The Ministry of the Mystery (Eph 3:7-9)
Speaker: Rev Quek Suan Yew
Date: 05 Apr 2020

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Sermon notes taken by:

Haw Shuen Siang

In Ephesians 3:6, Paul revealed the “mystery” that Gentiles can be believers too, and they can be on equal standing with the Jewish believers, being equally blessed by God. With all these blessings come responsibilities. God has given Gentile believers a ministry. We must be zealous to carry out our God-given ministry, otherwise the church will crumble and fall. Here we learn about this ministry.

  1. It is a gracious ministry (Eph 3:7)

This ministry is given by the grace of God. If we do not see the ministry as so, we will not last. We must not judge whether the believer deserves to do a certain ministry; or whether a particular ministry is worth our time and effort. This grace of God (who gives us the ministry) is also the grace that first brought us to salvation and it is by this grace that we must keep going. We must persevere and not give up easily or at the slightest difficulty. This grace of God is given to us “by the effectual working of (H)is power,” and thus it will never run dry. We must go to God for His power and His strength to carry us on in the ministry He has assigned to us.

  1. It is a Christ-centred ministry (Eph 3:8)

Comparing himself to other believers, Paul said he was “less than the least of all saints.” He knew he was a great sinner but yet God saved him and gave him the grace to preach to the Gentiles. Thus, Paul knew that his ministry must be Christ-centred. Turning the ministry away from Christ will be to turn it into a cult, i.e. a man-centred ministry. When a ministry grows, the minister must be careful not to take away any attention from Christ. Realise how big a sinner we are, and appreciate our salvation and ministry more, and thus always focus on Christ.

  1. It is a salvific ministry (Eph 3:9)

The objective of the ministry is to save. It is to be the beam of light to make all men see the Gospel. The Gospel must be shared by a believer who lives a Christ-centred life in order for it to be effective. When a carnal believer (living a carnal life) shares the Gospel, it will only make the ministry a hypocritical one. God has saved us, and He has left us in this world to begin our ministry to build up other believers and to bring others to come to know Christ.

As Gentile believers, let us not only be thankful for the blessings we received when we were saved. Let us also remember the ministry that is entrusted to us by God Himself. Let us not fail Him.



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