THE WISDOM OF GOD (Eph 3:9-13)

I've just got a few announcements before we get started. One, I just want to remind you of Wednesday nights.

Every week at 6 .30 we meet here in the building, and we are walking through a book called

Everyone's a Theologian. It's an introduction to something called systematic theology, where we can learn why we believe what we believe about certain topics, certain doctrines, certain things in Scripture.

And it has been very fruitful. A number of people have been coming out and walking through that with us.

The youth meet over in the house, anyone 10 and up in the youth get to meet over there and go through the book of 1

John with Pastor Jeremiah. And Pastor Jeremiah is preaching this morning, praise God.

We are excited to hear him bring the word in our study through Ephesians. Another reminder is the new member class is coming up.

If you know someone that is interested in learning what does it mean to be a part of this covenant body of believers.

For those of you that have walked through that process with us, you know how serious we take this, we take membership, and making a covenant together as a people.

So what does that mean? We're going to break that down through the month of August, every

Wednesday night, starting that first Wednesday in August. At 6 .30 we're going to meet over at the house and walk through that.

So if you're interested, please let me know. Let me, Pastor Jeremiah, or Brother Keith know about that, and we can make sure and have booklets ready for you starting in August.

Next announcement is we're going to, a group of us are going down to Florida. We're going to Riverbend next weekend.

That's kind of come up on us real quick. And a number of people are coming down to our supporting church,

Riverbend Community Church there in Ormond Beach, Florida. And the elders and the staff, they're there, they're going to do a little mini conference thing for us, walking us through some logistics as to how to do this or that ministry within a church.

So as we grow, this is a great opportunity. So please pray for the families and the individuals that are going down there.

We're all flying down separate and renting cars separately and then all meeting together. And a number of people have stepped up as host homes.

I think it's going to be a great time. And since we're gone, me and both Pastor Jeremiah and Keith is gone, which we're usually the rotate preaching.

You're standing there going, well, are we having church? We are having church. Our very own Adam will be preaching for the very first time on Sunday.

We're excited for him to be able to fill the pulpit. I believe you'll be blessed. Please come and be a part of that.

And even we have the other Adam. So it'll be the Adam Sunday, Adam preaching and Adam singing and leading us in song.

So we're excited about that. So please be here next week for that. The last thing is, is we have a special family meeting this afternoon.

After Koinonia Feast today during the service, we will not be having sermon discussion as usual.

We will be having a family meeting because we called it last week. There is a potential location for us to meet and we want to gather as a family, talk through that, make sure everyone is on the same page.

So if you are a member of this church, please plan on staying for that because you're going to want to hear about the future of where God is leading us as a church.

All right. Well, let's pray for another local church. We have some good relationships over at Walnut Street Baptist.

Pastor Jeremiah, I believe you met with one of the pastors this past week, a good friend that you've known for years, and just let them know, hey, we want to pray for you guys.

We want to lift you up in prayer. So we've prayed for them many times before, but this morning we just want to pray that God would work in their midst with their leadership, with the people that are there, that God would do a great work in that body of believers there.

So if you wouldn't mind, let's bow our heads, let's pray for Walnut Street Baptist Church. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you.

God, we thank you for other churches in the area. God, we thank you for working in your people, for you're the one that's molding, and you are the one that is working in your people.

And Father, we just want to lift up our brothers and sisters at Walnut Street Baptist. God, we love them dearly.

We long for unity with those brothers and sisters, and we desire their flourishing.

We desire for you to work in their midst, however you see fit. For Christ, you are the head of the church.

And God, we know that you are going to do with it as you please. And so we ask that you would do a mighty work in the people's hearts there,

Lord, that you would bring about awakening and revival in their hearts, just as we ask for our own.

God, we pray for the pastors and the leaders at that church. I pray you give them wisdom and discernment,

God. I pray that you would allow them to shepherd well. Father, I pray that the people that are part of that church, that they would grow in the knowledge of you, that they would grow in a love for you,

Father, that you would use them mightily and impact people in the community through that church. We love them, we care for them, and we know that you love them and you care for them.

And so, Father, I pray that they would know that we here, the saints at 12 .5,

are lifting them up in prayer and caring for them just as we do ourselves, because we are united.

We are united, one in Christ, and we thank you for that, in Christ's name, amen, amen.

Well, let's stand for our call to worship. As we prepare to go before the Lord, I know that many of you have had struggles this week.

There are struggles, there's sin, and some cases has been crouching at the door, ready to pounce on you and destroy what's good and what

God is redeeming in your life, but God is still sovereign, right?

And there's restoration in the cross. That's why we come together this morning, is because we are redeemed, restored.

And when we acknowledge that as a people, there is a unified encouragement for us to continue to go on throughout the week and throughout our lives when we're out there.

So, this call to worship is a way for us to just stop, set aside all that stuff and go,

God, you are God. You are God and I'm not. Thank you. Thank you for your salvation.

Thank you for your redemption in my life. Thank you for redeeming even the broken things that my sin just continues to wreak havoc on.

And all of us are guilty of it. Every one of us, including myself, including Pastor Jeremiah, everyone, because we are not

Jesus. Only Jesus is perfect, amen, amen. Well, our call to worship comes from David's song of deliverance in 2

Samuel 22, where it says, and David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the

Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

And David says, the Lord is our rock and our fortress and our deliverer, our shield and the horn of our salvation.

Our Savior, you save us from violence, for the waves of death encompassed us, the torrents of destruction assailed us, the cords of shield entangled us, the snares of death confronted us.

From his temple we heard, he heard our voice and our cry came to his ears.

Then the earth reeled and rocked, the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth, glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew.

He was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness around him as canopy, thick clouds and gathering of water.

Out of the brightness before him, coals of fire flamed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven and the

Most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning enrouted them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were laid bare. At the rebuke of the

Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. Okay, we're going to say that one again.

Go back there, Kellen. Let's say that like we really mean it. Not like drones. We're not just reading this, right?

Let's read these words and what they're meant to be read. Imagine King David saying this prayer, right?

Imagine King David going through that and saying, out of the nostrils of the Lord, this redemption came and delivered me and brought me out of this brokenness and out from the enemy.

And this is what he declares. Let's declare it. For this, we will praise you. Great salvation he brings to his king and shows steadfast love to his anointed.

To David and his offspring forever, amen. What's David's offspring? Christ, right?

Christ came from the line of David. And then we now who are in faith are in Christ.

So we are his offspring forever. And we rest in that same deliverance.

And all God's people said, amen, amen. Let's pray a prayer of adoration to our great

God. Dear heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you this morning and we thank you. We just want to acknowledge who you are,

Father. You came with vengeance and redeemed us.

Sin had defeated us. Sin had conquered us. Sin had brought us into death and had overcome all of humanity.

Every one of us was without hope at enmity with you. And you came and you delivered us.

Your son paid the price that we couldn't pay. Jesus Christ shed his blood on our behalf.

You poured your wrath out on your own son that I deserved, that we deserved.

And he paid it in full. And now there is therefore no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

Oh God, you are holy and just and perfect. And all your ways are good.

Father, help us this morning to worship you in spirit and in truth. For we stand, for those of us that have the indwelling

Holy Spirit this morning, we get to stand before you and worship you the way you desire to be worshipped.

So Father, I pray that we would make these great declarations to you. And we would stand firm in them, encouraging each other in them.

Lord, forgive us of sins that are in our own hearts. Lord, forgive me for sin that I've committed this very morning and this whole week.

God, forgive me. Forgive us. But even in those sins, we know that our

Savior has paid for them. And it makes us want to just want to live holy lives for you.

Oh, Father, help us this morning. Remind us that you are our mighty fortress, that you are the one that holds us firm.

And there is nothing that can destroy us or strip us from your hand. In Christ's name, amen.

Let us add up His name, from age to age the same.

And He must win the battle, cause no things suit

Him above. The Spirit and the gifts are ours, through Him do we must die.

The dead can take all, His mortal life also must bring about.

Hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem and crown

Him Lord of all.

Bring forth the royal diadem and crown

Him Lord of all.

Chosen seed of Israel's race, He ransomed from the fall.

Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown

Him Lord of all. Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown

Him Lord of all.

Every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball,

To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown

Him Lord of all. To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown

Him Lord of all. Let's sing that first verse one more time.

Hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem and crown

Him Lord of all.

Bring forth the royal diadem and crown

Him Lord of all.

Amen. One of those was a common hymn that most of y 'all know, but I'm sure some of you didn't know the first one.

We usually don't do hymns more traditionally like that, but that one, for starters, is

Pastor Jeremiah's favorite song of all time, A Mighty Fortress. How many of you have ever heard it or sung it? More than I thought, right?

That is a beautiful hymn of truth. As a matter of fact, it's one that the saints have sung for 500 years.

A Mighty Fortress was written by Martin Luther. And it was a declaration. You can imagine what

Martin Luther was struggling with as he's being attacked by the Roman Catholic Church and his doctrine.

And so he's affirming what a beautiful truth that God is the mighty fortress. God's the one that's holding him.

And I wanted us to be able to declare that this morning. We ought to do that more often. That way it becomes familiar to us.

But it's a shame to lose some of those great truths, some of those old songs that the saints have sung for many, many, many centuries now.

But our psalm reading this morning comes from Psalm 75 as we've walked consecutively through the psalms.

And this, God will judge with equity. This is to the choir master. According to Do Not Destroy, a psalm of Aesop.

It's a song where he says, We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks for your name is near.

We recount your wondrous deeds. At the set time that I appoint, I will judge with equity.

When the earth totters and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars, say

I. I say to the boastful, do not boast. And to the wicked, do not lift up your horn.

Do not lift up your horn on high or speak with haughty neck. For not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness comes lifting up.

But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours it out from it.

And all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. But I will declare it forever.

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Amen. Amen. God is redeeming us, his people. Amen.

Amen. Let's pray this morning once again before we continue to sing.

Oh Father, thank you. Thank you that you are lifting us up.

For we were once enemies of you, but you have redeemed us and you are lifting us up.

We trust you. We rest in you. For you are the one that keeps us.

You are our mighty fortress. And we have no worry. We have no need.

Lord, help us to rest in you this morning. Help us to worship you as we continue to sing. In Christ's name.

Amen. Praise the

Lord. Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Praise the

Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the

Lord. Praise the

Lord. Praise the

Lord. Praise the Lord. ♪ Everlasting chorus ♪

Praise the Lord ♪

Sing His praises ♪ All creation ♪

Praise the Lord ♪ She'll lighten all your debts ♪

From birth to seeds to ends ♪ Let everything that has breath ♪

Praise the Lord ♪

Sing out ♪

Oh, heaven hear the sounds of worship ♪

Let every nation breathe ♪ Its honors to the

King ♪ Oh, Lord, upon our knees we do ♪

Praise the Lord ♪ Praise the

Lord ♪ Sing His praises ♪

All creation ♪ Praise the Lord ♪

Praise your voice ♪ You'll lighten all your debts ♪

From birth to seeds to ends ♪ You'll disperse each cloud ♪

All creatures hear Him call ♪ Come sky to sea to shore ♪

Sing out forevermore ♪ Let everything that has breath ♪

Praise the Lord ♪ Oh, all the earth and earth rejoice ♪

He rises in the south ♪ In darkness strives to hide ♪

He trembles at His voice ♪ He trembles at His voice ♪

How great is our God ♪

Sing with me, how great is our

God ♪ And all will see how great, how great is our

God ♪ From age to age and step ♪

From time to time and in the sense ♪ Beginning and the end ♪

Beginning and the end ♪ Sing, sing with me, how great is our

God ♪

Be my hope, worthy of ♪

Sing, sing with me, how great is our

God ♪ Until my

Savior comes to me ♪

How great that seems, my

Amen, God, we've seen that this morning, how great you are, Father. We see it in our day -to -day life.

We see it all through Scripture, Father, just your greatness, how truly good you are to us,

Father. We praise you for it this morning, God, as we continue to worship you in offering and giving, Father, that you would be glorified in this time of worship,

Father, you would open our ears to hear the Scripture, that you would give us the ears to hear what the Spirit speaks to the church,

Father, this morning, to you be all glory and honor forever and ever, amen. Well, it is true that a mighty fortress our

God is my favorite hymn of all time. I love it so much because we get to see how God has been working in history, right, saving the church from the tyranny and darkness of false teaching.

So I just wanna thank you so much to the praise team of just week in and week out doing such a phenomenal job.

So this morning, if you would, please turn with me in your copy of God's Word to Ephesians chapter three, where we're continuing our expositional preaching series through the book of Ephesians.

We're on what week now, Pastor Nathan? Probably, yeah, we're just getting started, baby.

So Ephesians chapter three, the context is the apostle Paul is so captivated by the grace of God working in and through his life.

He is a prisoner, but of Christ. In the text, he tells us that he has been given a stewardship to give this gospel light to the nations.

He understands exactly what his marching orders are, and it's to share that gospel light to the world.

So if you would, let's look at the first 13 verses of Ephesians chapter three together.

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

Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that has been given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by 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 been now 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 to me by the working of his power.

To me, though I'm 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 realized, that has been 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.

Let's go to our God in prayer this morning. Heavenly Father, we just wanna thank you so much for the singing of your word, praying your word, and the preaching of your word.

God, we pray that you would enlighten our hearts this morning, God, to the truths of your word, that you would transform us from the inside out.

God, as we leave here, that we would be equipped to bring this gospel light to the nations. We pray these things in your name,

Jesus. Amen. So our main passage will be verses nine through 13.

So I wanna draw your attention back to verse nine, where the apostle Paul, he's talking about the unsearchable riches of Christ that he wants to declare, and he says, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

And so last week, Pastor Nathan talked more about this gospel light, how this was even foretold in the

Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah said, I will make you, God speaking through the prophet, my people as a light for all the nations, and my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

And so this is telling us that God's plan of salvation has always been meant to go to the

Gentile world. But even the best prophets of old, they did not see this picture as clearly as we see it today.

This is that mystery that is now being revealed, that in the church, the body of the long -awaited

Messiah would be both Jew and Gentile. So this light is the gospel light that Christians are called to proclaim, but we have to remember that this is a supernatural work of God as well.

Yes, we play a part in that, but this is the powerful working of God. So this word light that Paul mentions here was also mentioned earlier in chapter one, verse 18.

Paul there said, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, same Greek word, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.

This supernatural enlightening is the Holy Spirit bringing a dead person's heart to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And I believe that is why the apostle Paul shared the gospel with such boldness because he knew that the gospel carried the work of the

Holy Spirit, able to enlighten the eyes of the lost. And Paul, inspired by the

Holy Spirit, beautifully said in 2 Corinthians 4, 6, for God who said, let there shine light out of darkness, has also shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Isn't that beautiful? This is a supernatural work of God. So when we proclaim the gospel, we do it with boldness.

Back in verse nine, Paul says, and he understands his calling is to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for the ages.

And so this plan we've repeatedly seen in Ephesians one, two, and three. This plan has a transcendent origin.

This began with God before the foundation of the world, Father, Son, and Spirit, to redeem an undeserving people for himself and to himself.

And so, like I said, this was all to the praise of his glorious grace. All of history is his story.

It is God's plan of redemption being revealed. And so the mystery is that that undeserving people would be both

Jew and Gentile. And understand, the Jewish listener, this would have blown their minds.

Those Gentiles, those who are dogs and God -haters, they're actually gonna be a part of God's redemption?

Paul is saying that has always been the plan since from the foundation of the world. And so when

Paul says that this was the mystery hidden for the ages, this means that in the Old Testament, this was a picture kind of veiled.

Remember that passage that Pastor Nathan spoke on last week? That God said, through my people, you will be a light for the nations, my salvation to the ends of the world.

They got that in pictures. They didn't quite understood what that meant. But what Paul is saying, in the church, this is the mystery of God revealed for all man.

And so not even the greatest of Old Testament prophets would have understood that within the church composed of all the saved since Pentecost in one united body, there would be no racial, no social or spiritual distinctions.

So this is such a miraculous plan that it would actually take the creator of the universe to pull this off.

And so that's why I think the Apostle Paul says that the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

And so since God is the creator and all of this that we're living in is his creation, things that seem random to us that don't seem to carry much significance, all this is playing a part in God's master plan.

And this is typifying in Jesus Christ and the church is his body.

All things are working together for our good as the church and ultimately for God's glory.

That is remarkable because this could only be explained and planned by the triune

God. And so this helps shed some light on other verses that are so meaningful to my heart. For those who love

God, Jew and Gentile, they're looking to Christ alone, by faith alone, apart from any of our works or accomplishments that we could do.

All things are working together for our good, for those that are called according to his purpose.

This is the eternal purpose and plan of God now revealed to us in the church.

And so this moves us to verse 10. We get the first two words, so that. This is the therefore term that's saying everything that we were reading earlier is building up to this point right here.

Paul says, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

And so Paul is building up to saying, listen really closely here. And it's through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known.

So this word church, we hear this all the time. We go to church, we like to gather together with other believers.

Church in the Greek is ekklesia. This is an assembly of people that are called out.

And the context here in verse 10, since this is talking about God who created all things, this particular kind of ekklesia is referring to the cosmic people of all time throughout the ages who have been called out by God's amazing grace.

And so back in chapter two, we got a visible manifestation of what the ekklesia looks like in light of Pentecost and in light of Jesus fulfilling the law, being crucified at Calvary, resurrecting from the dead and ascending to the right hand of the

Father. Back in chapter two, we see that these two groups, Jew and Gentile, that are kind of hostile to one another, they are being unified as one body in Christ.

Ephesians chapter two says that it was Christ that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

That passage goes on to talk about that we're no longer sojourners or people that are just wandering around in this dark world because most of us here are

Gentiles, right? And it's by Christ that we are grafted in and we get to partake in God's plan of salvation.

And so this helps inform us of what Paul is getting at in verse 10. He says, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.

That word manifold, when I was looking more into this, I was like, okay, I wonder how many times we see this word in the

New Testament. And depending on which translation you read, you see that word in English, but this word in Greek is only mentioned one time in connection with the church, the manifold wisdom of God.

So I wanna talk about that word for a moment. Manifold here is the meaning of many and varied, having many features and forms wrought in various colors, diversified, intricate, complex, many -sided.

And please listen, this is so important because Paul's point is that God's wisdom and his extraordinary plan of salvation is seen in a new mysterious creation called the church.

Think about what the church is. This is a multifaceted, many -colored, culturally diverse, rich, and a beautiful community of believers.

There's no other human entity on earth that comes close to comparing to the church.

Think about the Old Testament, Joseph in his coat of many colors. This would have been a work of, an artistic work of just a complete masterpiece that he puts on and that he could have shown off and everybody would have seen its beauty.

It would have had many patterns and colors all interwoven together. And this reminds me of what

Paul is saying here, that believers, together we form a perfect blend of harmony and diversity.

The many features and forms and colors of fellowship in the church reflect the manifold wisdom of God, amen?

And so does anybody know what a tapestry is? I had to do some Googling and be like, okay, this seems like an important concept here.

And so I got to see so many beautiful tapestries. These are like really big pictures and when you stand back a little bit, you can see all of it and its beauty.

The many patterns, the many shapes, colors, all these things. But what's interesting is when you stand real close to a tapestry, you see a bunch of threads interwoven together horizontally and vertically and you can't see the whole thing.

You can just see its many parts. But when you take that step back, you see all of it and its beauty.

And so the church, as believers, we picture the manifold wisdom of God as a global body of Christ -shaped tapestry.

Our individual lives are various colors of thread woven together in unity of purpose.

And so we do this by gathering together. We do this by living our lives to the glory of God and sharing that gospel light to the nations.

And so when we go back to verse 10, we read, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

As I was studying this passage, I thought, it seems like Paul is taking a slight shift in the direction that I thought he was going.

Have you ever read that phrase, the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, and thought, who's that referring to?

What is that referring to? Well, we've actually been clued in earlier in the book of Ephesians, this is referring to angels.

And so we have to understand that God is not just demonstrating his glory and his manifold wisdom to humanity, that is true, but he's also doing this, that he might make known his purposes to the angelic realm as well.

And so the apostle Paul has a very particular kind of angels in mind here.

He has in mind the fallen demonic forces and kingdom of darkness. And so back in the opening verses of Ephesians 2, like I said,

Paul clues us in on who he's talking about. He says, and you, believers, you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, following the prince, or that could be translated the authority, of the power of the air and the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

And so the prince, or the authority, is a singular reference to the archenemy of God, Satan.

And so as believers, we used to follow the pattern of this world, being led by the archenemy of God.

But by his grace, we have been moved from followers of darkness to fighters against the rulers and the authorities.

That's essentially the argument that Paul has been building throughout the book of Ephesians. Yes, we used to be enslaved to our sin and following Satan, but now we're called to be fighters that put on the whole body armor of God, amen?

So Ephesians chapter six, Paul makes this very clear who the rulers and authorities are in this context.

He says to believers, put on the whole body armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

And so what's so interesting about the demons, Satan, all the angels, is they have been around since the very dawn of time.

Satan and his demonic host have been mocking God's wisdom from the very beginning. Don't we read that back in Genesis three in the fall?

Satan interacts with Adam and Eve and says, yeah, you were told not to eat of the forbidden fruit, but come on, we both know that it's going to enlighten your eyes.

Did God really say not to do that? Because it sounds like he was meaning something else. Adam and Eve, you know better, join us, right?

That is the lies that we have seen from the beginning. And as Christians, we war against those lies and we stand firm on God's truth.

This same passage in Ephesians six goes on to say, stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth.

Now this imagery is so remarkable because the Apostle Paul being in prison was probably staring at a

Roman guard all day. And so he's probably thinking about it. And the Roman armor, the belt held everything together.

Without the belt, you couldn't have the breastplate, you couldn't have the armor that covers your legs, you need the belt to fasten and hold everything together.

And so I think that is so fitting because Paul refers to the belt as the belt of truth.

As Christians, that's what we stand firm on. Jesus said, I am the way, the life, and he says,

I am the truth, and no one goes to the Father except through me. Jesus said, Father, sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.

And so the truth is what holds everything together in the life of a Christian. Our weapons are not of this world.

We wage war with wisdom that comes from above, and this has divine power to destroy the forces of darkness.

God is the God of truth, and he gives us wisdom through his word that transforms, sanctifies, and renews our heart and our mind.

And so we have been moved from followers of the kingdom of darkness to fighters against the rulers and authorities.

So that helps us here in verse 10, when Paul once again says, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

So that phrase, he says, made known. We might take a step back and say, okay, Paul, what do you mean? How is the church, the manifold wisdom of God, that is being made known to crush the forces of darkness?

Yes. Well, once again, when we read rule and authority, this was actually mentioned in Ephesians chapter one, and it's connected to Jesus Christ.

And so this helps us understand how this relates to the church, because Paul said that when the power of God raised

Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, it was far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named.

And so the angels, the demonic forces, they see the wisdom of God made known in Jesus Christ and how he possesses supreme authority above all.

His authority is so far above the demons' rule and authority they pale in comparison to him.

And so when we are in the church, we can found the spirits of darkness. And this relates to us so intentionally, because if Christ is raised, we have been raised with him in the heavenly places.

One of my favorite passages of scripture also in Ephesians two, begins with those two famous words, but God.

Isn't that right, brother Keith? But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love in which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved. Right, we recognize that part, but it's the next part that reminds us that ever since Christ has been raised, we have been seated with him in his authority, in his power, in his might.

Paul goes on to say that he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

Right, so do you see the church is being demonstrated, shown to the world, shown to the forces of darkness that they cannot compete with the power of God.

And so the church is the outworking and saving wisdom of God. That is why

Jesus can say, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

This is the wisdom of God. And so in this passage, verse 10 is talking primarily about the demons, the kingdom of darkness.

But the more I was thinking about this, I thought, you know what? The powerful working of God through the church is also being demonstrated to the holy angels.

And so God's plan of redemption is being displayed for them and the holy angels are intrigued at every point and turn with how

Jew and Gentile can come together in such a way to fulfill God's plan of redemption.

And so in 1 Peter, he mentions this about the holy angels. He says, concerning this salvation and things that have been announced to you through those who have preached the good news to you by the

Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look into.

The holy angels are astonished with the gospel of salvation that's realized in Jesus Christ.

They behold the mystery of God revealed in the church, showing his wisdom on display for all of creation.

And this totally is outside the comprehension for the angels. They have no way to experience that or empathize with what's going on.

It's simply being made known to them. And so that phrase, things which angels long to look or desire to look into, that could be translated this way.

I thought this was really interesting. Things which angels long to catch a glimpse of. And so this idea of longing to look into or desiring to catch a glimpse is not just they happen to notice the church by happenstance.

Oh, that's cool. That's going on over here. No, this captivated their attention. They were stooping down, focusing intellectually to satisfy their curiosity at what was taking place before their very eyes.

And so the holy angels have a very unique perspective. They've been around since the very beginning, the very beginning of the dawn of time.

And what have they seen? They have seen Lucifer, which we know to be Satan, cast out of heaven when he sinned and led a third of the angels with him.

What else have the angels seen? They saw Adam and Eve sin against their creator and plunge all of humanity into sin and rebellion.

The holy angels, I bet they could not imagine how God was going to solve this insurmountable problem of sin.

They know that God is holy, holy, holy. They know that God is absolutely just. They know that he is kind, loving, and merciful.

God, how are you going to fix this problem? God had a plan, right?

They are getting to see God's plan unfold. We too get to see this plan unfold. And so the angels observe how

God worked out his plan through an undeserving people. And so one day, the angels get to see how

God started interacting with a man called Abram, right? God transformed his identity into Abraham.

Abraham lived in a pagan country among a pagan people. And these angels could not understand

God's interest in this one man. But they watched and they saw

God calling Abraham out of his own country and taking him to a strange land. Abraham didn't know where he was going, but he was obedient.

He followed God in faith. And the angels began to see that God was forming a nation for himself.

The angels watched the calling of Abraham. They watched his coming to Canaan. Ishmael and Isaac were born.

And to the angels' amazement, they saw God's purpose being furthered through Isaac and not

Ishmael, and then through Jacob and not Esau. And at every point and turn, they saw the wisdom of God.

The angels probably thought, well, God's promises have to go through the firstborn Esau, but it was with Jacob, right?

God's wisdom is confounding the angels that God shows mercy on whomever he wills.

The angels could not understand it, but they began to see God's purpose unfolding. God has been showing that his ways are not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

God takes the worst of situations and turns it into the very best. Thus, the angels seen how

God was putting his wisdom on display. All of this was taking place to pave the way for the

Messiah. And so in our main passage, this kind of touches on verse 11. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our

Lord. Now, this word purpose is very important for the context. Purpose means the setting forth of a thing to place it in view.

And the context is that the triune God from eternity past, from before the foundation of the world, purposed for Jesus Christ to redeem humanity.

You think the angels saw that one coming? No way. The angels never imagined that the second person of the blessed

Holy Trinity, who was substance of the eternal substance, the only begotten son from the bosom of the

Father, would humble himself and be born as a babe in Bethlehem and live amongst men.

God's eternal definite plan has been set forth, made known to the angels and their hosts.

They saw the wisdom of God manifesting itself in facets and angles that could have never entered their minds.

And they watched the son living as a man amongst men under the law, living perfectly in obedience to it.

The angels were probably baffled when they saw the brightness and majesty of the

Father's glory working as a carpenter in Nazareth, God in the flesh in Jesus.

And yet we see another amazing aspect of God's wisdom. The Father did not send his son to be born in a king's palace, but in a stable.

That is the wisdom of God. We would have done it so differently, right? We would have said, okay, let's send him to a palace.

Let's put him on display as king of kings and lord of lords. But we see God's purpose in it all.

If Jesus did not come at the very lowliest, then he could not properly represent the lowest of humanity.

We see God's perfect plan and wisdom being put on display. And yet again, the angels saw

Jesus on the cross of Calvary, and you know that they would have been perplexed.

This would have seemed to be the hour of triumph where the gates of hell were winning, that the devil was doing exactly what he wanted to do, but that's not what was going on.

God's plan was being accomplished to the very team. The apostle Paul said in Colossians 2 that Jesus dying on the cross, he actually disarmed the rulers and the authorities and put them to an open shame, right?

God was winning. God was triumphing through the works of the kingdom of darkness.

God was using the demonic forces and their cleverness to bring about his own glorious purposes.

Because at the cross, God was making his own son the sin bearer. Jesus was taking on our sins and dealing with them.

And so we see God's wisdom put on display in this way. God was being the just and the justifier.

The law was being perfectly fulfilled, and yet sin was being dealt with.

The law was honored in every way, and Christ fulfilled it perfectly. And here's the point. How was God going to solve the problem of sin?

Jesus Christ. The cross of Calvary made a way for the forgiveness of sins to be possible.

That is the manifold wisdom of God. And so as I was thinking about this concept that holy angels long to look into the things of salvation, they long to understand the church,

I thought, is that what we do? Do we long to look into these things? Angels, they rejoice every time a sinner repents and comes to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Do we rejoice at those things? What are the things that brings us happiness and joy in this life?

I'm not saying that we can't get excited about things like sports, concerts, TV shows, business deals, promotions at work, but do we rejoice more at those things than gathering together with the saints?

This is the church, the manifold wisdom of God being put on display to the entire universe.

And so I want us to think about that question. What is my personal view of the church?

Is it a high view? Is it a low view? Do I care much about the saints, gathering together with them week in and week out?

Well, ask yourself, what brings you joy in life? You'll get a direct answer if you ask yourself, what is the pattern of my life?

Are these things that I structure my week to week around gathering together with the church? What brings you joy?

These things will help you understand how you view the church, because this was convicting as I was thinking through this in my own heart and life, because I want

God to work in me. When somebody comes to saving faith, I want to come alongside them and rejoice, right?

What about when a new believer asks a question? Jeremiah, what is sanctification? How beautiful, right?

The process of being made more and more holy, like Jesus and less and less like the world.

Is that something that brings us joy? God, please work in me to cherish these things that have eternal value.

Yes, we can be happy about the things that happen in this temporal world, but what brings us more joy?

What are the things that we truly rejoice at? And so when I read this verse that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known,

I have to confess to you, I've not totally grasped the depths of what that means. I love gathering together with God's people week in and week out and living life together, but I have failed to understand that this is

God's manifold wisdom put on display for everyone to see that he is the creator.

All of history is his story, that through the church, the transcendent power of God is working through his people.

How beautiful. Ah, but Jeremiah, right? You always have that person that comes up. Maybe that's just the apologetic dog inside of me.

Ah, Jeremiah, when we look at the life of the Apostle Paul, he wasn't really tied down in church.

He was going from town to town, and I'm like, all right, you wanna talk about the Apostle Paul? Let's do that for a moment.

The Apostle Paul was an apostle. Last week, Pastor Nathan talked about, there ain't no more apostles, so don't use that excuse that what the

Apostle Paul did, being an apostle, appointing elders in town to town, that ain't you, okay?

And the Apostle Paul loved gathering together with the saints. In Acts chapter 20, he labored three years with the people of Ephesus, says day and night, admonishing them with tears.

He loved the fellowship. He loved the fellowship so much that he went and sought other fellowships in other towns.

The Apostle Paul had the highest view of the church as possible. He called it the manifold wisdom of God.

And that's convicting, because before studying this passage, I've never had that view of the church.

And so like I said, I want us to ask that question. How do I view the church?

And so if you look at your life, if you look at its pattern, how do you structure your week to week?

Does it involve gathering together with the body when we meet? Or is it a mere afterthought? Or does it even cross your mind at all?

Does the church come close to being a priority in comparison to all the other activities going on in your life?

Pastor Nathan and I talk about this all the time. And he has said something that has always stood out to me. I'll never forget it.

He said that people know your love for Christ based on your love for the bride.

Right, let me say it again. People know your love for Christ based on your love for his bride, the church, the saints.

This is a mere foretaste of what we will see in all eternity, in a glorious state where we will be given new bodies fit for eternity to rule and reign with him, to worship him.

That's so true. People will know your love for Christ based on your love for his bride.

If we begin to understand that the climax of our triune creator's multilayered wisdom is being made known to confound the demonic spirits through the church, this will change how we structure to live our lives to the glory of God, amen.

So as we begin to wind down, look with me at verse 12 in our main passage. Here the apostle

Paul gives us explicit application that we can take away from everything that we have been discussing this morning.

He says, in whom, remember, in Christ, all of God's eternal purposes are realized in Christ Jesus, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Paul says we, he's not saying just apostles have boldness. Not just prophets have confidence when they go before the

Lord. He says we have boldness as the church. We are the redeemed. The writer of Hebrews beautifully says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in a time of need.

We can have boldness. We can have confidence through faith in Jesus Christ. In verse 13, we get another therefore word, another so.

So think about the mystery of the plan of God being revealed to crush the kingdom of darkness.

And now Paul says, now listen up. So I ask you not to lose heart over what

I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Paul's building his conclusion like he did earlier in verse 10.

And now he says, do not lose heart. Do not be discouraged. Now the immediate context is important to understand because Paul has been imprisoned.

The believers at Ephesus would be tempted to think, oh no, is God's plan failing? The great mighty apostle

Paul is imprisoned. And so Paul's saying, no, no, no. Don't be discouraged. My suffering is a part of God's eternal purpose realized in Christ Jesus.

And more Gentiles have heard the gospel by my imprisonment and suffering. Praise God.

He says, do not lose heart over what I'm suffering for you, which is your glory. What he is saying is, do you want to have a glorious role in redemptive history?

I do. Listen, Paul would tell us, be the church.

If you want a glorious role in God's story, be the church. Be the people who go with boldness and joyful access to your heavenly father who created all things.

And with confidence, speak of Christ and point to him with your lives.

And let the authorities and the rulers and everyone else have their mouths silenced by the glorious manifold wisdom of God, amen.

So do not lose heart. And as members of the body of Christ, we are the most wonderful phenomenon the universe has ever seen.

God is doing amazing work with two people from a human perspective could never come together.

Paul would say to us today, join me in boldness and in confidence as we move forward, sharing the gospel, discipleship with the saints and love for people until the last day.

We have been moved from followers of darkness to fighters against the rulers and authorities.

And not just any fighters, we are conquerors because we have been raised up with King Jesus and he has seated us with him in the heavenly places.

You know what that means? Victory is certain. Now that's an amen right there. And so the apostle

Paul gives us our blessed hope in 1 Corinthians 15. I love this. Sometimes when

I'm feeling down, I go and read this passage, a wonderful passage telling us about the resurrection of Jesus and how we too will be resurrected like him to be with him for eternity.

Paul says, then the end comes, right? We're living out history right now, but it's all going to a particular end when he returns.

Paul says, then comes the end when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the

Father after destroying every rule and every authority for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word, your grace working through the people at 12 .5

church. God, we need your help in all things. God, we pray for your grace and your mercy.

Lord, please help us not to lose heart. When God, the city seems to be doing things, we understand that they are ultimately, that they are under the dominion of the evil one, but God, they cannot thwart your purposes.

God, please help us to change our view of the church. Your word tells us that it is the manifold wisdom of God.

Lord, please help us to long to gather together with your people. God, please help us stay away from being filled up with knowledge that simply puffs up, but God, please help us to learn your truths, to engage our hearts, to love one another, all to your glory.

Lord, please help us to be equipped to go out into the community and share that gospel light. Lord, we love you.