Ben Brinkerhoff - Class 3: Finding a Basis for Unity

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   This is day three of the 2019 Idyllwild Bible School. Our second period teacher is Brother Ben Brinkerhoff. His general topic is unity in Ephesus, the story of the ecclesia in Ephesus. Today's topic is finding a basis for unity. Brother Ben. Good morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Good morning. So in our last class we showed some evidence of a controversy that was arising in the Ephesian ecclesia because of what Brother Thomas and others believe are Gnostic ideas.

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   We might do well just to summarize what some of those ideas were and as they're manifested later on in the book of Revelation. These Gnostics believe that they literally had God dwelling inside of them. It wasn't like in a figurative sense because we understand that in a figurative sense, can't we? That makes sense to us.

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   But it wasn't figurative. It's God was literally dwelling inside of them. That was the resurrection, right? And that God could tell them what to do. That little voice inside, right? And that was a greater authority. This enlightenment they had, this revelation was a greater authority than Scripture, than the apostles, or any other thing, right?

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   That they would need to be subject to and have authority over. So that led, by their way of thinking, to justification of many immoral and debased ideas because they felt that this thing inside me that's God, when I die, it's eternal. It's immortal. It can't go anywhere but back up to God because it derives from God.

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   So there's nothing I can do then in my flesh that can make God less than God. So anything I'm doing in my flesh just adds to my experience. Maybe even informs me, maybe instructs me about the ways of this evil world as I get to appreciate and enjoy those things. So they believe that their works ultimately did not affect their salvation in some sense, literally, let us sin because it's positive.

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   Because if that happens, grace can abound. And the result is gross immorality. And we're told in Revelation chapter 2 what that led to. We read there in verses 14 and 15, But I have a few things against thee because thou hast them there that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

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   For hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. So it's a doctrine that essentially divorced a godly walk from salvation.

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   And notice that some of the things they didn't think that were wrong. They didn't think that fornication was wrong. They didn't think eating things sacrificed unto idols was wrong. It's as if they set out intentionally to oppose the apostolic commandment of unity in Acts chapter 15, which was avoid fornication, avoid things strangled, and avoid things sacrificed to idols.

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   It's as if that Jerusalem conference that was there to bring about unity that they were thinking, we're going to do just the opposite. Or maybe that Jerusalem conference that said about unity was meaning to address some of the issues that were arising already in the early Gentile ecclesia. So Revelation tells us that the Nicolaitans had probably established themselves, or were establishing themselves, in Ephesus.

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    We also saw that when Paul was writing to Timothy while he was living in Ephesus, he delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan because they had taught false doctrine. And I suggest to you that meant that they put away their moral conscience. They blasphemed by holding their special Gnostic knowledge as a truer and better source of God's wisdom in the Scriptures.

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    And they preached resurrection wasn't literal but spiritual and of the mind from the deadness of flesh. And for them, the resurrection was thus passed already. So Paul reaches Jerusalem after leaving Ephesus at the end of his third missionary journey. And he is arrested and imprisoned over the false accusation that he brought Gentiles into the temple court.

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    And so as a prisoner then, Paul writes several epistles of which they are written here, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. So Paul is left in prison to deal with some of the controversies that are now arising in the ecclesia.

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    And the key controversy in the New Testament, which is probably not any surprise to you, was the integration of Jews and Gentiles into a common faith, in which they saw each other as equals in God's plan for salvation. Now it's this subject, the integration of Jews and Gentiles in a common plan for salvation, which the book of Ephesians, in the main, provides a reasoned argument for unity for, and which we'll use to draw our inspiration in our next phase of the study.

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    So I'm a big fan of context, though, as you probably know by now. And before taking up the book of Ephesians, which we intended to start in this class, and looking at unity, I have to ask myself, what does Scripture have to say about what was going on between Jew and Gentile prior to, in and around the time, of Paul's letter to the Ephesians?

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    So on one hand, right, on the extreme hand over here, we see the Gnostic influence. We've already seen that yesterday. But listen, if that was all that was going on, Paul would probably think, I have it easy. Right? That's not all that was going on. There's another problem developing on the other side, another controversy happening in Ephesus at the same time, and in Asia.

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    What was the other controversy? Well, remember when Paul calls the leaders of the Ephesian ecclesia to Miletus, and again, he calls them there in Acts chapter 20, and verses 18 and 19, we sort of get the hints of the other problem happening at this time. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.

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    Now, you probably know this, but lying in wait, if you want to cross reference Acts 9, verses 23 and 24, shows that lying in wait really means the Jews in Ephesus were trying to kill Paul. That's what was going on. And this is, I think, this is likely why Paul calls those leaders to Miletus, which is 72 kilometers south of Ephesus, rather than meeting them in Ephesus itself, because he thought, if I go to Ephesus, they might try to murder me, and I got this Jerusalem poor fund, and I got to bring it to Jerusalem.

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    I can't risk that. And because Paul wrote a lot of his letters at this time, I think we can start to appreciate some of the effects that the Jews were having on Paul at his time in Ephesus. And probably the best verse to look at this is found in 2 Corinthians 1, verses 8 and 9.

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    Now take a look at this. For the stress that Paul was under. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia. Of course, which we know, Ephesus is the principal headmost city in Asia. He says, I don't want you to be ignorant of the trouble that happened to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.

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    But we had the sense of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. I can't really find a parallel, not even in 2 Timothy, to this sort of language. To where Paul says anywhere else that he despaired of life. Which tells us and instructs us about just what was happening in Asia.

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    Just how virulent the Jews of Asia were to the truth. And to Paul in particular. So why do I bring this up? Because this is the backdrop against which Paul encourages unity in Ephesians.

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    The epistle of the Ephesians principally deals with the theme of unity as just seen from a cursory look at the book. I'll show you four references. They're small. I apologize for those in back. I've realized that sometimes these fonts really can't be seen, but I'll just point out the key ideas here. Ephesians 1 verse 10 where we read, As a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him.

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    Ephesians chapter 2 verses 14 and 16 where he says, Ephesians chapter 4 verses 3 to 7, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. Ephesians is written to the Gentiles, I think probably as a circulator to all the ecclesias in Asia, but seeing that Ephesus was the principal city, maybe thinking specific about his time he spent in that city.

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    Ephesians was written to the Gentiles and lays out a foundation for unity between the Jew and the Gentile. Now we understand that in Ephesus at the time there were two extreme schools or views that Paul finds himself in the middle between. See, one group was zealous over the law and over the temple and taught salvation through works and via circumcision.

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    And the other group probably started with, maybe even started with Hellenistic Jews, but incorporated Gentiles and incorporated heathen philosophies and taught that salvation had nothing at all to do with a moral life. My word.

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    Imagine that. And they're both wrong. And Paul writes Ephesians to prove as much. So in Ephesians, Paul has a job of writing to Gentile Christians in Ephesus and to teach them to have unity with the Jews through Christ. Now, which side do you want unity with? Can you imagine any place in the world you'd less like to encourage unity than in Ephesus?

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    I'd say go find a hole and cover yourself. You know? And perhaps there's an exhortation in that, that despite hazards of promoting unity and extremists on either side, unity is exactly what Paul's promoting in this letter.

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    He does so on the one side by insisting that Jews and Gentiles have a joint and undeniable need for Christ who provide salvation via grace. And that would oppose law-promoting Judaizers, would it not? And on the other hand, by insisting on a response that consists of a moral walk in the truth, which would oppose law-breaking Nicolaitans.

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    So Paul, in essence, will encourage unity without giving up essential stands concerning doctrine or morality. Now, I want to just illustrate this. See how Paul opposes both extreme views in a simple set of three verses that emphasize both our grace, our need for grace and mercy to be saved opposing the Jews, and also emphasizing that we must respond with a godly walk opposing the Nicolaitans.

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    So you might want to read along with me. Open up to Ephesians 2, verses 8-10. This might be... I'm not asking you to open up often in terms of the scriptures. Most of them you'll find simply on the board behind me. But this one you might want to turn up because I think this is a very fundamental part of this book that you might just want to note yourself.

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    Ephesians 2, verses 8-10, opposing both extreme views, we read, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

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    So there you see Paul are the true believers. On one side, Judaizers, believing in salvation via law and works. On the other side, you might have Gnostics, who are anti-law and anti-moral.

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    So in one set of verses, Paul is saying salvation is found through Christ via grace. On the other side, he's saying that must imply a moral walk in the truth. So unity is based on understanding of salvation. And morality. And morality. So these verses form two of the great themes of Ephesians. The first theme opposes the Judaizers by emphasizing our joint, meaning Jew and Gentile, absolute need for Christ, such as we just read.

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    And the second opposes the Nicolaitans by emphasizing our mutual requirement to walk in morality. So what's the basis of unity then? Is the basis of unity to sacrifice a right understanding of the atonement? Paul says no.

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    Is the basis for unity to cast aside morality? It doesn't matter. Paul says no. But instead, on the joint basis of doctrine and morality, Paul presses unceasingly for unity. And perhaps that's the exhortation, despite the dangers. So if Paul is not prepared to sacrifice doctrine or morality for the sake of unity, how exactly is he going to promote unity in the letter to the Ephesians?

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    Well, that's the right question, isn't it? If he's not going to say, oh, we can unify by just having a wrong understanding of doctrine and the atonement. We'll unify that way. If that's not going to be the way, okay, we'll unify by saying morality doesn't matter. That's not the way. Well, what's the way?

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    What's the way forward? So Paul will seek unity firstly by asking the believers as he opens up the letter to cast aside an obstacle greater than doctrine, perhaps even greater than morality, in his gross ability to separate and divide.

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    He's going to ask the believers to put aside pride. And in this, Paul intends to be the Ecclesiast's great example. So how does Paul, a Jew from in prison in Rome, seek unity within Ecclesia by writing to Gentiles, by squarely placing himself a Jew equal to the Gentiles? Now, Ephesians chapter 1, we read it at the start of this week.

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    It begins with a couple of Paul's quintessential long sentences. Paul has sentences, they last paragraphs, you know? And I think multiple verses, I think there's two sentences in ten verses, and it's easy to get lost in them. And if you read them, and you just sort of like, you start leaning back a little bit, I understand.

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    And so what I'm going to try to do is I'm going to read this, but I'll emphasize with my voice in case you can't see on the screen, but if you can see on the screen, I've underlined the things I think I want you to pay attention to. And see if you see what I see as Paul opens up this letter to create unity.

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    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved.

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    In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us. For he has made known unto us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, both in heaven and in earth.

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    I want you to imagine yourself for a moment, brothers and sisters. You're a Gentile. You've come into the truth in Asia. You've always been seeking for something, seeking for something better than yourself, seeking for some truth, seeking for some hope. And you are brought into the ecclesia by a brother or sister on that basis, and you get there.

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    And there are some people in the ecclesia that says, who is your father? What's your last name? And they want you to feel bad about where you came from. They want you to think that you are an accident. You're a mistake. You see, God intended to save the Jews. Those were his people.

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    You were brought in just because God was bored. Nothing better to do. I'll save a few Gentiles. It's like I'm on the assembly line and, oh, that one got, oh well. You know, he's in.

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    And you would have been told this. You would have been told that you were lesser. You shouldn't be there. You're a mistake. What are you doing here? And Paul, a Jew, a Jew of Jews, says, God blessed us. He chose us. He destined us. He's bestowed grace on us. He has redeemed us.

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    He has forgiven our sins. He's lavished grace upon us. He's made known his will to us. And as a crowning achievement of it all, he has united us. So unite stands at the end of this long list of verbs. So to the Gentile in Ephesus or in Asia, these are precious words. And although you read those words and they may be obscure to you and you may read them and they may wash over your heads, they did not wash over the heads of the Gentile in Asia that read those words.

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    They knew exactly what Paul was saying. That they were included. They were not second class. They were not second rate. They were not a mistake. They were not an accident. That God intended this. This was his purpose. This was his will.

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    So you might want to do what I did. You take out a colored pencil and you highlight it in so that you never lose that. And you never forget it because we lose it because we take it for granted and they didn't.

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    So having been concluded that the Gentiles were not a mistake, they were intended, they were planned from the foundation of the world, Paul will go on in Ephesians chapter 2 to provide us the great equalizer between Jews and Gentiles. what is that great equalizer between Jews and Gentiles? We are united in our complete and total need for Christ.

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    Upon the realization of this, there is no room left for pride, not for separation by peoples, not for separation by birth parents, not for separation by national pride. See, what do I mean? So inside of you and inside of me, even though I live in New Zealand and maybe you live in America and maybe I'm in my 40s and you're in another decade of life, maybe I'm a man and you're a woman, inside each one of us is something that unites us.

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    And there are emotions to which we ascribe so many other words. There are passions. They may be irritation and frustration and anger or lust or bitterness or resentment or pride or worry. You feel them when you want something you don't have or you feel them when you want to protect something that you have that you don't want to lose.

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    You feel them when you're afraid. You feel them when you want to protect yourself and you feel compelled like filling a hungry stomach or by quenching thirst you feel compelled to satisfy these feelings within you. And it is the spirit that works through the sons of disobedience because these feelings control and manipulate those sons to compel them to act on those feelings.

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    and who among us can claim if we act honestly and speak honestly that we're not controlled by these passions? See I didn't understand this when I was baptized. It wasn't until my 20s that I really started to understand about the passions of my flesh because it was at that time I actually tried to fight them.

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    I find passions are a little bit like breathing. You don't know how much you want to breathe until you try stopping. And you don't know how much your passions control you until you try to stop them.

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    Until you try to quell them. And Paul's point is that all human beings all human beings Jew and Gentile share these in common. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3 out of the RSV. Amongst these we all circle that we all once lived in the passions of our flesh following the desires of body and mind and so were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

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    So simply put Paul makes clear that all mankind shares passions in common. At least on this base level we're all in the same boat. We all have the need for a common salvation. What are we going to do about it?

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    And that's the problem. What are we going to do about it? Each of us following the desires of body and mind God set up laws to govern those desires which we routinely break without so much of the thought most of the time. This makes us children of wrath. By making this point Paul is establishing something that opposes both Jewish and Nicolaitan thinking.

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    Okay? How so? Well the Jews would say they're not children of wrath. Why? Because they've been given the promises. They've been handed down from the fathers so they've been conveyed through the covenant of circumcision. They're following the law. The Jews would say the Gentiles they're the children of wrath. We're the children of promise.

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    What would the Nicolaitans say? Well the Nicolaitans would say God has no wrath. They are enlightened. The God within them approves of all their works. There's no real evil of sin. There's really nothing to be accountable to. So knowing who Paul is writing to, knowing the Jews on the one side and the Nicolaitans on the other side, what's Paul's point?

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    We are all opposing Jews, children of wrath, opposing Nicolaitans. So in their own way, both groups were cheapening sin and circumventing the atoning work of Christ. So Paul aims to prove that both need Christ. Both need Christ. And that is then the basis of their unity. So continue with Paul's logic. See, there's an impasse between man and God because we're all children of wrath.

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    But here's Paul's point. Even though it was mankind that had sinned, it was God who mercifully reached out to create the conditions of unity in Christ Jesus. See, we didn't earn it. So Paul goes on to say in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4 immediately following this point. But God who is rich in mercy out of the great love which were with he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together in Christ by grace ye have been saved.

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    So mercy, what is it? It's the extension of kindness to someone who is at fault knowing they are at fault. As a result there's this really natural and unavoidable tension between mercy and law. You see, law can show someone they're wrong. It defines right from wrong. It lays out punishments for doing what's wrong.

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    It lays out rewards from doing what's right. And in Paul's terms, by legal rights, we are dead in our trespasses. We are dead in our trespasses by legal rights. See, mercy provides the conditions to give life to the wrongdoer who deserves death. Where's the legality in that? That just opposes all the legal ideas and framework.

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    So God doesn't give mercy on using words like deserve. He doesn't use words like earn. God gives mercy on the basis of a gift of forgiveness. And that's grace. It's a gift. And importantly though, when one is a recipient of grace, grace, grace, where's the room for pride?

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    Let me stop for a moment and say this. When I was young, growing up with the truth for me was a lot about being right.

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    See, the Christ Elfians are right. And other religions are wrong. And I was taught to prove that. I was given arguments and verses to support the doctrines. And I don't disparage that upbringing. I'm thankful for that upbringing. But at some point something changes.

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    And the thing that changes is that you are brought into a position looking closely at the Lord Jesus Christ. And through the process of self-examination where you grasp that you are exceedingly sinful. school school and baptism didn't solve the problem, and marriage didn't solve the problem, and getting that well-paid job didn't solve the problem, and getting the mortgage didn't solve the problem, and having children didn't solve the problem, and more and more Bible study didn't solve the problem, it didn't go away with prayer, it didn't go away with confession, I have no solutions to the basic premise that I've utterly failed to consistently follow the commands of Christ in terms of love and envy and covetousness and greed and patience and faithfulness, and I continue to fall.

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    And the more I examine my heart, the more the self-righteousness of my youth melts away. And you reach a point through self-examination where you conclude at some fundamental level, if God isn't merciful, if I am judged according to law, I have nothing.

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    And all my knowledge and all the passages I can cite only bolsters my knowledge of this imposing and impending judgment. And it's from this abased position, and perhaps only from that abased position, that you can understand what mercy is, and importantly, that you can understand that your brother and sister need it too.

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    you see, if you follow Paul's logic, Paul hits at the basis upon which each of us must be alike, our sinfulness and our common need for a Savior. This strategy exposed the Nicolaitans who believed there's no evil in their sin. It likewise exposed the Jews who thought salvation could be earned.

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    Both sides were wrong. We are all sinners, therefore we all need Christ. That's a summary of Paul's logic up till now. So turn over to Ephesians chapter 2, verses 14 to 16, where we see Paul cement this basis for unity. For he, meaning Christ, is our peace. He hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.

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    So what was the middle wall of partition that Paul's referring to there? Well, it's a reference to Herod's temple. Now, anyone was allowed to enter into the court of the Gentiles. Okay? So, even a Gentile or a Roman could enter into this area here.

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    The actual temple was enclosed by a railing or a balustrade, right, which is represented by this artist here. Okay? Now, over here and over here, you can't see it in this painting, but were a sign chiseled in stone. And they actually have one of these signs in the museum in Istanbul, because, you know, Turkey controlled Palestine for many, many years under the Ottoman Empire and took some artifacts away.

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    And one of the artifacts they took away was this, from the temple. So what's interesting? What is really interesting then? What was the crime that Paul allegedly made in Jerusalem when the Jews of Asia called him out and started to beat him?

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    Bringing Gentiles into the temple. When does Paul write this letter? After that event. You think there's any mistake? Paul would have read this sign as a young Pharisee under the teaching of the Gamaliel time and time again, and without even the slightest of notice, have walked right in. This is where I belong.

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    The Jews are in here. The Gentiles, you're out there. And we read about that, by the way, when we see here, now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from, and then being able to make no mistake where they were from, right? The Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help!

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    This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place. And furthermore, he brought Greeks into the temple. And it's defiled this holy place. The people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple. And immediately, the doors were shut.

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    So, it was with all this context, and with his history, and having just been accused of this crime, and knowing about what that wall really represented, what it did in his former life, and what it represented now, that Paul writes in Ephesians 2, verse 14, for he, Christ, is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.

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    And on what basis did Christ break down this wall? Verse 16, he reconciled both to God in one body. Well, why one body? I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget the words here. both Jew and Gentile shared that one body with Christ.

81. 38:43

    And that body represented human nature put to death. Because Jew and Gentile have the same problem, and are saved in the same way, through the same declaration of God's righteousness, righteousness. They are bound together as one. Hence, we are made one in the body of Christ, which we all share with him.

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    We are not one because we want to be, or because we try to be, or because we like each other. We are one because we share a common salvation. We both desperately need Christ. Do you see what Paul's saying? Christ has broken down the barrier based on our common and undeniable need. It was a need the Nicolaitans muted by lessening the significance of sin.

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    And it was a need the Jews muted by focusing on salvation via works and heritage. But Paul's point is that both sides are wrong. And Jesus is the basis of our reconciliation. It is pride that would build that barrier back up again by saying, I'm not really the sinner that you are.

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    See, unity begins on the common ground that we both have a mutual need for Christ. It says, I'm wrong. I'm a sinner. actually, I'm just like you.

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    And even if today, just because of circumstances of this day, it might look to someone like, they're a greater sinner than me. That is not my reason to cast them away. Christ is not mine to keep. He is mine to share.

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    This salvation is not mine alone. It is ours. I need him just as much as you, even if today it might look like you need him a little bit more because you just don't know what's going on in my life.

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    Christ is not mine to protect. He is our peace. Not just those, not only to those who are near, but also to those who are far off. God's joy