Turn with me, if you would, back
to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians 3. We're going to look
at a few verses right here. But let's begin by reading verse
11. According to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, if we would like
a key to this whole thing, one of the keys that unlocks the
truth of Scripture, this Word is one of those keys. Purpose. That's one of those
keys. Purpose. if we ever come to know
something of God's purpose. This is the message. A man came
through the South and he brought this message. And it just opened
blind eyes. God blessed it. If we ever, if
God ever reveals something of His purpose, and we ever come
to know something about God's purpose, then we will come to
know something about God. And we'll come to know something
about His gospel. The message of the gospel is
not a how-to. The true message is not a how-to
message. How to be saved. That's not the
message of the gospel. That's not God's message. We
are all gathered right here, right now to hear the gospel.
We're here for the gospel. The aim of the gospel message
is not to get any of us to do something. That's not the aim of the message. Every human being on this earth
knows what he or she ought to do. I have mentioned this quite
a few times recently, but it's so. Every human being knows what
he or she ought to do. It's written on the conscience
of the heart. Should we cuss or not? Should we steal? or not. If you're in a convenience store
and you look around and realize there are no cameras and the
clerk is in the back and there's nobody else in the store and
that opportunity presents itself. Should you steal or not? Let me give you this one and
I'm going to say again, we all know the answer to this question.
Should we bow the knee to God or not? Everybody knows the answer
to that question. Everybody knows the answer to
that question. The message of the gospel has
nothing to do with what men and women ought to do. That's not
the message of the gospel. That's the message of the law.
Two different messages out there. There are only two messages out
there. The message of the gospel is
a declaration of what Christ has already done. That's what
it is. We are here to declare what is
already finished. We are here this morning to announce
the unchangeable. We are here to announce The unchangeable. Now the reason we call it the
gospel is because the unchangeable announcement of what Christ has
already finished is good news. Unchangeable. Can't change it. And man is good news. Verse 1,
right here, where our brother just read, says, For this cause
I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles, if
you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you, how that by revelation He made known unto
me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words, whereby when you
read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. And
here's what the mystery is. That the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ
by the gospel. God has revealed the mystery
of salvation through the preaching of the gospel. That's how it
comes, through the preaching of the gospel. Verse 7 says,
Whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his
power. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints is this grace given. that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, unchangeable,
unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what
is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known
by the church the manifold wisdom of God. And he said every bit
of that, this great mystery, this grace of God given, this
great mystery in Christ that the Gentiles would be joined
into the fellow heirs of the saints. This declaration that
has been given unto me, who am less than the least of all the
saints, to preach this unsearchable riches of Christ. He said in
verse 11, every bit of that is according to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. The eternal purpose. Everything that God has done,
He has done according to His eternal purpose. Everything He
has done. Everything that He will ever
do. Everything that you will ever
see in the newspaper. He will do it according to His
eternal purpose. Everything. There are no accidents
with God. There are no surprises with God. And there is no change with God. There is only His eternal purpose. That's it. Now everything that
is, is in and according to His eternal purpose. Solomon said
in Ecclesiastes 3, to everything there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under heaven. There is a time to be born and
there is a time to die. God does both of those things. All of our days are numbered.
All of our days are numbered. Every day that we have is numbered. It's unchangeable. Man tries to do things thinking
he can extend his life That's an impossibility. That's an absolute
impossibility. Job said, man's days are determined. The number of his months are
with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds,
he cannot pass. It's all purposed. Every bit
of it. Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes
3, there is a time to weep and there is a time to laugh. Those times have been purposed. Both of those times, the things
that take place in our lives that cause us to weep and the
things that take place in our lives that cause us to laugh.
Both of those times have been purposed by God from eternity. It's all according to his purpose. Solomon said there is a time
of war and a time of peace. Everything that takes place out
in the world is according to God's direct purpose. Everything. Everything is according to His
eternal purpose. Now look with me if you would
at Matthew chapter 10. Matthew 10 verse 29 says, Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing? And one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father. A sparrow cannot fall on the
ground. It cannot die. It cannot fall
on the ground. Outside of God's purpose for
that sparrow. God has a purpose for every sparrow
on this earth. Verse 30 says, but the very hairs
of your head are all numbered. We cannot grow a hair. And we cannot lose a hair. Outside
of God's purpose concerning our hair. Now this shows us how absolute
and detailed God's purpose is. The very detail of every single
thing that He has purposed. It's ordered. It's controlled.
Everything. Everything. Look with me if you
would at Isaiah 14. Isaiah 14 verse 24, The LORD of hosts hath sworn,
saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. Everything
that he thinks comes to pass. As I have purposed, so shall
it stand. That I will break the Assyrian
in my land, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot, Then shall
his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off
their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed
upon the whole earth. I'm not just going to do that
to the Assyrian. This is purposed for the whole earth. And this
is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For
the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And
his hand is stretched out, And who shall turn it back? Nothing
can happen outside of His purpose. And nothing that He has purposed
will fail. Nothing. Nothing He has purposed. Everything that He has purposed
is set, ordered and sure, and forever. Everything. Look with
me at Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46, God said in verse
5, To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare
me that we may be like? They lavish gold out of a bag,
and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and he
maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder,
they carry him and set him in his place, and he standeth. From
his place shall he not remove. Yea, one shall cry unto him,
yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember
this and show yourselves men. Bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old. For I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. In Acts
15, he said, Paul said, known unto God are all his works from
the beginning of the world. Everything he would ever do.
He purposed every single one of them, no matter how great
the work was, no matter how small the work was. No matter how pivotal
the work was, no matter how seemingly insignificant the work was, he
knew every single one of them and purposed every one of them
before the world began. Verse 10 says, declaring the
end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will
do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east if that bird comes over from the east and flies toward
the west I Called that bird over every time you see a bird fly
over God called that bird The man that executeth my counsel
from a far country Somebody does something over in another country
that affects God's people somehow. I Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. I'll do it. Everything that he
has done, he purposed before the foundation of the world.
Some of these things have already come to pass. Some of the purposes
that he's recorded. Some of them are coming to pass
and some of them will come to pass. But not one of them has
or ever will fail. Not one purpose will fail. None of his purposes are left
up to chance. None of them are dependent on
someone or something. Everything bows to His eternal
purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, when it comes to the good
news of the gospel, I want to show you five things that God
has purposed in Himself to do and did. We're going to go quickly
through these. Don't turn back. Don't go back
to our text. But it said in verse 9, He created
all things by Jesus Christ. And He did that according to
the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus. Before
time, before time, God purposed to
create man. He created all things by Jesus
Christ. He purposed to create man knowing
that man would fall. This is, you know, Paul said
in our text, this is a mystery. This whole thing is such a mystery.
Now look at the horrible state man is in before the world ever
began. God purposed to create man knowing
before the world ever began that man would fall. Knowing they would fall. Look
at Genesis 2 with me. Genesis chapter 2 verse 17 says, But of every tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. He did not
say, if you eat it, you will die. He said, when you eat it. In the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. God created man knowing he would
fall. How can we be so sure of that?
How can we know that in God's eternal, all-knowing, all-controlling
purpose, he knew man would fall? How can we be so sure of that?
You know what the answer is? He slew a lamb. before the foundation of the
world. He slew a lamb. Peter said, We were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but is manifest in these last times for you. The death of Christ
on the cross was not an afterthought. The death of Christ on the cross,
that was not a fix to a situation that had gone horribly wrong.
God made man, and then man messed it all up, and then it repented
the Lord in his heart that he'd ever made man, and he said, I
wish I hadn't done that. I tell you what, why don't you
go take care of this? That's not how it went. It was
not an afterthought. It was not the fix to a problem,
it was the eternal purpose of God. Look with me at Revelation
13. Revelation 13 verse 8 says, And
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, and that Him
is the adversary, the enemy of Christ and the enemy of the gospel.
All that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him whose names
are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. From eternity, God purposed to
create a people. In spite of their sinfulness,
God purposed from eternity to slay His own Son to put away
the sin of those people. Every soul that sinned, that's
what the world wants to know. Every soul that sinned, did Christ
die for everybody? Did God empty the blood of His
own Son for anybody who's willing to
take it? Back in eternity, God purposed
to write the names of every person that the Lamb was slain for. Every single one of them. He
wrote them in a book that He calls, right here in verse 8,
the Book of Life. of the Lamb slain. He wrote every
name. These are particular people that
God purposed to choose in Christ Jesus our Lamb. Every name that
is written in that book is going to be saved in the blood of that
Lamb. Does that not bring comfort to
your heart? There is not a condition on the choice of God the Father
in writing those names. And as long as you stay a good
person, He won't erase your name. That's not what He said. As long as you diligently study
and obey all these things, He won't blot out your name. That's not what He said. Every name that before the foundation
of the world he wrote in that book Every one of them will be
saved in the blood of the lamb Every one of them look at revelation
20 with me Verse 12 says And I saw the dead,
small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. Everything that this world, a
sparrow does not fall to the ground without God purposing
it, ordering it, knowing about it. If a sparrow does not fall to
the ground, or the hair of any person's head fall to the ground
without it being purposed and ordered and controlled and known,
what do you think about the deeds of this flesh? It's all written
down. It's all recorded. All the thoughts,
everything. And all the dead, small and great,
I saw them stand before God and their books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire." This is the second death. and whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire." I want to be in that book. I want to be in that
book. I do not want to be judged according
to my works. There's no hope in that. None. I need to be in that book. How
can we know if we are? How can we know if we're in that
book? Look with me at 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9 says, Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Every soul that He has saved,
He will call. Who has saved us? in Christ Jesus
before the world began and called us according to His purpose.
Every soul that He has saved, He will call. He'll call that
soul to Himself. Calls them to hear His voice.
Calls them to believe His Word. God's people don't know that
their names are in the Book of Life because they've seen the
Book of Life. I've never seen it. God's people know that their
names are in the Book of Life because they believe His Word.
They believe on Christ. He's called us to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe His Word. God purposed before the foundation
of the world to create man in spite of his sinfulness. God
purposed to slay His own Son to pay for their sin. God purposed
to write the name of every soul that He would do this for in
His book of life. God purposed to call each one
of them in His time to Himself. And God has purposed for all
eternity, number five, this is His eternal purpose, from eternity
to eternity, to be their God and dwell with them forever.
Turn over two pages to Titus chapter 1. Titus 1 verse 2 says, In hope of eternal life, which
God that cannot lie promised before the world began eternal
life which He promised to His people before the world was ever
even made. That was His eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord before the world began. That in Him everything we lost
in the fall would be reinstated. Life would be reinstated Acceptance
with God would be reinstated. All of the spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, all of them restored. That is God's gospel. That's God's gospel. That is
God's good news for sinners. The more we see the gospel, it's
not hard at all to see why Paul calls it unsearchable riches.
Unsearchable riches. And back in our text, we won't
go there, but this is what he said. He said, every bit of it
is in Christ. Every bit of it. Every good purpose
of God towards sinners can only be found in Christ. If we're in Him, we're in God's
purpose. If we're in Him, we're in God's
eternal purpose. All right, let's all stand together.