Ephesians 15-01-2014

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To ask yourself.

To ask yourself.

To ask yourself.

say, what does this passage actually mean?

Why does it say it like this, in this place to these people?

Which is a question of significance, which gets you under the surface.

And that then begins to open up the application, so how are we going to do

what the intention of the writer is in teaching his

readers these things? If you want to think of it in another way

you could say it's the exegesis of the passage, drawing out what it says,

the exposing of the significance of the passage and then the

application to the will of the heart of the passage.

And Dr. Lloyd-Jones used to talk about that in his book Preaching and Preachers.

He talks about the truth going through the mind to the heart to activate the will.

And really every sermon and every study we do

should have that focus. What is there here for the mind?

What does it mean? How does that impact the heart? What is the significance

for my life? And how is it going to work out in my life?

How does it energise my will so that I put the word

in the spirit strength into practice?

So mind, heart, will.

And that's, I think, a good little model to follow

in any sort of Bible study, and I'll try and follow it

tonight as we look together at Ephesians.

The other principle at the beginning

is that the Scripture interprets the Scripture.

So I don't have to come to Ephesians

trying to interpret it.

I want the Scripture to interpret

its own meaning. To me, this is of course

the great principle of the Reformation,

that every individual believer,

given the gift of the Spirit,

can be illuminated by God

to understand the word of God.

Scripture itself is the interpreter

of Scripture.

And therefore, when I come to a passage

like Ephesians, or a section like Ephesians,

I want to ask myself, first of all,

well, does the Scripture give me any help

in coming to this letter

in a way that will open it up for me?

It is a letter written to the Ephesians,

verse 1 says, to the saints who are in Ephesus.

Though you may have a footnote in a modern version

that says some of the old manuscripts

don't have in Ephesus, in verse 1.

And there has been some discussion

as to whether this really was a letter

to the Ephesians,

because if you look at chapter 1, verse 15,

Paul says,

for this reason, because I've heard

of your faith in the Lord Jesus

and your love towards all the saints.

Well, he was in Ephesus for nearly three years.

And if he's talking to the Ephesians,

why does he say, I've heard about your love?

If he was actually there

for the longest period of settled ministry

that we know about.

So I think what we've got to say here

is that this is a letter that

was written to the Ephesian church,

but of course, Ephesus was the capital city

of the whole of the province of Asia Minor.

There's a seat at the front if you'd like one.

And the whole of the province of Asia Minor.

And therefore, from Ephesus,

all sorts of people would have heard the gospel.

We'll see this in a moment or two,

because when we study the Acts of the Apostles,

we find that it was a great center

at which Paul preached the gospel day by day,

and it went out to the whole area.

So I don't think there's any doubt

that the church in Ephesus is involved here,

but it's not just the little house churches in Ephesus.

It's those churches in Hierapolis and Laodicea

and Colossae,

which were all in that area of the Lycus Valley.

And so it's probably a widespread,

rather more general letter in many ways,

but to people who are living in this province

in which Ephesus is the dominant city.

Now, where do we go to find out?

Well, let's go to Acts 19.

Let's find out what Ephesus is like,

and we'll find it out from the Bible,

so that the scripture will help us to interpret the scripture.

Paul is on his missionary journey.

He comes to Ephesus,

and it begins with him finding some disciples of John

who have not yet really understood who Jesus is,

and they need to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

which happens,

and they then receive the Holy Spirit.

And after that,

Paul enters the synagogue,

and verse 8 of chapter 19,

for three months spoke boldly,

reasoning and persuading them

about the kingdom of God.

But when some became stubborn

and continued in unbelief,

speaking evil of the way before the congregation,

he withdrew from them

and took the disciples with him,

reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

This continued for two years,

so that all the residents of Asia

heard the word of the Lord,

both Jews and Greeks.

So,

Paul's usual customs start in the synagogue,

three months there,

doubtless some converts from that,

but by and large,

rejection.

And so he goes to an independent,

secular lecture hall,

probably in the lunch hour,

when the lecturer Tyrannus wasn't using it,

and so you have the first lunchtime services,

and here he is speaking

the word of God every day

to anyone who will come and listen.

And Luke tells us that the word

spread throughout the whole province of Asia

as a result of that.

Now,

what happened gives us a feel

of what life in Ephesus was like.

For example,

verse 13,

there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists

who undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus

over those who had evil spirits.

And you probably remember that the evil spirits

won't recognize the use of the name

because they don't know the Lord Jesus.

And the man in whom the evil spirits are dwelling

leaps on them and overpowers them

and they have to flee out of the house.

Look at verse 17.

And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus,

both Jews and Greeks,

and fear fell upon them all.

And the name of the Lord Jesus

was extolled.

And many of whom were now believers

came confessing and divulging their practices.

And a number of those who practiced magic arts

fought their books together

and burnt them in the sight of all.

And they counted the value

and it came to 50,000 pieces of silver.

That's 50,000 days' wages.

So the word of the Lord continued to increase

and prevail mightily.

Well now this fits in with what we know

not only from scripture but elsewhere

that Ephesus was a hotbed of occult religion.

There are all sorts of spells and incantations,

all sorts of magic forces at work.

These books that they burn

are magic books,

how to call up spirits,

how to put curses on people.

The whole area was controlled

by the religious life of the temple

which was at the heart of the city of Ephesus,

the great temple of Diana,

the goddess of the Ephesians.

But not only of the Ephesians,

it said that she was worshipped

more than any other god

other than the Roman emperor,

and that was always by compulsion,

but more than any other god in the Roman empire.

So Diana, or Artemis as she's called,

her temple right at the heart

of Ephesian life,

it was the centre of the financial prosperity,

it was the centre of the tourist industry,

everything really revolved around

the temple of Diana

and its occult worship practices.

And this is the city into which Paul now comes,

preaching the gospel of Christ.

Not surprisingly,

God accompanies the preaching

with remarkable signs.

You see back there in verse 11,

God was doing extraordinary miracles

by the hands of Paul.

So that even handkerchiefs or aprons

that had touched his skin

were carried away to the sick

and their diseases left them,

and the evil spirits came out of them.

Now that is extraordinary,

there is nothing else like that

in the Acts of the Apostles.

Because Ephesus is a city

that knows about magic.

And Ephesus needs to know

that there is a name

that is stronger than any other name.

And Paul here does these extraordinary,

I mean miracles are wonderful,

but extraordinary miracles,

in order that the name of Jesus

may be seen to be more powerful

than any other name

amongst the people of that city.

Well, there is a riot,

as you remember,

because the temple trade declines.

The silversmiths who make

the little souvenirs

that everybody bought from the temple.

If people are not going to go

to the temple now,

and people are going to worship

this unseen Jesus,

then their trade is in jeopardy.

And there is a riot,

you remember,

and in the end,

Paul leaves,

but he leaves behind

a church

which has been well taught

by him

for two to three years,

and lots of little churches

in the area around,

which have been planted

from his lunchtime ministry

in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

Now,

obviously you could spend

a lot longer on that.

My problem tonight is

knowing what to say

and what not to say, really,

because there is so much

you could say.

But I think it helps us

to see what the situation is.

See,

put yourself into the shoes

of one of the converts

of Paul's ministry in Ephesus.

Suppose you're a young man,

and you hear what he says,

and you go,

you know,

for several weeks every day

to the lecture hall of Tyrannus,

and you pick up this gospel

about this Jesus Christ,

and how this is the fulfillment

of all the monotheistic tradition

of Judaism

coming to its peak

in God himself

revealing himself

in human form.

And as the Holy Spirit

opens your eyes,

you come to faith in Christ.

And you go home

and you say to your parents,

well,

I'm not coming to the temple

of Diana anymore.

She's just a fiction,

just a creation

of human minds.

She, of course,

had a huge statue,

which they say

was carved out

of a meteorite

that fell from the heavens,

so she was thought

to have come from heaven.

And if you look at

the secular evidence

about Ephesus,

you'll find that she was called

the Queen of the Cosmos,

and the Saviour of the World.

Fascinating titles.

Now he's proclaiming

a new Saviour,

and a king

over all the earth.

And so you say,

well,

I'm not having anything

to do with that,

it's just pagan superstition.

And before you know

where you are,

your father's going

down the road

to hire somebody

to curse you,

because our city

depends upon this temple,

it's the centre of everything.

We can't have you

turning your back

on this.

You're a threat

to our whole community,

you and your friends

who start to believe

this nonsense.

Now,

if you're a young Christian,

you've got to know,

is there any power

in that curse?

Can you actually

be separated

from Christ?

Are you still vulnerable

to these forces,

these hostile powers?

Or,

does your new faith

give you a strength

and an ability

to resist,

and to grow,

and to develop?

And it's something

like that,

you see,

that is in the background

of writing this letter

to the Ephesians.

Because,

the letter

picks up

these very themes.

So let's turn back

to Ephesians.

And what I would do

myself,

if I'm starting again

to work on a book

of the Bible,

is obviously to read,

read,

and read again,

but you wouldn't

really feel you've

got any money's worth

if we read it through

twice tonight

and did nothing else.

So I'm going to presume

that we've read it

and that we know

a bit about it,

but that we want to

sort of pick up

the clues

as we go.

Now,

the thing about

reading the Bible

is to read it

with your antennae up.

That is to say,

read it

looking

for the things

you don't understand

and the things

that surprise you.

The more you build

your Bible study

on what you think

it was,

why does it say that?

I wouldn't have

put it like that.

Why does it put it

that way?

The more we do it

like that,

the more you will find

you get out of the

Bible study.

If you open it

and say,

oh Ephesians 1,

I know that.

Oh yes,

it's all the blessings

we have in Christ.

What comes next?

So you're never

going to get anywhere.

So read it

with your antennae up.

Answer the questions.

Think the thoughts.

Now,

you come to verse 3.

Blessed be the God

and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ

who has blessed us

in Christ Jesus

with every spiritual

blessing in the

heavenly places.

What's that mean?

I mean,

it's a straightforward

sentence,

but where are these

heavenly places?

And what does it

mean to be blessed

in the heavenly places?

Does it mean heaven?

Well,

that's where Jesus is.

He's ascended to heaven.

Well,

if our every spiritual

blessing is in heaven,

do we have it on earth

or do we have to wait

to get to heaven

in order to receive it?

What are these

heavenly places?

If you look at

other translations,

you'll find it's

sometimes translated

to heavenless

and that's a more

literal translation.

But the other thing,

of course,

with any Bible book

is to see

what vocabulary

in the book

is used more

in this book

than in any other book.

So if you've got

a concordance,

which I hope you do

have in the back

of your Bible

or maybe Strong's

exhausting concordance

or somebody else's

concordance,

Young or whoever,

if you've got a concordance,

look up heavenless

and you'll find

that in Ephesians

it's used more

than in any other letter.

Now,

when you find

something like that,

that one particular book

has some vocabulary

in it

that is distinctive

to that book,

you will find then

that you're on

to a bit of a clue

as to what the

distinctive ingredient is

in terms of the message,

in terms of the theme tune,

in terms of where

it's going.

So I would chase

heavenlies,

which of course

I have done

in studying it

and let me just

take you through,

it's quite interesting.

So we've got

the heavenly places

which is the source

of every spiritual

blessing in Christ.

Then in chapter 1

verse 20,

the great power

which he worked

in Christ

when he raised him

from the dead

and seated him

at his right hand

in the heavenly places

far above all rule

and authority.

Okay,

well that seems like

Jesus ascended

to the right hand

of the Father

in heaven.

When does it occur next?

Verse 6

of chapter 2,

and raised us

up with him

and seated us

with him

in the heavenly places

in Christ Jesus.

Yes,

but we're not in heaven

at the moment.

I mean it's a great

joy to be here

but if this was heaven

it's a letdown,

isn't it?

We're not there yet

but are we seated

with him?

Well,

you may say

positionally we are.

We've been raised

with Christ

and so where Christ is

we are

and Christ

who is our life

will appear

and we'll appear

with him in glory.

Okay,

so perhaps

that is what it means.

But what do we have

here and now

in this world?

Well,

chapter 3

verse 10

God's purpose

is that through

the church

the manifold

literally the many

colored wisdom

of God

might now be made

known to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenless.

So who are these

rulers and authorities?

Angels,

yes,

certainly

but are they simply

the angels

that are in heaven

around the throne

of God

into the book

of Revelation

or is there

more to it

than that?

Well,

you've probably

already got ahead

of me

to the most

famous reference

to this

which is

Isaiah 6:12

chapter 6

verse 12

verse 12

verse 12

for we do not

wrestle against

flesh and blood

but against

rulers,

against the

authorities,

against the

cosmic powers

over the

present darkness

against the

spiritual forces

of evil

in the heavenly

places.

it can't

mean heaven

then,

it can't

mean the

place

where there

can be no

evil in the

presence of

God.

These are

forces which

are fighting

against God

we're wrestling

against them

in the

spiritual battle

and the

spiritual battle

is being conducted

in the

heavenless.

So clearly

what Paul's

interested in

here is

not a visible

kingdom

but an

invisible

context

in which

a spiritual

warfare is

being waged.

And what he

wants these

young Christians

in Ephesus to

know is that

in that context

there is one

supreme name

above every

other name.

There is one

who has been

exalted to the

position of all

authority and

power, far

above all rule

and power and

authority and

dominion and

every name that's

named.

And that is the

name of the

Lord Jesus.

And so what

Paul is

proclaiming is

that Christ is

supreme in

this spiritual

battle.

We are all

involved he says

in the wrestling

but it's not

against flesh and

blood.

It's against the

spiritual opposition

that fights against

the will of God

and against the

gospel in the

spiritual realms.

And in that

realm Christ is

utterly supreme

over all those

hostile forces.

So that when

your father goes

to get the curse

from the wizard

down the road

that curse can

have no power

on you if you

are in Christ.

Which is why

the letter begins

I think with

all these verses

in chapter 1

1 to 14 that

we read and

I'm sure it

struck you as

we read it.

That Christ

comes in almost

every verse and

in nearly every

verse it says

either in Christ

or through Christ.

It's absolutely

striking the way

that happens.

An apostle of

Christ Jesus to

the saints who

are faithful in

Christ Jesus

grace to you

and peace from

God our Father

and the Lord

Jesus Christ

blessed be the

God and Father

of our Lord

Jesus Christ

notice the full

title used twice

in successive

verses who has

blessed us in

Christ with every

spiritual blessing

in the heaven

of the Lord.

So this is going

to be a letter

then about Jesus

and his exaltation

and the fact that

you can put your

faith and confidence

in the one who

is exalted above

all the hostile

powers who has

triumphed over them

all.

And you are he

says the faithful

in Christ Jesus.

He chose us in

him verse 4

he predestined us

in love for

adoption through

Christ verse 5

it's to the praise

of his glorious

grace because

he's blessed us

in the beloved

verse 6

in him redemption

verse 7

he made known

to us the mystery

of his will

which he set forth

in Christ

verse 9

and then verse 10

the climax of

the whole paragraph

what is the mystery

of his will

a plan for the

fullness of time

now this is very

important

to unite all

things in Christ

things in heaven

and things on earth

that is what he

describes in

verse 9

as the mystery

of God's will

so the secret

that has now

been revealed

because mystery

doesn't mean a

puzzle that you've

got to solve

it means something

that you would

never know if

God had not

revealed it to you

a mystery is

something where

God pulls back

the curtains

and he says

look there it is

and the mystery

of his will

that was hidden

for ages and

generations

he's pulled back

the curtain

and he says

look here it is

it is that in

Christ

everything ultimately

will come together

in the fullness of

time

things in heaven

things on earth

everything under

Jesus

and what is the

evidence for that

well he's going to

explain it in his

prayer that comes

later in this first

chapter

because the evidence

for it is the

mighty power by

which he raised

Jesus from the

dead

if you have a look

at verses 19

and 20

and seated him

at his right hand

in the heavenly

places far above

all these authorities

and powers

now look at verse

22

and he put all

things under his

feet and gave him

as head over all

things to the

church which is

his body the

fullness of him

who fills all

in all

it's magnificent

isn't it

so everything

comes to its

fulfillment in

Christ

he's the purpose

of the whole

universe

the whole of

creation is by

him and for

him

everything will

come together

under his feet

and already

the fact that

he's been raised

from the dead

in the power of

an endless life

ascended to the

right hand of

the father

seated in the

heavenly glory

already that means

that everything is

under his feet

and that he is

head over everything

for his people

the church

now in some

countries if we

were talking

like that we'd

be standing on

the seats clapping

our hands and

saying isn't that

marvelous I mean

we don't do that

sort of thing here

of course but it

is marvelous isn't

it it ought to

move us

this is what Christ

has done for us

my friends we're not

caught up in some

sort of minority

religious group

interest

this is the purpose

of the universe

this is what it's

all about

this is what we're

caught up in the

great purposes of

God and well he

wants us to know

just how great

those purposes are

in the Lord Jesus

Christ so that's

what this first

chapter is talking

about and it's

interesting that

Paul not only

teaches them but

he prays for them

because you see

it's not just a

matter of information

for the head it's

the heart being

warmed it's the

will being shaped

to do God's

will and that

will only happen

when we pray

that's why he

says you see

I don't cease to

give thanks to

you verse 16

and I remember

you in my prayers

that the God

of our Lord Jesus

Christ the Father

of glory may

give you a spirit

of wisdom and

revelation in the

knowledge of him

having the eyes of

your hearts

enlightened that you

may know what

is the hope to

which he's called

you and what are

the riches of his

glorious inheritance

and what is the

immeasurable greatness

of his power

well there's a

good bible study

there isn't there

when you get to

that prayer there's

a terrific amount

to be unpacked

there but you

see what he's

saying this is a

wonderful thing

isn't it

that this is what

God has done for

us in Christ

and he is praying

that they will

understand it

so let's pray for

one another

that we will know

this not just know

it in the sense of

writing it in a

notebook and giving

our affirmation to

it but know it in

our hearts

know it as the

controlling factor of

our lives

knowing it as the

thing that dictates

how we look at our

life day by day

at work and at

home and in the

community

so that we are

really Christian

it was John

Wesley who said

that he used to

pray

Lord cure me of my

intermittent piety

and make me

thoroughly Christian

and that's what

this letter will do

it will cure us of

that sort of

well sometimes I

feel it sometimes I

don't

and make us

thoroughly Christian

because we see

from God's word

through God's

spirit who Jesus

really is

and what the

Lord Jesus has

really accomplished

and the fact that

there is no power

on earth or in

the heavens

in the heavenlies

or anywhere else

that can overcome

his authority

all things under

his feet

now that's the

first strand

let me suggest

to you that

there's another

strand that's

running parallel

with it

and that comes

out in verses

11 to 14

of chapter 1

the book is

often divided

into two

very neatly

1 to 3

4 to 6

and it's often

said 1 to 3

is the doctrine

and 4 to 6

is the practice

and that's not

wrong

but it's not the

last word on it

because the practice

is in 1 to 3

and the doctrine

is in 4 to 6

as well

but it's not wrong

to look at it

like that

1 to 3

is mainly

doctrine

4 to 6

is mainly

practice

but let's just

pick up this

second theme

from verse 11

in him we have

obtained an

inheritance

having been

predestined according

to the purpose

of him who

works all things

according to the

counsel of his

will

so that we

now who is we

so that we

who were the

first to hope

in Christ

might be to the

praise of his

glory

in him

you

who is you

also

when you

heard the

word of the

truth

the gospel

of salvation

was sealed

with the

promised

holy spirit

I want to

suggest to you

that we

is the Jews

and you

are the

gentiles

and what

Paul is

saying is

we who

were the

first believers

in Christ

those to whom

Christ came

he came to

his own

and his own

received him

not

but those

who did

receive him

were predestined

according to

the purpose

of the

loving

will of

God

to be the

first believers

in Jesus

and to

hope in

Christ

first

then he

says you

gentiles

because of

course

most of

the people

that he's

addressing

are gentile

converts

you heard

the word

of the

truth

the gospel

and you've

been incorporated

into this

body of

Christ

now the

we and

the you

is going

to be

really

important

when we

come to

chapter 2

chapter 2

explores

how the

salvation

works

in verses

1 to 10

famous passage

I'm not going

to dwell on

that tonight

but

2

1 to 10

at the

personal level

this is where

you were

when Christ

found you

this is what

God has done

for you

in Jesus

this is how

you were to

live as a

result of it

we are his

workmanship

created in

Christ Jesus

for good works

so chapter 2

1 to 10

is a wonderful

passage about

the gospel

by grace

you're saved

through faith

and it's all

about where

you were

how Christ

has changed

you

and the

implications

of that

but the

second half

of chapter 2

verses 11

to 22

is all about

the corporate

expression of

that

so it's not

just you

as an

individual

that's important

we all come

into the

kingdom of

heaven

one by one

it's a

narrow gate

you go

through it

as an

individual

repenting

and believing

but then we

find we're

members of

the body

of Christ

he's the

head

and we're

the body

as the

letter is

going to

teach us

and the

body is

made up

of Jews

and Gentiles

so just

as he

says at

the beginning

of chapter

2

you were

dead

in

trespasses

and sins

so he

says in

verse 11

of chapter

2

therefore

remember

at one

time

you Gentiles

in the

flesh

remember

that you

were separated

from Christ

and alienated

from the

commonwealth

of Israel

and you

had no

hope

because you

were without

God in

the world

but now

in Christ

Jesus

you've been

brought near

so in

chapter 2

1 to 10

you were

dead in

sins

but God

raised you

up to

life

chapter 2

verse 11

you Gentiles

had no

hope

you were

alienated

from God

you had

nothing

to plead

but in

Christ

you've been

brought near

through his

blood

for he

himself

is our

peace

now look

at what

he's done

he has

made us

both

that is

Jews

and Gentiles

one

and has

broken down

in his

flesh

the dividing

wall of

hostility

now the

biggest

division

in the

Mediterranean

world

was between

the Jews

and Gentiles

the Jews

had no

dealings

with them

the Jews

regarded them

as inferior

dogs

outside the

law

they weren't

given the

law of

God

they had

none of

the privileges

of the

covenants

they were

scum

really

and the

Gentiles

returned the

compliment

to the

Jews

and the

two groups

of people

were constantly

in friction

with one

another

if God

is going

to do

something

to show

in time

what will

happen

in eternity

i.e. that he

will bring

everything

together

under Jesus

Christ

then would it

not be likely

that what he

would do

would be to

bring people

from the

widest

divided

hostile

social

communities

and unite

them together

as one

body

under the

authority

of Jesus

Christ

rhetorical

question

answer

yes

of course

that's what

he's going

to do

so you see

the unity

of the

Jews

and Gentiles

in the

church

where all

those old

divisions

now are

broken down

is the

proof

that Christ's

supremacy

unites

together

what otherwise

would always

be separate

and always

apart

now for us

in our

21st century

Jews and

Gentiles

division

is not so

classic

but there are

plenty of

divisions

in our

society

social

divisions

ethnic

divisions

racial

divisions

all sorts

of divisions

I mean

the newspapers

and the media

are full of it

all the time

the church

is the one

place

where those

divisions

should not

matter

the one

place where

Jews and

Gentiles are

one in

Christ Jesus

where there is

neither male

nor female

bond nor

slave

bond nor

free

but we are

all one

in Christ

Jesus

so

you see

what he's

saying

is this

that the

church

is the

outcrop

in time

if you like

the sort

of prototype

in time

of what

God is

going to

do

in eternity

he is

going to

bring

everything

together

under the

supremacy

of the

Lord Jesus

Christ

and he's

demonstrating

that he can

do that

by bringing

the most

disparate

groups of

people

together

as one

united

body

one

family

in

Christ

here

and now

I was

talking to

a young

man

just this

week

his father

was Jamaican

his mother

was Sri

Lankan

and I was

asking him

about how he's

getting on in

his church

and he said

oh it's an

evangelical church

he goes to

he said

oh I'm running

into the black

problem

so I said

what do you

mean by that

he said

well

you know

people sort of

think oh he's

a black young

man he doesn't

know much

he hasn't got

very much

ability

and they talk

down to me

all the time

actually he's a

very able young

man and a

very godly

young man

and I thought

to myself

yes you see

Jews and

Gentiles

those sorts of

divisions are

there all the

way through

because unless

Christ changes

us we'll all

be like that

that's human

nature

but the church

is the place

where the change

is seen

where what Christ

can do

as sovereign

lord over

everything

should be seen

you should be

able to say

if you want

to see that

the gospel

is true

look at the

church

because the

church is

the prototype

in time

as F.F.

Bruce said

of what God

will do

in eternity

now jumping

on then to

chapter 3

verse 10

it makes sense

of that very

important verse

doesn't it

what is God's

purpose

well it is to

reveal the plan

of his mystery

hidden for ages

but now revealed

in Jesus

chapter 3

verse 10

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 is according

to the eternal

purpose

that he has

realised

in Christ

Jesus

our Lord

so you see

this is what

Paul's concerned

about

that these

hostile powers

when they see

the church

and the people

of God

loving one another

and caring for

one another

and being

Christian

with one

another

irrespective

of wealth

or lack

of it

status

or lack

of it

ethnicity

or any

of those

other divisions

when they

see how

these Christians

love one

another

the hostile

powers

know they're

defeated

the manifold

wisdom of God

is revealed to

them

they know

they can't

beat that

they know

that this

is going

to triumph

in the end

they have

to do

everything

they can

to resist

it

of course

but we

respond to

that verse

12

with boldness

and access

with confidence

through our

faith in him

that is to say

we come to God

in prayer

we ask him

for his power

to be demonstrated

we put our

confidence in him

and we go forward

trusting that he

will demonstrate

his many

coloured wisdom

as he unites

us together

in the Lord

Jesus

and then there

follows the

prayer with

which the

doctrinal

section

ends

this great

prayer for

love

the prayer

in chapter

1 was

for knowledge

and that's

really important

so if you

haven't got

your head

right

you won't

get your

heart

right

but now

it goes

from the

head

to the

heart

it's a

prayer

for love

that you

will know

the love

of Christ

that passes

knowledge

and that you

will be

filled

with all

the fullness

of God

chapter 3

verse 19

so you can

see where

he's going

with this

theological

argument

in this

point in the

letter

all these

blessings are

ours in

Christ

he has

come to

reveal the

father to

us

he has

triumphed

over the

evil one

he's been

raised to

the right

hand of

God

he is in

the position

of ultimate

authority

nothing can

overcome his

will and his

purpose

he rescued you

personally

he rescued us

corporately

and together

we demonstrate

as the body

of Christ

the new

community

the reconciling

love and

power of

the cross

of Jesus

and the

resurrection

power of

the new

life that

is in

Jesus

and that

is demonstrated

when Christ

dwells in our

hearts through

faith

316

and we are

rooted and

grounded in

love

love is the

ultimate proof

of the gospel

the Christian

love that we

have for one

another

that's what the

watching world

needs to see

Schaefer

you remember

wrote that book

the church

before the

watching world

in which he