The Ephesian M.Y.S.T.E.R.Y.

Rev George Annadorai
07-04-2018

The Ephesian M.Y.S.T.E.R.Y.
"Hidden but now revealed"
Bringing all things in heaven and earth together in Jesus the Messiah

The Apostle Paul gave us 13 epistles (8 letters to the churches, 4 private/personal letters, and Ephesians - solely directed to the churches at large. The doctrine if the church comes from this one letter. "The everest of Paul's letters").

M: Mystery of the Ages
(Ephesians 1,3,5)

1) Uniting Jews and Gentiles
2) Uniting Christ and the Church
3) Uniting Heaven and Earth

All three are priorities to God. All three are important.

In the economy of God, there is sequence.

For example:
Salvation is to the Jews first. (Romans 1:6)

First He created Adam, and then Eve.

The principle of sequence does not make one superior to the other. One cannot happen without the other.

Align our lives to God's priorities. Otherwise, we miss His will.

That is the key to success in ministries.

Mystery appears one time in Ephesians 1, three times in Ephesians 3, and one time in Ephesians 5.

Spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18)
In essence, there are three levels of warfare:
-Navy
-Army
-Air force

Understand your place in spiritual warfare. Know the battle that you are fighting. Otherwise, how do you win the war?

Choose your battles wisely because if you fight them all you'll be too tired to win the really important ones.

Y: Yehudi (Jews) (Ephesians 2:11-15)

-Jews First:
God has chosen to bring salvation to the Jews first. (Exodus 4:22) They pay the price for being the chosen people. God is at work in the nations through Israel. The Apostles were sent out from Jerusalem.

God works out His salvation plan.

Israel is not the enemy. Israel is a means to an end. God uses Israel to bless us. God's intentions are always revolving around the nations. That's the end. (Revelations 21:24)

The key is Israel to unlock the nations. Once the door is open, the key has served its purpose.

Everything begins in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

-Gentiles Next (Acts 13:46; 18:6)
There was a time when the spotlight of heaven was exclusively on the Jewish people. Then it slowly shifted to the Gentiles. From then it, it has been on the Gentiles to this day.

But it is not on us forever. (Romans 11)

The spotlight is slowly moving away from us and to the Jewish people.

We need to excelerate, expedite and hasten to bring the Gentiles to the kingdom.

-One in Messiah.

S: Salvation for all mankind (Ephesians 3:7-8)

-Amos 9:11
In the Tabernacle of David, both Jews and Gentiles can enter and worship God as one.

-Acts 15:16-17
Paul comes back from his first missionary journey and reports that Gentiles are getting saved by the thousands.

God always had in mind that the Gentiles are part of His extended family.

-Acts 2-5/6-8/9-28

Bringing Jews and Gentiles together is God's longest, largest and last project.

T: Two in One (Ephesians 2:11-15; 4:1-6)

The Greek mindset/Western theologians divides. The Jewish mindset unites (handle this and that together. Eg. Is Jesus God or man? Jesus is both God and man.)

Look at the bible as a single story. A single story must have a single conclusion.

See the bible through the telescope (big picture), then microscope.

-Adam and Eve
Adam came first, and then Eve. God created man first, and then the woman. God created Adam as male, and Eve as female. In union, two became one flesh.

-Isreal (Jews) and the Church (Gentiles)
The Church came out of Israel. The moment we give up our Gentile identity, we lose everything.

God has decided to bring the two together = One New Man

-Jesus and the Bride
Israel is the bride of Christ. The Church is the bride of Christ. Each must maintain our identity in Christ. God is in the process of uniting two into one in Christ Jesus. Unity is not an option. Satan is in the business of dividing. 

John 17:20-23 New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will[a] believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

The these and the those become they as one in Christ.

All heaven comes together to bring Jews and Gentiles together;
All hell breaks loose to make them break apart.

Revelation 19:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

Why is the world so intent on destroying the Jewish people? Everything that they had done has been a blessing.

Satan understands that for Jesus to return, the Bride has to be ready.

There is already a Jewish nation (Israel). The Jewish people are already there. And Trump has recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Now we wait for the Jewish people to call for the Jewish Messiah to come. (Matthew 23:39)

Romans 11:15New King James Version (NKJV)
15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

The telescope:
The eternal purposes of God:
1) Uniting Jews and Gentiles
2) Uniting Christ and the Church
3) Uniting Heaven and Earth

The microscope: End times plans of God.

Understand the eternal purposes of God before we understand the end time plans of God.

E: Evangelism in the end times (Ephesians 3:9-10)

-Jews > Gentiles
-Gentiles > Jews
-Jews & Gentiles > World

The Gospel came to the Gentiles from the Jewish people.

Now it is being reversed. The spotlight is moving back to the Jews.

Deuteronomy 8:18 New King James Version (NKJV)
18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

To this day, the world is wondering why the Jews are able to create wealth.

This is because of the covenant that God made with Abraham-the blessings and the breakthrough.

Ephesians 2:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
Brought Near by His Blood
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—

The church were never at a lack of fund.

Isaiah 62:11New King James Version (NKJV)
11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed
To the end of the world:
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Surely your salvation is coming;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.’”

Acts 1:8 New King James Version (NKJV)
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Ezekiel 5:5New King James Version (NKJV)
5 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her.

Jerusalem is the centre of the earth.

The Pacific and Asia are the end of the earth.

Where the west could not succeed, the east will succeed.

In the last 70 years, every attempt by the west to evangelise to the Jews have failed. They are like elephants: they remember.

The mandate has been given to us to evangelism to the Jews.

Our history shows that we were kind to them.

Our geography mandates us as the end of the earth.

The Isaiah Highway:
Isaiah 62:10-12 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 Go through,
Go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up,
Build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples!

11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed
To the end of the world:
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Surely your salvation is coming;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.’”
12 And they shall call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
And you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.

The Isaiah highway is primarily an economic highway.

China is trying to bring back the Spice Route and the Silk Road.

We are called to bring the gospel back to Israel.

R: Relationships according to Jesus in the... (Ephesians 5-6)

-Church
-Home
-Workplace

Unity is high priority. Unity is non-negotiable.

Y: Year 2018
-A Prophecy (Dec 6, 1978)

Billy Graham's public crusade in Singapore. The southern baptist prophesied that Singapore is the Antioch of Asia.

-Acts 11 + 13 - Church @ Antioch

The early church was commanded to go to Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. But they didn't want to leave. So God sent persecution. The death of Stephen forced them to go out and be a blessing to the nations. (Acts 7:54-8:2)

The Antioch anointing is for the Jews and Gentiles to come together to be an unstoppable force.

When you touch Israel, you touch the heart of God.

-Antioch Festival (Dec 6, 2018)

Bring the nations to evangelise Israel.