We're looking at the book of Ephesians tonight, Ephesians chapter 3.
If you are looking in a pew Bible, that is page 977, and we're going to look at chapter 3, verses 1 to 13.
So let me read this passage for us tonight.
This is the Apostle Paul writing to Christian believers in the city of Ephesus, and he writes this.
For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,
assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,
how the mystery was made known to me, my 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 now been 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 me by the working of his power.
To me, though I am 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 has 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.
I wonder whether you have felt like giving up lately.
Maybe you just don't see a good way forward from a situation that you find yourself in.
Maybe that's a financial hardship or a family conflict or a friend who let you down
or a work situation or a housing situation,
and you're looking ahead and you just don't see a good way forward.
Or maybe you look back at the past.
Maybe you think about a time when you weren't coming to church
and you weren't really thinking about God and you weren't really praying
and you weren't really trying to follow God, and life just seems a lot easier way back then.
And you think, maybe I should just go back to that.
And go back to that mode.
Maybe you're just trying to survive one day at a time in the present,
and you just think, I don't know how much longer I'm going to make it.
Or maybe, maybe there's somebody that you really looked up to.
A spiritual leader or mentor, somebody who,
maybe the person who first invited you to church or told you about Christ.
Maybe a person who really came alongside you at a time in your life
and prayed with you and encouraged you.
Maybe a parent, if you had a parent who was a Christian, who was a believer.
And maybe that person has, for whatever reason,
maybe they've passed on.
Maybe they've gotten sick.
Maybe they fell on hard times themselves.
Maybe they're going through some things on their own.
And you think, I don't know how I'm going to do without this person by my side.
They're far away from me.
Or for whatever reason,
they're not right here with me anymore.
You know, there are a lot of things that can make us lose heart.
That can make us become discouraged and weary and weak and disheartened,
spiritually speaking.
And the passage we're looking at tonight,
it talks about a lot of things,
but the end of the passage, verse 13,
this is what Paul says.
Paul says, I ask you not to lose heart.
Now, I'll talk a little bit about why they might be tempted to lose heart.
But this is sort of the point.
This is what he's driving at.
He wants to encourage us not to lose heart,
but to keep on looking to Jesus and pressing on in him.
Now, why might these people have been tempted to lose heart?
Well, Paul was their spiritual leader,
their spiritual mentor, their spiritual father.
He was the one who had started their church.
He had come to Ephesus.
He had preached about Jesus.
He had led many of them to Christ.
But now, verse 1 tells us he was a prisoner far away from them.
A prisoner for Christ Jesus.
He begins and ends this section with a reference to his imprisonment and his suffering in verse 1 and verse 13.
And so you can sort of see, since it's right at the beginning and right at the end,
that's an important theme that makes sense of what's in the middle.
Now, just so you know a little bit about what happened,
you can read the book of Acts, chapters 19, 20, 21,
sort of tell you how this all happened.
But Paul was in Ephesus, and then he left and went some other places.
Then he came back through Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem.
And what he was doing is he was, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were going through some hard times,
financially speaking.
There were a lot of widows in their congregation.
There were a lot of people who had needs.
And so Paul took up a collection.
He collected some money from the churches, the Gentile churches in the other nations,
and he brought it to Jerusalem as a way of showing the unity that we're all in this together.
We're all one body together.
We're part of the same family in Christ Jesus.
We're sharing the same promise of blessing that's come to us in Christ Jesus.
And so he's told the people in these different churches,
you know, we need to help our brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.
We need to come alongside them.
They've been going through a hard time for years and years,
and we need to do something to help them.
They said, yes, we want to do that.
And so they got some people.
They collected a bunch of money.
And Paul and some other people, they sent a delegation to Jerusalem.
And they arrive in Jerusalem, and then guess what happens?
And Paul gives the gift to the Christians in Jerusalem, and then guess what happens?
He gets falsely accused by the religious leaders and by a mob, a violent mob.
He gets arrested, and he gets kept in custody.
They try to kill him.
The police sort of protect him from being killed.
But then they just keep him in custody.
And then it's sort of like he keeps going to court, and his case keeps getting continued.
He never gets convicted, but he doesn't get set free either.
So he's kept in Jerusalem for a while, and then he's transferred to Caesarea,
and he stays in Caesarea for two years in jail,
even though he still hasn't been convicted of anything.
And part of the reason was some of the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem,
now some of them had misunderstandings of what Paul was trying to do,
but some of them were very against this idea that he was trying to promote.
He's saying, in Jesus Christ, the Jews and the Gentiles are now one body in Jesus Christ
and part of one family together.
And there were some people who really didn't like that,
and they're like, oh, no, that is not what we're for.
And so that's part of what got him arrested.
Paul wrote Ephesians probably while he was imprisoned in Caesarea during those two years.
And it seems like, I mean, just imagine yourself, right?
Imagine if you're in the church at Ephesus,
and the man who started your church, right,
or someone who was the pastor of your church got arrested,
you know, he, I mean, let's just take an example, right?
Let's just say one of the three pastors at Trinity, right,
Nick or Matt or myself,
let's say we were invited to go preach somewhere else in the United States,
and we travel there,
and while we're there,
just because we're preaching about Jesus
and talking about the gospel,
we get arrested.
And we don't,
and there's some charges,
but we're never convicted of anything,
but we just get held in custody for two years.
I mean, just imagine how you would,
you know,
how you'd feel about that.
You might feel,
well,
boy,
like,
you know,
did Pastor Greg go a little overboard there?
Or did Pastor Nick,
you know,
say something a little crazy?
You know,
I mean,
should we,
you know,
are we really behind these guys?
Like,
I don't know,
maybe,
maybe we should just,
you know,
keep our distance.
Or what about us?
You know,
is somebody going to come after us?
Are we going to get arrested?
Right?
So there's all these,
all these questions that could have been going on
in the minds of the Ephesian Christians
when they realized that their spiritual mentor,
their spiritual leader,
Paul was arrested and imprisoned
for a,
and it,
and was lasting for a long time.
And they were discouraged.
And that's partly why Paul wrote them this letter,
is to encourage them.
You know,
it's actually,
Ephesians,
you know,
compared to some of the other letters,
it doesn't tell us a lot about the circumstances
that it was written in.
But I think,
from this passage,
at least,
and from some of the prayers Paul makes,
I think a big purpose of Ephesians
is simply to encourage
Christian believers
to keep looking to Christ
and just give them spiritual encouragement
in a time where they could have been discouraged
and lose heart.
And what we've seen so far,
if you've been coming,
going with us through Ephesians
over the last couple of months,
right?
Chapter one,
how does Paul start?
He starts with praise
and thanksgiving
and prayer.
Now let me tell you,
if you're discouraged,
if you're tempted to lose heart,
that's a good place to start.
Praise God
for all the spiritual blessings
you have in Jesus Christ.
Thank God
for the good things
that He has put in your life,
the people He's put alongside you,
the ways that you can look back
and see His faithfulness.
And pray.
Pray for yourself.
Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ,
for other people
who are going through difficulties.
Pray that you'd be able
to see Christ clearly.
That's what Paul prays in chapter one,
that they'd be able
to see Christ clearly.
And then chapter two,
another good thing to do
if you're discouraged
and disheartened
is remember who you are.
Remember your identity in Christ.
And that's what Paul talks about
in chapter two.
He talks about who you once were.
He said,
you used to be dead in sin
and following the world
and the flesh
and the devil
and slaves to those things.
But Paul says,
now you're alive in Christ.
And you've been raised up with Christ.
You've been saved by grace.
You're God's workmanship
created for good works.
And then in the end of chapter two,
he says,
you're part of God's family.
You're not a foreigner
and a stranger anymore.
You're not an outsider anymore.
You're part of God's family,
part of his household
and part of his new temple.
And he lives in you by his spirit.
And then Paul's going to go on
in the end of chapter three
to pray for them again.
But here he interrupts himself.
Now look at chapter three, verse one.
It's an incomplete sentence.
For this reason,
I, Paul,
a prisoner for Christ Jesus
on behalf of you Gentiles.
And he doesn't finish his sentence.
And then if you look down at verse 14,
he starts again.
For this reason,
I bow my knees before the Father.
So then he prays for them.
We'll look at the prayer next week, I think.
And then chapter four, verse one.
I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord,
urge you to walk in the manner
worthy of the calling
which you have been called.
So then he's going to go on
to exhort them
and sort of call them
to live up to the calling
that God has given them
and give them some practical instructions
and encouragements
about how to persevere
and how not to lose heart
but how to persevere
in Christian faithfulness.
And that's chapters four through six.
So what we're looking at today
is a little bit of Paul.
I mean, it almost seems like
he starts saying something
and then he gets distracted
and says something else.
Which is sort of interesting
that that's included in his letter
and he didn't cross it out.
He just left it there.
And I think,
but in God's providence,
that's what we have.
And that's part of God's purpose.
So anyway,
so looking at this section
we're looking at tonight,
there's sort of two major sections.
Chapter two,
verse two through seven
is actually one sentence
in the original Greek
and verses eight through 12
is another sentence
in the original Greek.
And so in verses two through seven,
what we see is
that God has revealed
the mystery of his grace
in Jesus Christ.
And then what we'll see
in verses eight through 12
is Paul is saying,
God has called me
to share this grace with you.
And so in verse 13,
Paul says,
so I want you not to be discouraged,
but not lose heart,
but press on.
So we'll look into those things
and see how that helps us
find encouragement.
So verses two through seven,
Paul talks about a few times here,
he refers to the,
he uses the word mystery.
mystery.
You might think,
what's the mystery
Paul's talking about here?
Okay,
verse three,
mystery,
verse four,
the mystery of Christ,
verse six,
the mystery.
Now,
Paul's used that word
once already in Ephesians.
If you look back
at chapter one,
verse nine,
Paul says,
God has made known to us
the mystery of his will
according to his purpose,
which he set forth in Christ
as a plan for the fullness of time
to unite all things in him.
That is in Christ,
things in heaven
and things on earth.
That is God's going to bring
all of creation
under the authority
of Jesus Christ.
Now,
why does he call it a mystery?
Well,
I think he calls it a mystery.
I think verse five helps with this.
Paul says,
this mystery was something
that was hidden.
It used to be hidden.
Okay,
it was,
verse five,
it was not made known
to the sons of men
in other generations,
but now,
it has been revealed
to his holy apostles
and prophets
by the Spirit.
So,
what Paul's saying
is that this mystery
that he's talking about,
we'll see what it is,
is something that
it wasn't clearly
set forth
before the coming of Christ,
but now,
since Christ has come,
now it's revealed.
Okay,
so Paul's not talking
about something
that's still completely hidden.
He's talking about something
that used to be hidden,
and now,
God's opened it up
so we can see
what it is.
Now,
what is this mystery?
Verse six,
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.
And,
Paul's talking,
when he's writing
to the Ephesians,
he's writing primarily
to people who were Gentiles.
Now,
the word Gentiles
just means the nations.
It's just a,
it's a Hebrew word
or a Greek word
that simply means
the nations.
And,
a little bit
about what that means.
In the Old Testament,
God chose the people
of Israel
to be his holy nation,
his special people
in the world,
unlike any of the other
nations of the world.
And,
God said to the people
of Israel,
you are the lights
to the,
you are a light
to the world.
I'm going to put
my presence in you
and teach you my laws
and show you how
to obey me
and show you who I am,
the one true God,
in a way that's unlike
what I'm doing
in any other part
of the world.
And,
he put his temple
in Jerusalem
and he said,
I will dwell with you,
I will put my presence
here with you,
here,
in a unique
and special way,
unlike anywhere else
in the world.
And so,
in the Old Testament,
God said,
I've called you
to be my holy nation,
my special people.
So,
if you wanted
to join in,
now,
there were people
from other nations
who joined the people
of Israel
in the Old Testament.
There's several examples,
actually,
like Ruth,
the Moabite,
and there's many others,
some of the people
in David's court,
but they came,
they would come
and join the nation
of Israel.
And some,
they might actually move
to that part of,
that part of the world
and sort of settle there,
settle near Jerusalem
and come to the temple
and worship at the temple.
And that's how you would
sort of be part of God's
work in the world,
is you would,
you'd be there
as part of that nation.
But now,
Paul says,
there's been a big change.
That now,
Jesus Christ has broken down
the dividing wall
that Jews and Gentiles,
that is Jews and people
from every other nation
of the world,
can come to God
on the same basis,
simply through faith
in Jesus Christ.
And why does that make sense?
Well,
it's because Jesus Christ
is the promised Messiah
of Israel.
He's the one that God
had promised all along
who would be the king
of Israel
and the king
of the nations.
And so Jesus had,
and Jesus is now
the new temple,
right?
God had promised
he'd put his temple
in Jerusalem
where his presence
would dwell,
and now Jesus is the one
in whom the presence
of God dwells,
and so we can come
to God through Jesus,
not through the temple
in Jerusalem,
right?
So the coming of Jesus
changed everything.
And that's what Paul
is saying,
the coming of Jesus
has changed everything.
And so he's writing
to people
who would have been
on the outside before.
And he says to them,
you know,
you used to be,
you know,
he says to them,
you know,
just think about
what your life
used to be like
before you heard
about Jesus.
You had no real hope.
You were without hope
and without God
in the world,
wandering around
in the darkness,
following the course
of the ruler
of this world
and disobedience
to God
and all kinds
of things.
But Paul says,
now the light
of Christ
has shined on you.
Now you're part
of God's family.
Now you are fellow heirs.
That means you're in
on the promise.
You're part of the family.
You're members
of the same body.
The one new humanity
that he talked about
in chapter two,
and partakers
of the promise
in Christ Jesus
through the gospel.
So that's what Paul's
saying in verse six.
He's saying this
to the Ephesians.
He's saying,
you're in Jesus Christ.
You are now one
with God
through Jesus Christ
and one with one another.
And Paul says,
this is the message
that God has given me.
This is the mystery
that has been revealed
in Jesus Christ.
You know,
if you read
in the Old Testament,
the prophets promised
many times,
there's many examples
of this,
the prophets looked
forward to a day
when the Gentiles,
the nations,
would come and worship
the one true God
of Israel.
They looked forward
to that day,
but it didn't,
but it wasn't totally clear
how that would happen.
And Paul says,
now you can see
how it can happen.
You can see how
it's happened
because Jesus Christ
has come.
And he's come
for Israel
and for the whole world.
For everyone.
And he's come
to bring us
into God's family
by his grace.
Look at verse 2
and verse 7.
Paul talks about
God's grace
that was given
to me for you
in verse 2.
Verse 7,
the gift of God's grace
which was given
to me.
Verse 8,
this grace was given.
Right?
He repeats these words.
Grace,
gift,
given,
to emphasize
that this is all
a gift of God.
You know,
it's not like
it's something
that God has done
by his grace.
That word grace
just means generosity
or gift.
And Paul says,
it's a generous,
lavish gift
that God has poured
out upon us
in Jesus Christ.
Christ.
So this is what
he's saying
in verse 2 to 7.
God has revealed
this mystery,
the mystery of his grace
in Jesus Christ.
And,
and then
in verse 8 to 12,
Paul emphasizes
that God has called me,
Paul's referring
to himself,
God has called me
to make it known
to you.
So you can see
really throughout
this,
these verses,
it comes up some
in the first paragraph
to,
you know,
verse 2,
the stewardship
of God's grace
given to me
for you.
The mystery
is made known
to me.
My insight
of the mystery
of Christ
has been revealed
to his holy apostles
and prophets.
But then,
then especially
in verse 7,
8,
9,
Paul says,
I was made a minister
according to the gift
of God's grace.
Though I am the very least
of the saints,
this grace was given
to preach to the Gentiles
and to bring to life
for everyone
God's plan.
This mystery
that through Jesus Christ,
people from all nations
can be united
under the lordship
of Jesus Christ
as part of God's
eternal purpose.
And Paul says,
God has called me
to make this mystery
known to you.
So those are sort of
the two major parts
of this passage
that it's a mystery
or God has revealed
this mystery.
God has called me
to make it known
to you.
And so he wants
to encourage them.
And let me,
let me,
I want to apply
this message
to us in three ways
and spend the rest
of our time
just sort of applying
this message
to us
and how it can
give us encouragement
where we are
and looking at
some points here.
So first,
first way
it can encourage us
is that this is a message.
The message
Paul is talking about
gives us both humility
and confidence.
If you look at verse 8,
Paul describes himself
as the very least
of all the saints.
In another place
he calls himself
the worst,
the chief of sinners.
Paul saw that he was
completely unworthy
and undeserving
of God's favor
and blessing.
But then he says,
so he was,
in that sense
he was very humble.
I'm the least.
Like,
I'm not better
than anybody else.
But then,
he's also very confident.
He says,
this grace was given me
to preach to the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches
of Christ
to bring to light
for everyone
the plan
that was hidden
for ages in God.
He's saying,
God has sent me
to explain to you
this mystery
that for thousands
of years
wasn't made clear.
and God sent me
as the apostle
for you
to tell you
this truth
so that your eyes
can be opened
and you can come
from darkness
into light
and you can see
the glory of God.
It's interesting, right?
Paul has both
this humility
saying I'm the least
of all the saints
and this amazing confidence.
And that's
what the message
of God's grace does
when it gets inside us.
Right?
It humbles us.
It shows us
our sin
but it also
gives us confidence
because our confidence
and it's not a false confidence
in ourselves
but it's a true confidence
that comes from Christ
and knowing that
Christ's promises are true
and Christ has called us
and he's called us
by his grace.
He's saved us
by his grace
and he equips us
by his grace
to do everything
that we're doing
and so we can never
ultimately take the credit
for good things
that God does
through us
but we can go forward
confidently
because he's called us
and we can know
that we have a place
at his table
in the family of God
just because of his grace
and his mercy.
You know,
I think a lot,
right?
I mean,
isn't what a lot of us
tend to do?
We tend to sort of flip
back and forth
between false confidence
in ourselves
and then despair
which means losing
all confidence in God
and we sort of flip
from one to the other.
You know,
on our good days
we sort of build up
this confidence
in ourselves
and then on our bad days
we just realize
we shouldn't have confidence
in ourselves
and we feel like
we don't have any confidence
at all.
And Paul says,
no,
this is a message
of God's grace.
It's a message
that humbles us
and that gives us confidence.
And that's how Paul
describes himself.
He describes himself
as a minister
and that word
simply means a servant.
That was a word
used for someone
who worked in a household
who might have had
some authority
but you weren't
the owner of the house.
Right?
Or even the way
it's used in a government.
Right?
The minister of state.
We don't use it
in the United States
but some other countries
call it like
the minister of education.
Right?
We call it
the secretary of education.
It means
you're not the president.
Right?
You work for somebody else.
You have authority.
You know,
you have responsibility
but you don't own the place.
And that's how Paul
is speaking about himself.
He's saying
I'm in God's house
but I don't own the house.
God's given me
an important responsibility
in his house
but it's not my house.
And I can never
take credit for it
in the end.
And then Paul
talks about himself
as a steward.
That word stewardship
of God's grace
or administration
of God's grace.
A steward
is simply a manager.
Again,
Paul used another
one of these words
that would have been
common back then
for somebody
who worked
under someone else's authority
but also had
an important responsibility.
And that's how
Paul speaks about himself
and that's how we can
think about our
responsibility
as members
of God's household.
That we have
an important place
in God's family
but it's his.
So where do you need humility?
Where do you need confidence?
That's something
you can think
and pray about.
So first,
humility and confidence.
Second thing,
the mystery
that is revealed
but unsearchable.
Did you notice
how Paul
emphasized so much
God has revealed
this mystery?
He's made known
to you.
Verse
3,
4,
5,
9,
10
talks about
words like
made known
or insight
or revealed
or bring to light.
Paul's emphasizing
the gospel
it's been brought
to light.
Now you can see it.
You can see who Christ is.
You can see who God is
more and more clearly
but then
in verse 8 and 10
verse 8
he speaks about it
as unsearchable
the unsearchable
riches of Christ.
Now isn't that interesting?
Paul says
now you can see it.
It used to be hidden
but now it's brought
into the open.
But then Paul says
but it's unsearchable.
That means you can never
get to the bottom of it.
You can never
fully
grasp it.
It's like
exploring the ocean.
Right?
You can go to the beach
on a warm
summer day
splashing the water
enjoy the ocean
maybe you
learn to swim
you can swim out
a little further
explore a little more
maybe you get a boat
you know
go out
a little further
away from shore
maybe where you can't
see the land anymore
and maybe you do
a little fishing
whatever right?
You explore the ocean
more maybe you
do a little diving
and sort
maybe get some goggles
and look around
maybe you go all the way
maybe you do scuba diving
and go down even further
and see some things
that you could never see
from the surface
maybe you
find a way to get
into a submarine
right?
And go really far down.
Here's the point.
When you're getting
to know Jesus better
it's like exploring
the ocean
but you'll never
get to the bottom.
And you can splash
in the ocean
and it's
you can rejoice
like a child
in knowing your sins
are forgiven
and you have
the Holy Spirit
working in you
but you can go deep
you can keep going deeper
and that's partly
what God does
he just takes you
deeper and deeper.
He takes you out
further in the water
and you're like
you look around
and you're like
there ain't no land here.
Where are we going?
And God says
don't worry I'm with you
just like I was
with you on the beach.
I'm with you.
So that's the thing
about being a Christian.
Being a Christian
is never boring
because you never
get it all figured out.
Okay?
It's not like video games.
Right?
You play
Super Mario Brothers
or whatever
the more advanced
video games are today.
Right?
Most video games
are fun for a while.
You start at level one
go to level two
get to level three
you know
throw in the enhanced version
but eventually
you figure it out
and it's boring
because you know
all the levels
and you beat all the levels
and you know exactly
where all the secret
you know
prizes are.
You've got it.
Right?
Then you've got to
buy a new video game
because you get over it.
Sometimes you get over it
pretty quick.
But following Jesus
you never learn
all his tricks
because his ways
are unsearchably glorious.
Right?
And so
that's the thing
we can know God
but the more you know him
the more amazing he gets.
And that's a wonderful truth
and it's encouragement
to press on
and seek to know God better.
That's exactly what Paul prays
in the rest of chapter three
that the people
would know God better
and know his love
more deeply
in their hearts.
So keep going deeper.
Verse 10 describes it
as God's manifold wisdom.
That's a word
that means a many-sided thing.
It was used
for an intricately
embroidered pattern
or for the many colors
of a bouquet of flowers
or we might think
of a diamond
that sparkles
from all different angles.
And we can come to see
the manifold wisdom of God
the amazing wisdom of God
from sort of
from different angles.
And part of how we see that
is actually
through the different kinds
of people God brings
into the church.
You know,
if I just had only
my experience to go on
you know,
based on where I grew up
and how I first got
to know Christ
and you know,
how I naturally
understand the Bible
that's fine
but that's just one person.
But the more you
get to know other people
who come from
different backgrounds
and yet come to experience
the same Lord Jesus
it's sort of like
you can look at this diamond
from all different perspectives
and you realize
we're all coming
from different places
but we're coming
to the same treasure.
We're coming
to the same Savior.
And you can see
even more of his beauty
as we get to know
each other
and see
and listen to each other
talk about
the unsearchable riches
of Christ.
So get to know somebody
who's not like you
but who belongs to Christ
and who's looking to Christ.
I encourage you to do that
and learn to be
who you are in Christ
not be who somebody else
is in Christ.
Sometimes that takes
a little while.
You feel like
I have to be like them.
No, you have to be
who you are in Christ.
Not just who you naturally are
in your sinful nature
but not necessarily
like somebody else.
God's going to make you
He's going to make you
who He's going to make you.
And He's going to make you
part of the big picture.
Right?
Part of His family.
So humility and confidence
revealed but unsearchable
and third
suffering and victorious.
These are all paradoxes really.
Things that we don't think
go together naturally
but in Christ they do.
This is the last thing
verse 13
and this is where we start
and where we'll end.
So Paul says
so I ask you
not to lose heart
over what I am suffering
for you
which is your glory.
Now
suffering and glory.
We don't usually think
they go together.
And the Ephesian Christians
probably thought
Paul our leader
is thrown in prison
and we don't know
when he's ever getting out.
That's not good.
And maybe we
I don't know.
I mean
is this message really true?
Should we really hold on to it?
Should we really try
to live that way?
Or should we just do something
that's a little more
take an easier road?
Do something that
maybe is a little more acceptable.
A little more
according to the social norms.
But Paul says
no don't lose heart
over what I'm suffering for you.
Paul says
in the Christian life
suffering and glory
go together.
You know
and there's lots of Bible verses
that talk about this.
There's some that talk about
through suffering we're refined.
It's like a fire
that refines metal.
And it's
I mean
being in a fire is painful.
And if
you
have ever seen
a blacksmith
work on metal in the fire
they bang on it.
Right?
Sometimes that's what
suffering feels like.
You're put in a fire
and then you get banged on.
Paul says
that's how God
is preparing you
and making you
into something
amazingly glorious.
You know
even in this passage
you know
Paul reminds them
of what God is doing.
Paul's saying
in verse 10
the manifold wisdom of God
God is now
making it known
to the rulers
and authorities
in the heavenly places.
I mean
that's basically
it's basically saying
God is sort of
saying
look at what I'm doing.
He's saying
Satan
you see
you're not in charge.
Because look at
what I'm doing
I'm taking people
out of darkness
and bringing them
into the light.
I'm forgiving people's
sins through
the death of my son
Jesus on the cross.
God's making it known
it says
the wisdom of God
is being made known
to the rulers
and authorities
in the heavenly places
and most of the time
when Paul talks about
rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places
it's not the good ones
it's the evil ones.
And so Paul's saying
God is displaying
that he
that Jesus Christ
is going to win
the final victory
even by
the work that he's doing
in our lives.
I mean
that's pretty amazing.
Think about that.
It's a little bit
like what God did
with Job
back in the Old Testament.
When God said to Satan
have you considered
my servant Job?
And Satan's like
yeah yeah yeah
he just
he just likes you
because of the stuff
you give him.
Take away
his blessings
and he'll curse you
and die.
But he didn't.
You know
so it's a little bit
like that
and
and verse 12
Paul says
we have boldness
and access
with confidence.
Right?
We can come boldly
before God
in prayer.
And then that's
what he's going to do
at the end of chapter 3.
You know
Paul's saying
look yes
I'm suffering in prison
but think about
what God is doing.
Think about
how we can come boldly
before him in prayer
and bring our request
before him in prayer
and pray for one another
and at the end
Paul says
pray for me.
Put on the full armor
of God
and pray for me too.
And then he's
verse 13
he says
my suffering
is for your glory.
You know
sometimes
I have to say
I think sometimes
watching somebody else
suffer
whom you love
and not being able
to relieve their suffering
can sometimes be
I would almost say
even more difficult
than being the person
who's suffering.
And that's sort of
what Paul's saying here.
He's saying
don't be disheartened.
I'm suffering
but don't lose heart
over what I'm suffering.
I'm going to make it
because Christ
is going to bring me
through this
and you can make it too.
And in fact
all that I'm doing
is for your benefit
and for your
eternal glory
that you would
that we all
would come to the
great banquet of God
in the new heavens
and the new earth
that we'd be part
of his kingdom forever.
That God is
using Paul's suffering
even his imprisonment
and his faithful testimony
for the gospel
to encourage
the believers in Ephesus
and all kinds of places.
I mean
how many places
throughout the world
have Paul's letters
been written
and Christians
have been encouraged?
I mean
Paul even didn't realize
how God would use
his experience in prison
to experience
so many other people
who've gone through
so much hardship
right
to minister to people
in all kinds
of different situations
where they were
tempted to lose heart
and God's used
Paul's words
over the years
to encourage
so many Christian believers.
You know
Paul couldn't even see that.
But that's the thing
suffering
and victorious
suffering
and glory
they go together
and so be encouraged
if you're suffering
if you're under
the weight
of an affliction
and you're looking
to Christ
God's going to use
this suffering
for your glory
and even
for the benefit
of others
and just look
for the ways
that he's doing that.
You may not be able
to see that now
you may not be able
to see that
until years later
you may not be able
to see that
until you get to heaven
but this is what Paul says
don't lose heart
over your own suffering
and don't lose heart
over the suffering
of other believers
and the things
that they might be going through
pray for them
come alongside them
do what you can
to relieve them
but some things
are beyond our control
right?
The Ephesians
couldn't get Paul
out of prison
there's nothing
they could have done
back then for him
except pray for him
and entrust him
to the Lord
and Paul says
don't worry
it's going to be
for your glory
and the glory
of God in the end
let's pray
Lord we thank you
for the message
of the gospel
that Paul proclaimed
Lord we thank you
for how it gives us
humility and confidence
Lord we thank you
for how it
allows us to see you
clearly
because you've
revealed yourself
but also reminds us
of how much more
there is to know
about you
and encourages us
to keep going deeper
and Lord we thank you
for how it teaches us
that suffering
and glory
can go together
and we thank you
ultimately for Jesus Christ
who laid down his life
on the cross
and that was the way
to glory
for him
and for us
so we thank you
especially for him
and for his death
on the cross
Lord we just pray
that that would be
the foundation
and that you would
give us encouragement
this week
Lord from this passage
to do what you've
called us to do
and to keep looking to you
in Jesus name we pray
amen