The Secrets God has Shared with Believers

Those are safety features. I want to get those cords out of the way.

Well, so far this morning, it's already been eventful.

We kind of challenged you on offering to see, right?

And I understand Tom shared that there was an ambulance here and someone was taken away.

Who was it?

Pardon?

Oh, Melissa, okay.

Does anybody know what was wrong?

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

So why don't we stop at the very beginning.

This is not the very beginning. I apologize.

That was a preacher's faux pas, not a pastor's faux pas.

Preacher thinks that it gets started when he starts, but that's not true.

Okay?

Theologically inaccurate.

So, but we are going to stop and pray.

Melissa Johnson, pray that whatever's going on,

that she would be fine and that it would be something that we hear good news back on,

and then also that God just gives us a heart to hear the word of God and have it touch us.

Let's pray.

Father, our hearts this morning are quiet before you because we realize our frailty.

We recognize, as Melissa has been taken by the squad, that there's something going on there that needs our prayer.

And knowing so little, other than the greatness of your name and the power that you have,

we are glad to be able to call upon you and just ask that you would touch our sister and strengthen her and raise her up.

We pray also, Father, this morning that your word would have free course in our hearts

and that we would be guarded from sin,

that we would listen carefully,

and that your spirit would take the beauty of your word and etch it into our lives

and cause us to live with joy and power in the Holy Spirit to the testimony of Christ and the cross.

And we're going to give you the glory in advance for what you do in us and around the world.

We ask this in your precious name. Amen.

Well, I want you to turn your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

We're going to pick up, actually, in verse 6 and work our way through.

And as we are studying this passage this morning,

I want you to understand that at the very beginning,

this passage is one where Paul uses an interesting little statement

that in our culture is completely different from the way it was used in the Bible.

When we think about a mystery, how do we think about a mystery?

A mystery is something where there's a key part that we really don't know

and we're kind of curious about what's going to happen.

We watch mystery theater.

We read mystery novels on occasion.

We're looking for some kind of detail that's hidden and not understood

and we can't get our hands on it.

In the ancient world, a mystery was completely different from that.

A mystery was actually something that was understood only by those who were part of the inner circle.

And they were told the secrets of that mystery.

A mystery religion was a religion where only those who were initiated into the group

had access both to the information and to the place of worship.

And those who were initiated, they had secret handshake or they had secret signals

and they communicated all through this kind of mumbo-jumbo and that was a mystery.

And in order to be part of that mystery, you had to be invited in

and they had to learn all these important things and the mystery was something that was revealed.

Paul uses the word mystery four different times in this chapter

and we're not going to pick up on all of them because we touched on them a little bit last week,

but we're going to move through and understand the secrets that God has shared with us as believers.

And as we look at this passage, I want you to pick up with me there in verse 6.

He says,

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body,

and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

So as we get started understanding this mystery,

as I've already pointed out, a mystery in the New Testament,

different than for us, a mystery that is not understood.

In the Bible, a mystery is something that only those who are initiated understand.

And the fact that Paul speaks about Christ and the gospel as being a mystery

is both biblically consistent and also telling.

It announces something.

Jesus made it clear, actually, that spiritual truth and spiritual matters

are not simply understood by applying human intellect.

If I were to throw out a relatively simple math problem,

if you had been exposed to math previously,

2 plus 2, I'm kind of at my level here.

Do you follow me?

But if I did 2 plus 2, most everybody here that's beyond 5 or 6 could say what?

4.

And I would say, good job.

If I went a little further than that,

we'd begin to kind of weed out those who have not learned all those details, right?

Because they were kind of confusing to us.

And Jesus made it clear that spiritual truth was not just understood by mere intellect.

Turn in your Bible so we see this for ourselves.

Go over to Luke chapter 10, verse 21 and 22.

Luke 10:21

The context is that earlier Jesus had sent out His disciples to preach the gospel,

to announce the kingdom, and they returned.

And when they came up, came back,

they were really enthused about the tremendous blessing that they had had

in preaching the gospel, announcing the kingdom,

and seeing God do some miraculous things.

And they're kind of whooping it up because of what they'd seen happen.

And Jesus said, hey, listen, this is the thing that really ought to fire you up,

the fact that your name is written in the book of life,

that you're a child of God.

And on that statement, He then goes on in verse 21.

He says,

In the same hour, He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding

and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such is your or was your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father,

and no one knows who the Son is except the Father,

or who the Father is except the Son,

and everyone to whom the Son, what's the next word?

chooses to reveal Him.

So how is it that there are some of you sitting here this morning

that know who Jesus Christ is?

Did that really happen because you had a different intellectual capacity

than other people that you work with that when they use the word Jesus Christ,

what's their means of, what are they saying?

It's an oath.

It's an expression of a curse word or something like that.

They don't have a personal relationship with Christ.

They don't think in those terms.

Why is it that you do?

It says here,

God in His kindness has chosen to reveal this mystery to you.

We look over at another passage that makes it clear to us,

and if you would, look in 1 Corinthians 2.

1 Corinthians 2, verse 2 through 7.

1 Corinthians 2:2–7

Chapter 2, verse 7 through 14,

and I'm not going to take all the passage,

but just kind of touch this.

It says,

Does that make sense?

Do you think if Satan understood the plan of redemption,

he would have partnered with the Roman government to put Christ on the cross?

What's the answer?

I mean, when he thought the victory was his,

he was actually driving the last nail into his own coffin and his destruction.

Isn't that right?

And why did that happen?

Here's what it says.

If the rulers of this age had understood this,

for if they had,

they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

And as we work our way on down through,

look at verse 10.

These things,

God has revealed to us through the Spirit,

for the Spirit searches everything,

even the depths of God.

And then he goes on,

and he says there in verse 12,

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world,

but the Spirit who is from God,

that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.

Why is it that you understand spiritual truth?

What's the answer?

We understand spiritual truth because of the blessing of the work of God in our lives

that has revealed these truths to us,

and they humble us,

and they also cause us to be thankful.

And Paul speaks of these spiritual truths,

and he says,

Listen,

it's because of the grace of God that you understand these things

and can recognize them to be true.

Now,

you look here in the passage going back to Ephesians chapter 3,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

and we need to understand that the mystery Paul wrote about

is all about Christ and His salvation.

That's what the mystery consists of,

in broad terms.

But we break it down in this passage,

and there are references to different pieces of it.

In one sense,

part of the overarching issue is the mystery of redemption,

what He did in saving us.

And there is a reference to that mystery of redemption

over in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 20.

I'm not going to have you turn there,

but recognize that when we think about what God has done in saving us,

it is a mystery that if we were not told about it,

we wouldn't understand it.

I want you to think just for a moment.

Earlier this morning,

as I was meditating and praying about Sunday

and the passage that we were going to look at,

I was kind of putting myself in Adam and Eve's shoes after they sinned.

I mean,

can you imagine the absolute horror that came over their conscience

as they thought about the terrifying reality

that they had offended the supreme God and creator of this universe?

When we sin,

and we sin often,

we have kind of a practiced indifference to it

because we do it so often.

Do you understand that?

But for Adam and Eve's conscience

to be struck for the very first time in history

by the appalling nature of sin,

it must have been terrifying.

And God comes into the garden

and He's looking for them

and they're hiding.

Can you just think with me

about the absolute futility of Adam and Eve

hiding from God?

Have you ever played hide and seek with your kids

when they were small?

And they hide in the most obvious place.

You close your eyes and you count to ten.

And then they hide behind the couch

and the only part that's really hidden is what part?

Their head.

The rest of it's sticking out from behind the couch

and all you have to do to give them away

or get them to give themselves away

is say,

I wonder where...

And they begin doing what?

They begin giggling.

And so you go...

If you walk out of the room and say,

I'll bet you they've left the room,

the little child does what?

No, no, I didn't leave the room.

You know, they've got to give it all away.

Just imagine the absolute ridiculous idea

of hiding from God.

And here's Adam and Eve tucked away.

Who knows where?

Behind a bush or something like that.

And God shows up and...

What's going on?

And just think about what happens.

God covers their sinful flesh with a skin.

What did they try to cover it with already?

Leaves.

And in that covering

was the first indication

of the shedding of blood

for the covering for sin.

And then God makes an announcement.

He says,

He says,

Listen,

You will bruise

His head

and He will bruise your heel.

Speaking of Christ

and the plan of redemption.

I know Tom.

Tom is teaching on Christ

in the Old Testament

and one of the very first,

the proto-evangelism,

it talks about the first time it appears

is in that phrase.

And it's interesting

that when Adam and Eve had a son,

their first son,

do you know what they expected

that first son to perhaps be?

Does anybody know?

This is the guy.

This is the one.

This is the Messiah who's coming.

That was their ambition.

They were looking

for the solution

to their sinful heart.

And all the way down

through the Old Testament,

the symbolism of sacrifice,

Abraham on Mount Moriah,

David when he sacrificed there

to stop the plague,

the temple built there,

and later Christ crucified.

The plan of redemption

is a plan that God revealed to us

and beloved,

would we have figured it out

apart from Him telling us

and the answer is,

not at all.

It's a mystery

that He's given to us.

A second part of the mystery

that we find particularly here

in Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

is the mystery

of His inclusion

of Gentiles as His people.

Prior to the New Testament,

the way for a Gentile

to become a part

of the family of God

was only through

becoming a Jew.

And God opens up

and reveals to Jew and Gentile

that His plan of redemption

does not have

that complicated layer

of Judaism

and those laws,

but rather it is

all of grace.

And apart from grace,

there is no salvation.

And as we look at the passage

actually in Ephesians chapter 3,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

look where it says there

talking about this mystery

of the Gentile.

Now, it says,

this mystery is that

the Gentiles are fellow heirs,

members of the same body,

and partakers of the promise

in Christ Jesus

through the gospel.

Now, in the English translation,

the hammer blows

of what Paul is saying

are a little muted for us

because what Paul does

is he takes three Greek root words

and he puts a little preface

at the beginning of them

to make it very, very clear.

In essence, what he is saying

is that Gentile believers are,

and he uses the word soon,

which means with,

he says Gentiles are heirs with.

He says Gentiles are members with.

He says that Gentiles

are partakers with.

And he's talking about the fact

that God has taken two

and put them together

by His grace.

And because of that,

there is no second-class citizenry

in the body of Christ.

We are all together

members of the body

and the bride of Christ,

equally in the eyes of God.

The third part of this mystery

that we find in the scriptures

is that we have the privilege

of a personal relationship with Christ.

I don't know whether that overwhelms you,

but, beloved, it should.

The truth of the matter is

is that apart from Christ,

we would be aliens to God,

we would be enemies with God,

we would have no intimate communion

or relationship with God.

And I was having a great time

this morning explaining

the example prayer

that we find in Luke,

and we find it in Matthew.

How does the prayer start

that's an example for us?

What do we say?

Our Father.

Does that give you cold chills

when you stop and think

about what that says?

Hey, if you know anything

about the other religions

in the world,

they have no idea

of a personal, intimate relationship

with the Creator and God

of this universe.

And we, because of Christ,

have the privilege and blessing

of being in personal relationship

with Him.

And, beloved,

when we stop and think about that,

that ought to quiet our uncertain

and frail heart

and encourage us

to be profoundly thankful

in the blessing we have

in Christ Jesus.

Let me give you a little sidebar.

I read,

I just finished up a book

called God's at War

by Kyle Eidelman.

You want to read a good book?

That's a good one.

Tag it.

It's a good one.

And as I was coming

towards the end of the book,

it's talking about

the struggle that we have

with idolizing ourself.

How many of you realize

that every day when you wake up,

there's this little niggling interest

of being an idol yourself?

You want everybody to bow

to the idolatry of you.

And he said,

it's actually been amped up

on steroids.

Five researchers

in San Diego State University

have done,

I think it is from 1986 to 2007,

they have interviewed

16,000 college students

about the problem

with narcissism.

Do you know what narcissism is?

Let me give you the end story

of what narcissism is.

How many of you remember

singing,

Frere Jacques,

Frere Jacques,

Dormez-vous?

Here is the contemporary version

of Frere Jacques.

I am special,

I am special,

yes I am,

yes I am.

Isn't that good?

Isn't that a good song?

Anyway,

some of you probably

sang it in school.

But this study

revealed that

there has been

an absolute skyrocketing

issue with narcissism.

People who are narcissists

think such things as

if I were in charge

the world would be

a better place.

Okay?

Now when you have

ten people in the room

thinking the same thing,

guess what you automatically have?

The narcissist thinks

when I'm getting my way

things are good.

The narcissist

is pretty full of themself.

Incidentally,

the narcissist

has profound trouble

in lasting relationships.

The narcissist

by the survey

is far more inclined

to be dishonest

and cheat.

cannot sustain

integrity

in any kind of task.

Incidentally,

very curiously,

these researchers

began asking

when did narcissism

begin to develop

into a predominant character

of American culture?

Guess when it happened?

Back in 1980,

our culture

was swept away

by the self-esteem movement.

and these

unbelieving

researchers

at San Diego State University

began making

a correlation

between the

I am special,

I am special,

yes,

I am,

and the struggle

with our culture

with everybody

becoming self-focused

and nobody thinking

about anybody else

but themselves.

Listen to me.

There is no remedy

to be found

for that incessant battle

other than

in a joyful

and personal

relationship

with the Lord

of glory

and that is why.

I love the truth

of salvation.

It delivers me

from the absolute

tyranny

of self-centered living.

And as we look

at this passage,

Paul says,

listen,

it's my privilege

to talk to you

about the mystery

that God has revealed

to us.

I want you to notice

something else

in relationship

to this mystery

talking about

announcing the mystery

and we see that

in the passage

in 7 through 9

of this gospel,

Paul says,

I was made

a minister

according to the gift

of God's grace

which was given to me

by the working

of His power.

Stop just for a moment

and think with me.

When we find something

in scripture,

it is there

because Paul thought

it was a good idea

to include.

Is that the answer?

Or,

B,

the Spirit of God

put it there

for our benefit

and our edification.

It's there

because the Spirit

of God

thinks it's for our benefit

and edification.

And so,

when we read here

that Paul announces

this truth

in relationship

to himself

of this gospel,

I was made

a minister

according to the gift

of God's grace,

we understand

that Paul is saying

something about

those who are messengers.

And put it this way,

godly messengers

are marked

by genuine humility.

Paul's declaration

here of self-perception

is that he's saying,

listen,

this is what I am

and mark what he says.

I am the very least

of all the saints.

Now,

is he just being,

is he just exercising

false humility?

Let me give you

a picture

of false humility

so you understand

what it is.

Just let's say

that an exceptionally

attractive woman

goes into the dressing room

and puts on a lovely dress

and she walks out

and she really does

look pretty good,

but what she says

to her friends

that are gathered around

is what?

What's she say?

Oh,

this dress makes me

look too fat.

She says,

this dress probably

doesn't look good on me.

What is she looking for?

Guys,

what's she looking for?

What's she looking for?

In fact,

she's just looking

for affirmation,

isn't she?

She looks at herself

in the mirror

and she thinks,

well,

I'm looking pretty good.

And what do you think?

I mean,

she's looking for someone else

to agree with her.

She wants someone else

to bow at her idolatry,

right?

And kind of agree

with her value.

Paul,

when he says

what he does

in verse 8

where he says,

I am less than least

of all the saints,

I want you to understand

that he is speaking

the truth

about what God

has helped him

understand about himself.

And Paul saw himself

first as an appointed servant.

Look at what it says

there in verse 7.

I was made a minister

according to the gift

of God's grace.

And incidentally,

that word minister there

is the word

from which we get deacon.

Paul says,

I am a deacon.

I am a deacon

according to the gift

of God's grace.

And God is at work in me.

He has given me

this responsibility.

He saw that his task

and his responsibility

was not a career choice

but something that God

had laid on him.

I want you to understand also

that Paul in his ministry

and we see his humility

by the fact that he was not

an arrogant and combative person.

I want you to turn back

just a little bit

if you would actually

turn forward

to 2 Timothy.

Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2

2 Timothy 2:24

verse 24 and 25.

What was Paul like

in ministry to other people

in his circle?

Chapter 2 verse 24.

2 Timothy chapter 2

2 Timothy 2:24

verse 24 and 25.

It says,

The Lord's servant

must not be quarrelsome

but be kind to everyone,

able to teach,

patiently enduring evil,

correcting his opponents

with gentleness.

God may perhaps

grant them repentance

leading to the knowledge

of the truth.

So what kind of characteristic

was Paul displaying

in his ministry?

Did he thump and strut?

Did he walk around

with a cudgel

letting people

that disagreed with him

know that there was

a consequence

for crossing him?

Not at all.

He was marked

by humility and tenderness

and that was the characteristic

of his heart

because he saw himself

as least of the saints.

I want you to mark also

that his life was marked

by an affection

for other people.

As you read your way

through the pastoral epistles

you see that Paul speaks

about his relationship

with the body of Christ

being that like a nursing mother

caring for those people.

and how was Paul treated

by some of the people

that he cared for?

Does anybody have an idea?

Always favorably,

always appreciated,

always loved,

not at all.

In fact,

in the very last days

of Paul's life

most everyone

who he had served

and ministered to,

those that he poured

his life in

turned away

and walked from him.

And here's what Paul says.

He says,

do not hold it

to their charge.

He's praying to God

and says don't hold it

to their charge.

I want you to recognize

one other thing

as you go back

to that passage

in Ephesians.

Let's look at Ephesians

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and pick up

what we find there

as we continue

working through it.

He says here

to bring to light

in verse 9

to bring to light

for everyone

what is the plan

of the mystery

hidden for ages

in God

who created all things.

So we see

the humility

of a servant

but then secondly

we see that

godly messengers

see the gospel

as being something

for everyone.

I appreciate the fact

that Paul

had no hesitation

to make it very,

very clear

that the doctrine

of election

and predestination

are stated in the gospel

but on the other hand

what was Paul's attitude

towards preaching?

Was there any place

that he wouldn't preach?

He'd preach in a synagogue

wouldn't he?

And when he went

into the synagogue

as his ministry developed

did he anticipate

that everybody

was going to love him

and just appreciate

the gospel ministry

that he has?

Not at all.

He appreciated

the privilege he had

of being the messenger

of the gospel

and he was not put off

by the treatment

that he received.

Paul preached in prison.

He preached

in the marketplace.

He preached

down by the riverside.

He preached

to prisoners.

He preached

to soldiers

who were chained

to Paul

and everywhere

he preached

I think one of the things

that you need

to understand

about Paul's preaching

is that he preached

with a passion

and an earnestness

to see people

come to Christ.

Turn over

if you would

to 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

and mark the spirit

that he had

in preaching.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:20

chapter 5

verse 20

he says this

as he describes

his preaching

therefore we are

ambassadors for Christ

God making his appeal

through us

we implore you

in the King James

I think it says

we plead with you

in Christ's stead

so when Paul

preached the gospel

to people

day in and day out

whether it was

in prison or the synagogue

what kind of affection

and passion

did he have for doing it?

There was earnestness

in his voice

and there was a desire

to see people

come to Christ

isn't that right?

Well let me ask you

the question

if this is a picture

of the apostle Paul's heart

when was the last time

that you shared

the gospel

with someone

with the kind

of passion

and affection

that Christ

shared it with?

When was the last time

you shared it

with the kind of passion

that Paul shared it with?

Let me take another step

and just ask you

a practical question

you may not have had

some opportunities

in the last several weeks

right?

Forcing them

is not a good idea

so when was the last time

you prayed

with that kind of passion

and concern?

Let me give you

a couple illustrations

I was here yesterday

with helping

with the crowd

of people

that were babysitting

and I know

that one of the little

babies in our fellowship

was sick

and the mother

went home

and I happened

to come out

from the nursery

there were plenty

of helpers

and I was also

over in the gym

working in the kitchen

there with Pastor Saul

and Todd

and I'd come out here

and I walked

and I saw three or four

of our mothers

that were just kind

of huddled together

sharing sympathetically

and I just

I was touched

by their affection

together

for this little child

that wasn't feeling well

still not doing

all that well

and so you know what

I began praying for that

and when you care

about something

how often do you pray?

You pray a lot

praying over and over again

for this little child

to get better

through the day

texting him later

how's he doing?

Well

about three times

and then

I get up this morning

to have devotions

in prayer

and there is

a little text

at 1130

by the way

my phone goes

on quiet

so that you don't

I want to sleep

but I fire my phone

up and there's

so somebody else

has got their child

in the hospital

and what do I start

doing?

I start praying

and I'm praying

with earnestness

when a child

is sick

how does a parent

pray?

How does a parent

pray?

You tell me

Lord

if it's your will

you take care of them

it's up to you

I don't care

right?

Probably shouldn't have

had them

I remember

when Judith and I

were relatively

young parents

I was teaching

at a Christian school

we didn't have

any insurance

and our first child

for some strange

reason

had one bout

with spiking fevers

after another

and I can just

remember

both of us

sitting down

on the floor

next to her bed

and just crying out

to God

that she would live

when was the last

time that you

when you thought

about some of the

people that are

not going to heaven

were you struck

by affection

and burden?

It ought to be

that way

we come to

another part

as we think

here

of enjoying

the scope

and the

part that we

have in the

mystery of God

and verse 10

it says

so that

through the

church

the manifold

wisdom

of God

might now

be made

known

I want to tell you

there are some

points here

that

earlier in the

week

I found

myself

wanting to

preach on

Thursday

and I found

myself

wanting to

preach them

on Friday

and I found

myself

wanting to

preach them

on Saturday

and here it

is

okay

let me tell

you

number one

the body

of Christ

is supremely

important

to displaying

his wisdom

let me

pick up on

that first

part again

so that

through

the

church

and ponder

with me

just how

poignant

and how

significant

those words

are

when we

read the

Bible

we have a

tendency

to read

the Bible

in a

personal

sense

isn't that

right

I read

the Bible

for Tim

Nellie

reads the

Bible

for Nellie

and since

Nellie

is sitting

next to

Olivia

and Olivia

is kind

of giving

me that

look

don't use

my name

Olivia

reads the

Bible

for Olivia

it's just

the way

it is

do you

follow that

and that's

not all

bad

but when

scripture

was written

here

in the

pastoral

epistles

it was

written

to be

read

to the

whole

body

of Christ

and they

understood

it

collectively

I mean

I am

very thankful

that my

finger

does not

think about

itself

apart

from the

body

it's

attached

together

it fits

and here

is the

apostle

penning

these

words

and he

is saying

something

of

profound

value

to us

he's

saying

so that

in

the

church

through

the

church

many

of you

the church

has a

place

to go

that's

not

right

the

church

is

something

that

the

believer

is

to

belong

to

by

God's

divine

appointment

and

each

member

in the

body

of

Christ

has

been

called

and

equipped

to

fit

together

for

his

glory

and

I

got

to

tell

you

that

the

church

is

a

far

more

significant

display

of his

wisdom

than

creation

is

think

about

that

with me

for a

moment

we

know

from

the

Psalms

the

heavens

declare

finish

it

for

me

the

glory

of

God

but

I

want

to

tell

you

that

the

heavens

and

all

of

creation

is

a

relatively

insignificant

challenge

for the

wisdom

of God

in

comparison

to

redemption

does that

make sense

why is it

it

tells us

in the

scriptures

that

angels

clapped

and sung

for joy

as they

watched

God

with

simply

a

word

create

this

universe

it

tells

us

and I

want

you

to

turn

over

to

the

passage

and

look

at

it

with

your

own

eyes

it

tells

us

in

1

1 Peter 1:12

Peter

chapter

1

verse

12

that

angels

when

they

think

about

us

who

are

redeemed

it

says

they

kind

of

ponder

this

and

they

want

to

peer

in

and

understand

it

1

1 Peter 1:12

Peter

chapter

1

verse

12

it

was

revealed

to them

that they

were serving

not

themselves

but you

in the

things

which have

now been

announced

to you

through

those

who

preach

the

good

news

to you

by

the

Holy

Spirit

sent

from

heaven

things

into

which

the

angels

long

to

look

what's

that

saying

angels

who

enjoy

the

presence

of

the

father

who

can

see

him

in

his

resplendent

glory

who

enjoy

the

benefit

of

the

holiness

and

the

glory

of

heaven

are

kind

of

not

troubled

but

they're

curious

they

want

to

understand

what

what did

you do

God

when you

saved

those

people

and by

the way

what makes

angelic

curiosity

more

significant

is how

were all

the angels

treated

who decided

they'd try

sin number

one

what

happened

they were

cursed

for all

eternity

in hell

and so

the rest

of them

are sitting

up there

kind of

scratching

their heads

saying

I know

you're

holy

I know

you're

wise

I know

you're

good

but

what

is

this

this

blessing

of

salvation

and

beloved

I want

you to

understand

that the

scriptures

declare

that before

the foundation

of the

world

he had

ordained

the plan

of salvation

and he

had your

name

in mind

I like

that song

that says

he knows

my name

right

it says

that

my name

is engraven

upon his

hands

well

in Ephesians

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

it says

that it's

through the

church

that the

manifold

wisdom

of God

is displayed

so let's

talk a little

bit

about God's

wisdom

Paul

is writing

here about

manifold

he uses the

word manifold

to talk about

something that

is just

everywhere you

look

it is just

incredibly

wonderful to

consider

I'm going to

oversimplify

things just

for a little

bit

but how

many of

you have

heard of

pinhead

logic

or wisdom

or pinhead

intellect

how many of

you understand

let me use

an illustration

so that I'm

going to

cast stones

upon people

like me

rather than

people not

like me

literature

majors

you know

I mean

reading the

classics

reading 20

pages a

minute

or whatever

blah blah

blah

it's

no big

stretch

do you

follow that

you want

me to

read a

book

I can

do that

you want

me to

do a

math

problem

or figure

out

something

engineering

wise

it's

just

my brain

goes

kind

of

numb

okay

and that's

what I

mean by

pinhead

wisdom

or logic

you know

you're

a specialist

in a

narrow

sphere

narrow

band

I see

some of

you smiling

because you

understand

what I'm

saying

see

God's

manifold

wisdom

does the

literature

and the

math

thing

together

he gets

both

parts

in fact

listen

to me

he understands

it better

than any

of us

put together

he was

the one

who invented

it

he thought

it all

up

and he

thought

it'd be

entertaining

for us

to just

get it

a little

bit

at a

time

and

and so

as we

appreciate

God's

wisdom

let's

understand

the

difference

between

wisdom

and

knowledge

because

it

helps

us

knowledge

is the

grasp

or it

is the

it is

kind of

the

gathering

of

bits

of

information

knowledge

allows

us

to learn

the

alphabet

knowledge

allows

us

to acquire

some

understanding

of

phonics

I'm

not

going to

tell

all the

details

but

yeah

I will

my

granddaughter

thought

that it

was

appropriate

that her

parents

give her

a banana

and the

banana

was not

arriving

at the

adequate

pace

and so

what she

tried

was a

little

phonics

na-na

you know

I mean

if you're

not getting

it break

it down

to make

it simple

right

na-na

wisdom

wisdom

is

more

than

knowledge

wisdom

allows

a person

who has

gathered

the

alphabet

and

understood

phonics

to read

history

and figure

out

I don't

want to

do

that

how many

of you

understand

the

difference

wisdom

allows

us

to take

the

data

of

life

and

make

good

judgments

and

decisions

and wisdom

allows

the

believer

to

realize

if I

do

this

I

please

Christ

if I

do

that

I

harm

the

testimony

of

Christ

and

I

bring

heartache

on

myself

and

others

I want

you to

understand

that Paul

speaks of

the church

as being

and follow

this

the manifold

declaration

of the

wisdom

of God

he says

that

God

intends

for the

church

the

gathering

together

us

as a

body

to be

something

that

causes

others

to say

wow

what

did

you

do

how

did

that

happen

I

want

you to

look at

one other

thing

and

ponder

with me

the

thought

behind

this

Ephesians

Ephesians 3:10

chapter

3

verse

10

it says

so that

through the

church

the manifold

wisdom

of God

might

now be

made

known

to the

rulers

and

authorities

in

heavenly

places

why

is it

that

God

was

interested

in

demonstrating

his

manifold

wisdom

in the

heavenly

places

this

would be

way