grace of God was not given to us merely to save us from the fires of hell. The grace of God was not given to us so that God could become our homeboy. The grace of God was given to each of us so that we could move from the camp of being enemies with God to becoming sons and daughters of God who live generously and sacrificially and unselfishly just like Jesus.
The grace of God takes us out of the foster home of Satan, sin and death and places us by adoption into the Kingdom-mansion of the Father, Son and Spirit. And from that seated position of our new identity in the presence of Christ we can have the confidence to share everything we have with the people around us. This radical experience of God’s grace is what causes us to proclaim that the community around us doesn’t exist for us. We exist for the community around us. Our confidence is rooted in understanding that we are stewards of the gift of God’s grace.
#2. Paul knew he had been given a great revelation (3-5)
What do you do when you receive a great responsibility? Most of us begin to feel fearful of how we will perform. Sometimes we tap out and sometimes we rise up to the challenge. Think about the pressure and great responsibility of becoming a godly spouse or a godly parent or a godly student or a godly employee. Think of the pressure and responsibility of our calling as Christians to be disciple makers and proclaimers of the gospel. What gives a person the sustained confidence to walk out this calling in a manner that is worthy of the God who called us to follow him with our crosses over our shoulders?
I think one place we can find the confidence to walk this out is rooted in the revelation of the gospel that we have received. Paul says “You know how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” Paul’s confidence was rooted in his understanding of the great revelation he had received from God. God had revealed himself to Paul. And he had revealed his heart for others to come to know him through Paul’s revelation of the gospel. And part of this big revelation that Paul had received was the truth that the gospel is for anyone and everyone. This big revelation was especially meant for those whom society and religion had previously written off as helpless and hopeless.
Can you imagine what this responsibility felt like for Paul? Where did he find the confidence to shoulder this massive responsibility? I think it came from the revelation itself. The revelation that Paul had been given informed him that he was included in the family of God with other once-upon-a-time enemies of God. His revelation of inclusion gave him confidence. I am much more confident when I know I’m not alone. How much more confident should we be when we learn that we are definitely not alone but instead we are in the family with the Godhead?
When I walk in seclusion from good and godly friends my confidence begins to run out and I begin to tap out. I begin to give into patterns of sin that I once thought I had beaten. I begin to throw pity parties for myself because I’m so lonely. I begin to view the world and my relationships through a, me versus them point of view. I begin to think that the world revolves around me and what I want instead of what others need. I begin to despise the responsibility of being my brother’s keeper just like Cain with Abel.
But God is so faithful. God is so faithful to come to me in those moments through the words of Scripture, the counsel and pursuit of friends and the words of rebuke and encouragement I receive from my wife or children. God the Father didn’t save me from myself through the revelation of the gospel to then leave me alone with myself. He pursues me through the community of the church by the power of the Spirit so that I can be reminded and encouraged to live like Christ for the sake of the church and the glory of God. My confidence is rooted in the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion and personal application…
Where is your confidence rooted today? How are you experiencing the grace of God right now? How do you think this experience of God’s grace should change you? What will be different about you tomorrow because of your experience of God’s grace? How has the gospel of the cross of Christ affected you? Who do you know right now that needs to hear the same message you’ve heard? What are you going to do about it? This is going to take a certain level of confidence to answer these questions honestly and take action as a result.
Our confidence is rooted in understanding that we are stewards of God’s grace through the revelation of the gospel that is embodied by Christ. God’s grace through the revelation of the gospel was given to you and I to steward for the good of the community around us. The people in our relational circles need to experience the same grace we’ve experienced. Our friends and our family members and our coworkers need to hear the same gospel message we’ve heard.
In the midst of a world that is coming unhinged with pain and suffering, our neighbors desperately need to catch a better glimpse of confidence than the false one that is being shoved down their throats every day through entertainment, media and society. We are that vision my friends. Paul knew this. He knew he was a walking talking billboard for Jesus. He knew that the church was the representation of the Kingdom of God. And he knew that pain and suffering would tempt the Ephesians to tap out and hide out.
So he encouraged them to “not lose heart when they saw him suffering for them.” He encouraged them to remain confident just like him as he faced the uncertainty of his earthly existence. And in so doing he painted the picture of Christ for a struggling church and a struggling culture. The picture of Christ is the picture of a confident man who willingly gave himself away on behalf of his enemies.
Through great suffering at the cross he defeated Satan, sin and death once and for all. And he proclaimed the gospel all the way through to the empty tomb and his ascension to Heaven. Jesus is our picture of confidence and in Paul we see a glimpse of that same confidence that we know we need to face down our sin, to live in community and to share the message of the gospel with our community. Our confidence is rooted in understanding that we are stewards of God’s grace through the revelation of the gospel that is embodied by Christ.
How do you look into the face of suffering with confidence? How do you not give into the temptation to throw in the towel? How do you encourage others to stay strong in these circumstances? When your parent is dying. When your friend’s marriage falls apart. When your sibling loses their job. When a child dies. When a friend suffers abuse. When your finances are in ruins. When your friend stabs you in the back. When your child rebels. When you give into that sinful pattern again. When your physical health fails again. Where does your confidence come from?
Do you feel worthless, or alone, or insecure, or uncertain, or useless or insignificant today? Let me encourage you. You are not worthless. You are not alone. You are not useless. You are not insignificant. Christ is your security. Christ is your certainty. And Christ gives you all the significance you could ever need. God says that in Christ you are treasured, secure and useful. God’s love, written in Christ’s blood, serves as the eviction notice to your anxiety.