Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter
3. Before we look in God's Word,
let's ask the Lord's blessing. Our Father, how thankful we are
this evening to call upon your holy name. Oh, righteous Father,
have mercy upon us for Christ's sake. Bless, I pray, your word. Bless it to the comfort of your
people and to the calling out of your elect. We ask you now,
forgive us, Lord, where we failed you. Thank you for this assembly. Thank you for your mercy to allow
this candlestick to be here all these years, held in your hand.
We ask you now, have mercy on us tonight for Christ's sake.
Amen. Rightly so. The Apostle Paul
never spoke lightly of the office to which he was called. He was called to be a preacher. A preacher. I truly consider being called
a preacher of the gospel to be the highest of all callings. Called to preach, in the words
of the Apostle Paul, the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's what
he said in verse 8. Unsearchable. Last time we considered
that verse, this is what he was saying. Try to run the completeness
out of everything that the Lord is doing in this world, in every
avenue, every part, every person, every
event, where it leads, how it got there, what God Almighty,
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will,
the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul said in Romans 11.33, Oh,
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. Paul knew that God had called
him to preach the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he was also taught not only the high calling, being called
to be a preacher, to preach among the Gentiles, but also he was
made to know something of himself. In verse 8, unto me who am less
than the least of all saints is this grace given. God's people know something of
themselves. That's growing in grace. Grace humbles a man, a woman. Grace humbles them. That Almighty
God would be pleased to call me. Call me. Give me a heart for him. Give me a heart to want to be
here. Give me a heart to love you. That's a miracle of God's
grace. And I know just enough about
myself. Paul was not speaking out of
false humility. I know that. He meant that. Every believer knows something
of himself. Who's sufficient for these things? I've expressed to you before
my failings in myself to stand before
God's heritage and to preach to those that Christ laid down
His life for. To preach to the bride of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who's sufficient for these things? The responsibility to set forth
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of God in His face. The Lord had chosen Paul to preach
verse 9 and to make known And to make all men see what is the
fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world
has been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. All men, meaning Jew and Gentile,
not all without distinction, you know that, not everybody,
but to make Jew and Gentile, all manner of men, all of God's
elect, that they might be able to see by the inspiration of
God's spirit through the preaching of gospel, the fellowship that
they both have in salvation in Christ. That was hid in God,
scripture says. God wasn't pleased to make that
known. until it pleased Him, sending Paul the Apostle to preach
to the Gentiles. After the Jews refused, he said,
it was needful, I came to you first, but seeing you put away,
we go to the Gentiles. The Gentiles heard that, they
rejoiced. And the Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be saved. The oneness that we have as believers,
the fellowship that we have. We're brethren. We come together
tonight. We come together to hear one
thing. You tell me of His glory. Tell me of His honor. We see together, collectively,
that we all might collectively see. We know this. Salvation
is by the grace of God. We know that. The Jews converted
They see that salvation is not by the works of the law. They
know that. Gentiles, they're not saved by being circumcised. Jews are not converted because
they were natural sons of Abraham. We're saved by the grace of God
through faith. That's how we know it. We're
not saved by faith. As I said before, faith did not
die for us. Faith is the means, is the avenue
by which we know what God Almighty has done. For by grace are you
saved. How do you know that? Through
faith. That's how you understand. God
gives faith. And all of that truth, that glorious
truth, hid in God, created all things by Jesus Christ to the
intent, verse 10, that now unto the principalities and powers
in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom
of God. The angels that were created,
they're taught by observing the grace and mercy that God shows
to his people through the Lord Jesus Christ. They're taught.
They desire to look into these things and see. Almighty God
has been pleased to teach even angels They behold and contemplate
the wisdom of God as they see His marvelous power and His wisdom
to redeem fallen man. There was man, fallen, he fell
in the garden. Angels watched that. They saw
that. Expelled out of the garden, separated. cherubim placed at the entrance,
flaming sword. How is God Almighty, who is of
pure eyes than to behold iniquity, how is God going to be just and
justify a sinner? How? How? And in the process of time, a child was born, a son was given. The angels, seeing what God Almighty
did in being made flesh, God was made flesh, and He dwelt
among His people. They sang and announced to the
shepherds, behold this day born in the city of David, Christ
Jesus the Lord. And they watched that. And they
beheld him as he went through the ministry, 30 plus years. He lived on this earth. And they watched and beheld. In the time of his temptation
in the wilderness, He was tempted of the devil. Forty days, forty
nights. He fasted. These angels watched
and they came and when the time was pointed for them, they came
and ministered to him. Went through his ministry here
on this earth. When he revealed who he is to
the world, Jews they saw. And he's in the garden. They're
watching. They're watching him. He goes
into this garden. He takes some of his apostles
with him. And he separates himself by the
stone's throw away. He falls down. He cries out, Father, if it be
possible that this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. And Scripture says he cried out
again, called upon the Lord, and he began to sweat, as it
were, great drops of blood. Scripture says the angels came
and ministered to him. Now he's in the garden and Judas
comes with a band of men, of soldiers, somewhere between four
and five hundred soldiers is what a band is, had officials
and chief priests and they come up to him and they watch him,
seeing him having cried out in the garden to his father. And
here comes Judas and kisses him. They watch that. And the Lord asked him, who do
you seek? Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. He, the word
in our scriptures is in italics. I am. He fell backward. Now watch
that. They come again. He said, whom
seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. About that time, one of them
began to come up to him and take him. Peter takes out a sword
and cuts off Malchus's ear. The Lord rebukes him. He takes
and heals his ear. They bind him. They bind him. These angels knew who he was.
They knew who he was. They bound him. This is the one that spoke everything
into existence. And they watched him, they watched
him as he submitted himself. And he went before Pilate and
Caiaphas and the different officials and he watched him go to the
cross, hang, laid down his life. No man takes my life from me,
he said. I lay it down. I lay it down
on myself. I have power to lay it down,
I have power to take it again. And they watched Him hang on
that cross and die. They watched them take Him down
from that cross. There was the Lord of glory.
That was God. That's God right there in human
flesh. And they buried Him. They put
Him in a tomb. And three days later, one of
those angels was instructed, you go roll the stone back. And
an angel rolled it back. And he came out victorious. They watched him in those last
days before his ascension. And he ascended back into heaven. to the intent that now, under
the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be
known by the church, by God's mercy to the church, the manifold
wisdom of God. God taught them. According to
the eternal purpose, verse 11, which He purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord, Everything that God Almighty
has ever purposed to do has been in Christ Jesus our Lord. All of His dealings with His
people, all men, is according to the Son. You kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. I thought about
that, I just mentioned a minute ago when Judas came to the Lord
and the Lord asked him, he said, Betrayest thou the Son of God
with a kiss? A kiss? How you gonna do it?
You gonna kiss me? We're commanded, you kiss the
Son, lest he be angry. Oh, that it was manifested to
these principalities and powers, these angels, that everything
that God was pleased to reveal concerning his wisdom in this
world was according to his purpose to show mercy, grace, and compassion
to his people. His suffering, his dying, his
ascension, here was the forerunner entering into heaven And when
he entered into heaven, ascended that day, or when he came out
of that ground, there was the promise right there. Now, we
were in him. Now, there's a promise. He came
out of the ground, and we're going to come out of the ground,
too. He ascended into heaven, we're going to ascend into heaven,
too. Really, we ascended with him because we were there. And
I don't understand all this, but I know it's so right now. in our Lord as his body. And again, I see through a glass
darkly. We all do. But we're seated with him right
now. But there's coming a time, Carl,
when we're going to know it. We're going to see it. Here was our blessed Savior,
a high priest. after the order
of Melchizedek. What does that mean? No beginning
of days, no ending of days, no father, no mother, no lineage.
How are you going to write down the lineage of Him who is eternal?
God. These glorious mysteries. When God is pleased to call His
elect out of darkness. Why was it that God called Samuel
when he was just little, little? In the last few moments, he calls
a thief out of darkness from the cross. Why? It pleased God. Look at Acts
4.26, everything that's going on. I was thinking about that fellow,
Malchus. He was a servant of the high
priest, Malchus, the one Peter cut his ear off. I couldn't find out one thing
about him. Malchus gave his name in John. The others didn't mention his
name, but John mentioned his name. John did. As far as I know, Almighty God created that man, grew up, became
a servant of the high priest, put him where he did, brought
him into the garden, and put him right there. so that Peter
could cut his ear off, and the Lord put it back. That was a
final miracle before he went to the cross. Gave the man's
name, cut Malchus's ear off, and the Lord healed him. And
the amazing thing was, he healed him, and the blindness of their
eyes, the deadness of their heart, they still took him away. And
it just healed a man right there in front of him. All these things
working for one purpose. The glory of God, the salvation
of His people. Look at Acts chapter 4, verse
26-28. The kings of the earth stood
up. The rulers gathered together against the Lord and against
His Christ. for of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, most Herod, Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles, the people of Israel, all gathered together, listen
to this, for to do whatsoever thy hand, thy counsel determined
before to be done. Why'd God raise up Pontius Pilate?
Herod? Why'd he put him where he did,
in that position of authority? put them right where they were,
made them, you know, they thought they were big shots, top dogs,
you know, head honcho, big man, big man. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles, the people of Israel, gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Do you know why everybody is
where everybody is and who everybody is? It's because that's where
God Almighty put them for the glory of God and for the good
of His people. That's right. Everybody that thinks they're
somebody, whether they're in this country in positions of
leadership or they're over there in that place, they think they're
all somebody. Let me tell you something. They're
all in the hands of God Almighty. And they're doing just exactly
what God Almighty determined beforehand to be done. That's
right. The Lord is in control. It's according, verse 11, to
the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. In whom, verse 12, we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Because we are His people. chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, redeemed by Christ, regenerated by God's Spirit, robed in His righteousness, sons
of God, because He has been pleased to
set His affection on us, chosen to be His bride, We have boldness, assurance,
confidence, freeness of speech. The amazing thing, I have just freedom. I can go over to Carl
and I will lose and I'll, you know, hello, you know. I feel comfortable enough. I'm
not going to just walk in and just, well if I do I don't go
far, you know. I might go that far. But I'm
going to announce, I'm going to announce it's me. They're
expecting me and I've called them, told them I'm coming. That's
a friend. That's a friend. They trust me. I'm not going,
I'm not going. But to walk, with confidence
before God, and to have boldness and access with confidence by His faith, by His obedience
that robes us, that we can with boldness call upon God Almighty
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, That truth that has been hidden
in God, revealed. God will call Jew and Gentile
and give His people access into His presence. In the Old Testament,
That, the holy place, I told you about that tabernacle, I
told you about how big it was. About from the wall to right
here, about from this wall to just behind Nancy, about that
big. That was the whole thing. Two-thirds
of it was the holy place. The table of showbread, the candlestick,
the veil, behind the veil, there was the Ark of the Covenant.
That Ark that had that mercy seat, that golden mercy seat,
and the cherubims, the wings touched. One time a year, one
day a year, one day a year, the high priest, and not without
blood, that's on the Day of Atonement, they had the two goats. One of them was the goat that
was slain, the other was the scapegoat. Sins were confessed
on top of that scapegoat. And they would slay one of them,
showing the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the other
one was taken away into the wilderness. Show that they've been taken
away as far as the east is from the west. One day out of the
year, the high priest, only the high priest, could enter into
that holy of holies, Sprinkle the mercy seed with the blood,
the atonement, the day of atonement. He being our atonement. Christ is the one who has put
away, covered our sins by his own precious blood. That's his
blood that was sprinkled. That was his blood. And now the
scripture sets forth. In whom, verse 12, we have boldness
and access with confidence into the heavenly Holy of Holies. That we can, by the faith of
Him, by His obedience, imputed to us, God, Mark, accepts us in Him. robed in His obedience,
as He approaches the Father in His own merit, we, in Him, have
access. Don't take lightly prayer. I
mean, to say that we call upon the Father, Father in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, When believers pray, that privilege,
that honor, that access with confidence was bought by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean to just pray, to enter
into God's presence. To pray is by the faith of Christ. It took His obedience and imputed
to us. Last verse for tonight. Verse
13, wherefore, I desire that you faint not at my tribulations
for you, which is your glory. Paul is saying because of the
Lord's mercy to us, enabling his people to have boldness
and access into his presence with confidence by the faith
of Christ imputed to us. He was saying this, don't be
discouraged. We're in this world, but we're
not of it. Wherefore I desire that you faint
not at my tribulations. Wherefore. That word wherefore
there in verse 13 is talking about just From what he just
said, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith
of Him. Wherefore, I desire that you faint not at my tribulations
for you, which is your glory. Don't be discouraged, Paul said,
because of the trials that I have suffered, because of preaching
to you Gentiles, to you Gentiles at Ephesus, don't be discouraged. Philippians 1.29, Paul said,
for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to
believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. When the Lord called
Paul out of darkness, Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus,
remember he went into Damascus and one Ananias was sent over
to tell him. Ananias, you know, the story
began to tell the Lord. He said, well, we've heard of
him. The Lord told him, he said, chosen vessel unto me, for I
will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's
sake. There's a price. that is paid. You'll be hated of all men. I write these articles that we
have in the paper and I try, I do,
ask and pray and ask the Lord for direction to write and when
I stand before you I know that you've heard these things before,
and talking about the electing grace of God, and that salvation
is only granted through the blessing of God's Spirit, through the
preaching of the gospel. And that salvation is not in
baptism, it's not in man's free will. I have some freedom to
be able to preach to you, you've heard that before. But I'll tell
you this, it's just whenever I'm writing some of these articles,
some of these articles I write and I write that and I'm thinking, I tell you what, if they read
that, then I'll think this. You know the only thing that
will set a man free is the truth. That's the only thing. Almighty
God is going to bless His Word. And so really, let's just write
the article and let the chips fall where they will. And pray
that God bless them. Paul said, wherefore I desire
that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. He said in closing that the suffering
for the sake of the gospel was going to be their ground of praise. That's what it means, your glory.
The afflictions and sufferings those comforts, those blessings,
all of these providential dealings that the Lord has with His people
is for the good, for the glory of God and the good of the saints.
When a believer beholds and sees the attitude of a saint that
is called upon by the Lord to suffer for the name of the Lord,
and when a believer sees The Lord's grace and mercy to keep
that saint that's called to go through these tribulations. He
said, don't faint at my tribulations. It's for your glory. It's for
your ground of praise. Meaning, God's going to teach
you something through it. I've seen some believers that
have been called upon to suffer and suffer unto death. And I
think, what the Lord would please teach me in seeing that. And I said, you know, the thing
that I realize is that I can read when the Lord says, I'll
never leave you and I'll never forsake you. I can read that.
But I'm going to tell you something, when you watch it, when you see
the grace of God, that is their ground of praise. He said, that's
your glory. That's what God's teaching you.
He said, don't faint at my tribulations. He said, they're for your comfort.
They're for your consolation. I pray that the Lord bless these
words to our hearts tonight, that Christ be honored and God's
people comforted for his name's sake.