Battle Ready: "God's Wisdom in the Church": Ephesians 3:10-11 Pastor Drew Webb

So, I get the privilege of sharing the word with you this morning.

This morning we're going to be continuing in Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

If you're using one of our Bibles there in front of you, it is found on page 977.

Now as we begin this morning, I'd like to offer a brief reminder of where we've been.

Now, Ephesians, there's so much to take in. It's so dense.

So, I'm going to try to put it down in just this little synopsis real quick here of chapter 3.

Paul was given the grace of God, not to keep it for himself, but to give it to others.

He was to re-gift God's grace, as Pastor Daniel told us.

He was to re-gift it and give it out to other people.

And we also should emulate Paul and give that grace out to others.

When we read Ephesians 3, we can see that Paul had received something special.

Now this mystery had not been revealed to those in earlier generations.

The Old Testament saints had longed to see the Messiah, to see God's plan unveiled,

but it wasn't revealed to them in the Old Testament.

The Father's plan was revealed in Christ and it was made known through the apostles and prophets.

And the mystery that has now been revealed is that we Gentiles, our fellow heirs,

we're members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

See, God has torn down that dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles.

People who had once been so opposed to each other are now considered one body under the banner of Jesus Christ.

We receive the same benefits, the promise of eternal life in Christ,

along with the unsearchable riches that are found in Him.

That brings us here to verses 10 and 11.

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.

Now here in these verses, there are three things that stand out to me that I want to address this morning.

The first thing that stands out is God's wisdom, specifically as it says, the manifold wisdom of God.

Now, what is wisdom?

Well, wisdom is the right use of knowledge.

It is not knowledge in itself.

I suspect if you're like me, you might know somebody who is highly intelligent,

but lacks maybe what we might call common sense, right?

Or street smarts.

I'm seeing some looks in my family at somebody in particular.

You know, like, it's okay.

God has gifted us all in different ways, right?

So intelligence is great, but it's not just intelligence.

That's not what we're talking about here.

When we talk about wisdom, it is all about knowing how to use the information that is what really matters.

For example, practically speaking, in some colleges, they offer Bible as literature or something like that.

So people learn about the Bible.

They learn what the Bible says.

But so often, the people who take those classes don't actually apply the Bible to their lives.

It's just knowledge.

It's just information that is stored in their heads.

What good does it do if you know what the Bible says about how to live life, but choose not to live according to it?

Wisdom takes what God says and applies the Bible to our own lives.

So what exactly is manifold wisdom?

Well, I suspect that most of us probably don't really know what the word manifold means.

So the word manifold means many, varied, or multifaceted.

It's quite interesting that in the Septuagint, the Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Old Testament,

the word polupoikolas was used to describe Joseph's coat.

And I'm putting it on the screen just so you can see this special word.

It's such an interesting word to me, so I thought you would want to see it.

Polupoikolas.

So this is the word used in Genesis 37-3 to describe Joseph's coat.

This was a coat of distinction.

It was a varied and distinct coat from all other coats.

No other coat was like Joseph's coat.

And the Greek word originally used in the Septuagint to describe Joseph's coat is the same word that Paul is using here to describe God's wisdom.

No other wisdom, worldly wisdom, nothing else in the world is like godly wisdom.

It is distinct. It is above all other forms of wisdom.

And no matter which angle you use to examine and scrutinize God's wisdom, it always comes out looking majestic and unique, apart from all others.

Now, God's wisdom has been revealed.

And the reason this verse tells us, the reason God's wisdom has been revealed to us is so that it might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

This is one of those things like it caused me to just stop and pause for a moment.

God's wisdom surely is meant just for us, so we live life right, correct?

But this is telling us God's wisdom is for the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

This means God's wisdom has been revealed to the spirit world.

It has been revealed to the spirit world.

There is a dimension that most of us, we probably think little about.

We go through our day oblivious to the battle that rages around us in the spiritual world.

Satan and his demons are doing their work and God's holy angels are warring against them.

Paul is well aware of what's happening in the spiritual dimension.

And he writes about it a number of times in this book.

He refers to different forms of angels in the spiritual realm, numerous times in Ephesians.

Now, my daughter asked me last night, what are you preaching on?

And I said, well, angels and demons, she said, really?

I said, well, part of it.

She's like, well, that would have been really interesting.

And yes, these things are really interesting.

Everybody loves to learn about these things.

I remember in a seminary, I took a class.

It was about angels and demons.

That was the class.

And my professor literally called him Dr. Evil because his degree was in studying about demonology and things like that.

So it was really just very interesting, so interesting to learn all about this stuff.

Thank you, Paul.

Yes, I know, I got one of those.

So, yes, those things are very interesting.

And the scripture says a good number of things about it, but culture has kind of imported some things into our understanding and augmented that with things that aren't necessarily true.

But there are some things that scripture does tell us.

So as interesting as those things are, this message isn't necessarily just about angels and demons.

But I do want to do a quick flyover regarding the spiritual realm.

Angels were created before the foundation of the world.

In Job 38, God inquired of Job, and he says,

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth, when I set its measurements?

Or on what were its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sank together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

These morning stars and sons of God are angels, and they rejoiced at God's creating the world.

We're not exactly sure on timing here whether the first sin was committed before the creation of the world or after it, as scripture doesn't give specifics on that.

But you may recall that the first sin was actually not in the Garden of Eden, but was in heaven.

Lucifer, seemingly the highest of all the angels, said that he would be like God.

He was punished for the sin of pride, and he was cast out of God's presence to become the ruler of all the fallen angels.

We believe based on some things that we see in scripture that one third of the angels went with him,

and were doomed to spend the rest of their existence as fallen spirits of darkness.

But how is it that God's wisdom can be so astounding to the angels?

Well, verse 10 specifically calls out rulers and authorities as the ones to whom God's wisdom is revealed.

Now, we know in other places of scripture that angels long to look into the truths of God's Word and God's grace.

And those are good angels.

But here I believe what's in view are actually fallen angels.

Ephesians 6-12, obviously we'll get there in about a year, I think probably.

But in Ephesians 6-12, Paul writes, I love this. I love how slow we're going.

Like there's so much in Ephesians to take in.

So I love that we're on this long, long journey through Ephesians.

So in a year, we'll get to this.

So Paul writes, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Paul is clearly painting these rulers and authorities as spiritual forces of evil.

These are dark forces plying their trade, hatred, lying, racism, division, anger, strife, war, disease,

and death itself are all being spread by these powers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

Now, when these spirits look at God's wisdom, I would think they can't help but marvel at its power.

These spirits, for thousands and thousands, maybe millions, who knows how long they've been in existence,

we have no idea. But for thousands of years at least, they have been in existence.

They've seen what goes on in the world and they've been doing their thing, going all over the world, spreading Satan's ways.

And as they work to stop the kingdom of God, they naturally would come across people who have completely destroyed their lives.

And these demons might think to themselves, ha, look, we got that one. That one's ours.

But God's word comes down. God's grace comes down. Reaches that broken, desperate person who has hit rock bottom,

who realizes their need for a savior. God's grace picks that person up and pulls them out of the depths of despair,

gives them new life. And suddenly this person that might have been a tally on the scorecard for the demonic forces

is a win for our savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

What a bummer to be one of these demons, these spiritual forces, who are consigned to spend the rest of their existence on the losing team.

Now, this is a beautiful thing that God is able to reach down and save sinners.

Not just those who have completely destroyed those lives, but people like us who acknowledge that we need his salvation.

We have been given a place in God's family, much to the chagrin of the dark forces.

Another way I think that God's wisdom can be on display to the demonic forces is through one of the tools that

Satan uses to tear churches apart. And that is, Satan loves to spread disunity. Satan loves to tear people apart, to bring division.

However, in Christ, people who had previously been at odds are unified. Under the banner of Christ's love, people from all walks of life

come together and are united as the church. When we proclaim Christ and his gospel, we are proclaiming and promoting unity.

The Father's purpose is to unite all things in Christ. So when evil forces look upon this unity, they are confused and confounded and amazed

at what the wisdom of God is able to do in hearts and lives that are yielded to him.

So, we have the wisdom of God revealed to the spiritual forces. But what is the mechanism that is used to reveal this wisdom?

Verse 10 says, so that through the church, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and

authorities in these heavenly places. The church, the church is God's plan. Now, we meet here in this building located at 775 East

LaClaire Road in Eldridge. But, I think you know, this building is not the church. You and I, we are the church. God's people are the means by which

God's manifold wisdom is revealed to the spiritual realm. Now, here in our little section of Iowa, we are the local church. But then we are also part of what is called

the universal church. The universal church is made up of everyone everywhere who has a relationship with Christ. First Corinthians 12, 13 reads,

for in one spirit, we are all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, all were made to drink of one spirit.

Anyone who has placed their faith in Christ is part of the body of Christ and has received his spirit as evidence of being placed in the universal church.

Now, as members of the universal church, we are still called to be part of the local body. That is where we find fellowship and edification is in the local body.

Now, there are four major areas that the local church, you and I, are called to engage in. This is not an exhaustive list, but I believe that this list encompasses the vast majority of all that we are called to do and be as the body of Christ,

the local church. By living these things out, we are revealing God's wisdom to the spiritual world. The first thing is that we are called to be witnesses.

We are called to be witnesses for Christ wherever we go. Many of you, no doubt, know this verse, Acts 1-8, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

We have been empowered to be witnesses for Christ for the purpose of saving souls, bringing the loss of the world who are not now part of God's family into his family.

Telling others about Christ is being a witness. Sharing my testimony in how Jesus has worked in my life is being a witness. Sharing the gospel with someone of Jesus Christ and his love for them is being a witness.

Our involvement this past week with Compassion International is being a good witness. We want our lives always to reflect God's goodness and God's character to the world around us.

2 Corinthians 2-15 actually says that we are the aroma of Christ. We are the aroma of Christ. So, what do you smell like? Can people smell Christ on you?

When they're around you, is it evident to them that you've been with Jesus?

Hopefully, we are being good witnesses and we smell like Christ.

St. Francis of Assisi is reported to have made this statement, preached the gospel at all times and, when necessary, used words.

Now, may our lives be witnesses to Christ's work, but not only our lives, also our mouths. We need to speak the truth to a lost world who needs Jesus.

So, let's be good witnesses.

Second, we are called to serve.

1 Peter 4-10 reads, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.

In the days leading up to 9-11, fighting in Afghanistan between local groups and the Taliban resulted in thousands of refugees pouring into Peshawar, Pakistan.

There, they crammed into refugee camps to live in tents and mud shelters amid the intense heat and poor sanitary conditions.

Dudley Wobbery, his wife Roberta and his family were working in the refugee camps and he described what happened there as his daughter-in-law was serving.

Conditions at one particular camp were more harsh than at the others, so Roberta and her class took school supplies to those students so they would have more than just a blank slate and some chalk.

The children there ran around with bare feet on the rough, parched ground, so some of the workers decided that they would wash the children's feet just as Jesus had done.

For a week, they washed every child's feet with soap. They anointed them with oil and silently prayed for each one.

At first, the sores, the pus, the pink eye and the dirt were revolting, but then our daughter-in-law fell to deep love as she silently prayed.

Dear Father, this little girl looks like she doesn't have anyone to care for her. Let my touch feel to her as if you are touching her.

Maybe she remembered how you touched her this day and would she someday seek after you. Thank you that those who seek you will find you.

Many children looked up and shyly smiled as their feet were washed and they received brand new sandals as well as a quilt and a shawl and a small bag of flour for each family.

Some time later, a teacher in one of the refugee school tents asked her class, who are the best Muslims?

A girl raised her hand and replied, the kafirs. Kafir is a word of derision used by Muslims to refer to Christians since they don't follow Islam and are considered infidels.

After the teacher recovered from her shock, she asked, why? And the young girl replied, the Muslim fighters killed my father, but the kafirs washed my feet.

In 2007, Pastor Mark read the book, The Externally Focused Church. In it, the question was posed, if your church vanished, would your community weep?

Would anyone care that your church was gone?

Part of our goal at Cornerstone is for the community to notice Cornerstone. Now, not for the sake of Cornerstone's name. We don't do this for Cornerstone's name.

No, our goal is for God's name to be known throughout our community. So that twice a year on the first Sunday of May and the first Sunday of September, we make it a priority to head out in the community to serve in tangible ways.

This is also why we engage in mission trips, both domestically as well as internationally. Jesus himself didn't come into the world to be served, though as the king of all kings, the one who has all rule and authority, he deserved to be served?

He didn't come to be served, but rather to serve and to give his life for us. So, since our goal is to be like him, we serve. So we are to be good witnesses, we are called to serve.

Next, we are called to pray. This may well be the least glamorous part of the Christian life. People don't tend to be highly attracted to prayer. It requires discipline to have a strong prayer life.

It requires discipline to slow myself down and make time for God. A survey was done a few years ago asking churches in the United States to fill out their top 10 priorities.

When it was all accounted for, what they found was that only one in 25 churches listed prayer as a top 10 priority. Only one in 25 churches listed prayer as a top 10 priority.

Prayer is one of the chief ways that we combat the powers and authorities of our world that are working against us. Yet the majority of churches don't make it our priority.

The reality is that we desperately need prayer. Prayer is our declaration of dependence on God.

This is exactly why right now we were in the midst of the 21 days of prayer. Over the last week, we started it and still for two more weeks, we have this 21 days of prayer going on around the clock.

Because we are dependent upon God. We need to hear from God.

The early church realized that they too needed to be connected to God. So they spent much time in prayer.

The early church had experienced persecution and their response to the persecution was to pray.

Now, from our Western perspective, we would expect them to pray, God keep us safe, take away these things.

But that's not what the early church prayed. The early church instead prayed prayers for boldness.

They said in Acts 4.29, now Lord look upon their threats, these threats upon their life and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.

Not God keep us safe and take away these threats. God, you see these threats make us bold in spite of these threats.

Prayer was their life source and it was the means through which great things were accomplished in the early church.

Now, a little word of encouragement. Don't just look at prayer simply as a means of receiving something from God.

It's so easy, obviously, when we need something, we go to God in prayer.

But don't just look at it as a means to receive something.

Look at prayer as our actual lifeline, our means of communicating with the Father, developing our relationship with Him.

It brings us closer to Him and it places us in a posture to be shaped and formed by Him.

Now, while prayer often impacts the world around us, it is actually we who are most often changed by prayer.

The last thing I want to highlight for the church is for us to live in community.

God didn't create us to be long-ranger Christians trying to navigate the Christian life all on our own.

Sometimes it can be tempting to try to just walk through the Christian life all by myself, trying to make my own way.

When we do this, we are missing out on what the body of Christ all of you has to share with us.

There are so many benefits to being part of the body of Christ and being connected to the church.

When we are connected to the church, we receive shared wisdom and insights. There is accountability.

We have meaningful personal relationship. We have connection to others. We have support through whatever trials and tribulations we face in life.

Perhaps help with resources, opportunities to serve, increased avenues for missions and strengthened prayer.

These are just some of the benefits of being in community with other believers.

We are better together and I believe that when we are truly filled with the Spirit, then we will desire to live in community with other Christians, with other believers, and not want to be apart from them.

The early church in Acts is a great example.

Acts 2 verses 42 through 47 read, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, so the breaking of bread and prayers and awe came upon everyone.

Acts 2:42–47

Any wonders and miracles had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any.

Today, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day, those who are being saved.

This was the early church. They just received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

They are navigating things here in this new thing called the New Testament church, and they are continually coming together, eating together, worshiping together, sharing resources together.

If someone had a need, someone would sell properties, sell whatever resources they had to help out this other person.

That is the body of Christ. That is living in community together.

It's my prayer that Cornerstone is known for how we live in community with each other.

So we were called to be witnesses. We were called to serve. We were called to pray. And each of us is called to live in community with others in the body of Christ.

Let's bow our heads and close our eyes.

This morning we've landed on four areas that are quite relevant to our lives.

And I suspect that as I addressed each of these areas, at least one popped out to you and resonated with you and you thought to yourself, I could use some help in that area.

This morning we're going to have a time of responses we usually do. And if God is speaking to you about engaging more in one of these areas, then commit this morning to doing so.

Don't commit to four areas.

Commit to just one area and then go home and take the right steps to shore up that area of your Christian walk.

God, we thank you for your wisdom that astounds us. Not only us, but the spiritual realm.

Your grace and the riches of Christ are far beyond what we can truly fathom.

And we're grateful for your grace and we're grateful that you have created the church.

Your desire is for us to reach others with your love. So God, I pray that we would continue to be witnesses for you.

I pray that we would have the same attitude as Jesus Christ who served when he came.

I pray that we would be engaged in prayer and that we would live in fellowship with the body of believers.

Thank you God for meeting here with us in this time for speaking to us.

In Jesus' name, amen.