The Minister of the Mystery: What He Is (2)

As we saw last time in Ephesians 3:7—Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power—a minister is more than just the guy who “makes his living as a minister in the church.” Yes, the word is used of men who were full‑time preachers, but in its primary meaning, it refers to ALL believers being ministers (i.e. being a servant) to the needs of other believers. We quoted Hebrews 6:10, but more pointed is I Peter 4:10‑11, where Peter also  writes to believers as a whole: “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Briefly, God’s Word gives us no less than eleven ways in which God’s people minis­ter to (serve) one another. First, we are to edify (build up) one another (Rom. 14:19). We never say something that tears someone down, rather all that we say and do builds others up in Christ. Second, we are to admonish (warn) one another (Rom. 15:14). “Rebuking” is done only by the pastor (I Tim. 5:20; II Tim. 4:2; Tit. 1:13), but all of us should lovingly and humbly warn others of the consequences of wrong behavior. Third, we are to bear each other’s burdens (Gal. 6:2, 5). If we can’t empathize with another believer, at least we can sympathize and try to ease the burden. Fourth, we are to forgive one another (Eph. 4:32). Yes, there will be times when a Christian brother or sister says or does something that upsets us, but we forgive them and go on. Fifth, we are to comfort one another (I Thes. 4:18); we should all console and encourage other believers. This is not just a pastor’s duty. Sixth, we are to exhort (challenge) one another (Heb. 10:24‑25). We should stir up each other’s spiri­tual affections and challenge one another to be what God wants all of us to be. Seventh, we are to meet each other’s physical needs (Jas. 2:15‑16). Instead of living by today’s philosophies (“Let the government take care of it” or “Let the insurance company cover it”), we should rather take care of physical needs as they arise. The rule is: If you see a need, meet it. Eighth, we are to confess our sins to one another (Jas. 5:16). If we wrong someone, hurt them, or offend them, we must go to them and get it straightened out. Ninth, we are to pray for one another (Jas. 5:16). How important this is! Tenth, we are to promote unity within the body (Eph. 4:1‑3). We are to strive to keep Christ’s Body unified through an emphasis on spiritual things. While we must not unify at the price of doctrine, we must strive to keep the true body unified. Eleventh, we are to love one another (I Jn. 3:11). This encompasses all the others. If we have a “self‑emptying self‑sacrifice” (agapē) for our fellow believers, it is going to show brilliantly.

All of that is true service, true ministry. Many today who “do something for God” want fanfare, they want bells and whistles to go off, they want a trophy, they want some kind of reward for their efforts. But that is not service; it’s remuneration. True service is doing things without thought of compensation or even recognition. May we repeat, the rule is: If you see a need, meet it. The second most important area of local church ministry is the body minis­tering to itself, that is, believers serving believers. In fact, as we’ll see in Ephesians 3: 8b‑9, preaching is the pri­mary ministry in this age. Therefore, the two major areas of Christian ministry are preaching and the body ministering to itself.

The Minister of the Mystery: What He IS (1)

Ephesians 3:7—Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power—gives us great insight into one of the views that the Apostle Paul had of himself, namely, that he was a minister.

What is a minister? This word has been violently abused and thrown around for years. It has, in fact, for the most part, lost its Biblical meaning. That’s a strong statement, but it’s true; when we compare how most people use the word today and how God uses it in Scripture, we find a great difference. We need to take the time to study this word and examine some principles that apply to its use. We’ll break our study down into two emphases: what a minister is and how one becomes a minister.

The basic meaning of the Greek for minister (diakonos) in secular usage was “a server of tables, a waiter.” While this meaning is found in the New Testament, the majority of the 29 occurrences of it go much deeper in meaning. Paul especially used this word in deeper ways: a “servant” of the new covenant (II Cor. 3:6); a “servant” of righteousness (II Cor. 11:15); a “servant” of Christ (II Cor. 11:23; Col. 1:7; I Tim. 4:6); a “servant” of God (II Cor. 6:4); a “servant of the Gospel” (Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:23); a “servant” of the Church (Col. 1:25). In each of these usages, therefore, we see something far more than just “a server of tables.” As he often did, Paul transforms the word to give a deeper, spiritual meaning.

The word minister, however, has been sorely abused and made into something God never intended it to be. It is normally used today exclusively of the pastor or other Church leader. We hear such phrases as, “He’s my minister” or “He’s on of the ministers in town.” In other words, no one else can “minister” except the “minister.” But that is not what this word primarily means. Yes, the word is used of men who were full‑time preachers, but in its primary meaning, it refers to ALL believers being ministers (i.e. being servants) to the needs of other believers. For example, writing to a group of believers, Paul declared: “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Heb. 6:10).

So, we repeat, ALL believers are to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of other believers.

I never think of the word minister that I don’t think of another Greek word that is translated as such. It is hupēretēs, a fascinating word that means “under rower,” originally indicating the lowest galley slaves, the ones rowing on the bottom tier of a ship, often chained to his oar. They were the most menial, unenvied, and despised of slaves. Paul uses this term of himself in I Corinthians 4:1: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” This certainly doesn’t paint the ministry as something desirable or glamorous, as many view it today. The galley slave was not above anyone; he had the hardest labor, the cruelest punishment, the least appreciation, and in general the most hopeless existence of all slaves. What a picture this paints of the Biblical pastor today who is “chained to his desk,” where he spend the majority of his time in the Word of God so he can feed his people. We’ll continue these thoughts next time.

The Meaning of “the Mystery”

Ephesians 3:1-12 contain the most com­plete explanation of the mystery of the Church in all the New Testament. Many today do not understand the ministry of the Church because they do not understand the meaning of the Church, and they in-turn don’t understand either one of those because they do not know what these verses say. In the next few installments, we’ll examine three things about this mystery: its meaning, its minister, and its ministry.

What is a mystery? As Webster defines, usually we think of a mystery as “something unexplained or inexplicable,” or “whatever resists or defies explanation [such as] (the mystery of the stone monoliths).” In the New Testament, however, mystery (Greek, musterion) pictures “that which was hidden, but is now Divinely revealed.” A New Testament mystery is not incomprehensible to the human mind, rather it is undiscoverable by the human mind apart from God’s intervention. In other words, a mystery was something hidden from Old Testament saints but now fully revealed and explained in the New Testament. There are several “mysteries” spoken of in the New Testament. One of the most important ones, perhaps even the most dramatic of all, is “the Church,” which Paul deals with here.

First, verse 6 tells us what this mystery is: That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. In short: the previously hidden truth that is now Divinely revealed is that Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ. How marvelous this is! Both Jew and Gentile equally inherit salvation and the blessings it brings; both are equal members in the Body of Christ. Such an idea was so far beyond conception that a Gentile would of thought it laughable and a Jew would have thought it repugnant. But Paul goes to great lengths to demonstrate that this is precisely what God has done in Christ. He has brought an unthinkable unity through the Savior’s blood.

Second, verse 5a—Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men—declares that the mystery of the Church was never known before this age, that is, the age of the Church, which began at Pentecost (Acts 2) and continues to today. The Church was hinted at and foreshadowed at various times (such as God’s promise to Abraham [Gen. 12:3] that through him all nations would be blessed), but no one had full knowledge until this age.

Third, Paul was given the most knowledge of the mystery, as verse 3-4, and 5b state: by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) . . . as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Without argument, while other apostles knew of the mystery of the Church, it was Paul who knew more about that mystery than anyone else, more knowledge of the offices, government, ministry, ordinances, discipline, and all else. This thought leads to one other point.

How marvelous is this age in which we live. We now know and experience a reality never known, experienced, or even imagined before this age. While Ephesians 1 shows us the Believer’s Riches In Christ and Ephesians 2 shows us the Believer’s Reconciliation to God, Ephesians 3 shows us the the Believer’s Rank in God’s Program. And what is our rank? We all are of EQUAL RANK; we are all equal members of the Body of Christ. And, once again, it all has been accomplished by the blood of our dear Savior.

One Building in Christ: The Purpose

Once again, all true believers are part of the “one building” in Christ. Not only have do we see the structure and result of this building, but we see a third principle in Ephesians 2:21—In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit—the purpose of this building. Yes, the structure has been built, and it is ever growing, but what is the ultimate purpose, the final goal of the process?

The Greek verb behind builded together (sunoikodomeo) means “to build in company with someone,” and the Greek for habitation (katoiketerion) pictures a dwelling place. Simply stated, the purpose of this joint building project is to form a dwelling place for God’s presence through the Spirit. What a thought!

Of all the churches to which Paul wrote, the church at Corinth had messed up the Church more than any other. Everything they touched, they perverted or misapplied. They are a classic example of what Paul is dealing with here in Ephesians, that the Universal Church, the Body of Christ, is to be a [dwelling place] of God through the Spirit. In turn, the Local Church was designed by God to be a reflec­tion of the Universal Church. Why? Because God want­ed to use a physical entity to minister to a physical world.

So, like the Universal Church, the Local Church which should manifest reverence and worship in the assem­bly. Yes, we most certainly can go too far by revering our stained glassed windows, genuflecting before the altar, and speaking in hushed, pious whispers. But many have gone too far the other way, having no reverence whatsoever when they meet for worship. I doubt that I will ever forget a Sunday morning in one church I was visiting a few years ago when more than once I heard the distinctive sound of a pop can being opened in the middle of the worship service. I was appalled that there could be so little reverence in the place of worship.

I have also observed in the last several years a direct correlation between reverence and entertainment in that the less reverence there is for the place of worship, the more entertainment oriented a church is. A. W. Tozer was conscious of where the church was headed decades ago. He wrote much about the decline of worship and reverence and the increase of entertainment. Here is just one comment:

Fiction, films, fun, frolic, religious entertainment, Hollywood ideals, big business techniques, and cheap, worldly philosophies now overrun the sanctuary. The grieved Holy Spirit broods over the chaos but no light breaks forth. ‘Revivals’ come without rousing the hostility of organized sin and pass without raising the moral level of the community or purifying the lives of professing Christians. Why?

Could it be that too many of God’s true children, and especially the preachers, are sinning against God by guilty silence? When those whose eyes are opened by the touch of Christ become vocal and active God may begin to fight again on the side of truth. I for one am waiting to hear the loud voices of the prophets and reformers sounding once more over a sluggish and drowsy church.

They’ll pay a price for their boldness, but the results will be worth it.

Tozer wrote that more than 40 years ago, but look where we are today. Where are the preachers who are standing up and thundering, “No, that kind of ministry is wrong, worldly, and wretched?” Instead, many have joined the ranks of Pragmatism and Relativism, and would rather please men instead of please God.

I merely submit this: we should treat the place of public worship as more than just an auditorium, for an auditorium can be anything from a lecture hall to a movie theatre. We should treat the place of public worship as what it is—an habitation of God through the Spirit. It grieves my heart when I don’t see reverence among God’s people, when it is more important to us that we are comfortable, entertained, and are having “our needs met” than it is that we have come humbly and reverently before a Holy God. Yes, the Holy Spirit does, indeed, dwell in us, but His being in us also means that He is with us in our public worship. If this thought does not promote reverence and worship, we are in a sad spiritual condition.

One Building in Christ: The Result

As we saw last time, all true believers are part of the “one building” in Christ. We also saw, the first aspect of this building is its structure. Ephesians 2:21—In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord—shows us the result of this building, which is three fold.

First, it produces unity among the parts. The words fitly framed together translate an utterly fascinating single Greek word (sunarmologeo) an architectural metaphor that pictures the intricate process in masonry of fitting stones together to form a structure. The word is actually made up of three words, which when all the literal meanings are put together means “together-joint-choose.” The picture is vivid. We can see the stonemason diligently choosing a stone, carefully chipping away a corner here, an imperfection there, trying it in the wall for fit, and then repeating the process as many times as need until it fits exactly. In so doing he not only makes a strong wall, but one in which every stone compliments the others and the wall as a whole. Consider also that not one stone is exactly like another—each one is unique.

What a beautiful picture of true unity in the Church! Every believer needs to “fit.” The building of the Church is an ongoing process in which each believer is being properly and uniquely cut and trimmed to be useful to the Building, to compliment the whole.

Second, this structure is growing. Talk about mixing your metaphors! We usually think of a building as a static thing; once done, it’s done. But not so this building. The Greek for groweth (auxano) means “to grow or increase, of the growth of that which lives, naturally or spiritually.” The key to understanding this word is that growth comes from a power outside the object. God’s building is a living entity that is ever growing. But it grows not because of its own special abilities, and certainly not because of the talents of any of the stones in it, but only because of God’s power.

This is a significant truth in our success-oriented day. Church ministry in the large percentage of the Church is built on human philosophy, business technique, and worldly methods. It is no longer doctrine that is important, rather entertainment. It is no longer Christ Who is building His Church (Matt. 16:18), rather the so-called “Christian leader” who has the latest pragmatic, people-pleasing approach. To be brutally frank, this has truly prostituted the Church; much of the Church has become a “spiritual harlot” that has sold herself for the sake of gain.

Third, this ongoing construction is producing a “spiritual house,” that is, a holy temple. The Greek here is not the general word for the Temple area as a whole (hieros), rather it is the word naos. Like the Greek behind “household” in verse 19, naos dates back to the Mycenaean period of Greek history (1600-1200 BC). In ancient Greek, it was used of the innermost sanctuary or cell of the pagan temple where the image of gold was placed. Likewise, it refers here to the “inner sanctuary,” the Holy of Holies. This is the word used in Matthew 27:51, for example—“Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent”—to show that Christ’s death had now given man access to the Holy of Holies.

What then does this construction produce? It produces a holy assembly, a group of believers, living stones, whose hearts and minds are set on spiritual things and spiritual growth. Did you get it? Oh, would that all our local assem­blies today were set upon that!

One Building in Christ: The Structure

The Apostle Paul paints a third picture in Ephesians 2:19-22. Not only are true believers “fellowcitizens with the saints” and “of the household of God,” but they are also parts of one building (vs. 20-22). Here is a truly amazing analogy. We clearly see three very foundational concepts, the first of which is The Structure, which in turn has three parts.

First, Christ is the corner stone, a term rooted in ancient architecture. The Greek here (akrogoniaios) is a compound word made up of akron (“top” or “tip”) and gonia (“an angle or corner”). The literal idea of this word then is, as one commentator puts it, “At the tip of the angle” and refers to “the stone set at the corner of a wall so that its outer angle becomes important.” It was this stone, then, that became the basis for every measurement in the building. It governed every line and angle. It provided no more support to the structure than any other stone; rather its entire value lay in its outer angle.

This is the picture Paul is giving of Christ. In all respects He was the perfect corner stone, strong, perfect in character, and exact in measurement. We, therefore, are to conform to Him in every de­tail, for as we’ll see later, we too are part of the building. What if we do not conform to the corner stone? What if we are not measured according to that standard? What if our placement is not according to that absolute? In answer to that, just think of how noticeable peeling paint is on a house or how an improperly laid brick or stone sticks out. Any such flaw either weakens, or at the very least, disfigures the build­ing. Likewise, we are to conform to Christ lest we weaken or disfigure the building.

Second, the apostles and prophets are part of the foundation. An “Apostle” was one who was personally commissioned by the Lord Jesus and saw Him in His resurrection body. A “Prophet” (as the Greek prophētēs clearly indicates) is one who speaks immediately of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s point, then, is that the apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the Church. A building is only as good as its foundation. It must be horizontally level, vertically plumb, and made of the best materials. This foundation is absolutely essential. A builder can erect the most beautiful edifice in the world, but if it is not a good foundation, it will eventually crumble. That is why God used the apostles and prophets; they were the only adequate foundation.

But what was the foundation that they laid? The answer is most important in light of our day. One expositor rightly answers this question by writing: “Since both the apostles and prophets had a teaching role, the foundation is teaching. Thus the foundation of the new temple is God’s Word, especially the New Testament Scriptures. The Church stands or falls in its regard for the New Testament Scriptures. If we tamper with the foundation, the temple will crumble. That is why Paul ordered Timothy to “preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:2).” How imperative it is that we understand that Truth! God used these men to build a foundation based on doctrine. If we alter that foundation, if we tamper with it, we will destroy the structure.

Third, individual believers are the remaining parts of the structure. This is a marvelous picture! Verse 19 speaks of individual believers; verse 20 then says that these are built upon the foundation. I Corinthians 12 describes the Church as one Body which is made up of many members. When we consider the individual cells that make up a physical body, we soon realize that there are countless millions of members in the body. So, whether we speak of an arm, a leg, an eye, a finger, “a little toe of the body,” as someone wrote to me once in reference to his position, or just one cell, it matters not because each is equally important, and none is useful by itself.

Likewise, the Church is one Building with countless pieces and parts. Dear Christian, you are useful to the building. Perhaps you are a 4x8 sheet of plywood flooring, a 2x4 stud in a wall, a shingle on the roof, or simply a small finishing nail in a piece baseboard. No matter what piece each of us is, we each have a purpose, a meaning, and a responsibility. The human tendency is to think that a beautiful bay window is more important than a single nail used in the window casing. And we do the same in the church, thinking one member is more important than another. But this is prideful and humanistic. Every part of the building is there for the benefit of the whole. Yes, that bay window is beautiful, but it is there only to compliment the building, and without the window casing and the nails that hold it in, that window would topple out and disfigure the whole structure. Likewise, no Christian is more important than another because each one edifies the whole.

One Household in Christ

In the first part of Ephesians 1:19, the Apostle Paul speaks of the fact that true believers are no longer “strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints.” In his wonderful way, Paul changes his metaphor in the latter part of the verse, and this one is even more significant, that they are of the household of God. There is a much greater intimacy in speaking of membership in a family than in citizenship in a nation. This in no way discounts our heavenly citizen­ship (Phil. 3:20), but even deeper and more personal is the fact that we are now in God’s family.

The depth of this is seen in the Greek for household, oikeios, which means “belonging to the house, member of the household.” The word from which it is derived, oikos (house, dwelling place), is truly ancient. It’s found as early as the Mycenaean period of Greek history (1600-1200 BC). It was also used in the metaphorical sense to denote “the family, the property, and other similar concepts connected with the house itself.”

This word is used exactly the same way in the New Testament. In the literal sense, we find it, for example, in Matthew 2:11, “And when [the wise men] were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him.” We also find it several times in the metaphorical sense, as when Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house” (Matt. 13:57) and when Paul wrote that he had “baptized also the household of Stephanas” (I Cor. 1:16).

This etymology makes Paul’s point in our text marvelously clear—the Christian is a member of the household of God, His family, and enjoys the full fellowship of His house. As we saw in 2:6, we are already “[sitting] together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This is why our Lord said to His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you;” our place is already made and spiritually we are already there.

As Paul told the Galatian believers, “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). But may we submit, there is something to be careful of here. As most Christians have heard at one time or another, “Abba” is the Aramaic word for “father,” or as commonly viewed as “Papa” or “Daddy.” There has, therefore, been the tendency to regard this word too flippantly, the result being an over familiarity with God where He in essence answers to us.

But “Abba” more precisely means, “My father,” “Father, my Father” or, “Dear Father.” The ancient Syriac Version of the New Testament (early second century) translates this term, “By which we call the Father our Father.” One writer well sums up: “At one time it was thought that since children used this term to address their fathers, the nearest equivalent would be the English term “Daddy.” More recently, however, it has been pointed out that Abba was a term not only that small children used to address their fathers; it was also a term that older children and adults used. As a result it is best to understand Abba as the equivalent of “Father” rather than “Daddy” (Robert H. Stein in Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, p. 247).

The point then is that intimacy is clearly there, but so is respect for Who the Father is. This was, of course, the expression the Lord Jesus used as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), so both intimacy and respect are present. Yes, our Lord had an intimate relationship with the Father and made request of Him, but there was still respect and reverence as He came into submission to the Father’s will. This challenges us to be very careful not to barge into God’s presence demanding our desires. Some disagree with this principle and quickly quote Hebrews 4:16 (“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”), but “boldly” does not mean “presumptuously.” The literal idea of the Greek for “come boldly” (meta parresias) is “draw near with confidence [or] freedom of speech.” What does it mean to come boldly? It means to draw near with the confidence that God will listen, to come to Him and speak freely of our needs and desires, but it never means presumption or demand.