I invite you this morning to
turn with me to Ephesians chapter one. If you recall the reading that
we just had going through the verses, you will recall that Paul uses
that word according. no less than seven times in this
chapter. Everything that's going on is
according, according, according. And this word according tells
us that God has purposed the things that he's talking about
and so all that has and is taking place runs according to that
purpose. Most men and women I know believe
this world had a mysterious beginning. They don't know exactly how,
but they speculate about it from time to time. Had some kind of
mysterious beginning, and then it was controlled by natural
forces. Natural forces took over, and
it was subjected to time and circumstance. And finally, it
evolved into what we see today. They tell me it's the product
of time and circumstance. And the God they believe in is
no more than just an influence in the world. He's here to influence
for good, Satan's here to influence for evil. But the very most God
can do, except for an occasional time, every now and then, is
just being influenced. He's really not running anything,
Russell. He's really not doing anything.
He's just observing. But the Bible declares something
totally different. The Bible tells us that God created
all things by His Son and for His Son. He tells us that creation
has a purpose. The Bible said in John chapter
1, verse 1, that in the beginning was the Word. This is referring
to Christ. Why would they give him the name
Word? Because all revelation of God
comes through the Son. That's why. He is the word of
God. You know, in the book of John,
those Jews knew what I am is. You remember Moses said, when
I go down to Egypt and talk to Pharaoh, whom shall I tell him
sent me? He said, you tell him I am sent
you. And over and over and over in
the book of John, and that's what, he's setting forth God
our savior in the book of John. And over and over and over, John
uses that phrase, I am, I am. He recalls the exact times when
our Lord said that to him. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You can't come unto a knowledge
of the Father. You can't come to be a partaker
with the Father. You can't come to do anything
apart from the Son. He alone is the revelation of
God and the revelation of God's purpose and grace. And in John
1 verse 3, he said, all things were made by him and without
him was not anything made that was made. Before creation, this universe,
both heaven and earth, were told was without form and void. That
word void means Empty place. It means a place containing no
matter. I still remember my science class
when I was told that everything that exists is made from matter. Well, there was no matter in
the void. There was nothing to start with.
It contains no matter. It's unoccupied. It is a total
vacuum. And darkness was upon the face
of the deep. No light of any kind. In Genesis
1-3 it says, and God said, let there be light, and there was
light. What kind of light? Well, you
say he put a sun into heaven. Not on the first day, he didn't.
That was the fifth or sixth day before he put light in heaven.
He's not talking about stars and the sun. He said, let there
be light. Light on what? Light on this,
light on creation. Spiritual light, not physical
light, spiritual light. Before ever God created the universe,
he declared that there be a light by which this creation could
be seen and perceived in its purpose and glory. That's what
this light's all about. In Colossians 1.16, for by him
were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. Now listen to this. All things
were created by him and for him and he is before all things. And by him all things consist. That is, they have a continuance. They don't blow apart. No big
bang. God is determined to do something. Something grand and glorious.
Something superior to creation. Something superior to providence. He's determined to do something.
Something grand and glorious. Something so magnificent that
when He's done, He will have revealed His glory. He will have made known his glorious
character, and nothing else shall glory in his presence. Now let's read our text here,
because this is what it's talking about. Ephesians 1.8. We're in. That is talking about his election
of the saints in Christ, his predestination of them under
the adoption of children. is making them accepted in his
Son and redeeming them by his blood, wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence. What's that word prudence mean?
That's not a word we use commonly in our language anymore. You
know what it means? Somebody good about putting a puzzle together.
That's what that's talking about. Somebody who can take the pieces,
put them all together. He's abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence, giving us the ability to put them together,
Russell. Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he's
purposed in himself. I live in a day when men and
women are just enamored with the will of man. They talk about
the will of man all the time. Everything political as well
as spiritual is left hanging upon the will of man. What will
you do? What will you do? The planet
is falling apart. What will you do? We have a pandemic
in our mix. What will you do? The seas are rising. The ice
caps are melting. What will you do? There's a heaven
and a hell. What will you do? That seems to be the whole focal
point of everything in our everyday life, as well as in the pulpit
of most churches. The fate of the planet, as well
as your own souls, and even the will of God now, they say, is
all up to you. Will you let his work be a failure? Men are preaching this to people. Oh, my soul. Nothing could be
further from the truth. But this I also know. God will
have his people to know and embrace the truth. The truth. having made known unto us the
mystery of his will according to his good pleasure." It's not
according to somebody who said, well, I've made up my mind now.
I'm going to choose to learn the things of God. No, that ain't
how it comes. It comes according to his good
pleasure, his good pleasure. And this pleasure, he said, wasn't
purposed in us, it was purposed in him. There was a preacher at a certain
church. He was visiting there, another
preacher. They were close friends, went
to seminary together. One preached Calvinistic doctrine
and the other one preached an Arminian doctrine. One preached
the will of God, one preached the will of man. And every time
they got into a conversation, they come to a split, because
neither could agree with the other. And he said, and he listened,
he was visiting his Calvinistic friend, and he sat there and
he listened to him preach, and then after the meeting, he said,
well, I think you've just misunderstood the situation. He said, I think
you've just misunderstood what I've been talking about. He said, let me see if I can
draw you a picture. He said, you see, salvation's like a large
gray elephant. And we're all blind. And I got a hold of the trunk,
and I'm feeling the trunk, and I'm rubbing my hands up and down,
and I'm describing to you what I feel, what I see in my mind's
eye. He said, you got a hold of its
tail, and you're describing to me what you feel and he said
we're basically all saying the same thing we're all describing
the same thing but we're describing it from different ends and uh... when he got done the Calvinistic pastor said to
his Armenian friend he said uh... I think you're the one who misunderstands
And he said, I've got a couple things wrong with your illustration.
He said, oh, he said, what's that? Well, he said, number one,
salvation has nothing in common with a large gray elephant. Nothing. And secondly, God's people aren't
blind. God's preachers see. His people
see. Blessed are your eyes, for they
see. God's people are not left to
themselves to speculate as to the will of God, but he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will. All right, so what is the mystery
of God's will? Are you even aware that it's
a mystery? Most men don't even know it's a mystery. They think
they have a handle on it. They think they know exactly
what God's doing. Well, what is God doing? And how's he doing
it? What is the mystery of God's
will? Well, first of all, God's will
is talking about his redemptive will. God doesn't reveal anything
else to men. He reveals his redemptive will. Though he can and does work in
every aspect of creation and universal maintenance, yet his
will is centered upon the salvation of sinners, so much so that he
used the Savior to create. He used the Savior to cast light
on the creation. his will is centered upon the
salvation of sinners, and this salvation by and through his
son. And this he did to manifest the
glory of God. God's will should never be looked
at in an abstract way as a universal sovereign, even though that's
true. We don't consider God In the
abstract, that's not how we learn the will of God. We consider that sovereignty
as it is put to work to save sinners. And the sovereign will is that
of the potter. He explains that in Romans chapter
9. He tells us something about the will of God. Paul said, you're
going to say unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? If God has his way in everything,
and his will alone is being carried out, then why doth he yet find
fault for who hath resisted his will? Paul said, nay, but who
art thou, old man, that replies against God? Is the thing formed gonna sit
and speculate and try to correct God who made him? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? His sovereign will is that of
the potter having power over the clay to form vessels prepared
unto glory. And everything that God has created
has an end and a purpose and a goal. So let's keep these things
in mind as we look at the text. Let me see if I can take these
verses recorded here and teach you something about the mystery
of God's redemptive will. Paul sits before us in the language
of the day, four things that describe everything God has and
is doing. And the first thing he tells
us is that his redemptive will is the gathering together in
one of all things in Christ. You ever ask yourself what's
going on in heaven? What's God doing up there? I
can't see into glory, can you? I've never had a glimpse of heaven. I just have a vague idea of heaven.
I know God dwells there. I know these angelic ministers
of God for his saints dwell there. And I think I can say that heaven,
I just say by the word of God, that heaven is the seat of all
power. This world not being ruled from
the White House or the Red House. It's being ruled from heaven. You are complete in him who is
the head of all principality and power. And you're complete
in him. It's the seed of all power. It's
the source of all light. There's no light apart from that light which comes
down from heaven, is there? And it's the future home of all
believers. There's things in the purpose
of God that are being gathered together in one in heaven. Things concerning the elect of
God, the purpose of God, the demands of God, and the judgment
of God. All these things being manifested. God has a kingdom. He tells us,
what's he call that kingdom? The kingdom of heaven. The kingdom
of heaven. And there are things being gathered
together in one on earth. God's purpose. to establish his
churches as the pillar and ground of the truth. That's an ongoing
work. God's purpose to call out sinners
through the preaching of the gospel. The presence and power
of the Holy Spirit in this world. The active arrangement and working
out of God's providence. He gives gifts to men. And there's coming a day when
the gathering together in one of all things is going to be
finished and time shall be no more. The purpose of time shall
have been accomplished, and so it shall be dissolved. In verse
10, he speaks of the dispensation of the fullness of times. That word dispensation has two
very close definitions. You want to remember these, and
if you had no memory like me, you might want to jot them down. First of all, it means economy. What does that mean? That means
all that God has and has purposed for sinners. Everything in the
sovereign redemptive will of God. The economy, everything
God has purposed to do and all of the means he's purposed to
do it with. The second definition of dispensation
is stewardship. Stewardship. If you read down
there in chapter two of Ephesians, Paul said if you have heard of
this dispensation which was given to me, that's talking about stewardship. But in reality, you can't separate
the economy from the steward. If you're gonna talk about all
things, you're gonna have to talk about the steward of all
things because all things are not going to evolve, they're
gonna be brought to pass by the steward. And that's what he's
talking about. With that in mind, you go back
and read Ephesians 1 and what he's talking about according,
according, according, according. According to what? According
to God's sovereign redemptive will. Everything God is purposed to
do, he's purposed to do through his son. It please God that in
him should all fullness dwell. He has the preeminence. All right,
secondly, the mystery of God as it's revealed to us is a gathering
together in Christ all things. What does that mean? Why does
he use the term gathering? Very simply because it's an ongoing
work. It's a work that's taking place
right now. It's a work in progress. Every
minute of every day, our Lord is at work faithfully executing
his stewardship by accomplishing the redemptive will of God. Redemption,
you say, is a work that our Lord accomplished on the cross. Yes,
it is. Bible said, wants an end to the
world as he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's true. It's a work accomplished,
but it is a work which bears fruit. It bears fruit. And all those redeemed by Christ
on the cross must be given faith and thereby led to repentance,
seeing the goodness of God toward them. They must be born of the
Spirit in order to see and understand and call upon His great name.
Redemption is a work that bears fruit, and gospel preaching is
an ongoing work. The establishing of His churches,
the pillar and ground of the truth, that's an ongoing work.
And in the midst of a dying and ignorant world, Christ is unhindered
in his stewardship and works right before the eyes of even
those who oppose him and reject him. He accomplishes this work,
and this work goes on 24-7. It never stops. Never stops. Then thirdly, we're told this
about the redemptive will of God. It is by the stewardship
of his son that sinners obtain their salvation. Look back at
Ephesians 1 verse 11. In whom? That one in whom we
were chosen. That one in whom he hath predestinated
to the adoption of children. that one in whom we are accepted
and redeemed and our sins put away, in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. There is no faith, no repentance,
no calling, no new birth, no salvation apart from Christ.
It is exactly the carrying out of his redemptive stewardship
that we come to obtain an interest in Christ. You see, religion
has everything fixed on you. What you gonna do? What you gonna
do? Will you, will you come down, will you take the first step?
It's all about you, all about your will. Not with God. God
carrying out his will, his redemptive will. And his will is that all
for whom Christ died are going to profess faith in Christ. They're all going to come to
profess faith in Christ. They're all going to be led to
repentance. They're all going to be given the gift of faith.
They're all going to persevere in that faith until they die.
That's the will of God. What's God doing in this world?
Now, if it's all up to you, then by all means, find everything
in this book that talks about you. And go do it. But it's not talking about this.
It's talking about Him and His will. So don't you think it'd
do us a great favor if we just find out what God's doing? Just
find out what He's doing. And I'm gonna tell you something. Everything He's doing is for
your benefit. Your benefit. It is exactly the carrying out
of His redemptive stewardship by which we come to obtain an
interest in God. We, through Him, in Him, by Him,
obtained an inheritance. We who had nothing, were nothing,
could do nothing, came into an inheritance. Far exceeding that
of elect angels, He made us sons of God. Boy, you think about that, Russell.
We get a little tired on this earth, we get all puffed up,
get them fingers in them suspenders, start bragging on ourself. You think about this. What does
that mean to be a son of God? That means you're an heir. You're
his heir. Oh, my soul. You mean everything that He's
purposed to give, He's purposed to give to me? That's what it
means to be an heir. As many as received Him, now
watch this, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. What
on earth does that mean? He made them willing in the day
of His power. That's what that means. He provided
in His providence a time and a person to preach the gospel
to you. He said, in your life, the means
whereby men are saved. Now, if you don't, you're never
gonna be saved. You just wander around out there like the rest
of the fish in the sea. You just wander around flipping
and flopping and doing your thing. But if God set his eye on you,
Walter, he arranges his providence. He sends his preachers. He instructs the Holy Ghost to
go to that one. Huh? Oh, my soul. As many as received Him. They
wouldn't receive Him except they were given power to become sons
of God. Even to them that believe on
His name which were born. They didn't have done this. They
weren't born. They were born of God. It's by way of this grand and
glorious steward that you and I have obtained an inheritance
being heirs of God and joined heirs of Christ. marked out from
all eternity, made provision for any son, and made willing
in time. We made heirs of God, sons of
God, by that one charged of God to this end. And we did it before
the world began. Paul said, Timothy, God saved us. God saved us. And then he called
us. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Who did he give it to?
The steward. The steward. So what did we learn concerning
this mysterious will of God? Well, we learned that this will
is being carried out in the person of his son. That's what I know
about God He is appearing, He is coming, everything that He
did, everything that He said, all the promises of God toward
Him, everything that's going on has to do with His Son. His
Son. He's being carried out in the
person of His Son. And this will is a gathering,
it's an ongoing work, it's a continual work, it's a work in progress.
And that according to His purpose in Christ and His faithful stewardship,
we've obtained an inheritance. We were saved. We were saved. And then lastly, we're plainly
told the reason for God's will being accomplished by His Son
in Ephesians 1 12. That we should be those He saved. We should be to the praise of
His glory, God the Father, who first trusted in Christ. I don't know if you can picture
this or not, but you picture God, I know you can't go there
in detail, but just in general, here's God in glory and eternity. And he's got this grand and glorious
purpose. He's gonna manifest the very
glory of the unknown God. And he's got everything, all
the means, everything is lined out, everything's ordained, everything's
all in order. And he takes all of these things
and they're in a book. You can read it in Revelation
chapter five. And they're in a book, but the
book's sealed. This has to be done perfectly. This has to be done exactly in
harmony with the character of God. And it's sealed with these
seven seals. And John said he wept because
no man was worthy to take the book and unloose the seals. But
he said, behold, there was one worthy, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he came and took the book.
He took the book. He opened that book, Larry, and
he found Larry Bickers. And he saved us. He found me a name, Walter. He
said, he's booked. He saved us. And he found my name. Going about my business, he said, you follow me. You follow
me. This is the will of God, that
mysterious will of God that this world can't see. Everything God
is purposed to do, He's purposed to do it in His Son. And His
Son came and accomplished everything that God demanded for sinners.
It's already done. It's a done deal. It's over. He established an everlasting
righteousness. He paid for our sins, all of
our sins, past, present, and future. All the sins of God's
elect have been put away in Christ. And now, according to that purpose,
he sends out preachers. And we just try to tell you this
will of God. Somehow try to make you to see
who it is that sits on that throne and what the purpose behind this
confusion that we see every day. What's behind it? What's going
on? God's saving sinners. Why? Because that's what he purposed
to do. Oh, my soul. Lastly, we're plainly
told the reason for God's will being accomplished by His Son,
to the praise of His glory. He's the head of the body of
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. For you're over-exalting the
Son of God. That's an impossibility. Try to hurt my feelings by bragging
on my son. You ain't gonna hurt my feelings. You think the Father's upset
because we brag on Christ? Believe to him that in him all
fullness dwell. To the praise of the glory of
God. who first trusted in Christ.
And all things concerning the salvation of sinners was charged
to and rests upon his person, his work, and his will. Well,
what does all this mean? Well, here's what it meant to
Paul, and it'll be the same for all true believers. You can read
it yourself in Philippians 3, eight and nine. Listen to this. He said, I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord. It just done. I had a job, quit my job. It was just done. It just dung, I just count that.
That loss, it just dung, that I might win Christ and be found
in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God, by faith. Oh, my soul. Mysterious. You know what he said? You know
what he said the hope of sinners was over in the book of Peter?
Boy, Peter been right on the edge I don't know how many times.
I can identify Peter better than anybody else in the scripture.
Putting his foot in his mouth. Doing the wrong thing at the
wrong time. But here's what Peter said. God's not willing that
any should perish. You know why no believer's gonna
perish? Because God's not willing. He's not willing for any to perish. Not the least in the kingdom
of God. Not the... I hate to use the two terms together,
but rebel believer. Huh? Well, how do you know where
he is? Because he said, to the rebellious
also. So yeah, they're rebels. But
he ain't going to lose none of them. God not willing that any
should perish, but that all should be brought to repentance. All of them are going to turn.
And not all going to turn at the same speed, but they're all
going to turn. Every one of them. Every one
of them. Why? Because it's the will of
God. It's the will of God. Our Father, we beg of you this morning, take these words, press them into the hearts and
minds of those who are gathered here today. Allow them by your grace to see
your glory in your son. Fall down at his feet. Beg for mercy. We ask it for
Christ's sake. Amen.