Once again, we are so thankful
for the privilege of being here together and to worship you in
spirit and truth. And we thank you that you brought
us here to hear your word and preached and proclaimed. We pray
that You might be magnified, that our hearts would be lifted
up to You and that our eyes would focus upon Thee. In this world
we have much tribulation and trials, and just everyday life
is a struggle. And so we pray, though, that
You would give us grace and strength to make it through whatever situation
comes before us. We lift up these prayers to You,
the whole list, and the dear saints and unsaved loved ones. the people we've mentioned, and
we pray that Thy will would be done. And we submit them to Thee,
knowing that You are a great King and that You will do whatsoever
You please. But we pray that if it's Your
will, that You'd have mercy upon those who are sick and strengthen
them if it's Your will. And we just love You and praise
You. We pray that You'd be glorified today in the preaching of Your
Word, that You'd be magnified, that we might see You a majestic,
mighty God and King who rules and reigns supreme, and that
we might know what we are, sinners, saved but by the grace of God
in Christ. And oh, what a wonderful salvation
it is. And we give you all the praise
and all the glory and all the honor for saving our souls. And we pray, Lord, if it's Your
will that You'd move and draw sinners to You today, that You
would use the message to bring Your sheep and to draw them to
Thee, we pray, if it's Your will. And we love You and we praise
You in Jesus' precious name, Amen. Today we'll be in Ephesians again. We're continuing our little study
and we're going to go through chapter 1 and then we'll break
off and go to another book or another study. But Ephesians
1 is so doctoral and full of such precious truths And today
we're going to look at two verses. We're going to look at verses
8 and 9. In the name of the messages,
the mystery of His will. The mystery of His will. Here
in verses 8 and 9, Scripture declares, Wherein He hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of His will. according to His good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself." Now all through this study, we've
seen God's sovereignty at work. We've seen His divine choosing
of a people. We've seen our adoption in Christ. We've seen that all spiritual
blessings are in Christ and Him alone. They're nowhere else.
And today we see here, "...wherein He hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence." So we'll look at this verse first.
Out of the abundance of grace in Himself, which is called the
riches of His grace, He hath bestowed upon us wisdom and prudence. Out of the abundance of His grace
in Himself. All this comes from God. And
it all comes through Christ. 1 Timothy says this, And the
grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith. and love which is in Christ Jesus. Exceedingly abundant. God's grace
is exceedingly abundant. It's superabounding grace. It's like nothing we can even
fathom. Remember this. I was reading
Augustine's Confessions this week, and he brought really into
perspective for me of who I am and what I am, and it was amazing
that God has graced upon us as sinners. He said that we sinners
are but particles of the creation of God. Particles. And as I was reading that, I
thought, you know, I used to work in a factory where they
built cabinets and stuff. And the particles would come
off of the wood. And they were really just little,
wee, tiny things. Little pieces of particle of
the wood. And that was what was ringing in my mind in the sense
of how small and insignificant I am in light of God's creation.
But yet, He's had mercy upon me. And that's the same with
every believer in Christ. We're but particles of His creation,
but He has mercy upon us. And His grace is superabounding. Super abounding grace. God is
not what people think. He is what the scripture declares
He is. He is incredible. He is God,
King over all the universe. He says, your thoughts are not
my thoughts and your ways are not my ways. So as we go through
this study and as we go through this journey of our lives, let
us continue to remember how great God is. How great He is. He is far above us. Far above
us. But His grace, beloved, to His
people, is exceedingly abundant." 1 Timothy 1.14. And it says here,
"...wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
out of the abundance of grace in himself." Oh, God's grace
is abounding grace. Abounding grace. And it is through
faith that we receive Christ, by whom we come to God, and by
Him we enjoy the privilege of adoption, which we looked at
which we looked at in the verses above. It says, "...heaven predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself."
Verse 5. It all flows out of the grace of God in Christ. And
Paul gives to the Gospel the magnificent names of wisdom and
prudence for the purpose of leading the Ephesians to despise all
contrary doctrines. Now God has given the believer
wisdom and prudence to know what the Gospel is. See, without Him giving us that,
we would be all over the board. But He's put in our heart the
truth of salvation by Christ alone. Once you hear Grace preaching,
it ruins you for everything else. You don't want to hear anything
else, because it's the truth. Like you said, Sister Carolyn,
why would you want to hear anything else? Why would we want to hear
it? We don't. And think of this,
too. Think of this with Gospel preaching.
Do you know how the scripture says that he makes me to lie
down in green pastures? Gospels preachers like green
pastures for the sheep of God. They're just feasting on clover.
The clover of the word. The clover of the gospel. It's
wonderful. It's wonderful. So Paul here,
is leading the Ephesians to despise all contrary doctrines. The false
teachers are always promoting something more than Christ alone.
They always mix grace and works all the time. And the Gnostics,
well, they said that they had a greater knowledge. They had
something revealed to them that no one else had revealed to them.
And again, it's another Gospel. But here Paul builds up on the
authority of the Gospel that believers might be grounded and
that they might be able to identify false teachers and the grace
of the Lord was exceeding the abundant with faith which is
in Christ Jesus. And wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence." Believers are given wisdom and
prudence by God through the preaching of the Gospel that they might
rest upon Christ. They might rest upon Him with
unshaken confidence. I'm standing up before people
who are made wise. made wise by the Gospel, made
wise by Christ. It's amazing. And it also means
all wisdom, full or perfect wisdom. Now, we don't have that understanding,
right? I think when we get to glory,
we'll know a lot more than we know now. But we're learning.
We're growing in wisdom and prudence. We're growing in Christ. We're
learning until the day we die. But in Christ is all wisdom and
knowledge. It's all in Him. It's all in
Him. Look at verse 9 here. It says,
"...have made known unto us the mystery of His will, according
to the good pleasure which He purposed in Himself." Now here
before us in this verse is declared that God has made the mystery
of His will known. Known. Having made known unto
us. Notice that this book is written
to believers. This book is written to the Ephesian
saints. He does not make this known to
everyone. But He makes it known to His
people. Having made known unto us the
mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He
hath purposed in Himself. Think of this. That which was
so long hidden is now revealed that it's God's purpose to gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven
and which are on earth. Turn, if you would, to Romans
16 and also 1 Corinthians 2. The main point being here that
the Gentiles should be included in the call to faith and the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The main point being that the
Gentiles, which is us, should be included in the call to faith
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Romans 16, verses
25-27 actually. Now to Him that is of power to
establish you according to my gospel. Now there's God's sovereignty
right there again. God is the one who establishes
us. In the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation
of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began.
There's a mystery that was kept secret. But now is made manifest
and by the Scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment
of the everlasting God. made known to all nations for
the obedience of faith. To God only wise be glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Look at this, but now is
made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets according to
the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith. The Gospel. That the Gentiles
would be included as well. That the body comprised not just
of Jewish people, and Jewish believers, but of Gentiles as
well. 1 Corinthians 2.7 says this. You know, this mystery is a mystery
to man, and it's also a mystery to angels as well. Put your finger in Ephesians
3. I'm sorry, I got us jumping all over. 1 Corinthians 2.7,
we'll look at that in 8. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of the world knew, God only reveals this to His
people. For had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory. And this mystery is a mystery
to angels too. Turn to Ephesians 3, verses 8-12. Brother Mahan commented on this.
I'll read this comment by Brother Mahan before we read the Scripture.
The purpose is that through and by the Church, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the complex, many-sided wisdom of God in justifying the
ungodly by Christ Jesus might be made known to the angels and
powers in heaven. The angels are witness of God's
mercy to the Church in Christ. Look at Ephesians 3, verses 8-12. Unto me, who am the least of
all saints, Paul called himself the chief of sinners, calls himself
the least of all saints. He knew what he was. Is this
grace given? No, he didn't seek it out, did
he? We saw that on Wednesday night.
He didn't seek it out. But God sought him out. That
I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
and to make all men see what is the fellowship and the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ. To the intent now unto the principalities
and power in heavenly places might be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which
He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness
and access by the faith of Him. So think of this. To the Jews,
right? To the Jews, it was absolutely
foreign that the Gentiles would be included. Absolutely foreign. They believed that God had put
up a barrier between themselves and the Gentiles. On the one
side were the Jews, the chosen people, and on the other side
were the strangers, foreigners, aliens, and outcasts, which were
the Gentiles. A bunch of idol worshippers.
Dogs. Dogs. That's what they called
the Gentiles. And they had contempt for the
Gentiles. They had contempt for the Gentiles
because of their ignorance and their idolatry. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
22. Acts chapter 22. And we see the contempt when
Paul declares that he is sent to the Gentiles in the book of
Acts. Look at Acts 22, verses 21-24. Now, like I say, the Jews
hated the Gentiles. But this was the mystery, that
the Gentiles would be included in the Gospel call. that God
had a people from every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
Look at this in Acts 22. And he said, verse 21, and he
said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee hence unto the Gentiles.
Paul is sent to the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto
this world and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with
this fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should
live. And as they cried out, they cast their clothes off and
threw dust into the air. The chief captain commanded him
to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined
by scourging and that he might know wherefore they cried so
against him." They despised the fact that Paul was sent to the
Gentiles. But praise be to God. Oh, God
has a people. And they are scattered all over
this world. This is why we send the Gospel
forth. This is why missionaries go and preach the Gospel. And
the Gospel goes out, out through streaming, out through the Internet,
and it goes forth with power. God does whatever He pleases
with that word going forth. He has a people, and we are on
the trail of God's sheep. Paul was sent to preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ to the Gentiles. Unto me who am the least of all
saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 3, verse 8. Oh, and
turn, if you would, to Acts 13. When the Gentiles heard this,
oh, they rejoiced. Did we not rejoice when God the
Holy Spirit made the Gospel effectual to us? Oh, praise be to God,
we did, didn't we? We rejoiced. And we're still
rejoicing. And we'll rejoice when we get
to heaven. It just doesn't stop. We're amid the toil of this world
right now, and the sorrow of this world, this veil of tears,
but one day there'll be a time when there'll be no more tears.
And no more trouble. And no more tribulation. And
what a great day that'll be. Look at this in Acts 13, verses
44-49. And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God. Wow. That's amazing. And look at this.
But when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy. See,
they're just despised in the fact that Paul's preaching the
Gospel. And spake against these things which were spoken by Paul,
contradicting and blaspheming. They hated the Gospel of God's
free race. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold. And that's what happens with
preachers. We preach what we know, and we can't be worried
about what people think. And it's all by the power of
the Holy Spirit. They waxed bold and said, It
was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken
to you. But seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth."
And look at this. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. Oh, they were glad. Salvation's
for them too in Christ. Oh, look at this. And as many
as were ordained to eternal life, God saves His people. God saves
His sheep. We don't know. Paul didn't know
how many people of God's sheep were there. He just preached
the Gospel, didn't he? But Scripture declares, this is God's sovereignty. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, they believed. Believed. Believed. A person doesn't believe, and
if they die and perish in their sins, then they're going to go
to hell. Because they've never believed. How are we saved? We have faith
in Christ, don't we? Holy Spirit regenerates us, and
we run to Christ. We believe. We look to Him. And the Word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. It just went like wildfire. Just spread. Now, does this not
fill us with awe as we read this? Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful
God we have. That which was kept the mystery
is revealed to you who believe in Christ. Think of that, too. What's spoken here? Heaven made
no one unto us. If you're a believer, we're one
of the us, aren't we? Has God not revealed to us the
mystery of His will? Salvation in Christ alone plus
nothing? That salvation goes to all of
God's sheep? Heaven made known unto us the
mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He
had purposed in Himself. Who are we by nature? Sinners. Sinners. We sprang out from these
Gentiles. The very ones that the Jews despised. Idol worshipers. Pagans. We sprang out of that. But praise
be to God. Christ has come alight to enlighten
the Gentiles. His sheep, the true Israel of
God, are scattered amongst Jews and Gentiles. And God makes known
the mystery of His will. to whomever He is pleased to
reveal it to, having made known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself.
Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. And He must
reveal Himself, look it, having made known unto us the mystery
of His will, He must reveal Himself or we'll never know Him. And
this is our prayer, that God would reveal Himself through
the preaching of the Word. Oh, that He'd save sinners. And marvel at this, we were groping
around in darkness. We were groping around in the
darkness of our sins. The bondage of our sins. And
God is pleased to reveal Himself to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Marvel of marvels. What wondrous grace is this?
God's elect and Christ's chosen before the foundation of the
world are both Jew and Gentile. His people are from both Jew
and Gentile. But the one thing is, we're one
in Christ. We're one in Christ. He's the
head and we're the body. He's the head and we're the body.
God, the Holy Spirit, is pleased to draw the elect to Christ by
the preaching of the Gospel. We're bought from darkness to
light, translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. having made known unto us the
mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He
purposed in Himself. The mystery of His will. Part
of the mystery is that Christ would be to His people a surety. That Christ would be to His people
a substitute. That Christ would be to His people
a Savior. That Christ would be the head
of the church, and we're the body. That He, God, would shed
His precious blood, God's blood, Fully God and fully man is God
incarnate in the flesh to redeem sinners. That by the shedding
of His precious blood, we would receive the remission of sins.
That by the Holy Spirit of God, we would be lovingly drawn, undeserving
sinners, lovingly drawn to Christ. And that the Holy Spirit regenerates
the believer, born again. None of this we could do on our
own. Not at all. It's all by the grace of God
in Christ. And then, then he gives us a
new heart that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. We remember
how we were, don't we, brother? We didn't have a heart before
the Lord saved us that hungered and thirsted after righteousness.
But now, oh my, oh, we just, we want to learn. We want to
grow. And we want to, we want to hear preaching about our Savior.
About the one who loved us and gave his life for us. Oh, it's
a mystery of the divine will, and yet a mystery which God is
now pleased to reveal. God is pleased to reveal. The
believers' election and calling are according to the good pleasure
of His will. The saints at Ephesus are led
to consider that Christ has been made known, and the gospel preached
to them. Not because they deserved any
such thing, right? They didn't deserve it, did they?
But because it pleased God. If you're saved, if you're sitting
here saved today, if the Lord Jesus Christ has saved you by
what He's done, it's because it pleased God.
Because it pleased God. That should answer the question,
too. Who made us to differ? God. Why? Because it pleased
Him. What a wonderful salvation we
have in Christ. May we consider this. Look at
it. It says, Heaven made known unto
us the mystery of His will according to the good pleasure which He
hath purposed in Himself. God saves His people according
to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. God
does things on purpose. Nothing happens by chance. God
saves his people on purpose. Christ came to redeem his people
on purpose. On purpose. And look at it says, in himself.
In himself. God's decree to adopt the Gentiles
is declared before us to have been hidden in the mind of God
until the time of revelation, until it would be revealed. This is the God of the Bible. Now the way some folks talk,
God has to have permission to save them. Well, I got bad news for them. If they believe that way, then
they do not know God. They do not know God. They do
not know the God of the Bible. And they are on their way to
hell, trusting in a refuge of lies. God does not seek anyone
to work out His purpose. He seeks no counsel. None at
all. He purposed things in himself.
He's God. And remember, think of this,
because I talked to somebody not long ago, and when I asked
him, well, you know, he professes, and I asked him, and I already
knew where he stood, but I asked him, I said, well, you profess
that you're a believer, who saved you? And he said, well, God and
me. And I said to him, you're not
saved. Because salvation's of the Lord.
It's not of our doing at all. And God saves people according
to His purpose. According to His purpose. He
is the one who must save the sinners. God saves sinners according
to His good purpose, which He has purposed in Himself. He does
not seek counsel, and He never will. He never will. He is God Almighty. Remember,
we're particles. He is God Almighty. And He has mercy on sinners.
What a wonderful God. What a wonderful God. Oh, how
proud and self-righteous man is to think that it is part God
and part them in salvation. Oh, with self-righteousness and
pride. But before we get to, we were there too. But God, by
His mercy, saved us. But folks that believe that it's
God in them, they have a refuge of lies. They have a refuge of
lies for their souls, and they're perishing their sins if God leaves
them there. Oh, we pray that God would draw
them and show them that they're believing in a refuge of lies.
Only in Christ is salvation for the sinner. Only in Christ is
salvation for the sinner. And again, it is all according
to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself. So believer, if you're saved,
if you're resting in Christ, it's all according to His good
pleasure. which he hath purposed in himself." Boy, that takes
all creature comfort away, doesn't it? That takes all confidence
in ourselves away, doesn't it? It's only by His grace. And it's
all the praise of the glory of His grace. And the believer in
Christ says, Amen.