Ephesians 3:1-13

We're looking at the book of Ephesians tonight, Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

If you are looking in a pew Bible, that is page 977, and we're going to look at chapter 3, verses 1 to 13.

So let me read this passage for us tonight.

This is the Apostle Paul writing to Christian believers in the city of Ephesus, and he writes this.

For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,

assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,

how the mystery was made known to me, my revelation, as I have written briefly.

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,

which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations,

as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

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.

Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace,

which was given me by the working of his power.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given

to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ

and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages

in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God

might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

I wonder whether you have felt like giving up lately.

Maybe you just don't see a good way forward from a situation that you find yourself in.

Maybe that's a financial hardship or a family conflict or a friend who let you down

or a work situation or a housing situation,

and you're looking ahead and you just don't see a good way forward.

Or maybe you look back at the past.

Maybe you think about a time when you weren't coming to church

and you weren't really thinking about God and you weren't really praying

and you weren't really trying to follow God, and life just seems a lot easier way back then.

And you think, maybe I should just go back to that.

And go back to that mode.

Maybe you're just trying to survive one day at a time in the present,

and you just think, I don't know how much longer I'm going to make it.

Or maybe, maybe there's somebody that you really looked up to.

A spiritual leader or mentor, somebody who,

maybe the person who first invited you to church or told you about Christ.

Maybe a person who really came alongside you at a time in your life

and prayed with you and encouraged you.

Maybe a parent, if you had a parent who was a Christian, who was a believer.

And maybe that person has, for whatever reason,

maybe they've passed on.

Maybe they've gotten sick.

Maybe they fell on hard times themselves.

Maybe they're going through some things on their own.

And you think, I don't know how I'm going to do without this person by my side.

They're far away from me.

Or for whatever reason,

they're not right here with me anymore.

You know, there are a lot of things that can make us lose heart.

That can make us become discouraged and weary and weak and disheartened,

spiritually speaking.

And the passage we're looking at tonight,

it talks about a lot of things,

but the end of the passage, verse 13,

this is what Paul says.

Paul says, I ask you not to lose heart.

Now, I'll talk a little bit about why they might be tempted to lose heart.

But this is sort of the point.

This is what he's driving at.

He wants to encourage us not to lose heart,

but to keep on looking to Jesus and pressing on in him.

Now, why might these people have been tempted to lose heart?

Well, Paul was their spiritual leader,

their spiritual mentor, their spiritual father.

He was the one who had started their church.

He had come to Ephesus.

He had preached about Jesus.

He had led many of them to Christ.

But now, verse 1 tells us he was a prisoner far away from them.

A prisoner for Christ Jesus.

He begins and ends this section with a reference to his imprisonment and his suffering in verse 1 and verse 13.

And so you can sort of see, since it's right at the beginning and right at the end,

that's an important theme that makes sense of what's in the middle.

Now, just so you know a little bit about what happened,

you can read the book of Acts, chapters 19, 20, 21,

Acts 19 · chapter mention

sort of tell you how this all happened.

But Paul was in Ephesus, and then he left and went some other places.

Then he came back through Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem.

And what he was doing is he was, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were going through some hard times,

financially speaking.

There were a lot of widows in their congregation.

There were a lot of people who had needs.

And so Paul took up a collection.

He collected some money from the churches, the Gentile churches in the other nations,

and he brought it to Jerusalem as a way of showing the unity that we're all in this together.

We're all one body together.

We're part of the same family in Christ Jesus.

We're sharing the same promise of blessing that's come to us in Christ Jesus.

And so he's told the people in these different churches,

you know, we need to help our brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.

We need to come alongside them.

They've been going through a hard time for years and years,

and we need to do something to help them.

They said, yes, we want to do that.

And so they got some people.

They collected a bunch of money.

And Paul and some other people, they sent a delegation to Jerusalem.

And they arrive in Jerusalem, and then guess what happens?

And Paul gives the gift to the Christians in Jerusalem, and then guess what happens?

He gets falsely accused by the religious leaders and by a mob, a violent mob.

He gets arrested, and he gets kept in custody.

They try to kill him.

The police sort of protect him from being killed.

But then they just keep him in custody.

And then it's sort of like he keeps going to court, and his case keeps getting continued.

He never gets convicted, but he doesn't get set free either.

So he's kept in Jerusalem for a while, and then he's transferred to Caesarea,

and he stays in Caesarea for two years in jail,

even though he still hasn't been convicted of anything.

And part of the reason was some of the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem,

now some of them had misunderstandings of what Paul was trying to do,

but some of them were very against this idea that he was trying to promote.

He's saying, in Jesus Christ, the Jews and the Gentiles are now one body in Jesus Christ

and part of one family together.

And there were some people who really didn't like that,

and they're like, oh, no, that is not what we're for.

And so that's part of what got him arrested.

Paul wrote Ephesians probably while he was imprisoned in Caesarea during those two years.

And it seems like, I mean, just imagine yourself, right?

Imagine if you're in the church at Ephesus,

and the man who started your church, right,

or someone who was the pastor of your church got arrested,

you know, he, I mean, let's just take an example, right?

Let's just say one of the three pastors at Trinity, right,

Nick or Matt or myself,

let's say we were invited to go preach somewhere else in the United States,

and we travel there,

and while we're there,

just because we're preaching about Jesus

and talking about the gospel,

we get arrested.

And we don't,

and there's some charges,

but we're never convicted of anything,

but we just get held in custody for two years.

I mean, just imagine how you would,

you know,

how you'd feel about that.

You might feel,

well,

boy,

like,

you know,

did Pastor Greg go a little overboard there?

Or did Pastor Nick,

you know,

say something a little crazy?

You know,

I mean,

should we,

you know,

are we really behind these guys?

Like,

I don't know,

maybe,

maybe,

maybe,

maybe,

maybe we should just,

you know,

keep our distance.

Or what about us?

You know,

is somebody going to come after us?

Are we going to get arrested?

Right?

So there's all these,

all these questions that could have been going on

in the minds of the Ephesian Christians

when they realized that their spiritual mentor,

their spiritual leader,

Paul was arrested and imprisoned

for a,

and it,

and was lasting for a long time.

And they were discouraged.

And that's partly why Paul wrote them this letter,

is to encourage them.

You know,

it's actually,

Ephesians,

you know,

compared to some of the other letters,

it doesn't tell us a lot about the circumstances

that it was written in.

But I think,

from this passage,

at least,

and from some of the prayers Paul makes,

I think a big purpose of Ephesians

is simply to encourage

Christian believers

to keep looking to Christ

and just give them spiritual encouragement

in a time where they could have been discouraged

and lose heart.

And what we've seen so far,

if you've been coming,

going with us through Ephesians

over the last couple of months,

right?

Chapter one,

how does Paul start?

He starts with praise

and thanksgiving

and prayer.

Now let me tell you,

if you're discouraged,

if you're tempted to lose heart,

that's a good place to start.

Praise God

for all the spiritual blessings

you have in Jesus Christ.

Thank God

for the good things

that He has put in your life,

the people He's put alongside you,

the ways that you can look back

and see His faithfulness.

And pray.

Pray for yourself.

Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ,

for other people

who are going through difficulties.

Pray that you'd be able

to see Christ clearly.

That's what Paul prays in chapter one,

that they'd be able

to see Christ clearly.

And then chapter two,

another good thing to do

if you're discouraged

and disheartened

is remember who you are.

Remember your identity in Christ.

And that's what Paul talks about

in chapter two.

He talks about who you once were.

He said,

you used to be dead in sin

and following the world

and the flesh

and the devil

and slaves to those things.

But Paul says,

now you're alive in Christ.

And you've been raised up with Christ.

You've been saved by grace.

You're God's workmanship

created for good works.

And then in the end of chapter two,

he says,

you're part of God's family.

You're not a foreigner

and a stranger anymore.

You're not an outsider anymore.

You're part of God's family,

part of his household

and part of his new temple.

And he lives in you by his spirit.

And then Paul's going to go on

in the end of chapter three

to pray for them again.

But here he interrupts himself.

Now look at chapter three, verse one.

It's an incomplete sentence.

For this reason,

I, Paul,

a prisoner for Christ Jesus

on behalf of you Gentiles.

And he doesn't finish his sentence.

And then if you look down at verse 14,

he starts again.

For this reason,

I bow my knees before the Father.

So then he prays for them.

We'll look at the prayer next week, I think.

And then chapter four, verse one.

I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord,

urge you to walk in the manner

worthy of the calling

which you have been called.

So then he's going to go on

to exhort them

and sort of call them

to live up to the calling

that God has given them

and give them some practical instructions

and encouragements

about how to persevere

and how not to lose heart

but how to persevere

in Christian faithfulness.

And that's chapters four through six.

So what we're looking at today

is a little bit of Paul.

I mean, it almost seems like

he starts saying something

and then he gets distracted

and says something else.

Which is sort of interesting

that that's included in his letter

and he didn't cross it out.

He just left it there.

And I think,

but in God's providence,

that's what we have.

And that's part of God's purpose.

So anyway,

so looking at this section

we're looking at tonight,

there's sort of two major sections.

Chapter two,

verse two through seven

is actually one sentence

in the original Greek

and verses eight through 12

is another sentence

in the original Greek.

And so in verses two through seven,

what we see is

that God has revealed

the mystery of his grace

in Jesus Christ.

And then what we'll see

in verses eight through 12

is Paul is saying,

God has called me

to share this grace with you.

And so in verse 13,

Paul says,

so I want you not to be discouraged,

but not lose heart,

but press on.

So we'll look into those things

and see how that helps us

find encouragement.

So verses two through seven,

Paul talks about a few times here,

he refers to the,

he uses the word mystery.

mystery.

You might think,

what's the mystery

Paul's talking about here?

Okay,

verse three,

mystery,

verse four,

the mystery of Christ,

verse six,

the mystery.

Now,

Paul's used that word

once already in Ephesians.

If you look back

at chapter one,

verse nine,

Paul says,

God has made known to us

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.

That is in Christ,

things in heaven

and things on earth.

That is God's going to bring

all of creation

under the authority

of Jesus Christ.

Now,

why does he call it a mystery?

Well,

I think he calls it a mystery.

I think verse five helps with this.

Paul says,

this mystery was something

that was hidden.

It used to be hidden.

Okay,

it was,

verse five,

it was not made known

to the sons of men

in other generations,

but now,

it has been revealed

to his holy apostles

and prophets

by the Spirit.

So,

what Paul's saying

is that this mystery

that he's talking about,

we'll see what it is,

is something that

it wasn't clearly

set forth

before the coming of Christ,

but now,

since Christ has come,

now it's revealed.

Okay,

so Paul's not talking

about something

that's still completely hidden.

He's talking about something

that used to be hidden,

and now,

God's opened it up

so we can see

what it is.

Now,

what is this mystery?

Verse six,

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.

And,

Paul's talking,

when he's writing

to the Ephesians,

he's writing primarily

to people who were Gentiles.

Now,

the word Gentiles

just means the nations.

It's just a,

it's a Hebrew word

or a Greek word

that simply means

the nations.

And,

a little bit

about what that means.

In the Old Testament,

God chose the people

of Israel

to be his holy nation,

his special people

in the world,

unlike any of the other

nations of the world.

And,

God said to the people

of Israel,

you are the lights

to the,

you are a light

to the world.

I'm going to put

my presence in you

and teach you my laws

and show you how

to obey me

and show you who I am,

the one true God,

in a way that's unlike

what I'm doing

in any other part

of the world.

And,

he put his temple

in Jerusalem

and he said,

I will dwell with you,

I will put my presence

here with you,

here,

in a unique

and special way,

unlike anywhere else

in the world.

And so,

in the Old Testament,

God said,

I've called you

to be my holy nation,

my special people.

So,

if you wanted

to join in,

now,

there were people

from other nations

who joined the people

of Israel

in the Old Testament.

There's several examples,

actually,

like Ruth,

the Moabite,

and there's many others,

some of the people

in David's court,

but they came,

they would come

and join the nation

of Israel.

And some,

they might actually move

to that part of,

that part of the world

and sort of settle there,

settle near Jerusalem

and come to the temple

and worship at the temple.

And that's how you would

sort of be part of God's

work in the world,

is you would,

you'd be there

as part of that nation.

But now,

Paul says,

there's been a big change.

That now,

Jesus Christ has broken down

the dividing wall

that Jews and Gentiles,

that is Jews and people

from every other nation

of the world,

can come to God

on the same basis,

simply through faith

in Jesus Christ.

And why does that make sense?

Well,

it's because Jesus Christ

is the promised Messiah

of Israel.

He's the one that God

had promised all along

who would be the king

of Israel

and the king

of the nations.

And so Jesus had,

and Jesus is now

the new temple,

right?

God had promised

he'd put his temple

in Jerusalem

where his presence

would dwell,

and now Jesus is the one

in whom the presence

of God dwells,

and so we can come

to God through Jesus,

not through the temple

in Jerusalem,

right?

So the coming of Jesus

changed everything.

And that's what Paul

is saying,

the coming of Jesus

has changed everything.

And so he's writing

to people

who would have been

on the outside before.

And he says to them,

you know,

you used to be,

you know,

he says to them,

you know,

just think about

what your life

used to be like

before you heard

about Jesus.

You had no real hope.

You were without hope

and without God

in the world,

wandering around

in the darkness,

following the course

of the ruler

of this world

and disobedience

to God

and all kinds

of things.

But Paul says,

now the light

of Christ

has shined on you.

Now you're part

of God's family.

Now you are fellow heirs.

That means you're in

on the promise.

You're part of the family.

You're members

of the same body.

The one new humanity

that he talked about

in chapter two,

and partakers

of the promise

in Christ Jesus

through the gospel.

So that's what Paul's

saying in verse six.

He's saying this

to the Ephesians.

He's saying,

you're in Jesus Christ.

You are now one

with God

through Jesus Christ

and one with one another.

And Paul says,

this is the message

that God has given me.

This is the mystery

that has been revealed

in Jesus Christ.

You know,

if you read

in the Old Testament,

the prophets promised

many times,

there's many examples

of this,

the prophets looked

forward to a day

when the Gentiles,

the nations,

would come and worship

the one true God

of Israel.

They looked forward

to that day,

but it didn't,

but it wasn't totally clear

how that would happen.

And Paul says,

now you can see

how it can happen.

You can see how

it's happened

because Jesus Christ

has come.

And he's come

for Israel

and for the whole world.

For everyone.

And he's come

to bring us

into God's family

by his grace.

Look at verse 2

and verse 7.

Paul talks about

God's grace

that was given

to me for you

in verse 2.

Verse 7,

the gift of God's grace

which was given

to me.

Verse 8,

this grace was given.

Right?

He repeats these words.

Grace,

gift,

given,

to emphasize

that this is all

a gift of God.

You know,

it's not like

it's something

that God has done

by his grace.

That word grace

just means generosity

or gift.

And Paul says,

it's a generous,

lavish gift

that God has poured

out upon us

in Jesus Christ.

Christ.

So this is what

he's saying

in verse 2 to 7.

God has revealed

this mystery,

the mystery of his grace

in Jesus Christ.

And,

and then

in verse 8 to 12,

Paul emphasizes

that God has called me,

Paul's referring

to himself,

God has called me

to make it known

to you.

So you can see

really throughout

this,

these verses,

it comes up some

in the first paragraph

to,

you know,

verse 2,

the stewardship

of God's grace

given to me

for you.

The mystery

is made known

to me.

My insight

of the mystery

of Christ

has been revealed

to his holy apostles

and prophets.

But then,

then especially

in verse 7,

8,

9,

Paul says,

I was made a minister

according to the gift

of God's grace.

Though I am the very least

of the saints,

this grace was given

to preach to the Gentiles

and to bring to life

for everyone

God's plan.

This mystery

that through Jesus Christ,

people from all nations

can be united

under the lordship

of Jesus Christ

as part of God's

eternal purpose.

And Paul says,

God has called me

to make this mystery

known to you.

So those are sort of

the two major parts

of this passage

that it's a mystery

or God has revealed

this mystery.

God has called me

to make it known

to you.

And so he wants

to encourage them.

And let me,

let me,

I want to apply

this message

to us in three ways

and spend the rest

of our time

just sort of applying

this message

to us

and how it can

give us encouragement

where we are

and looking at

some points here.

So first,

first way

it can encourage us

is that this is a message.

The message

Paul is talking about

gives us both humility

and confidence.

If you look at verse 8,

Paul describes himself

as the very least

of all the saints.

In another place

he calls himself

the worst,

the chief of sinners.

Paul saw that he was

completely unworthy

and undeserving

of God's favor

and blessing.

But then he says,

so he was,

in that sense

he was very humble.

I'm the least.

Like,

I'm not better

than anybody else.

But then,

he's also very confident.

He says,

this grace was given me

to preach to the Gentiles

the unsearchable riches

of Christ

to bring to light

for everyone

the plan

that was hidden

for ages in God.

He's saying,

God has sent me

to explain to you

this mystery

that for thousands

of years

wasn't made clear.

and God sent me

as the apostle

for you

to tell you

this truth

so that your eyes

can be opened

and you can come

from darkness

into light

and you can see

the glory of God.

It's interesting, right?

Paul has both

this humility

saying I'm the least

of all the saints

and this amazing confidence.

And that's

what the message

of God's grace does

when it gets inside us.

Right?

It humbles us.

It shows us

our sin

but it also

gives us confidence

because our confidence

and it's not a false confidence

in ourselves

but it's a true confidence

that comes from Christ

and knowing that

Christ's promises are true

and Christ has called us

and he's called us

by his grace.

He's saved us

by his grace

and he equips us

by his grace

to do everything

that we're doing

and so we can never

ultimately take the credit

for good things

that God does

through us

but we can go forward

confidently

because he's called us

and we can know

that we have a place

at his table

in the family of God

just because of his grace

and his mercy.

You know,

I think a lot,

right?

I mean,

isn't what a lot of us

tend to do?

We tend to sort of flip

back and forth

between false confidence

in ourselves

and then despair

which means losing

all confidence in God

and we sort of flip

from one to the other.

You know,

on our good days

we sort of build up

this confidence

in ourselves

and then on our bad days

we just realize

we shouldn't have confidence

in ourselves

and we feel like

we don't have any confidence

at all.

And Paul says,

no,

this is a message

of God's grace.

It's a message

that humbles us

and that gives us confidence.

And that's how Paul

describes himself.

He describes himself

as a minister

and that word

simply means a servant.

That was a word

used for someone

who worked in a household

who might have had

some authority

but you weren't

the owner of the house.

Right?

Or even the way

it's used in a government.

Right?

The minister of state.

We don't use it

in the United States

but some other countries

call it like

the minister of education.

Right?

We call it

the secretary of education.

It means

you're not the president.

Right?

You work for somebody else.

You have authority.

You know,

you have responsibility

but you don't own the place.

And that's how Paul

is speaking about himself.

He's saying

I'm in God's house

but I don't own the house.

God's given me

an important responsibility

in his house

but it's not my house.

And I can never

take credit for it

in the end.

And then Paul

talks about himself

as a steward.

That word stewardship

of God's grace

or administration

of God's grace.

A steward

is simply a manager.

Again,

Paul used another

one of these words

that would have been

common back then

for somebody

who worked

under someone else's authority

but also had

an important responsibility.

And that's how

Paul speaks about himself

and that's how we can

think about our

responsibility

as members

of God's household.

That we have

an important place

in God's family

but it's his.

So where do you need humility?

Where do you need confidence?

That's something

you can think

and pray about.

So first,

humility and confidence.

Second thing,

the mystery

that is revealed

but unsearchable.

Did you notice

how Paul

emphasized so much

God has revealed

this mystery?

He's made known

to you.

Verse

3,

4,

5,

9,

10

talks about

words like

made known

or insight

or revealed

or bring to light.

Paul's emphasizing

the gospel

it's been brought

to light.

Now you can see it.

You can see who Christ is.

You can see who God is

more and more clearly

but then

in verse 8 and 10

verse 8

he speaks about it

as unsearchable

the unsearchable

riches of Christ.

Now isn't that interesting?

Paul says

now you can see it.

It used to be hidden

but now it's brought

into the open.

But then Paul says

but it's unsearchable.

That means you can never

get to the bottom of it.

You can never

fully

grasp it.

It's like

exploring the ocean.

Right?

You can go to the beach

on a warm

summer day

splashing the water

enjoy the ocean

maybe you

learn to swim

you can swim out

a little further

explore a little more

maybe you get a boat

you know

go out

a little further

away from shore

maybe where you can't

see the land anymore

and maybe you do

a little fishing

whatever right?

You explore the ocean

more maybe you

do a little diving

and sort

maybe get some goggles

and look around

maybe you go all the way

maybe you do scuba diving

and go down even further

and see some things

that you could never see

from the surface

maybe you

find a way to get

into a submarine

right?

And go really far down.

Here's the point.

When you're getting

to know Jesus better

it's like exploring

the ocean

but you'll never

get to the bottom.

And you can splash

in the ocean

and it's

you can rejoice

like a child

in knowing your sins

are forgiven

and you have

and you have

the Holy Spirit

working in you

but you can go deep

you can keep going deeper

and that's partly

what God does

he just takes you

deeper and deeper.

He takes you out

further in the water

and you're like

you look around

and you're like

there ain't no land here.

Where are we going?

And God says

don't worry I'm with you

just like I was

with you on the beach.

I'm with you.

So that's the thing

about being a Christian.

Being a Christian

is never boring

because you never

get it all figured out.

Okay?

It's not like video games.

Right?

You play

Super Mario Brothers

or whatever

the more advanced

video games are today.

Right?

Most video games

are fun for a while.

You start at level one

go to level two

get to level three

you know

throw in the enhanced version

but eventually

you figure it out

and it's boring

because you know

all the levels

and you beat all the levels

and you know exactly

where all the secret

you know

prizes are.

You've got it.

Right?

Then you've got to

buy a new video game

because you get over it.

Sometimes you get over it

pretty quick.

But following Jesus

you never learn

all his tricks

because his ways

are unsearchably glorious.

Right?

And so

that's the thing

we can know God

but the more you know him

the more amazing he gets.

And that's a wonderful truth

and it's encouragement

to press on

and seek to know God better.

That's exactly what Paul prays

in the rest of chapter three

that the people

would know God better

and know his love

more deeply

in their hearts.

So keep going deeper.

Verse 10 describes it

as God's manifold wisdom.

That's a word

that means a many-sided thing.

It was used

for an intricately

embroidered pattern

or for the many colors

of a bouquet of flowers

or we might think

of a diamond

that sparkles

from all different angles.

And we can come to see

the manifold wisdom of God

the amazing wisdom of God

from sort of

from different angles.

And part of how we see that

is actually

through the different kinds

of people God brings

into the church.

You know,

if I just had only

my experience to go on

you know,

based on where I grew up

and how I first got

to know Christ

and you know,

how I naturally

understand the Bible

that's fine

but that's just one person.

But the more you

get to know other people

who come from

different backgrounds

and yet come to experience

the same Lord Jesus

it's sort of like

you can look at this diamond

from all different perspectives

and you realize

we're all coming

from different places

but we're coming

to the same treasure.

We're coming

to the same Savior.

And you can see

even more of his beauty

as we get to know

each other

and see

and listen to each other

talk about

the unsearchable riches

of Christ.

So get to know somebody

who's not like you

but who belongs to Christ

and who's looking to Christ.

I encourage you to do that

and learn to be

who you are in Christ

not be who somebody else

is in Christ.

Sometimes that takes

a little while.

You feel like

I have to be like them.

No, you have to be

who you are in Christ.

Not just who you naturally are

in your sinful nature

but not necessarily

like somebody else.

God's going to make you

He's going to make you

who He's going to make you.

And He's going to make you

part of the big picture.

Right?

Part of His family.

So humility and confidence

revealed but unsearchable

and third

suffering and victorious.

These are all paradoxes really.

Things that we don't think

go together naturally

but in Christ they do.

This is the last thing

verse 13

and this is where we start

and where we'll end.

So Paul says

so I ask you

not to lose heart

over what I am suffering

for you

which is your glory.

Now

suffering and glory.

We don't usually think

they go together.

And the Ephesian Christians

probably thought

Paul our leader

is thrown in prison

and we don't know

when he's ever getting out.

That's not good.

And maybe we

I don't know.

I mean

is this message really true?

Should we really hold on to it?

Should we really try

to live that way?

Or should we just do something

that's a little more

take an easier road?

Do something that

maybe is a little more acceptable.

A little more

according to the social norms.

But Paul says

no don't lose heart

over what I'm suffering for you.

Paul says

in the Christian life

suffering and glory

go together.

You know

and there's lots of Bible verses

that talk about this.

There's some that talk about

through suffering we're refined.

It's like a fire

that refines metal.

And it's

I mean

being in a fire is painful.

And if

you

have ever seen

a blacksmith

work on metal in the fire

they bang on it.

Right?

Sometimes that's what

suffering feels like.

You're put in a fire

and then you get banged on.

Paul says

that's how God

is preparing you

and making you

into something

amazingly glorious.

You know

even in this passage

you know

Paul reminds them

of what God is doing.

Paul's saying

in verse 10

the manifold wisdom of God

God is now

making it known

to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenly places.

I mean

that's basically

it's basically saying

God is sort of

saying

look at what I'm doing.

He's saying

Satan

you see

you're not in charge.

Because look at

what I'm doing

I'm taking people

out of darkness

and bringing them

into the light.

I'm forgiving people's

sins through

the death of my son

Jesus on the cross.

God's making it known

it says

the wisdom of God

is being made known

to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenly places

and most of the time

when Paul talks about

rulers and authorities

in the heavenly places

it's not the good ones

it's the evil ones.

And so Paul's saying

God is displaying

that he

that Jesus Christ

is going to win

the final victory

even by

the work that he's doing

in our lives.

I mean

that's pretty amazing.

Think about that.

It's a little bit

like what God did

with Job

back in the Old Testament.

When God said to Satan

have you considered

my servant Job?

And Satan's like

yeah yeah yeah

he just

he just likes you

because of the stuff

you give him.

Take away

his blessings

and he'll curse you

and die.

But he didn't.

You know

so it's a little bit

like that

and

and verse 12

Paul says

we have boldness

and access

with confidence.

Right?

We can come boldly

before God

in prayer.

And then that's

what he's going to do

at the end of chapter 3.

You know

Paul's saying

look yes

I'm suffering in prison

but think about

what God is doing.

Think about

how we can come boldly

before him in prayer

and bring our request

before him in prayer

and pray for one another

and at the end

Paul says

pray for me.

Put on the full armor

of God

and pray for me too.

And then he's

verse 13

he says

my suffering

is for your glory.

You know

sometimes

I have to say

I think sometimes

watching somebody else

suffer

whom you love

and not being able

to relieve their suffering

can sometimes be

I would almost say

even more difficult

than being the person

who's suffering.

And that's sort of

what Paul's saying here.

He's saying

don't be disheartened.

I'm suffering

but don't lose heart

over what I'm suffering.

I'm going to make it

because Christ

is going to bring me

through this

and you can make it too.

And in fact

all that I'm doing

is for your benefit

and for your

eternal glory

that you would

that we all

would come to the

great banquet of God

in the new heavens

and the new earth

that we'd be part

of his kingdom forever.

That God is

using Paul's suffering

even his imprisonment

and his faithful testimony

for the gospel

to encourage

the believers in Ephesus

and all kinds of places.

I mean

how many places

throughout the world

have Paul's letters

been written

and Christians

have been encouraged?

I mean

Paul even didn't realize

how God would use

his experience in prison

to experience

so many other people

who've gone through

so much hardship

right

to minister to people

in all kinds

of different situations

where they were

tempted to lose heart

and God's used

Paul's words

over the years

to encourage

so many Christian believers.

You know

Paul couldn't even see that.

But that's the thing

suffering

and victorious

suffering

and glory

they go together

and so be encouraged

if you're suffering

if you're under

if you're under

the weight

of an affliction

and you're looking

to Christ

God's going to use

this suffering

for your glory

and even

for the benefit

of others

and just look

for the ways

that he's doing that.

You may not be able

to see that now

you may not be able

to see that

until years later

you may not be able

to see that

until you get to heaven

but this is what Paul says

don't lose heart

don't lose heart

over your own suffering

and don't lose heart

over the suffering

of other believers

and the things

that they might be going through

pray for them

come alongside them

do what you can

to relieve them

but some things

are beyond our control

right?

The Ephesians

couldn't get Paul

out of prison

there's nothing

they could have done

back then for him

except pray for him

and entrust him

to the Lord

and Paul says

don't worry

it's going to be

for your glory

and the glory

of God in the end

let's pray

Lord we thank you

for the message

of the gospel

that Paul proclaimed

Lord we thank you

for how it gives us

humility and confidence

Lord we thank you

for how it

allows us to see you

clearly

because you've

revealed yourself

but also reminds us

of how much more

there is to know

about you

and encourages us

to keep going deeper

and Lord we thank you

for how it teaches us

that suffering

and glory

can go together

and we thank you

ultimately for Jesus Christ

who laid down his life

on the cross

and that was the way

to glory

for him

and for us

so we thank you

especially for him

and for his death

on the cross

Lord we just pray

that that would be

the foundation

and that you would

give us encouragement

give us encouragement

this week

Lord from this passage

to do what you've

called us to do

and to keep looking to you

in Jesus name we pray

amen