Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:1-2 — The Preface and Greeting

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

Amen. That is Ephesians chapter three, verses 20 and 21. And today, dear congregation, we embark on a new series. We are going through the book of Ephesians. So please turn your Bible to the book of Ephesians.

It's probably one of your favorite letters. I thought about going through Ephesians chapter by chapter kind of as an overview, but Steve put a little bug in my ear. So here's what I think I'm gonna do.

Instead of three or four years through Ephesians, which would be our normal course of events, I think Hebrews took us how many years? Four decades, was that right? I'm gonna go two messages per chapter.

And you'll see, even if you look at Ephesians, there's two sections, major sections usually in each chapter. And so my plan, at least now, is in the next 12 Sundays here at Bethlehem Bible Church to teach you through the book of Ephesians so that you might understand it better.

I think this faster pace will complement the slower going that we normally do, which has been our custom for over 25 years and even when Pastor Bob Bowen was here. I also wanna wet your taste buds. I want you to think, oh, he went into some detail, but I'd like to go into greater detail.

And then you can pick up a commentary, maybe, a Lectio Continuum commentary series. That's the name of a series on Ephesians. Or maybe you pick up a study Bible and read it, but I'm kind of trying to get you to have like a little appetizer here, not go through every detail.

And the other reason I wanna do this is we have lots of new people at the church. And you, if you have been around for a long time or you're new, you would need to understand the foundations of the book of Ephesians because it's critical for our church to grasp these truths.

Now, Ephesians chapter one, it's pretty simple. It has three sentences. The preface verses one and two is one sentence. That's not shocking. Verses three through 14 actually is one sentence in the Greek.

That's kind of shocking because 202 words, that's a long sentence, even without a main verb. And verses 15 through 23 are also one sentence in the original, three sentences. And so today we'll probably get through about half of Ephesians one.

And I feel like I just wanna get some WD -40 and spray it on the spines of your Bible. So off we go to the races. You're going to feel the pace pretty fast because to get through all these verses, I'm going to have to do that.

I'm going to challenge people that listen online at 2 .0 speed to repent and to slow down. You're going to notice dear congregation that the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul is going to talk about truths about who God is in Christ Jesus.

He's going to get to the morality section, how to, if you will, theological implications of that truth later. John Owen said, our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is not our lack of effort, but our lack of acquaintedness with our privileges.

So Paul wants you to know the incorruptible and unsearchable riches of Christ. He wants you to be encouraged. I'd like to encourage you in this series. That's why Paul sent Tychicus to the church at Ephesus.

Remember, what does Tychicus mean? Does anybody remember what Tychicus means in chapter six? Lucky or chance. If I had another dog, I might have to name that dog Lucky or Chance just because we can call it now, there's pot providence, there's pot blessing and pot Tychicus.

It'll all work well. He sends this guy named Lucky to the church to say, all right, these are your riches. Don't forget what you know. So let's look at the first sentence in the book of Ephesians that is verses one and two.

And we'll just call this the preface. It's super simple. You're very familiar with it, but sometimes I think we read this first sentence too quickly. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's writing to people that some call, that some say are in two zip codes, the earthly zip code in Ephesus and the heavenly zip code in Christ. And so he's writing to two groups of people. Of course, we understand that we are in West Boylston.

We're also in Christ. And Paul, the apostle is the writer. It's so interesting to me that liberals say Paul didn't write it. And so I just go with what the text says. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, I just save you from going to Princeton Seminary.

Saved you $100 ,000 right there per year. If you look at chapter three, verse one, same thing. I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of Gentiles. Paul is writing this. It's called a prison epistle.

And why is it called a prison epistle? Because he wrote it in prison, along with other letters like Philippians and Colossians. He's in Rome and he wants to write to some churches to encourage them. And this is one of those churches.

Paul, the apostle, the sent one by God. He used to be a man full of rage and anger and wanting to kill Christians and persecute them. And now he's sent by the Lord Jesus for a different purpose. He's writing to those who are at Ephesus.

And I want you to remember, dear congregation, these are normal people. These are people that are aggregarian for the most part. They're blue collar. They're regular folks. They're not the intelligentsia, although many of them are very smart.

These people are just like us that he's writing to. They struggle with sin. They struggle with temptation. They hear the world saying, follow me. They know about Satan's strategies. And Paul wants them to know there's a greater wonder of the world than this Diana of Ephesus.

She was there at Ephesus. She's huge. She's one of the seventh wonders of the world, of the ancient world. Four times the size of the Pantheon in Greece. And there she looms large over Ephesus. And people praise her and people shout after her.

But what about us as Christians now? We feel the persecution. We feel the issues. So Paul's been sent by God to tell the church things like this verse two. This is how the book ends, by the way, as well.

Essentially, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that's the preface. Very simple. Now let's go to the praise. And this is an exciting praise, by the way. How many of you snuck out illegally and lit fireworks New Year's Eve?

And are willing to admit it? You are good soldiers. How many would watch other people lie to me illegally? See, what's the difference? You need this letter. It's like this burst of praise, really. Now, Paul, 25 years ago, got saved.

But he hasn't gotten over it, that he, a sinner, is now gonna enjoy the spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. 25 years later. Don't we regularly say, you get the brand new Christians and we've got some here.

They're all excited, they're fired up. And we're like, whoa, just calm down. You can be old and boring like me after you're a mature Christian. Now just kind of take it easy. But Paul is fired up. And you'll notice in this section, verses three through 14, what we call the praise, it's very Trinitarian.

Because when you think about God, you ought to think Trinity. You should never think of one God without thinking about three persons. You should never think about Jesus without thinking about the Father and the Spirit.

One God, three persons in section, verses one, three through six, is about the Father, choosing. Verses seven through 12, it's about the Son redeeming. And verses 13 and 14, it's about the Spirit sealing.

Everything about this is the work of the triune God, choosing, redeeming, and sealing. Do you notice verse six? To the praise of the glory of His grace. That's like a Roman candle shot blast. That's why we do this.

And it's like a firework, because I saw some that were illegally lit on New Year's Eve. And you stand there and it shoots up. And you're like, okay, I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. And then it just explodes, doesn't it?

And what do most of the people do that watch? Ooh, that's right. Verse six, boy, if somebody walked in, they're like, they're off the deep end. I thought they were cessationists here. Ooh, that's verse six, to the praise of His glory.

That's verse 12, to the praise of His glory. That's verse 14, to the praise of His glory. I mean, can you imagine? The Father chooses, wow. When you understand election as a Christian, you're like, that just takes me aback.

Jesus died for my sins. Verses seven and following, that's amazing. The Spirit seals me to the day of redemption. I could lose my salvation easily. If I could lose it, I already lost it. But the Spirit makes sure we're safe.

So everything in this section is about praise. Paul, the apostle, wants you to learn how to praise this way. One writer said, the cross is the great incentive and encouragement to obedience. If Christians are reluctant or half-hearted in their obedience to Christ, the answer, listen, the answer is not to press them with a flood of exhortations, but to speak of Christ, His cross, His salvation.

Chapters one, two, and three, in other words. The root reason our faithfulness and obedience are so often less than they should be is because we're disconnected from the Savior. In other words, it's, well, we wanna just start doing something versus remembering who God is.

So you say, I'd like to obey better in a particular area. Paul's not gonna let you forget. It starts with a view of the triune God. And everything in this section here, if you look at verses three through 14, called the praise, you'll see the words in Christ or in Him sprinkled throughout.

Union with Christ, together with Christ, you'll see it in verse three. Verse four, you'll see it in verse nine. Verse 10, two times. Verse 12, verse 13, two times. In Him, in Him, in Him. God's got this great plan.

He works it in Christ Jesus, and He does it to the praise of His glory. And that's going to work for praising God. That's gonna work for Jews and Gentiles together. God had planned that. We'll see that in a couple of weeks.

How do marriages work? God has planned that. It's in Christ Jesus. He does it to the praise of His glory. In addition, this section here called the praise, I love because it has nothing to do with me, except me being the recipient.

I live in a Mike-centered world. You live in a Mark Skipperis-centered world. I'll pay you the dollar after the service. But Paul's not gonna let you just be absorbed with self. We know what happens when we are, and Paul doesn't want us to do that.

Paul wants us to see that this God-centered section is about God's plan, God's provision, God's protection, and every other word you can think of that starts with a P. Provision, His pleasure. And he starts off in verse three, "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.'".

That's where we get the word eulogy. Eulogy just means to speak well of. It's a very Jewish feel that Paul is writing in Greek, but of course he understands Hebrew. And he just says, you know, God has so much weight.

We talked about that last week. Heaviness, glory, cavode, gravity, clout. He's got so much of this that he's got to talk to people about it. And then say, God, you're worthy to be praised. And so he starts off with this great blessing.

And God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I liked it when Jesus talked about how God doesn't dole out in piecemeal or some kind of chintzy way. Paul, Jesus writes in, Jesus said in Luke 6, "'Give, and it will be given to you.

"'Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, "'running over, they'll pour into your lap.'". That's how God gives, and that's what this blessing is. I'll never forget it when I was a kid. So maybe I can talk to some kids here on the second row.

Do you ever open up your favorite cereal box? Captain Crunch, does your dad let you eat Captain Crunch? Oh, what's the CDC number again? DSS number, CDC, why is CDC on my mind? And you open up the box and it's brand new and you look in there and is it filled all the way to the top?

No, it's not. But that's not how the Lord gives. He doesn't give like Kellogg's. I mean, really, we mirror this kind of praise even with the doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, verse 3 to 6. Praise Son, 7 to 12. And praise Holy Ghost, 13 and 14. This is a hymn of praise with three stanzas. And it starts off with the Father choosing.

Election, Predestination, and Adoption in Christ

Look at verses 4 through 6. Your salvation, dear Christian, is planned in eternity past, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the beloved. Paul does not say, we're talking about election and some people are gonna get offended.

We'll push it to the back. Before he praises the Father for the Son's redemptive work, he's praising God for election. He's praising God for predestination. These dear people needed to understand who God is and what He's done.

Some people, when it comes to election, they seethe, they're so angry. What do you mean to tell me? What they liken themselves choosing, they choose their own spouse, they choose their own favorite football team, they choose their own food that they love because they're image bearers, they're little sovereigns, and what they love in themselves, choice, they hate in God.

What do you mean to tell me God chose Israel, He didn't choose anybody else? He chose only those 12 apostles and nobody else. What do you mean He chooses some and not others? Paul's not mad about that.

Paul's glad about that. Show me a mature Christian, and I'll show you a Christian that says, praise the Father because of the Son. And I praise the Father because He chose me, because of election and predestination.

Everybody here has to at least agree, there it is in the Bible. He chose us, He predestined us. Did the Spirit of God make a mistake putting that in? Did He somehow fumble or something? I mean, this is a family secret.

We talk about this after you've been in the church for three or four years, and we kind of slip it in because you might get too mad. And the reason why we get mad, we all get mad, because this is a spear through our hearts of pride.

I mean, Herman Melville hated this doctrine so much. He writes, Moby Dick, fall of the house of Usher. It's a metaphor how Calvinism, doctrine of predestination is over. Paul though, he praises. He chose us, verse four.

He predestined us, verse five. Now let's make it very, very personal. If you're a Christian here, God chose you. If you're a Christian here, God predestined you. That's pretty amazing to think about. Because when I was a kid, we used to play basketball.

And if you wanted to play basketball, you'd have to keep winning at that college gym. And if you lost, you'd have to wait for two hours to play. You might as well go home. So you pick four other guys to win with because you had to run that table.

And you think, well, I know what I'm like. I know I'm sinful and frail and weak and finite. God chose me. God chose me. That is amazing. He predestined you. He willed you to be saved by his own free will.

God chose you. What does the word choose mean? It means there's a bucket of apples here and you pick one and you don't pick the other. That's what that word means, he chose. And he has the right to do that, does he not?

Does not the potter have right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common? Of course, God chooses for himself. Not every person was a Levitical priest.

That's just the way it works in God's economy. Not everybody's a prophet like Jeremiah. Calvin didn't invent this doctrine. Augustine didn't invent this doctrine. I didn't invent this doctrine. This is who God is.

He's a choosing God. And look what happens in verse four. You say, oh, God will look down the course of time, then choose me. What's it say right there? Before the foundation of the world. That's when God decided, as it were.

That's when God chose, before the foundation of the world. For Paul, this means praise. For us, it should mean praise. That we, verse four, do you see it? Should be holy and blameless. Not that we were.

God didn't choose us because we were. Make that clear, Paul. Yes, you are making that clear. That we should be holy and blameless before him. God knew all about you, all your skeletons in your closet, and God still freely chose you.

Now, when I was growing up, we loved Nebraska football, and we are actually good then. And I mean, when WPI has a football team in the bowl games, and Nebraska doesn't, you know things have slunk to a very dismal level.

We had a guy named Lyle Bremser, and he was the announcer. He was like your Johnny Most of the Celtics, for those of you that know the Celtics. Who just died for the Red Sox announcer? Remy? Somebody.

They're not from Nebraska, it doesn't matter. And this guy would watch Johnny Rogers, the Heisman Trophy winner, run a punt back, and here's what he would say. This was his signature line of praise. Man, woman, and child, he's gone.

It's just fun to say, I never thought I'd say it from the pulpit. For Paul, he just can't stop. This is the praise. I could ask you the question and make it a preaching moment. When's the last time you said, God, thanks for choosing me.

Thanks for electing me. Thanks for selecting me. Thank you for predestining me. Thank you. It's supposed to be praise. You say, well, I don't praise God for that. May I challenge you as a friend, as a preacher, to study this more?

You say, well, the reason why I don't like election makes people live unholy lives and blame-filled lives. Uh-uh, what's the text say? Look at it, that we might be holy and blameless before him. That's a false charge.

It doesn't debilitate us when it comes to morality. It gives us a reason to live. It's the purpose. We're gonna find out in chapter two in a couple of weeks, we're dead in sins. We can't choose anyone.

Someone has to choose us. You say, that's the most unloving thing I've ever heard, that God chooses some and doesn't choose others. Remember, everyone deserves to be damned, but he chooses some. Why? What's the motivation?

Do you see it in verse four and early verse five? It says he predestined us in verse five, but it says at the end of verse four, in love, he predestined us. Well, you know, that makes people robots. Friends, the text says, in love, he predestined us.

In love, he predestined us. Spurgeon said, what amazes me is not that God does not choose everybody, but rather that he chose me. I used to call this my second blessing, where I first got saved and I realized I'm forgiven.

I'm right with God. And my second blessing was not speaking in tongues. My second blessing was, I can't believe God chose me. Say it's arbitrary. No, what's the text say? In love. The loving nature of predestination.

Election is an expression. Predestination is an expression of God's love. So I can't understand it all. That's okay. But for you to deny it or say it's not true or complain about it, that's not okay. I don't know the mind of God.

He's infinite, I'm finite. He goes on, verse five. Look at the language of this. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. Probably know that old song, I'm the son of a king.

He predestined me and he predestined you, dear Christian, to adoption as a son or a daughter. God has sent forth his spirit, Galatians 4, six of his son, into our hearts crying, Abba, Father. I deserve to be damned.

Hey, when the angels sin, not one of them got a redemption plan. It's right for God to judge sin. It's never unfair for God to judge sin, but it's mercy, grace, and love for him to rescue sinners. And it's only because of grace, verse five, according to the kind intention, not of my will, not of my free will, but of his will.

And what does all this cause Paul to do? What should every Christian do when they realize I'm supposed to go to hell, but God chose me and loved me and predestined me to the praise of his glorious grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved.

I just love that, kind intention toward me, freely bestowed toward me. Grace toward me, toward you. See, I've got to figure out election. There's only so far you can go before you say, reason takes me this far, and I'm going to have to trust on the revelation of God.

His good pleasure. I love that. Is there injustice with God? I'll give you another quote from Jesus, Matthew 20. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I'm generous?

Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? May it never be. Say, well, this really destroys evangelism. No, it does not. This is the only way evangelism works, that God has chosen certain people and you preach the gospel to them.

These people are slaves to sin just like you were before you were a Christian. These people can't repent of sins that they love without the working of God. I do, here's a little challenge. If you hate the doctrine of election because you think it messes up evangelism, would you do a little church history study because of almost every single one, a few exceptions, but almost every single famous missionary and evangelist believe this doctrine.

I can only think of a couple who didn't believe in this doctrine. Jesus said in John six, for this reason I've said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the father. Arthur Pink had some interesting things to say.

Hey, hey, this doctrine of evangelism is kind of like, we'd like a meal, we're cold, we're hungry, please give us something to eat, God. No, no, get away from here. You don't belong here. And then Pink said, now here is the truth.

God has spread the feast, but the fact is nobody's hungry and nobody wants to come to the feast and everybody makes an excuse to keep away from the feast. And they say, we do not want to, we're not ready yet.

Now God knew that from the beginning. And if God had not done something more than spread the feast, every seat at this table would have been vacant for all eternity. Michael Horton said, when you give in to election, we finally give up on ourselves in the matter of salvation.

It's just a matter of pride. That's why people tend to oppose it. I know what you're asking. You're asking, am I elect? How do I know if I'm elect? How could I know if I'm elect? Answer, if you're trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith alone in the risen Savior, you're one of the elect.

Say, well, I better study election to know if I'm elect. Why don't you look to the Lord Jesus and trust in Him? Then you'll get the answer. Now the praise moves from the Father to the Son. Do you notice in verse seven through 12?

In this praise sentence, we start off with the Father choosing, now we move to the Son redeeming. Here's where people tend to start, but they're not really thinking in a Trinitarian way, but for Paul, that's how Paul thought.

He praises God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ for choosing, and now he's praising the Father for what the Son has done, verses seven and following. The attention, as it were, some say, has shifted from heaven to earth.

In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, making 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, things in heaven and things on earth.

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 who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory.

This could be fireworks, or this could be you walking over to Niagara Falls, or the Grand Canyon, and just being in awe of general revelation, except this is special revelation we couldn't know unless God told us.

And now he just starts launching about what God the Son has done and why He's to be praised for it. Remember Polaroid cameras? You can get them now at Salvation Army. Pretty cheap, I heard. No, I think they're out again.

You take a picture, and it would come out of the very bottom, remember? What did you do if you wanted it to develop faster? I think that's against the rules. First, you're all going, ah, now everybody in the congregation's doing this.

Much better interaction than last week for certain. It's like you're standing there, this thing is developing. It doesn't just end with the Father to be praised for choosing. Oh, I see that thing developing.

It's coming into clarity, and now the clarity's about the Son. In Him we have redemption. By the way, that's very exclusive. Not in Buddha, not in Muhammad, not in Joseph Smith, not in Ellen G. White, not in, you know, she's got so many marriages I forgot all her names.

Mary Baker, Eddie Clover, Patterson Fry, not in any of those people. Not in my own education, not in my own religious work. It's in Christ. No salvation in anyone else. If you want to get to heaven, it's through Jesus alone.

In Him. No plan B. No other options. No pluralism. If you're in New Zealand, in the year 3000 if it exists, or if you're on Patmos in 90 A .D., it has to be through Jesus. This is where redemption takes place in the person of the Son.

That is why 1 John 5 is true. The one who believes in the Son has the witness in himself. And the one who does not believe, God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.

It's in Him. It's salvation is in Christ alone. We sing that song. We have redemption. You notice He says, well, it's not just exclusive, it's effective. You might have redemption if you tread water to the end of your life.

You might have a little bit more redemption if you are on that gerbil treadmill. No, no. You have redemption. If you're a Christian now, you're redeemed. I was a slave to sin. I'm now redeemed. Not just temporarily like Israel was out of Egypt, but I am redeemed.

Present tense verb, by the way. I currently stand redeemed. I don't have to say, you know what, I'm almost redeemed. I could be redeemed. I hope I'm redeemed. No wonder we sing songs like, Redeemed How I...

We don't sing, I hope I'm redeemed and I hope I love to proclaim it. I hope I'm redeemed. I hope I'm redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. No wonder B .B. Warfield said, there is no one of the titles of Christ which is more precious to Christian hearts than Redeemer.

Whenever we pronounce that word, Redeemer, the cross is placarded before our eyes and our hearts are filled with loving remembrance. Not only that Christ has given us salvation, but He paid a mighty price for it.

He is the ransom price. And do you see that ransom price right there, verse 7? Through His blood. What was the cost of my salvation? What was the price of my redemption? His blood. Just like Charlie was saying, we have this word and it's kind of, yes, it's blood, but it's not white cells, red cells, et cetera, et cetera.

It's a word that's a condensed word that's got a lot of theological meaning and it means this, vicious, vicarious, substitutionary death, including letting blood, but not just blood letting. When you sing, power in the blood are nothing but the blood of Jesus.

You're not saying, you know what, if people just whip Jesus enough and some of the blood splattered onto my face, I'm saved. That's not what it is. Without the shedding of blood, there's what? No forgiveness.

He had to shed blood, but this is theological shorthand for a Christ substitutionary sacrifice because life is in the blood, Leviticus 17 says. 1 Peter 1, you're not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood as lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

This is theology of blood. God did not just say, let men be forgiven. That would have been unjust. You say, well, just how extensive is this forgiveness? How magnanimous is his blood? Do you see verse seven?

The forgiveness of all our trespasses. I've said it many times before, I'd have to go to bed at night and I would try to go through every sin I ever committed and to confess it because if I didn't confess all my sins before I went to bed and there was one left, I thought I was gonna go to hell.

That's awful theology. It's good theology that says I'd like to confess my sins before I go to bed, but it's awful to think if I don't confess my sins and do it in its entirety, then I'm off to hell when I die, if I die in my sleep.

This is past, present, future. This is omission, commission. This is thought, word, and deed. All sins paid for. That means, okay, Paul is praising God and he's praising God because every single one of your sins is paid for.

They're out of sight, Micah says. They're out of reach, Micah says. They're out of mind, Jeremiah 31 says. They're out of existence, Colossians 2. They're as far as the east as from the west, Psalm 103.

And they're cast behind His back, Isaiah 38. I read Romans 4 for a reason because it quoted Psalm 32 to start the service. How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Do you know how blessed you are to not have to pay for your sins on judgment day?

Do you know how blessed you are not to be Judas? You could be Judas. I could be Judas. And Jesus said it's better for that man not to be what? Born. We've had death in our family, in our church family over the years, and we will all die and face the Lord.

And there's only one God who forgives sins. Don't you love Micah 7? Who is a God like you who pardons iniquity? If you were God and somebody sinned against you, what would you do? I know what I would do if I had the power to do it.

But God is extravagant in His grace. Look it, there it is. According to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. Full measure, not fractions. Not decimals. Full and free. Paul loves to talk about, in other books, the riches of His kindness, the riches of glory, the riches of Christ.

And here it's the riches of forgiveness. Wesley wrote, "'Tis mercy all immense and free, for, O my God, it found out me.". So Paul is praising. Paul is not afraid to do that praise. He just keeps piling it on.

Which He lavished, verse 8, upon us. In all wisdom and insight, that's interesting, making known to us the mystery of His will. Mystery means, not mysterious, ooh, spooky. Mystery means, God knows something we don't.

God knows it, we could never know it. There's two kinds of knowledge in this world. The knowledge that God knows. We could never know all that. And the knowledge that God lets us know. And God has let us know things.

And that's called a mystery now revealed. We wouldn't know all this if God didn't tell us. We wouldn't understand the details if God didn't show His hand. But He's revealed that mystery. Why? Because He knows it fuels praise.

He knows it makes people go, I cannot believe such a God would save. He knows it ignites your evangelism because if God can save me, the chief of all sinners, well, what about grandma? What about your son?

What about your neighbor? We can know this. It could be true and we wouldn't know it. But it's true when God says, I'm going to tell you about it. These are things 1 Peter 1 says, angels long to look into.

They stoop down. They can't figure it out. How could God redeem? How could He have this plan of salvation? I don't know if it's true or not, but I know people love to have relationships restored with their father or their mother or friends.

Even in the church, when the church has a little friction and you're restored to your brother or sister, it just feels so good. I don't use illustrations that often from books or anything, but I remember we had a man here named Paul Lavery and he used this in our preaching class once.

And I thought, just to be forgiven by father, what does that mean? Story told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son.

Finally in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read, Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you, your father.

The account reads, the next day at noon, in front of the newspaper office, 800 Pacos showed up. They all were seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers. If that's true on a human level, isn't that the longing of our heart?

The creator that made me, God who sustains me, that God who gives me breath, I'm okay with him. We're fine. I'm forgiven. To hear that from your earthly father, I love you, you're forgiven, would be a good thing to hear, if you've transgressed.

But to hear from the heavenly father, you're forgiven. And I declare to you, basis on the word of God, if you're a Christian, dear Christian, God loves you and you're forgiven. Forever forgiven. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night.