Context is ministry

Here’s an outtake from a session at the Soldiers’ Training conference held at my church in Chicago this past weekend and will share more stuff from it tomorrow. I am hoping for a good night's sleep after three days in a row of poor sleep on the trip and then going back to work this morning.

The gift of the grace of God given to Paul is the ministry of the truth of Ephesians 3: [6] That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

If that’s proclaiming the mystery, then what’s verse 8? [8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

Verse 9 is something more than just the proclamation; it’s to make all men SEE: [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Well, if the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God, how can all men see it? But if you put on display in your life and in your assembly the fellowship—if you put that truth on display, then what do they do? They see it.

When Paul talks about the fellowship of the mystery, he’s talking about what’s going on in that local church; what’s going on corporately in the group.

Why does he want all men to see that? [10] To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
[11] According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

You know what’s happening? The angelic creation, the principalities and powers in heavenly places that you and I one day are going to occupy, they’re observing what’s going on. They observe you and what they look at . . .

I mean, the Lord says, “All right, guys, I’m going to take your positions and throw you out and put these guys in your place.” And they say, “Well, we’ll see about that. You going to send a bunch of puny little guys down there to take our place?!”

And they look down here and they look at you and they see you living a life of failure and defeat and not the grace of God. And they say, “Ha, ha, that ain’t ever going to happen!”

They look at you and see you fall into the mud hole of life. Then they see you get up, shake yourself off and go on with future correct behavior.

“Oh, we tripped him into the mud hole but look what he did with it,” and they see you be “more than a conqueror” and you know what that means? It ain’t going to be any problem for you to conquer them because God Himself’s going to do that.

So, they look at you and they look at our ministry. What do you depend on in the ministry? You depending on the truth of God and the work of God, or are you doing it for all the other stuff?

They’re learning from you whether His grace can really accomplish what He says He’s going to accomplish.

We’re in ourselves failing humans; we’re not victorious, but you are in Christ. My exhortation is what Paul says: “Be ye followers of me even as I am of Christ.”

When the Thessalonians became followers of Paul and of the Lord, the context is ministry. When they did that, they got the work done.

By the way, the Thessalonian church was not a fully edified church yet. He wrote that epistle in Acts 18; they just got saved in Acts 17.

In II Thessalonians he says, “The Lord WILL establish you.” They’re still growing. You’re never going to get it all, but you keep doing it; you keep going and you keep building on the thing.