The Power and Potential of Unity

Series: John

John 17 - Mark Buckley

I’m going to ask you four questions that are going to be answered in this message. The first one: If you had one last prayer to pray, what would it be? If you had one strategy to reach the world, what would it be? If you could give any gift to everyone you love, what would it be? And if you could protect people you love from any two things, what would they be?

We’re going to look at how Jesus answered those questions. Let’s pray together.

Father, I pray that you’ll help me to speak your word clearly and boldly. And let your Holy Spirit make this word come alive, that we could be set free by the truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Okay. We’re going to go right into John 17:20 and 21, looking at the strategy that Jesus has for revealing himself to the world.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 

There are all kinds of evangelistic initiatives that all kinds of believers do throughout the world. And most of them are the most well-intentioned you could imagine. Many of them have measures of success. But the strategy Jesus gives us is laid out here in verse 21. He’s praying that we would be one with the Father, that he would be in us, and we would be one with the Father, and that we would be one with each other.

I’m involved in five different groups that meet every month. I’m involved in a John 17 group with people literally from all over the world. There was one girl in it recently from Lebanon. They were rebuilding houses after the major explosion in Beirut. There are Catholic bishops in the group. There are regular old guys like me.

I’m involved in a group called Grace Association where we have been, for over twenty-five years, uniting churches here in the Valley to work together, to build and strengthen leaders. We’re involved in Pastor in Covenant groups where we meet every month, open our hearts, talk and pray, and share our lives. I’m in a Zoom group with United Pastors of Arizona, which are large church pastors from all over the Valley. I serve them as a consultant and an encourager. I also have a Zoom group with guys that I’ve worked with for the last forty-nine years from Washington, California and Arizona. 

The purpose of all of those is to fulfill what Jesus said. His prayer for us has two aspects: that we would be one with the Father, and that we would be one with each other. If we’re close to the Father, then people can sense the reality that God is in us. They might not understand why, that there’s something different about us. They may not recognize it’s the Lord all the time, but they can sense the difference. They can sense the grace. 

Then, if we’re together, if we can appreciate one another, if we can celebrate the diversity in the various parts of the Body of Christ—rather than judge each other because some people have preferences for communion one way, and others take it another way; some people have preferences for worship one way, others worship in a slightly different way—rather than judge each other for the preferences, we celebrate each other.

One of the things I’ve learned from all of these groups that I’ve participated in, I’ve learned that our God is a big, big God. I’ve learned that his grace is manifested in every single part of the Body of Christ, that every part of the Body of Christ has a treasure. If I can receive from that treasure, if I can learn from those people, then my walk with God is enriched.

Let’s go to the first verse. John 17:1:

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 

May you shine a light on your Son, and may your Son shine a light on you.

2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

So Jesus is saying, “I’ve got authority over all people.” And how is he going to use this authority? To give us a gift. What’s the gift? The gift of eternal life. What is eternal life? Eternal life is the knowledge of God. 

He could have given his disciples anything. He could have given them a treasure in gold. He could have given them castles on hillsides. He could have given them anything on earth, and he chose to give them eternal life. Because, when you know the only true God, you can be secure in his love for you. He has made you unique. He has made you special. He has given you everything you need in Christ. And what he has given you enables you to overcome fear, anxiety, and depression and enables you to understand the meaning and purpose of your life, 

In spite of the fact that you fall, he lifts you up. In spite of the fact that you sin, his Son died on the cross to forgive us for our sins. In spite of the fact that we don’t know everything, he has linked us together with others who do have knowledge, understanding and wisdom; and we can share together and grow.

It says the fullness of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. So when we discover the treasure in Jesus, not just individually, but the treasure in Jesus in his Body, then we have the fullness of wisdom and knowledge.

Being in unity with people is a challenge. I’ve been married for forty-seven years. In a very real way, when a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves unto his wife—as it says in Genesis—the two become one. You become united in a sexual union, you become united as one. You’re flip sides of the same coin. And God doesn’t look at you like you’re more spiritual than your spouse. He looks at you as one. 

Yet, my wife has got problems. I’m one of her problems. Another problem is she likes Country music and I don’t know why, but she does. When I get in her car and I happen to turn on the ignition and the radio goes on, I realize she has never left that plague. It’s still there. So I quickly change the dial. Another thing she has learned to do over the years, when we go to a Thai restaurant, she orders super, super hot, number five on the scale of one to five. Because she is married to a guy who will steal off her plate whatever she hasn’t quickly eaten. And when she brings something home and puts it in one of those little white containers, it disappears before she has time to eat it for lunch—unless it’s super, super hot.

But, in spite of the fact that we don’t always have the same taste in food or in music, we really do love each other. We really do enjoy life together. We do not major on the minor preferential distinctions in our marriage. Whether she votes for somebody else, or she has a different way of enjoying her Sabbath day than I do, we give each other freedom. We give each other honor. We try and encourage one another and bless one another and celebrate each other. We don’t try to control each other. I don’t try to form her into a little masculine mini-me, if you know what I mean. I want her to be all that God has created her to be in her feminine glory.

I believe that one of the great challenges that we face in our friendships, we face in our businesses, we face in the church, we face in our nation, is how do we celebrate our differences. How can we honor one another even when we don’t always see things the same way. We’re not designed to always see things the same way. We’re not designed to be a one-party nation, to be a one-perspective people. We represent a multi-faceted God. 

So Jesus prayed. He gave them the gift of eternal life. Verse 4:

4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

It’s interesting. All the things Jesus could have kept doing, but he knew his work was finished. Some of us think our work is never finished. 

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 

He gave them his words. The word of life. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to forgive so we don’t get stuck and hung up on the problems of the past. He taught us how to love. He commanded us to love so that we’d build relationships that will enrich our lives forever. He taught us how to give so that we, in our generosity, can use what God’s given us to build and bless others and he can pour more into our lives.

9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 

This is really interesting. Jesus says to the Father, “Everything you’ve got.” The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. All the people and all the land belong to Him.

One of the first unity meetings I ever went to, I met a guy named Lee Balderelli. He gave me his business card and he said, “If you ever want to come up to Incline Village by Lake Tahoe and have a place for your family, feel free to give me a call.”

Well, I kept that little business card and I thought, Do I dare call him? And sure enough, as it got close to summertime, I called him and I said, “Mr. Balderelli, is it possible that your condo at Incline Village is available?”

He said, “Sure. Come on up. How long do you want it?”

So we went up there for two weeks. Even though I was a poor pastor with three little kids, we were able to have the most awesome vacation. And we went up there year after year until we finally moved to Phoenix. Because, at this unity meeting, God wanted to show me, “You know what? I’ve got everything. And when you meet with my people, when you meet with parts of the body of Christ that you’re not even familiar with, I’ve got a gift in them that I’m going to give to you.”

Since that time, I’ve not only gone to Incline Village, but to churches and places to preach all over the world. I’ve been to the Vatican to meet the Pope. I’ve been able to make acquaintances with people all over that have enriched my life. 

When I came to Arizona and I was struggling because I felt like God had not answered my prayer, I was one of the Garth Brooks kind of thing, “Thank God for Unanswered Prayer.” I prayed that I would never have to move here. And I did. Our son had asthma. He wasn’t getting healed, so we had to come here to give him a new life. And I was down. I went to a pastors’ prayer summit and, at that pastors’ prayer summit, the guys all started praying. They started worshiping. And as they prayed and as they worshiped, something happened in my spirit. Grace began to come into me. My mind still said, Hey, you don’t know what you’re doing here. But my spirit began to say, Yes, these are my brothers and they love me and they’re lifting me and they don’t even know how much I need them. But I really, really need them.

What happens sometimes to us is that we go through times of discouragement. This is a time in our nation, right now, where people are stressed over COVID, they’re stressed over the election and, because they’re stressed and their friends are stressed and their families are stressed, people’s tempers are short and they are reacting against each other. As a consequence, our normal trials are magnified. If the Lord allows you to taste depression, discouragement or anxiety in this season, it’s not just about you. It’s because he is going to comfort you. He’s going to give you understanding. He’s going to give you grace. Because there are people out there who need Jesus. 

There are people out there more discouraged than you’ve ever been. You’ve just tasted something, but they have had the whole meal. And you are called by God to lift them. If you will lift people when they’re down, they will never forget it. Invest in people when they are at their low point. If somebody is broke, that’s the time to give to them. If they’re hurting, that’s the time to take them out and do something with them. If they’re depressed, call them up. Show your love to them and they will remember for the rest of their life who showed up when they really needed them. 

Verse 11:

11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 

Protect them. He’s praying for protection. If you were going to protect people from any two things, I asked, what would they be? Here’s the first one. Protect them in order that they may be one. Protect them from division. Protect them from disunity. Protect them from the human tendency to get so frustrated with each other that they just push each other out of their lives. Because the consequences of disunity are very serious. It weakens us. It hurts us. There’s time when the Church has to exercise judgment if people are participating in evil deeds and they refuse to repent. That’s a different story. But “Protect them, Father, by the power of your name.” 

It’s the name of Jesus that protects us. The name of Jesus represents to us the priorities of God. It’s not worth us being divided if something is not a top priority to our God and Father. The consequences of division in Christian circles, Paul says this, “Forgive such a one because we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” Satan wants to divide in order to frustrate, condemn and drive people into a place fruitlessness.

12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Only Judas fell away, as long as Jesus was there. When he was there, when they began to squabble over who was the greatest, or who would sit at the right hand of at the Lord in his kingdom, he would just quiet them right down. 

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 

Jesus is praying this whole prayer for us, so that we could have his joy. You know, our God is aware of all the sad things happening in the world. And there are a lot of sad things. And when we hear the news about what’s happening when there are horrible things, it makes us sad. But in spite of all the sadness that he was aware of, Jesus had joy. He was not discouraged. And he wants us to have his joy.

On our Zoom call the other day with these pastors that I’ve worked with for many, many years, we were laughing. We were laughing about what I used to do foolishly when we would argue. In the early days, in the seventies, I would tell the pastors, “You’ve got to wear a tie to church.” Some of these guys were ex-hippies and sort of still hippies, and they didn’t want to wear a tie. And I would force them to wear a tie. And the worship leader would break his guitar strings every week, and I would literally say, “I’ll give you a bonus in your check if you can go a month without breaking a guitar string.” And he never could. And they were all laughing at me on the Zoom call. We were enjoying the fact that God has helped us to grow up over the years and get over some of our little things that we thought were so important—especially guys like me. Sometimes leaders major on minors, and it causes grief to everybody that they’re working with. One of the great treasure of life is to have friendships that last years and years.

14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 

Jesus prayed that we would stay one, that we’d be delivered from disunity, and now he’s praying that we would be protected from the evil one. When believers are not protected from the evil one, they can get caught up in horrible things. 

In the Civil War, there were born-again believers on both sides, trying to kill each other.  In World War I, they literally stopped the battle one year on Christmas Eve. There were soldiers on one side of the trenches singing Silent Night in French, and on the other side, singing Silent Night in German. And when they realized that, they came together and sang together over No Man’s Land. And then the next day they went back to killing each other. What does that say? What that says is that somehow the evil one had so worked in those nations that they were warring because they thought one another were so wicked that they were willing to lay down their lives. 

Jesus prayed that we would be protected from that. And that means that we have to have the kingdom of God as our highest value. It has to be more important than our political party. It has to be more important than nationalism. It has to be our highest value. Because we’re being tested right now. Sometimes we fail the test because we get so frustrated, right? “If only people would see things my way, we’d all be just fine.”

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus was sanctified. That means he was set apart. We get set apart by the word of God. The word of God makes us a little different. It does. We think a little different than the world. We have different values, different priorities. And we have to be so secure in Christ that we’re not going to conform ourselves to the world, but we’re going to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then we’ll know what the will of God is. You know what the will of God is when you’re renewed in your mind by the word. 

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 

You know, in a marriage, you’re going to teach your kids a lot of things that are your values and your priorities. But the most powerful way that you’re going to teach them is how a husband loves his wife, and how a wife loves her husband. You’re not going to teach them with your words. You’re going to teach them with your lifestyle. You’re going to demonstrate to them what your real values are. If you are unity, if you can enjoy life together, then they’re going to want to have a marriage like yours.

The most powerful thing that can happen in a church is if we’re really in love with each other here, if we really are committed to each other long term. And that means that, just like in a marriage, there are times when we’re going to have to forgive each other. There are times when we’re going to have to put up with each other. There are times when we’re gong to have to yield to each other. There are times when it’s not going to be your way.

I had one of the neatest things happen to me a couple of weeks ago. If you go back sixteen years ago, my first grandchild was born. Our granddaughter came into the world, and my daughter wasn’t married when she had this baby. And the natural father went to war against my daughter and our family for control of the baby. For the first time in our marriage, we were divided. 

We were divided because I had one strategy for dealing with this guy, and my wife and daughter had another strategy and it got really ugly. It got ugly because he was taking us to court and the police were showing up at our house. And we had to figure out how we were going to respond to his attacks. And it got ugly because we weren’t in unity at home. The only way we came into unity is when I decided I’d better just die to myself. I’d better just give up trying to make this response to him my way, and we’re going to trust God, because the unity of our marriage, the unity of our family was more important than whether I was right, or whether I could play the card of being the head of at the house.

What happened two weeks ago was that my granddaughter’s dad, the guy we were at war with, sent me a picture of his ballot. He did a write in. He wrote my name in, not for president, but for senator. It just blessed so much. I never knew how it would feel to get a vote. It was my first vote in my life. You’re not actually supposed to show pictures of your ballot to somebody, but he did it to bless me. He takes my granddaughter to church. Every Sunday she’s not here she’s at church with him somewhere. He’s over at our house for dinner all the time. He’s a wonderful dad. Still a single guy and we love him and we pray for him. He joins us at all kinds of occasions. It went from a hellish battle to the kind of unity that I’m just so pleased with, and so thankful for. 

The reason we’ve got that blessing is because Jesus said that unity was his priority. Not me as the head of the house being right. Not me punishing my daughter because she didn’t obey my instructions as to how to live her life. Not me doing anything other than to say, “Jesus, okay. This is our life. This is the way it’s come out. This isn’t what I wanted. But I’ve got to keep trusting you. I’ve got to keep following you. You’re the one who has eternal life. You’re the one who gives the gift. You’re the one who can protect us from the evil on.” Amen? Amen.

Last two verses:

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

He said, “I’ve got one more gift for you. I’ve got one more thing that’s going to help you have unity with the Father, and unity with one another that’s going to enrich your life. I’m going to give them my glory. Father, I pray that you will give them my glory.” The glory that was upon him for being the perfect Son. The glory that came upon him when the Father said, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” The glory that was upon him that allowed him to heal the sick. The glory that allowed him to teach words of eternal life. The glory that allowed him to multiply the bread and the wine and the whatever was needed. The glory that was on him, we get to share. 

Wow. We don’t deserve it. But we get it. And don’t ever deny it. Welcome it. You’ve got a gift from God. You’ve got a treasure. You have value. It’s because Jesus is alive in you. And that reality allows people to discover that he is actually the one that was sent from God to do it for them too.

---

---

©️2020 Living Streams Church
7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Church as the Bride

David Stockton
Series: Ephesians

Good morning. College football has started! But I’m an Oregon fan. It was a rough night for me. 

But it’s good to be with you guys this morning. We’ve got baptism this morning—both services. About ten people getting baptized today, which is super exciting and fun. And we’re going to be working through Ephesians again. Ephesians 5. 

Life Groups. Life Groups. Life Groups. Maybe it’s weird phrase: Life Groups. But it is small groups of people trying to get together outside of the Sunday morning context to check in on each other, pray for each other. The four things we’re dreaming and praying for you is that you’ll get raw authenticity and the healing that comes with that. You’ll get relentless encouragement from each other because we definitely need that. You’ll get Biblical counsel in those small groups. And you’ll get some genuine friendship. Not the online kind but the face-to-face kind. Online is cool. You can do that, too. But face-to-face is important, as well. 

We actually have over 200 people that have signed up since last Sunday. Yeah. There’s a lot of “whoo-ing” going on around here. We think it’s really important. We are not trying to build a Sunday morning show. That’s the last thing we’re trying to build around here—where people come for an hour, watch a show and then go. We are not in that business. We’re trying to build a church. And it is so important that the church has more than Sunday morning to stand on. 

I don’t care if you find life groups in another church. You’ve got to find ways to get together with people in smaller settings, where you can be known and you can impart the wisdom God is speaking to you and you can be supported. 

Did I mention Life Groups? It’s very easy. You go online, livingstreams.org and we’ve got a whole list of them. They’ve got times, locations, what’s happening there. We’re asking everyone in our church—everyone—if this is your first Sunday—hey—you’re in. You came. It’s your fault.—to at least sign up for six weeks, starting September 15. We have leaders, we have groups, we have everything ready. We even gave the leaders their first snacks for the first night. We’re serious about this thing. And we’re serious about snacks, too.

Just give it at least six weeks. The leaders are going to be there and they’re ready to run past six weeks, but we just really want you guys to give it a shot and see what the Lord can do. We don’t want to miss anything that God has in store for us.

All right. We’re going to be in Ephesians. We’re looking at Paul’s vision of the church. He didn’t have a vision for Living Streams Church. Living Streams is just an organization that has men and women who are leading it. And the Church that Jesus Christ gave birth to by his blood and the vision that Paul had is the Church organism. It is the thing that lives on beyond Living Streams. It is the thing that was there before Living Streams or whatever other church you might be a part of. 

And we’ve built these organizations, these churches that are hopefully going to help that organism prosper and thrive within it. But YOU are the Church if you are called by Jesus’ name. You are the Church. And the Church is the single most dominant force for good that the world has ever seen. Any era. Any age. Any place. No one can deny the power of what the Church, the true Church has done.

At the same time, no one can deny that there have been real good seasons and real bad seasons for the organization aspect of the Church. There have been horrible seasons when we look at the organization of the Church. But Jesus is not the head of the organizations. We do our best to make sure he is in control of this place, but at the end of the day, it’s got to go through people like me. And it’s going to come out a little squirrly. But he is and always will be the head of the Church, which is his Body here on earth. And everyone of you has a part to play. 

So Paul is trying to impart to us this vision, this grand vision, this vision that, when he got it, he did not want it. But when he got it, he changed every single thing in his life. He threw away everything he had ever known and become—position, power, money, self-righteousness, pride. He threw it all away and said, “I just want to live into this vision.” And he spent the rest of his life traveling the world to tell Gentiles (people who are not Jews) about this vision that God has for them.

In Ephesians he tries to piece it all together in this letter that he was writing. And it’s so ridiculous. If you were to get this letter back in Paul’s day, you would think the guy is insane. You would think he’s absolutely crazy. Because, what he is putting forth in this vision, and what was in reality at that time of the Church are so far apart. If you get nothing else in our time in the book of Ephesians, I just want you to get this. That Paul was declaring something that had no chance of becoming a reality. The Church at that time was scattered, was living in caves and dens, was persecuted and dominated. It was a laughing stock. It was pitiful. And yet Paul could see something that Marty Caldwell gets to see all the time as he travels around. That other people—we have someone speaking next week who’s been around the world seeing the Church in action in all different continents. He’s going to share a little bit of the strength and beauty these days.

If Paul could see the Church today, he would do an old man backflip. Which is kind of like rolling over, I think, or falling down, maybe. What the Church has become, there is no way Paul could actually have believed that it would be what it is today. She is so beautiful. But Paul could see a vision. We talk about Martin Luther King, Jr., as he speaks to that crowd right before he was killed and he said, “I have no worries. For I have been to the mountaintop and I’ve seen the other side. I’ve seen the Promised Land. I know we’re going to get there.”

And that’s basically what Paul is saying in his day and age. He’s saying, “I’ve seen the vision. Jesus has given me the vision. And now I’m living into the vision. And I’m going to see us grow from this tiny, little, infant baby that is not even having a chance to live, forsaken in every way—it’s going to become the most powerful thing the world has ever seen.

It’s awesome what we are reading right now. And I’m hoping it will get in us. I’ve had a couple of visions in my life. When I first gave my life to Jesus, I was about eighteen years old. When I first gave my life to Jesus. I had received Jesus prior to that, but there was a big difference when I turned seventeen and eighteen, right in there, where I think Jesus was saying, “Okay. Now I’m going to ask something from you.” 

And I went for it. Immediately (Mike, you can attest to this) I just, for some reason starting thinking about Ireland all the time. I had actually gotten to go to Ireland with my family right after I graduated, so I just thought that’s all that it was. And yet, this idea of going to Ireland and starting a camp, like a summer camp, and then also starting a church and having a school there kind of all on the same property. This vision just started coming. 

Again, I had been to Ireland. My grandmother was Irish. I do have Irish citizenship—I have dual citizenship through her. So, I started thinking, “Maybe there’s something here.” And I just had a compelling vision of going to Ireland and getting rid of all the snakes. Not really. That was somebody else’s vision. But going to Ireland, trying to see the Lord do something. So I graduated college and I talked to some friends who were crazy enough to say, “Let’s do it.”

We came up with a plan. We were all going to go for three months. We bought a three month ticket. That was the entirety of the plan. And we were going to just see what the Lord would do.  And I’m here in Arizona now. Right? Working here, you know. 

But we did go there. We got to see the Lord do really great things. It was very strengthening for our faith. Within three days we had jobs and a place to live. And our names were being sent to all these different ministry clubs in Northern Ireland. We got to go two or three times a week. We’d get on a bus and say, “Can you take us to this place and do ministry?” And at the end of it, though, we were like, “Well, we should go home.” It was a great time. It was building my faith, but then we came back. 

Then I had another vision. I was sitting right down here one time by Mark Buckley as he was about to preach. And we were singing the song, “For the sake of the world, burn like a fire in me.” And I can’t tell you how clear it was. I saw a vision of a bunch of Belizeans. My wife and I had lived in Belize a little before, so it wasn’t that far off. But I saw a room full of Belizeans and they were singing, “For the sake of Belize, burn like a fire in me.” And it was real clear. And it was a vision.

I remember talking to Mark about it and the elders, and saying, “You know, my wife and I are thinking maybe we should go to Belize again.” And Mark said, “Okay. Okay. Let’s figure this out.” And, sure enough, we ended up going to Belize for a little more than a year with our family. And step by step, we started a Friday Night Fire, is what they wanted to call it. Except, in Belize, it’s called “Friday Night Fi-yah.”

We started a little worship night. And my wife and I were doing music, which is not that impressive. We started using that song to close every one of the Friday nights that we had. We changed the word, I don’t know if we’re allowed to, but it was in Belize where you can get away with anything. We changed the words and I thought, “Wow, this amazing.” Little by little, the room started to fill up. And people were singing that song. And the Lord, just to make it so clear that I didn’t miss it, there was one night when it was totally jam-packed. This was probably about one hundred or so Belizeans. It was a small room so it was jam-packed. 

We were singing that song and it was a great night. We were really leaning in to the Lord. And, all of a sudden the power went out completely. When the power goes out in Belize, it was dark. It was so dark you couldn’t see anything inside this room. And it was very hot. Yet, the power goes out, our mics, everything is gone, and everyone just kept singing. And we’re just at the part where we sing, “For the sake of Belize, burn like a fire in me.” And I just stepped back from the mic for just a second and just went, “Oh, my goodness!” It was like the Lord was saying, “No, no, no. We’re making a point of this.  Exclamation point. Boom!”

There are these visions that the Lord gives us. Paul was so compelled by this vision of what he was going to see. I don’t know if he ever got to a point where he felt that he got to see it. I think he probably saw little pieces of it. But again, Ephesians is this grand vision that he’s trying to lay out for all of us.

He starts out giving a vision of the Church as a family—that we’ve been adopted into God’s heart. So the Church is one of the ways we can see this vision. One of the ways Paul saw it as it’s like the family of God. We’ve got the name of God on our jerseys, on the back. We walk around and are learning how to live according to his family rules and culture.

And then he goes on to talk about how the Church is the dwelling place of God. That somehow his Spirit is in all of us and, as we go about the world, God’s presence goes into all the world, and it’s a picture of what God can do.  When people come and get to know us, it’s like coming over to God’s house and hanging out for a while. 

Then we talked last week about how the Church is a body. That we’re this body. We’re trying to grow into this full stature, this amazing, powerful force that God has in mind for us to be. And we start at one point and try to grow into it so that we can be strong enough to withstand the winds of every deceitful scheme that comes our way. That we won’t be tossed to and fro by the waves. And that’s the dream that we have. 

Today we’re going to talk about the Church as a bride. So all the girls are like, “Oh, yeah, that’s cool.” And all the guys are like, “College football, man. College football.”

So Ephesians Chapter 5. You’ve got to deal with it. It’s in the Bible so get ready. Get your wedding dresses out.  

5:1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

So there you have fragrance, right? We’re already getting girly. But Jesus loved us and he gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering. And then he says:

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 

Or, for God’s bride. Right? Skip down to verse 21: 

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

And then Paul says this as a little bit of a hesitation caveat:

 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

So all this stuff about submission, all this stuff about two becoming one, he’s saying, “Now, I need you to pay attention here. I’m not trying to be weird. But somehow this is a mystery. All of this stuff that I’m talking about is actually about Christ and his Church—his bride—the people who follow him

 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Paul opens up this whole can of worms. He’s basically saying, “Now another way I want you to picture the Church is as the Bride of Christ.”

It is the people he has chosen. The people he has give his life for and will forevermore. The people that he is actually trying to love so well that they actually form into all the beauty that they can form into. He’s talking about how Christ and His Body are to become one in lovingkindness and mutual respect.

Again, John 17 is a prayer that, if Jesus didn’t pray it, I would never really teach it. is prayer is that those who believe in him would become one with him, just like he and the Father are one. It’s not saying that we’re going to become gods. But somehow we’re going to be included into the trinitarian love and oneness as we follow him.

It’s a profound mystery. And I’m not going to talk about it anymore because I no idea what else to say about it. One day I’m just going to die and—bam—in it. I can just call it a profound mystery,

We’re talking about this love. We’re talking about the romance. We’re talking about how God in Christ romanced us. Reckless love. However you want to talk about it. He wooed us. Romeo and Juliet. All of the stuff you want to say here. 

It’s fun for me to talk to guys when we go on men’s retreats or Belize retreat. To get to know them, I love to just ask the question, “Do you have a girlfriend?” (if they’re not married.) And it’s so funny because, immediately, I feel like—bam—you are in. Unless they’re like, “No. Don’t talk to me about that. I don’t know you.” 

But if they start to answer that question at all, they can’t help it. Their heart is coming right out of their mouth. You get to see their heart right away, whether it’s good, bad or whatever. Because that’s a big part of where their life is flowing out of. It’s that part of their heart that longs for that companionship.

And then I love to ask guys on our men’s retreat—we were in Belize and last time I asked the guys, “All right. What we’re going to do tonight as a kind of debrief, I want everyone to tell us how you got engaged.” 

You could see all the guys were like, “What do you mean?” And then they’d start telling it. And they would be struggling, trying to make it not a big deal. But then as they would start telling the story they would start gushing a bit. It’s like, “Oh, you’re sappy! Yeah, you are a romantic guy! Look at you! Ha ha! We got you! Busted.”

But as they would tell the story, it comes out. And it’s so precious and beautiful. Even the guys who are like so tough, when they start telling about getting engaged, it’s just an awesome, awesome thing.

For me, I fell in love with this girl named Brit. And she and I were dating and hanging out. (This is my wife, by the way.) Yet, at the same time, I knew she also loved another. It was the kids in South Africa. She loved them a lot. She knew that she needed to go to them. So we started dating and we were hanging out and I was like, “Yeah, we love each other. But I know you love these little kids in Africa.”

So, we knew she had to go. And so she went. A big thing was, she was going to see. She loved the Lord above it all and she wanted to go where God was leading her. So she went for a few months to Africa. I didn’t know what was going to happen. Would she love me more than Africa? Would God put our paths back together at some point? It was a real moment of truth. 

I remember talking to her while she was there. At one point it was pretty clear that what she was saying was that she loved me more than Africa. That was a big deal for my life. I was like, “I’ve got all of Africa beat! Yeah!” I was thrilled.

So knowing that, I ended up getting on a plane and flying to London where she was going to be flying back. I surprised her by being in London. She didn’t know I was going to be there. And I surprised her by looking like this (photo of David with long hair and beard). She was going and I said, “I’m not going to cut my hair while you’re gone.” I didn’t think about this part. So she was like, “Oh, hey! Oh, heyyyy!”

And I surprised her one more. I got on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said, “Yes.” It’s been almost fifteen years. It’s been a pretty cool deal.

I’m saying all of this because Jesus loves you in this way, if you can receive it. He loves you and wants so badly for you to love him. Not only for his own good. Somehow, mystery of mysteries, if you love Jesus, his heart is full. If you don’t, his heart is broken. God of the universe, Creator of everything, has somehow made his heart dependent on your love. 

If you choose to love him, you will be loved well. There are some verses in Ephesians that bring this out. I want to go through these and I want you to maybe grab a couple of things out of these. Maybe write them down. Maybe just hide them in your heart.

There are some phrases that are key as we go through. Ephesians 2: I’m going to read this out of the Message translation. I like the way the Message says it: 

1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. 

You weren’t anything that special.

You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. 

That’s powerful imagery.

We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. We loved a lot of other things. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. 

He walked right up to our filthiness, our rebellion, and our anger, and he hugged us. He pulled us close to him and stole it all away.

He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. 

That is what Jesus is longing to do. To bring you closer to him. To shower you with lovingkindness both in this world and in the next. And just so you know, there won’t be pain in the next. Here you get both.  

Next is Ephesians 2:11-13 in the NIV. 

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” 

(Those who are feeling like the upper class and you were called the lower class by them.)

(which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

All the way into his arms. Pressed against his own chest. Covered by his love. Never needing to fear or worry again. Perfect redeeming love is wrapped around you in Christ Jesus. 

I defined it a little bit like this, the way that God treats us as his bride: Lovingly, romantically, faithfully, kindly. What happens is our vulnerability is met with his passionate, wholehearted, generous covering. He finds us naked and ashamed, and he covers us with his righteousness and love. His love really does redeem. 

Ephesians 5:1-3.

1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity…

 Why is the Bible so serious about sexuality? Why is the world disparaging and rebelling against the Scriptures right now because it’s too harsh or hard? Well, because the writers of the Bible are trying to help us understand that there are really two images that God has given us outside of Christ incarnate that teach us about him better than anything else. 

Genesis 1 makes it very clear that God created male and female in his image. So if we get male and female right, then the world gets to see God. If we screw up or twist up male and female, we lose one of our most powerful demonstrations of who God is in full. God is not male. Never has been. Never will be. God is not female. He is somehow the fullness of both of those when we get it right. That’s why there’s a big attack right now. But it’s not the first time. We got through this attack generation after generation, where the devil tries to destroy our image of God found in maleness and femaleness.

We do need to sit back and weather the storm with love and kindness. But we also need to make sure people understand God put the fence there for a reason. If you move the fence, you’re going to find the lions, the tigers, the bears ready to devour you. Which we see over and over again. That’s why the world and society has never really been able to move on to this total free love thing. Because, ultimately, the consequences show up and we go back. This isn’t a new thing. This is just the latest wrong version of “woke,” that we’re going to have to wake up from with consequences all around us. The Bible is the only thing woke. 

Not only that, but he also says that the second thing that is the best image of God is marriage. Marriage is the second best image of God. I’m talking about Christ and the Church. You want to learn about Christ and the Church, go look at someone’s marriage. That’s how you’re going to learn about the love of God. The faithfulness, the stick-to-it-ativeness, the patience, the kindness. That’s the way God loves you, except that he’s perfect and totally trustworthy. 

So why would the enemy want to destroy marriage? Why would he want to get rid of that or call it crazy or too hard? Because he doesn’t want people to see the image of Christ and his Church. Because they might fall in love with him and experience his love. 

The last thing I want to read as we close is Ephesians 5:21-33. The same passage, but I want to read it in the Message translation. I want to highlight a couple of things. I ask again that you try to grasp a couple of things for your own heart right now. 

21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, 

Be extravagant like Jesus was. 

…exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

And we’ll just finish with that. I love some of those phrases. That this is the love that Christ has for us. It’s the love that we’re supposed to show toward our spouses, toward our kids, toward our friends, toward our enemies, toward our neighbors. This kind of love that is marked by giving, not getting. The kind of love that makes the person that we’re loving more whole. It doesn’t point out their deficiencies, but it actually begins to fill those things, cover those things until they have a chance to grow in those things. And their words evoke their beauty. 

I want to love my wife like that. And I’m so bad at it. I want to love my kids like that. And I know I fall short. I want to love you guys like that. It’s a beautiful love that Jesus has for us. It’s a life-changing, redeeming love. It’s a love that feels like vulnerability met with passionate, wholehearted, generous covering. 

As I was worshiping downstairs with the team, there was a moment where I saw this picture of some people who are feeling pretty vulnerable, pretty gross, pretty bad themselves, pretty unsure, pretty weak—whatever it might be. And Jesus comes and actually covers you with his robes of righteousness, of love. He wraps this covering around you. And then, when you look in the mirror, you’re like, “Wow. I didn’t know I could like this.” But the story wasn’t over, because, at one point, that robe was removed, and no longer was there something disgusting underneath. Now it was like you had your own form of beauty. You had your own form of strength. It was Christ in you, that hope of glory. So the covering doesn’t just cover up your sickness and make you feel better for a moment. That covering actually redeems everything underneath the covering, stirs up, evokes the beauty that he made for you to be. His innocent love causes that kind of change.

It’s hard to abide in Christ. It’s hard to keep absorbing that love from time to time. But that’s the only way that we’re going to be able to love like him. We can’t do it in our strength. Never can. Never will. But Jesus knows that. So if we will set aside time to go sit in his presence and allow him to robe us once again—if we can put on Jesus Christ, be robed in his righteousness, we will absorb that love. It will reform us and fill us so that we can then go and clothe others in this world. That’s a beautiful vision of Christ and his Church. Christ and his Bride. You are the Bride of Christ.

Let’s pray:

Jesus, we do thank you so much that you love us, that you gave yourself for us in ways beyond what we can imagine. I pray, Lord, that once again we would allow you to cover us so that you can cleanse us and transform us and fill us, so that we can go into this world and we can cover others with that same love. Thank you. 

______________________________

©️2019 Living Streams Church

7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture noted as taken from The Message: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group

The Mysteries and Majesty of God

Mark Buckley
Series: Ephesians

Good morning, Living Streams. Good to see you today. David is up at Lost Canyon with over 100 of our men with 450 other guys from around the Valley. They’re having a great time. He’ll be back preaching next week. We’re doing a sermon series on Ephesians. If you want to open your Bible to Ephesians, that would be great.

I want to say thank you to those of you who have been praying for Kristina and myself. My wife, Kristina, is a candidate for a heart transplant. She’s twelve sessions into a thirty-six session cardio rehab prep, so that the surgery itself is something she will survive, Lord willing. It is a big battle. But at the same time, with so many people praying for us, we’re experiencing a lot of grace. We’re enjoying life. So it’s one of those mixtures. It’s the best of times and also dark clouds on the horizon. So, thank you again for praying for her.

The title of this message is The Mysteries of God in Ephesians. When I was a kid, I went to church every week. I went to confession and communion and catechism classes. When I was a teenager, I asked in a catechism class one time something about God. It was a profound question on my heart. The teacher said, “Well, that’s a mystery.” Sort of like, if it’s a mystery then you’re out of it. You don’t have an answer. We’ll never know.

I began to think in my mind, “Well, if it’s a mystery to you and it’s a mystery to me, what am I doing here? I’m going to go somewhere where I can get some answers.” And I began a search that took me through all kinds of Eastern religions and occult practices and, ultimately back to Jesus. Ultimately, I saw in people who really loved Jesus, who believed that he’s alive, a life of vitality, something in the Spirit that drew me. I was drawn to him because of healing and miracles and a need that I felt in my own life to really connect to God—even thought the message itself seemed too simple. And the people seemed pretty simple. They didn’t seem like my people. For a while, that was a big struggle for me. 

So, today we’re going to talk about mysteries of God from the book of Ephesians. We’re going to talk about three things: The Mystery of God’s Will. The Mystery of Christ uniting Jews and Gentiles, and The Mystery of Christ and the Church.

First: The Mystery of God’s Will. Ephesians 1:9

9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 

Let’s pray together.

Father God, I ask that you, who are the revealer of mysteries, that you would speak to our hearts this morning; that you would touch us where we need to be touched; that you would show us life is not an accident. It’s not chance. We’re here for a divine purpose. And that you would reveal those divine purposes to each one of us. In Jesus’ name. 

So, Paul says, hitting the big mystery on the head, he’s like, “God has revealed to us the master of his will.” The first spiritual truth anybody understands is life is not an accident. It’s not just luck. It’s not just chance. 

I listen to a podcast that I love called How I Built This, by Guy Raz. He interviews the founders of Instagram, Airbnb, SnapChat and all these different companies. And he’s talking to them about how they got from zero—when they first started, when they first had an idea—to the fulfillment of this vision, in many cases which is far beyond what they had originally anticipated. And, at the end of the interview, he always asks them the same question, every person he interviews. He says, “How much of your success do you attribute to luck, and how much is just hard work?” And they all have various answers.

If, per chance, I ever was interviewed by somebody like that, I would not say it was luck. I would say there is a lot of hard work to get from where we are to the fulfillment of the dreams and visions in our heart. But there’s a lot of something else called the grace of God. And the grace of God is an impartation that allows us to fulfill a destiny far beyond our capacity, if it was just up to us and our hard work or chance. 

So Paul says the mystery of his will has been revealed to us. And here’s what it is in verse 10:

10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

This is the will of God. To bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. Now, if Genghis Khan had known that, he might have killed far fewer people in his attempt to conquer the world. If Alexander the Great had known that, he might not have died as a young man. If Hitler had known that, he would never have invaded Poland, Russia, Austria, Czechoslovakia. Because the destiny of the Germans wasn’t to rule the world and to bring a better order according to their understanding of how life should function. 

If the ruler of Isis had known that, he wouldn’t have had to flee Syria and Iraq and leave devastation in his wake. The destiny of the world is not to be united under an Islamic caliphate. 

America needs to know that. Our destiny is not to be all Republicans or all Democrats. Even though some of us push. I had dinner with a friend the other night. We got in a big political fight because, every now and then friends like to do that. Get rid of what’s in their heart—a little frustration. Nevertheless, we’re not destined to all be Catholics, or all be Baptists, or all be at Living Streams. We are destined to all bow our knee to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who was sent by the Father to not only bring salvation, but to rule and to reign and to establish a kingdom that will last forever. 

The second mystery: The Mystery of Christ uniting Jews and Gentiles. Ephesians 3:

2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

He says, “I wrote about this mystery that came through revelation.” And it’s in chapter 2 and we’ll go back there in a minute.  

4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is 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.

Now, somebody might ask the question, when we talk about the mystery of Jews and Gentiles being united, the mystery of Christ and the Church and Israel. Somebody might say, “What’s the big deal? Why is that important? Who even cares?”

Well, let me say this. You will care a lot if you take the time to read the Old Testament and you see the covenant promises that God made to his people to bless them. Not just them as individuals, but to bless them for generations and generations, when they keep his promises. They have promises. They have prophecies. They have the law and the patriarchs. Everything that was first given to Abraham and then to his son Isaac, and then to Jacob and the twelve sons of Jacob who became the nation Israel. All those promises become our through Christ. We become inheritors of something through a mysterious union that allows Jews and Gentiles to become one. We’ll talk about that in just a minute.

The other day I was looking at Kristina. She was sitting at the kitchen table and there was a big, thousand-piece puzzle that she was putting together. And I walked by. It looked a little strange to me. I said, “How’s it going with the puzzle?” And she said, “Well, I like to do it upside down without looking at the picture on the box.” And I thought, “Yeah, that’s my wife. It’s really strange.” She said, “It’s good for my brain.” It would drive my brain crazy trying to do a thousand-piece puzzle, but to do it upside down without looking at the picture, that’s tough.

I’m trying to give you a picture today of what God wants to do. As much as anything, if you have a picture of his will and his purpose, then even though different events don’t always make sense, you can save the understanding of how that fits into your life for a time when there’s another piece that produces clarity, if you know what I mean. Are you following me? Because we all have certain events that don’t seem to fit. And some of those are very painful events. Some of those seem like scars. By faith we have to resist the temptation to be angry and to say, “That person has messed up my life.” Because nobody has the power to mess up your life. The only thing that will mess up your life is if you will let that pain fester through unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness. That will cause you some trouble. 

Now we’re going to go back into Ephesians and see how we become united with the Jews to fulfill God’s purpose. Ephesians 2 (RSV):

1 And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 

He’s talking about the demonic realm, and how, at one time we cooperated with the demonic realm. We were just going for whatever felt good, whatever was going to make us happy and gratify us at the time. 

3 Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

The secret sauce that transforms us is called grace. It’s a divine energy that we didn’t earn, we don’t deserve, but we get to receive. Jesus received it from the Father. He lived a sinless life, and in his sinless life there was a grace that he was able to transmute—or to impart—to his disciples. And when he imparted that grace to them, they were able to heal sick people, cast out demons, and do amazing things that they were never able to do before. And he said, “After I’m gone, you guys are going to be even better off. Because I’m going to the Father and the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you.” 

This grace saves us. It makes us whole. I know that I’m not worthy in terms of being a good person for God to answer my prayers. I’m just sort of an average guy. Most people, if you do an intelligence test, they’re all just a little bit above average. Right? Nobody says, “I’m actually a little big below average, a little bit meaner, a little nastier than the norm.” But I know that I don’t drive real nice. I know there’s no impulse in me that says, when I’m at the grocery store, “Oh, let somebody else go ahead of me in line because they only have a few things.” No. I’m in a hurry. I’ve got people to see and things to do. You know what I mean? I need grace. 

And it says: We’ve been….

6 …raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— 

We have received this impartation of grace that lifts us up. Instead of being people that are bombarded because of the participation we’ve had in the demonic realm that leaves us vulnerable to all kinds of thoughts and impulses that leave people empty and defiled—now we have this grace. And grace, for the first time in my life when I was twenty years old, when I said, “God, I want to give my life to Jesus. I’m a little afraid to say the prayer, because I was afraid all my life that you’d make me wear a black suit and stay celibate and liven Iowa or something like that.” Every time I say that, somebody comes forward from Iowa, deeply offended. Nothing personal. It was my own fear. I’m sure it’s a lovely place. 

However, we have one sense of what our destiny is and then God gives us grace. We discover when we have grace, that we can overcome. That we can actually be the person that we really would like to be in our hearts. Now, do we do it all the time? No, not all the time and in every situation. But we have the power to do what’s right because we’ve been lifted up out of the mire—the Slough of Despondency that David was talking about last week. And we are seated now in the heavenly realms with Christ. That is a realm that has actually come to the earth. That’s another whole mystery. But Jesus brought the kingdom to earth. We live in a fallen world, but we live in the kingdom of God in the midst of a fallen world. 

That’s why my wife and I, in the midst of the fact that her heart is failing—she’s going to need a new heart—we can actually still enjoy life because we would be dishonest if we said we weren’t experiencing blessing right now. We are being blessed right now. If you’re living your life like you are waiting until the weekend to have fun, you are waiting until your vacation to relax, you are waiting until you retire to travel, if you are waiting and waiting and waiting, you’ll be waiting until it’s too late. You’re either going to experience God’s kingdom now, or you’re missing out. 

So, the second part, in terms of being united with the Jews, he deals with Ephesians 2:11

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, 

The Jews were the circumcision. The Gentiles were the uncircumcision.

which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, 

The dividing wall of hostility. Why was there hostility between the Jews and at the Gentiles. It’s because God told the Jews to stay away from their corrupt practices. He didn’t mean for them to judge and despise the Gentiles. But you know, if you’re like me, that if you quit eating meat, or tried it for a while, you have a tendency to despise meat eaters. If you sit in first class, then you sort of look down on people in coach, you know? If you live in a nice house, then you’re not as impressed with somebody who lives in a lesser house, or whatever. That’s human nature. 

So the Jews who were very religious in keeping all of the law of God sort of despised the people who were eating anything, partying all the time. They despised the unhealthy lifestyle of the Gentiles. And when somebody despises you, you despise them back. When somebody judges you, you judge them back. It’s a natural self-defense mechanism. 

So there was a hostility. And now, Jesus comes. The Son of God is manifest. And before him, all men are sinners. All of us have a big need. And he sheds his blood. He dies on the cross for the Jew and the Gentile. We all need forgiveness of sins. The religious people couldn’t really connect with God, and the irreligious people couldn’t really connect with God. We’re all equal before God as sinners. We all can receive forgiveness. And when we do, the hostility goes away. We become brothers. 

17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

That’s a lot of words. Here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying you have a place in the family of God. You are a member of the family. You are now a chosen person. And when you believe that, there’s something that changes in your life. 

My daughter Kelly, has a foster child. This little girl has been bounced from her dad to her mom. There’s drug addictions. There’s irresponsible behavior. She has appointments with family members who never bother to show up and take her. She has been a heart-broken person. But when my daughter invited her into her family, this little girl hit the jackpot, when it comes to foster care. Because she is loved and she is prayed for. Before she goes to bed, she wants me to pray for her when she’s at our house. And she gets all kinds of good food. And when we go to a restaurant, we don’t say, “The family eats one thing and you eat something else.” It’s like, “Go ahead and order whatever you want. When you are in this family, you are welcome. You are welcome here. Whatever blessing God puts on us extends to you, too.” 

That’s how we do life. That’s how God does life with his children. When he says you are a member of the family of God, he says, “I’m not holding anything back from my kids. I am giving them everything they need for life, everything they need to overcome. All the grace that will transform them and make them fruitful, and allow them to fulfill their destiny. That is the gift that I have for all my children.”

It’s not just for the Jews. The Gentiles are not excluded. They become one in Christ. Through the blood that was shed, we can all draw near. It says we can all approach the Father with freedom and confidence. The Church is a family. That’s what our theme is.

Our last mystery, I just want to touch on. We’re going to skip all the way to the third point. The Mystery of Christ in the Church. Ephesians 5. In Ephesians 5 he’s talking a lot about husbands and wives. And how husbands relate to their wives, how they should love their wives as they love their own body. When your body aches, you stop. You don’t just power through the pain. You make sure you get a massage or physical therapy or you rest, or whatever. Husbands love your wife like your own body. 

And wives, submit to your husbands. That’s a fearful command unless you realize that your submission to your husband is similar to our submission to Christ. Christ is the one who covers us. When you’re doing what he wants you to do, there’s a special blessing that is imparted to you.

He goes into this whole teaching on marriage. Then he says something that seems really strange at the end of verse 31. 

For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 

The two become one flesh through the sexual union and the union of marriage. 

This is a great mystery. And I mean in reference to Christ and the church. 

He talks about mysteries. Now he says this is a great mystery. In some translations, this is a profound mystery. What’s the mystery? The mystery is that, just as a husband and wife become one, Christ and the Church become one. So, let’s back it up. What does it mean for a husband and a wife to become one? 

Kristina and I have been married forty-six years as of a week ago Monday. We’re one. But I’m not Kristina and she’s not Mark. We’re distinct in that. We have distinct personalities. We have different tastes when it comes to certain things. But when it comes to our standing before God, when it comes to our equality before God, when it comes to God’s love for us, we’re one. When we pray together in unity, we have power. When we have disagreements, if I’m too harsh, if she’s too whatever, and we’re battling each other, it hinders our prayers. That’s why Peter said in 1 Peter 3, “Husbands live with your wives in an understanding way so your prayers aren’t hindered.”

What he’s saying is there’s something really powerful that God wants to do when you’re in unity that doesn’t happen when you’re in disunity. So you’ve got to figure each other out. And husbands, it’s especially incumbent on you to figure out your wife. And I’ll give you a little clue that God gave you a gift and that gift is in the package of a female version of yourself, that you’re often out of touch with. She sees life different. She wants to drive through the city different. She wants to spend money a little bit different. But in all those ways, if you can understand where she’s coming from, you’re going to be enriched. You’re going to have a better chance of being in unity. And when you’re enjoying your unity, then things are good. Things are as good as it’s going to get in a lot of ways.

So now he’s saying, “I’m not just talking about husbands and wives.” That’s what he says at the end of this. “I’m not just talking about learning to figure out how you do life in a unique way; and the way you do life”—who manages the money, who does the cooking, who does the shopping, who cleans this and who fixes that. The way you do it should be unique to the gifts and skill set of your family, of your husband and your wife. He says, “I’m not just talking about that. I’m talking about Christ and the Church are one.”

I’ve had the privilege over this last year of preaching in California, Nevada, Hawaii, Arizona, in this Valley from Sun City to the San Tan Valley. I’ve had the opportunity to worship with congregations of people who were in retirement communities and also worship at ASU with Hope Church, where they have rap worship. I’m not a big rap fan, but their rap worship is awesome. I’m not a big old hymns fan. But you go to Glencroft Retirement Community and we’re enjoying one of their worship services. And I’m telling you the Holy Spirit moves in the midst of some really old, beautiful hymns. You know why? Because those people worship with all of their hearts.

What am I getting at? What I’m getting at is this. Whether you’re in a retirement community or a college campus, when you’re whole heartedly committed to Christ, then the church becomes one with Christ. The presence of God is there. And when the presence of God is there, the blessing of God is there. And when the blessing of God is there, people’s lives are transformed. It’s pretty cool.

Now, if you know me, you know I believe in speaking in tongues and prophecy and healing. I believe it’s all for today. But every now and then I’ll preach in a church where they don’t necessarily believe in some of those things. Or they definitely, even if they were to accept it, they don’t emphasize it any way, shape or form. But here’s what I’ve discovered. The people that are really committed to Christ, the people that are really involved in the church, have become one with Christ and over the years, they reach a place of maturity that makes them indistinguishable from anybody in this congregation. You know why? Because the life that transforms us, the grace that transforms us comes from Jesus himself.

In the midst of the Church, when the Church is one with Christ, is Christ himself. Not just at Living Streams or at Life Point or at Streams in the West Valley, but at New City, and Church for the Nations, and the Catholic parishes around. In spite of the fact that we actually have a few things and a few people that do life a little weird and don’t always believe the same way. And they have a few people that believe some things, and sometimes even leaders that do things they should have never done and they pay a price for that. And so do we. Because there aren’t any perfect congregations. It’s all a mixture of people that start in spiritual infancy and, hopefully, grow into a place of spiritual maturity as we are connected together.

Because it says here in Ephesians that, if we are built together, that he makes us into a dwelling in which he inhabits by his Spirit. We become stones—Peter says it—stones that form a building that Christ fills. So the real life-giving element in every church is Christ himself. And when we gather in his name, we’re together in his presence. 

So when somebody says, “Oh, I just can’t find a church.” That’s a little bit like when I hear somebody say (which you never hear), “I can’t find a restaurant that I like to eat at in this city. I can’t find one.” Really? It’s just food, you know. It’s just food in a restaurant. Church is just people. But a church is people gathered to meet Jesus.

As we close this service this morning, we want to meet with Jesus, right? We want to have some of the mysteries of our lives solved. We want to have the puzzle pieces of life fit together. Daniel, who interpreted the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar, when he did so, he said, “God is the revealer of mysteries. God himself.” 

Let’s pray together.

Father God, you are the one who reveals mysteries. You are the one who unites us with your people. You have brought us into your family. You have called us to love one another. We want to bear fruit together, to make known your marvelous grace on the earth, to reveal your plans and purposes. In Jesus’ name.

---

©️2019 Living Streams Church
7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV®,
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.