Richard Morgan - Class 6 - Uniting All Things

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   This is day six of the 2021 Idaho Bible School. Our first period teacher is Brother Richard Morgan. His general subject is Ephesians, the manifold wisdom of God. Today's topic is uniting all things. Brother Richard.

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   Good morning, everyone. What about that singing last night? And the way we did the actions. See you later, alligator. Now, of course, I'm talking about the choir. What a wonderful experience that was. I had goosebumps as I was listening. And it's just one of many examples of the talent that we have among our brothers and sisters and young people.

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   Talent, brothers and sisters, that can be put to good effect. We have to learn, brothers and sisters, that life in the ecclesia is more than just sitting in rows, listening to talks and bringing refreshments. There's so much that we can do to build one another up as we walk together towards the kingdom of God.

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   And that's really the powerful lesson of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. So we're talking here about God's eternal purpose expressed in chapter one of Ephesians to unite all things. So let's think about that again. So back in chapter one, verse nine, he talks about how God has made known to us the mystery of his will, which he set forth in Christ as a plan, verse 10, for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

5. 1:37

   And as I said a number of times this week, that's an interesting way, isn't it, to express the eternal purpose of God. It's not what we would normally expect. God is focused on uniting all things. We mentioned a couple of times this week that there are parallels in Paul's epistle to the Colossians.

6. 1:58

   This is how Paul expresses it there. For in him, in Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on heaven or on earth, making peace by the blood of his cross. Now what we learn about this, brothers and sisters, is that God is absolutely focused on unity, on reconciliation, on bringing together those people who may have had a relationship that is fractured.

7. 2:36

   God wants a relationship with his creation. And if God is focused on that, surely we should be focused on that too. And I'm sure we all understand the pain that comes from fractured relationships. And I've experienced that in my own life. And the need, brothers and sisters, to mend those things, to be united, to be reconciled.

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   Now there's another way to look at this idea of uniting all things in him. It's what Paul says to the Corinthians. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him, who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. It's a very famous verse, isn't it?

9. 3:27

   And it expresses again this ultimate purpose of God, to unite all things, that all things might be like God. That's why he made man in the beginning, in his image and in his likeness. So when we think about reconciliation, when we think about unity, what God is focused on, the ultimate of that is to be like God.

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    And that's what we want to think about this morning, brothers and sisters. If we're all like God, if we all learn who God is, if we get to know the love of Christ, which was an expression of his Father's love, that surpasses knowledge that we can get from simply reading the Bible, a love that we can only understand by walking and helping one another build the house of God.

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    If we can all come to that, to understand and to live that love of God, then, of course, that is the way to true unity and reconciliation in Christ. So over in chapter 5, we also had a look at this verse earlier this week. In verse 1, Therefore, be imitators of God. And that encapsulates that principle of God manifestation, of becoming like God.

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    Be imitators of God as beloved children. It's not just a matter of developing the characteristics of God. We need to do it in the right spirit as his children. This is what we've been talking about this week to the young people, that ultimately God's purpose isn't just simply for us to develop character, but there's a big why behind that.

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    Why are we developing this character? Because we want to be the children of God. Because we want to be part of God's family. And so he says in verse 2, And walk in love, following the example that Christ gave us. As Christ loved us and gave himself but for us. So we look to Christ, of course, as that example.

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    Sometimes I think we fall into the trap of thinking that the mission of Christ was that he might explain to God what it's like to be a weak, mortal human being. But really, it's the other way around. The mission of Christ was to explain God to us. Because God is already loving. God is already kind.

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    God is already merciful. And the Lord Jesus Christ explains that to us. That we might too walk in love. Imitating God as dear children. So we've looked also at this idea of fullness. So back in chapter 3 and verse 19, Paul wants us to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge with the end result that we might be filled with all the fullness of God.

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    It's another way of saying that God will be all in all. That we might be full of everything that God is. And we had a look at this verse where the Apostle John explains what that fullness is. that Jesus was full of the glory of God. The character of God. Full of grace and truth.

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    Now we know these things, brothers and sisters. This is a very basic fundamental doctrine of God manifestation to develop that character of God. But I really want us to think deeply into this and how important it is this morning. Now that language there in John is a quotation to that time when Moses wanted to see the glory of God.

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    Remember that when Moses went up into the mountain and said, Please, show me your glory. And God passed by before him and proclaimed his glory or his name. So let's remind ourselves of that in Exodus chapter 34. Who is this God of immeasurable power? Of infinite wisdom? A God that we are called upon to imitate.

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    Well, when it comes to its core of who God is, when Moses asked God, Who are you? Explain who you are. The very essence of your being. God didn't say, Well, I'm this great powerful deity, creator of all things. Which, of course, he is. But what God wanted Moses to understand, what God wants us to understand about him, is his character.

20. 8:35

    So in chapter 34, this is what John is referring to. These very famous words, where in verse 6, Yahweh passed by before him, proclaimed Yahweh, Yahweh Elohim, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. And that little phrase, or really big phrase, a huge phrase at the end of verse 6, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, is what John is quoting or alluding to when he says that Jesus was full or abounding in grace or goodness or steadfast love and truth or faithfulness.

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    And then it goes on to say in verse 7, Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. That, brothers and sisters, is who God is.

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    So when we imitate God, this is what we, of course, should be concentrating on. Now, if anyone knows me well in classes that I give, you'll know that I am very fond of chiasms. So, we've waited until the very last class. Here is a chiasm. And this name of God here, this character of God, forms a very beautiful chiasm that I just want to look at very briefly.

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    You'll notice in verses 6 and 7 that we have a repetition of one of the characteristics of God. It's steadfast love. If you're reading from the King James, I think only Dave has it in the whole room. At the end of verse 6, where you have, I think you have goodness in the King James.

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    That's exactly the same word as in verse 7, the word mercy, keeping mercy for thousands. So it doesn't come out in the King James, but in a version like the ESV, it's repeated because it's the same word, steadfast love. So why is that repeated? Because what I think we're being told here is that the language here is in the form of a chiasm, this rather poetic way of putting God's character.

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    So this is the way that I look at the character of God. This is a good way, I think, of remembering God's character. So we have these two occurrences here of steadfast love. So this provides the framework for this parallelism. And on the outside of this chiasm, we learn about the basic characteristics of God, how He treats people.

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    So God is merciful, which means He's compassionate. He is gracious, which means He is generous. He is slow to anger, He is patient. And then, at the bottom part, He is a God who is a God of forgiveness, but also a God of justice. So those are the basic characteristics of God. That's how He treats people.

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    And that's how we ought to treat one another. And then we come to this repetition of the word translated steadfast love. That is the word kesed. You probably heard that Hebrew word kesed in Hebrew. Hebrew. And it's most often associated with God's covenant love. So it's a word to do with somebody you love because you are in some sort of covenant relationship with them.

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    It's the love between a husband and a wife, for instance. Or the love that we should have as brothers and sisters bound together in covenant. covenant. And of course, it's the love that God has for His people. And then, in the middle, right at the core of who God is, is faithfulness. That is God's rock-like core character.

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    Now, one interesting way I've used to illustrate this and to try to remember this character is to think about God's character in the form of a house. And of course, that is what Paul is inviting us to think about in Ephesians. We are involved in this building project to build up the house of God, to build up His dwelling place, to build a place for God to dwell with us as His family.

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    So what does God's family house look like? What should our ecclesias look like? What should our nuclear families look like? Well, the A part there, the compassion, the generosity, the patience, the forgiveness, the justice, that's the atmosphere that's inside the house. That's what it's like in the house. You feel that compassion. You feel that generosity.

31. 14:08

    And what a wonderful thing that would be if that was what defined our ecclesias. That when we meet together, we feel the compassion. We feel the forgiveness. So that's the atmosphere that's inside the house. That's what it's like to live there. But it is a house, brothers and sisters. There are four walls and a roof.

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    This isn't an open field. God has called us to be part of His specific family. And so the steadfast love, the covenant love of God is what we would see in the walls and the roof. That God is confining Himself to a particular people that He wants in His house. That He has separated us out from the world in general to be part of that house.

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    And the importance of being part of that covenant relationship with God. And it's all founded firmly on a rock. And that is God's faithfulness. So that's the house of God, brothers and sisters. And that's the sort of house that God wants us to build. So if you come back to Ephesians, we've already mentioned the idea of faithfulness before.

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    And if we want to be part of God's house, brothers and sisters, we too need to be focused on who God is and that core rock-like faithfulness of God. So when Paul opens up his epistle in verse 1, he says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.

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    That's the bottom line of what God wants us to be as members of his household. God is faithful. God is reliable. faithful. God is utterly trustworthy. And that's what God expects of us. That's what we talked about earlier this week. So we've talked about how we ought to be people of integrity. People who can be relied on.

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    People who are like pillars in the house of God. People that can be trusted to build the house of God, faithfully following the pattern, the design that God has given to us. We talked about the clothing of the high priest and the gate of the tabernacle, both which express that uniting principle of faithfulness, of truth, of speaking the truth to one another that binds us together as one.

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    And so let's concentrate on that, brothers and sisters, on being that person of integrity, on being that person of faithfulness, making sure that we're concentrating on holding one another together as one body in Christ. So let's return to a passage that we looked at before in chapter 4 of Ephesians. We talked in chapter 4 here about the importance of speaking the truth.

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    And I want to return to that and just develop that theme again of speaking the truth to one another. So verse 15, for example, rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up. So that's the foundation, that's the rock-like principle of speaking the truth, of being faithful to God's design through which we can grow, through which we can build upon that rock the house of God and make it a house with solid walls and roof and then the atmosphere in that house reflecting who God is.

39. 18:17

    Now normally when we think about speaking the truth to one another, probably we think about, well, we ought to teach each other what are the true first principles of Scripture. That's what I normally think of when I think of speaking the truth to one another. And that's true, that's part of it. And as Paul says earlier on in Ephesians chapter 4, the importance of sound doctrine is part of the mix of speaking the truth.

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    So he says in verse 4, this very famous passage, there is one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. We're not meant to believe all sorts of different things and teach all sorts of different things because that's a recipe for disunity, for discord, for argument, for debate, for strife.

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    So soundness, oneness of doctrine is absolutely fundamentally important. We understand that as Christadelphians. But often, brothers and sisters, when we look at verses 4 to 6 there, we forget to start reading at the beginning of the chapter because Paul explains to us, leading up to that verse, the kind of attitude that we need to have in order to bring about that unity.

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    So he says in verse 2, we are to do this with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And sometimes, brothers and sisters, we tend to get straight to the doctrine. We've got to get the doctrine right.

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    And we forget the motivation and the key to getting that doctrine right. The key to that unity is what Paul talks about in verses 2 and 3 there. Humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, love, those sort of characteristics, the core characteristics of God, who God is. That should be the basis of our unity, that God might be in us and drive us and motivate us into unity.

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    Now, at the end of the chapter, having told us that we need to speak the truth and develop that unity of mind and doctrine,

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    Paul then goes on to give this very famous exhortation to put off the old man and put on the new. So that's what we got in verses 22 to 24. Put off the old man and put on the new. How do we do that? Well, Paul gives us several examples. In fact, he gives us six examples of what it means to put off the old man and put on the new in the following verses.

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    So from verse 25 down to the end of the chapter, the first few verses of chapter 5, Paul gives us some very practical examples. How do you put off the old man? How do you put on the new? For instance, in verse 25, put away falsehood. How do you put away falsehood? Well, speak the truth.

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    Well, that makes sense, doesn't it, brothers and sisters? If we want to stop lying, then we ought to replace lying with speaking the truth. And this is Paul's theme. It's about replacing negative things with positive things. So verse 25, verse 28, for example. Don't steal anymore. How do you stop stealing? Well, use your hands for a different thing.

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    Instead of using your hands to steal, do honest work with your hands. And that theme continues. And it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, brothers and sisters? If we're so busy in the truth, doing these positive things, then we don't have room for the negative.

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    Verse 29, let no corrupt talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up. That's the attitude of mind that Paul wants us to have. Are we concentrating on the positive things of building one another up, of building on that foundation of faithfulness, being faithful to God, being faithful to one another, replacing the negative with the positive.

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    So what we have here, brothers and sisters, are very practical examples of how to live our lives as new people in Christ. But just like what we talked about earlier on in how we get to that unity of doctrine, the important thing here, brothers and sisters, is not so much the activity itself, but the motivation and the attitude that is behind it.

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    So when we speak the truth to one another, when we work with our hands doing things which are good, when we speak things for building up, that activity in itself, yes, is important, but only if it is founded on the core basic divine characteristics that God wants us to develop. Without the right attitude, without the gentleness and the patience that Paul talks about in verse 2, we can be very busy in the ecclesia doing very positive things, but if it's not based on that core rock like characteristic of faithfulness for example, then it's all for nothing.

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    It's like what Paul says in Corinthians, he talks there about the power of love, and he says things like, well, you can even give your body to be burned, but if it's not out of an attitude of love, it's completely meaningless.

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    So, what Paul is inviting us to do in Ephesians, brothers and sisters, is to look deep down into the depths of our hearts and examine our motivation. why do I do the things that I do? Am I truly founded upon that rock? So, when we look at these six examples again that Paul gives us in verses 25 down to the end of the chapter and into chapter 5, attached to each of these examples is a motivation, is an attitude behind it.

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    The answer to the question, why do I do these things? Why do I walk towards the kingdom of God? Why do I help build a house of God? What is the point of it all? So, for instance, in verse 25, put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, but why?

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    Why do I speak the truth? And he answers the question at the end of the verse, for we are members one of another. That's why we speak the truth, because we recognize that we're meant to be members of the same body. And by speaking the truth, it's a way to bring that body, bring the members of that body together as one, that we're focused on that, we're focused on what God is looking for, unity, reconciliation, that becomes the powerful motivation behind our activity.

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    In verse 28, another example, let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, but why? Why do we do those things? So that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Not for the activity itself, not so that I can be busy in the ecclesia, running preaching efforts, or speaking from the platform, or helping teach Sunday school, so I can be a good Christadelphian.

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    thing. We could fall into the trap, brothers and sisters, of simply acting out a role, and think, well, that's what it means to be a good Christadelphian, and I want to do my Bible study, and get involved in the ecclesia, become a ranging board member, or whatever it might be, and it just becomes a role to us.

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    And we can fool ourselves by that, brothers and sisters, without examining whether our heart is truly in what God is looking for in us, of people of character, and even more than that, people who are focused on being children of God, walking in love, desiring to do these things in the framework of God's eternal purpose.

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    So what is your motivation? Why are you here at Bible school? Why am I here standing up teaching? Do I have that right motivation? Now, to emphasize this point, brothers and sisters, I want us to look at a very interesting little quotation that the Apostle Paul makes here in verse 25, back to one of the minor prophets.

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    This is one of the remarkable things about the Apostle Paul, how he can bring together these threads in manifesting this wisdom of God that was given to him, going back to Exodus and the tabernacle, and going back to obscure passages from Zechariah, be able to bring these things together to provide this wonderful argument.

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    So in verse 25 there, where he says, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor. He's quoting from Zechariah chapter 8. And I want us to turn up this passage in a moment, we won't turn it there quite yet, and we're going to see what was on Paul's mind.

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    Why was he thinking about Zechariah chapter 8? Before we go there, just look at the verse before this in verse 24. He says, put on the new self, created after the likeness of God. So there's that principle of God manifestation again. Created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Now have a look at carefully what Paul says there.

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    Do you notice a word that might come across as maybe a little bit redundant? Couldn't he have simply said after the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness? For some reason Paul says in true righteousness and holiness which suggests to us that maybe there's something which is false righteousness and false holiness. And of course we understand yes, there can be a false righteousness and a false holiness.

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    so again brothers and sisters, let's examine our motives when we do the things we do which have this appearance of righteousness and holiness. Is it true righteousness and true holiness? Even when I speak the truth with my neighbor is it founded upon the faithfulness of God? So let's turn to Zechariah chapter 8.

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    So Zechariah here talks about the sort of things that we ought to be doing if we want to involve ourselves in the purpose of God. So it says in verse 15, so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. So he's talking about here how God is building up his house.

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    Fear not. Verse 16, these are the things that you shall do. How can we participate in building up the house of God? And this is where Paul quotes, speak the truth to one another. Well that's what we've mentioned. Speaking the truth is being faithful to God's design, taking God's design and then turning that into the house of God.

67. 31:30

    So speak the truth to one another. Render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace. That's Paul's message in Ephesians, isn't it? To unite all things, to reconcile all things to God, to bring Jew and Gentile together, that we might be one in Christ Jesus. So those are the things that we should be doing.

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    That's what we should be concentrating on. But what's interesting about this passage, brothers and sisters, is that in the very same breath, verse 17 then goes on to say, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another and love no false oath for all these things. I hate, declares the Lord. Now I find the juxtaposition of those two statements really enlightening.

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    In one breath he says, speak the truth. And in the next breath he says, don't devise evil in your hearts against one another. It's something that God hates. God hates hypocrisy.

70. 32:39

    Perhaps more than anything else, and we see this illustrated, don't we, when the Son of God challenged those scribes and Pharisees, woe to you, hypocrites, and their righteousness and their holiness was on full display. They were doing things that looked like they were building up the house of God. They were speaking the truth.

71. 33:03

    They thought they were speaking the truth. The Pharisees of those days would have said, we are in the truth. They were the equivalent of Christadelphians back then, but they were hypocrites. They did devise evil in their hearts against one another. They did love false oaths. So, brothers and sisters, it's one thing to speak the truth.

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    It's one thing to say the right things. It's one thing to do the right things. It's another thing to do those things and say those things based on the core motivation that we are trying to reflect the character of God. And that we have the lowliness and the patience and the generosity and the mercy and the justice that is expected of brothers and sisters in Christ.

73. 33:57

    So, we ought to be people of integrity. Now, have a look briefly at the context here. What he talks about in this chapter is the dwelling place of God. God? What sort of place is God looking for to dwell in? What is his house like? Well, verse 3 says, this says, this says the Lord, I have returned to Zion.

74. 34:27

    I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. That's the kind of house God is looking for, a place of faithfulness, a place of holiness. verse 8, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in faithfulness and in righteousness.

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    And you can see there the similar language to what Paul says in that verse about the need for true or faithful righteousness and holiness. This is what God's dwelling place is meant to be. So what the prophet in effect is saying is don't fool yourself. Just because you're busy in the truth, just because you say the right things, just because you have the right doctrine, it doesn't mean anything if in your heart you are devising evil for instance against one another, if you're not a genuine person.

76. 35:46

    So back in chapter 7, look what he says here. Verse 4, Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, Say to all the people of the land and the priests, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh month for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?

77. 36:05

    That's an interesting question, isn't it? When you come to Idlewild Bible School, are we doing it for God? God? When we involve ourselves in building the house, building our ecclesias, are we doing it for God? Are we doing it with that eternal purpose of God in mind? It's a question we can only answer for ourselves.

78. 36:30

    And look what the prophet goes on to say that in verse 6, And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves. So here we have the negative example of people who are just in it for themselves. And in verse 9, thus says the Lord of hosts, render true judgments.

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    What does that look like? What does it mean to render true judgments? Well, it's to show kindness and mercy to one another. And then again, in the same breath, he says in verse 10, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner of the poor, and let none of you devise evil against one another in your hearts.

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    So, brothers and sisters, this is what Paul wants us to try to think about when we speak the truth to one another, when we involve ourselves in walking, in building. Are we doing it truly for God? Have we bought into that, eternal purpose of God to unite all things? Are we focused, as God is focused, on reconciliation, on peace, on being peacemakers?

81. 37:53

    As Jesus says, blessed are the peacemakers. Those are the children of God. That's what God is about. So, that should be our focus too. true. And so, to sum it all up, let's think about the beginning and the end of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. In the beginning, Paul addresses us as the hopefully faithful in Christ Jesus, truly faithful people, faithful to God, faithful to one another, not feigning righteousness, that's not feigning holiness.

82. 38:35

    And Paul talks about that ultimate eternal purpose to unite all things. And then he ends the epistle in a beautiful way. He says, peace be to the brothers and love with faith. From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

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    That's the love of God, brothers and sisters. This God who is of immeasurable power, this God who has given us unsearchable riches, who has manifold wisdom, is teaching us through this to develop a love that is incorruptible. A love, brothers and sisters, that is eternal. A love that conquers every foe. A love that binds us all together in a beautiful harmonious unity.

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    A love that cannot fail. A love that cannot be destroyed. A love that overcomes all our fears. A love that promises us eternity with each other, with our Lord, with our God. A love that guides us through that difficult terrain that we find ourselves in, the journey of life. A love that lifts us out of those pits that we fall into and puts us on level ground.

85. 40:07

    Brothers and sisters, what we have on our side is that immeasurable power of God, those unsearchable riches of Christ, that manifold wisdom of God, that love that surpasses intellectual knowledge. Brothers and sisters, we have sat in rows this week. We have heard about these things. We have heard about the eternal purpose of God.

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    We have heard about the grace of God. What we need to do though, brothers and sisters, is to rise up and walk and build and be like the Queen of Sheba who made the effort to not only hear about these things but to see the wisdom of Solomon. And it's through those experiences of life that God is teaching us the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

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    Brothers and sisters, I love you all. Amen.