Well, good morning, friends. It's 2026. The first month of 2026 is gone already. We're into
! Month two, how fast it goes. And this year marks 125 years since this church here, St. Paul's
! Chastwood was started. And so this term, as Nick has said, we are launching our vision for the next
five to 10 years of what our life and ministry will be together in this place. And as we get into
those details of those plans and what we're hoping to do under God, it's crucial that we understand
that it is built on a foundation of who we are. Who is the church? It's not often the way that we
think about church, though, is it? Who is the church? We normally think of it in terms of an
institution or things like a denomination or a building. The church is a building.
Or people say it's a lovely church, which they're referring to the building. Or it's the place,
it's a destination. I'm going to church this morning. When we think of the church, we think
of plans, we think of methodologies, we think of vision, we think of structures, we think of programs,
we think of budgets, we think of all those things. And they all have a place. But first and foremost,
we must understand who the church is. Not what the church is, but who the church is.
You see, the Bible overflows with powerful imagery of God's affection and his love for his church.
Imagery of the family, the body of Christ. And the one that we often maybe don't talk about
is the church being the bride of Christ. That is, the church reflects God's eternal beauty and glory.
And I wish I could unpack this one in just a sermon by itself. But the great English preacher,
Charles Spurgeon, called the church the dearest place on earth.
Not often the way we think of the church, the dearest place on earth. And so what we have in the
Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, the Ephesians here, which is what we're going to be
working through this term, is the grand vision of the church's cosmic role as the body of Christ,
Christ as the bride of Christ in God's eternal plans. That's what we have in the book Ephesians. You
won't find anywhere else in the Bible so clear about the vision that God has for his church,
the bride of his son, Jesus. The Ephesians reveals the position and the job description of the church
in effecting God's grand plan for all time and eternity. In fact, the church is central to God's plans.
The 18th century American pastor and theologian, Jonathan Edwards, emphasized this point in a sermon
where he said that so centralism. He said, God created the entire universe for one main end.
And that end was to obtain a spouse for his beloved son.
And so as you read through the Bible, what you see reflected again and again is the language of God's
love and affection for his church.
When he looks at his church, he doesn't look at the things that we look for,
the programs, the timing, the people, the buildings, the air conditioners, whether they're working or not,
which one of them isn't working this morning. He doesn't look at that.
He sees the beauty of his bride for his son, beautified by the blood of his son.
And he longs for the day, as Revelation tells us, where the buyer is beautifully prepared
and ready for the marriage feast.
That's his church.
And so as we look ahead for our plans for our next phase of life and ministry together,
my prayer is that our affections would be awakened for his church
and why we exist.
And that that would transform our lives.
To quote Spurgeon again, nothing in the world is dearer to God's heart than his church.
Therefore, being his, let us belong to it, that by our prayers, our gifts, and our labours,
we may support and strengthen it.
May that be the outcome.
So the first thing I want us to see this morning is that who we are, we are blessed.
And I've got three points, which you can get on the St. Paul's app as we go through.
So first of all, God has a plan.
Now, no English translation of the New Testament is able to capture fully Ephesians 3 to 14.
Because in the original language, the Greek language, that is one sentence.
Verses 3 to 14 is one sentence.
202 words in one sentence.
And to get to the meaning of a sentence, as you would know,
I had to Google this, but you probably don't need to Google this.
But to get to the meaning of a sentence, you need really to find two things.
You need to find the subject of a sentence, and you need to find the predicate of a sentence.
And then you capture the what is the sentence about.
The subject and the predicate.
So for those of you in basic English, you might want to write that bit down.
So the subject tells us who or the what the sentence is about.
And the predicate tells us what the subject does.
And in this very long sentence, it's very clear the subject is God.
And the predicate in the English language is a little bit harder to spot.
Because there's a number of little, you know, predicates in this sentence, in the English language.
God is doing many things in this.
But in the original language, in the Greek, the predicate is very clear.
And it's in verses 9 to 11.
And it is very simply, particularly verses 8 and 9.
With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ.
And verse 10.
Everything in history is in his plan.
To be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment.
And Jesus is the point of the plan.
The second half of verse 10.
To bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Subject is God.
And the predicate is what God is doing through all of history is to bring everything unified under Christ.
That is what God is doing through all of history.
And his church is central to that plan.
Which means, having read that from Ephesians, Bertrand Russell was wrong.
Bertrand Russell's view, which is basically the secular view of our time,
is that there is no plan for time and space.
In his book, The Free Man's Worship, he wrote,
Man, humanity, is the product of causes which have no prevision of the end that they were achieving.
That is, that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs,
are but the outcome of accidental collocation of atoms.
That no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling,
can preserve an individual life beyond the grave.
In other words, Russell was absolutely convinced, as our secular age is,
that everything is an accident.
There's no plan, there's no creator, there's no purpose, there's no meaning.
And he goes on to say,
Therefore, there's no heroism, no sacrifice, no human achievement,
no human advancement at all, will ultimately make any difference in the long run.
It might in the short term, but in the long run,
it'll make absolutely no difference whatsoever.
And so Russell concluded that the best way to live life,
to embrace life, the only safe way to live life,
is to embrace despair.
Now, to be honest with you,
Bertrand Russell was more courageous than the average secular person.
Ephesians here says,
There is a plan.
Verse 11,
And absolutely everything in history is in that plan.
Everything is in that plan.
And because that raised a big question for us.
Is everything therefore determined or do humans have free will?
You know, that's a question that's been in history since,
well, as far back as you can record in history.
Are we free or is there a plan that we can't escape in any kind of way?
And the Bible's answer to that question is very simple.
Yes.
That's because the Bible is way more nuanced than any philosophy in life.
You see, one view says that everything is absolutely fixed,
our choices don't matter,
and whatever you choose in life is ultimately going to be overridden by the fixed plan.
And what that does,
if it's just that,
what that does is it entirely saps a person of any hope at all.
The other view says that your future,
which is more common nowadays,
that your future is whatever you make it.
All of your choices determine your destiny,
so make sure that you make the right choices in life.
And if that's the case,
if absolutely everything in your life is determined by the choices you make,
the best choice you can make is don't get out of bed in the morning.
Much safer.
You can see because that view of history just loads people up with fear.
And you can see it worked out in the younger generation nowadays,
sucked into a culture of expressive individualism,
and you make all the right choices,
you be who you are.
The Bible says that both of those views are wrong and right.
The Bible says our choices matter,
and God will hold us accountable to them.
But ultimately,
God is in charge,
and his plan will advance,
and his plan is to bless.
It means that we can be absolutely alert,
and at peace at the same time.
It means that.
God is sovereign,
and we get to choose.
Think about this.
How many of your decisions,
for you older people,
how many of your decisions in your 20s
that you desperately felt you needed in order to live life,
that never came to fruition,
that you look back now and go,
geez, I'm glad that never happened?
When I was in my mid-20s,
I was desperately trying to get a young lady to marry me,
praying God would sovereignly overrule,
blah, blah, blah.
And it never happened.
And instead,
this week,
Nat and I celebrate 27 years of marriage.
Yeah,
I mean,
that's goodwill there.
So,
you know,
like,
after 27 years,
I'm glad that my plans never came to fruition.
Back in those days.
Ephesians 1 tells us that God has a plan for all things.
Jesus is the center of God's plan,
and it's a plan to bless.
Verses 1 to 3 is the summary verse of this chapter,
and it's an astonishing claim.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Has blessed us.
It's already happened.
With every spiritual blessing,
which is absolute language.
Nothing is lacking here.
Nothing is overlooked.
Nothing is held back from God.
I sign off my emails on most cases
with,
you know,
with things like,
you know,
regards,
kind regards.
But most often,
I think,
particularly when I'm
communicating
to Christians,
excuse me,
with Christians,
I often use
blessings,
or many blessings from Steve.
You know,
it means,
in our culture,
to wish someone well.
But that's not what it means here.
God's not wishing us well.
In the New Testament,
the word blessed
is closer to the Hebrew word shalom.
It means to have every joy
and benefit of your heart
and soul
and every longing
for your being fulfilled.
That's what the word blessed means here.
A Christian is someone
who has already
been blessed.
How's that possible?
Well,
the key to it
is right at the end of verse 3,
in Christ.
Verse 4,
God chose us in him.
Verse 5,
we are adopted
through Christ Jesus.
Verse 6,
in the one he loves.
Verse 7,
in him we have redemption.
Verse 9,
God purposed those things
in Christ.
Verse 11,
in him
we were chosen.
You see,
to become a Christian
is not simply
to get Jesus
as your Lord
to obey,
although he is that,
or
a model
to follow in life,
although he is that,
or as a saviour
to be grateful for,
although
you should do that.
A Christian
is someone
who has been put
in Christ,
the theological language of it,
you have union
with Christ.
It's a marriage union.
In such a way
that everything
that belongs to Christ
is now yours.
You are united
to Jesus Christ,
and we are united
to Jesus legally.
Imagine the scenario
of a very poor person
marrying
an extremely
wealthy person
without any
prenuptial agreements.
In that moment,
when you are legally married,
everything
that is owned
by the wealthy person
is shared
with you legally.
You share it
legally.
You have a right
to it
through
legal union.
And so
what it says here,
everything
that belongs
to Jesus,
every single thing
that he has accomplished
belongs
to the Christian.
but we're also
united to him
vitally.
The Holy Spirit
comes into the life
of the Christian
and the life
of the church,
and it brings
character change.
The Spirit brings
character change
into the likeness
!
of the bridegroom.
So the bride
reflects the bridegroom
until eventually
on the final day
at the wedding feast,
we are glorified.
we will be
who we are now
in every sense,
perfected,
flawless,
sin-free,
suffering-free,
existence forever
on that final day.
A Christian
is in Christ
with all
his benefits,
even though
it may take
a lifetime
to work those benefits
out into our lives
until we are
finally glorified.
All Christians,
all Christians
have every
spiritual blessing
in Christ.
They're not two
categories of Christian,
the more spiritual
and the less spiritual.
Either you are a Christian
or you're not a Christian.
and every Christian
has every
spiritual blessing.
If you're not a Christian,
you have
no
spiritual
blessings
and all
those blessings
come from
union with Christ,
connected to Christ.
Now,
there's an interesting
incident
that happened
during the
Paris
Peace Conference
at the end
of World War I.
It went from
1919
to 1920
as they divided
up the world,
basically.
The delegates
which came
from Arabia
were astonished
when they were
staying in the
hotel rooms
in Paris.
They were astonished
by the instant
and endless
supply
of water
that came
from these
taps
in the hotel
rooms.
They'd never
experienced
anything like
that
in the desert
of Arabia.
And so,
as they prepared
to leave
the peace
conference,
some members
of the delegation
from Arabia
were found
trying to
remove the
taps
from their
hotel rooms
to take them
back and
attach them
to their
tents
in Arabia.
and they
thought
that the
magic of
instant and
endless water
came from
these taps.
And T.E.
Lawrence,
Lawrence of
Arabia,
for those who
don't know,
he was acting
as advisor
and translator
for the
delegation.
He had to
explain to
them that
the taps
themselves
have no,
there's no
water that
comes instantly
from the
taps.
They are
connected
through pipes
and reservoirs
in order to
get to the
water.
And friends,
we have no
spiritual blessing
unless we are
connected to
Jesus by
faith.
United to
Christ,
union with
Christ,
in Christ,
is who the
Christian is.
And every
spiritual blessing
flows from
that and
continues to
flow from
that.
The word
every means
it would in
fact to be
impossible
to list
all of
those blessings.
Although Paul
does mention
some in
this sentence,
even this
list is
overwhelming
in its
implications.
Verse 5,
verse 7,
verse 8,
adopted,
forgiveness,
lavish with
wisdom and
understanding,
the mystery of
the Holy
Spirit,
guaranteed,
every one of
those blessings
is staggering,
staggering enough
in its
richness by
itself.
And they
have many
arms to
them,
each one.
For instance,
verse 5,
let me just
have a couple
here,
adoption to
sonship.
In Jesus
Christ,
God becomes
our father
as we are
included into
his family.
family.
And one
implication of
that fatherhood
is that we
have access to
him as his
much-loved
children.
There's one
very famous
photo of
John F.
Kennedy when
he was
president of
the United
States.
His young
son,
John Junior,
was playing
under his
desk, the
resolute desk,
in the Oval
Office while he
was meeting
with officials
in the Oval
Office.
I'm not
allowed to
do that
with Donald
Trump.
Not that
necessarily I
want to,
but no one's
allowed to do
that.
Of course,
Donald Trump
went and
redid that
photo with
his grandson
under the
desk, just
so that he
can go down
to history
as well.
But if I
just decide
to do
that, I'd
be stopped.
If I ran
towards the
president, I'd
be shut if
the Secret
Service is
working.
As a
child of
God, we
have access
to God
without
appointments,
free access
to the
creator of
the universe,
and we
can boldly
run into
his arms.
He is our
father.
Adoption
also means
inheritance,
which is
why here
in this
verse,
it's
why the
emphasis
is
specific
that we
are being
adopted
as
sons of
God.
Not sons
and daughters,
sons.
You know,
Paul,
a bit more
inclusive
language.
The word
sons is
inclusive
language.
In the
culture that
Paul is
writing into
here,
only sons
could be
heirs and
inherit the
estate of
the
father.
And what
it's saying
here is
that as
adopted,
all people,
male,
female,
know who
you are,
whatever
culture you
are,
as you
adopted
into the
family,
as you
inherit the
family,
you are
co-heirs of
the future
with Christ.
Whoever you
are,
co-heirs.
We don't know
completely what
that means,
but Jesus
says the
meek will
inherit the
earth.
Adoption also
means security.
If you're an
employee,
how long does
an employer
put up with
your bad
behaviour and
your failures?
Everyone has
their limit,
I suppose.
But how long
does a parent
put up with
the waywardness
of a child?
Kind of
forever in
one way or
another.
Carried in
their heart
all of their
life.
God is
our father
and we
are secure
in his
love.
That's
adoption to
sons and
you could
just unpack
that more
and more.
But the
pride of
place here
is redemption.
In verse
seven we are
told,
in him we
have
redemption.
Now
redemption
is a
loaded
word.
It's
interchangeable
with the
word
ransom,
which is
a little
bit more
than
paying a
debt.
Redemption
is a
little bit
more than
paying a
debt.
For
instance,
in New
South
Wales,
there are
certain
violations
that you
could do
which would
mean that
your car
would be
impounded.
Certain
violations.
Your car
would be
towed and
locked away
and it
would be
locked away
until you
paid the
fines.
And when
you pay
the fine,
whatever is
owed,
when you
pay the
fine,
your car
gets released
from
captivity.
It's not
just paying
a debt,
it's paying
the debt
so that you
might be
released from
captivity.
You
liberate it.
Now,
Indian
lawyer and
activist
Mahatma Gandhi
said that,
quite interestingly,
and I would
agree with him
on this,
that both
Eastern and
Western
religions
agree that
every human
being is
not free.
All
humanity
is
enslaved.
And Gandhi
said,
we are
slaves to
selfishness
and the
ego,
which is a
great description
of what the
Bible calls
sin.
We are
always
grasping at
things because
our egos
are so
needy.
We're
grasping at
power and
money and
beauty and
status and
popularity and
recognition because
our egos are
so needy.
And Gandhi
went on to
say that
Christianity
helps because
in Jesus,
and Gandhi was
not a
Christian at
all,
Christianity
helps because
he says,
in Jesus,
we have a
way to be
free from
the selfishness
and egocentricity
that enslaves
us purely
by the
example of
Jesus.
And so
for him,
the Sermon
of the
Mount was
the pinnacle
of Christian
teaching.
And so
for him,
Jesus was
the ultimate
example of
nonviolence to
which he
modelled his
life on.
He's the
ultimate
example of
giving up a
power and
wealth and
influence and
the ultimate
example of
sacrificial service
of others.
And he
suggested that
when we see
Jesus
forgiving,
loving,
serving,
dying for
others,
it will move
us and
liberate us
from our
selfishness and
our ego.
Now,
with all due
respect to
Gandhi for
his accomplishments
in life and
I respect
them,
he missed
Christianity.
He missed
the point of
it all.
You see,
seeing the
amazing life
of Jesus
and trying
to live up
to that,
it will crush
you,
make you feel
worse than you
already feel about
yourself.
Trying to
be him
would end up
crushing us
under the
weight of
expectations that
we can never
meet.
We would be
cursed,
not blessed.
We don't
need someone to
live up to,
we need someone
to liberate us,
to redeem us,
to set us
free.
and that
is at the
centre of
God's plan
to bless.
And the
key that
unlocks
every
spiritual
blessing
is verse
seven.
In him
we have
redemption
through his
blood,
the forgiveness
of sins.
You see,
if I see
Jesus Christ
loving,
forgiving,
serving,
dying,
not for
others,
but for
me,
doing all
of that
in my
place,
that's
entirely
different.
Jesus
Christ,
God the
Son,
came to
earth and
took on
human flesh.
He sided
with us
so that
he could
represent us
to God.
not only
took on
our
identity,
he took
on our
sin.
He died
on a
Roman cross
to pay
the debt
that we
owe to
God for
our
egocentricity.
The debt
that keeps
us enslaved
to ourselves,
captive to
ourselves.
And in
paying that
debt he
has set us
free,
he's
redeemed
us,
he has
ransomed
us back
into
relationship
with God,
part of
his bride
for his
son,
his church,
his plan.
The
limitless
God
became
limited
to human
flesh,
nailed
fast
to a
Roman
cross,
enclosed
in a
tomb
to set
us
free.
to pay
our
debt
he
was
cursed
so that
we might
be blessed.
And why
would he
bother to
do that?
Why?
Because we
were the
best option
as a bride
for his
son when
he looked
at all
of humanity?
No.
Verse 4,
in love
he
predestines
us.
Verse 7,
we have
redemption
in accordance
with the
riches of
his grace.
Verse 9,
he may
know to
us the
mystery of
his will
according
to his
good
pleasure.
All
because of
his love,
his grace,
his pleasure.
which brings
me to
us and
where we
are and
as we
think about
our future
together.
Receiving
every
spiritual
blessing in
God's
grace to
us in
the Lord
Jesus has
a profound
impact on
your life.
You spend
the rest of
your life
realizing
this blessing
by working
it into
your heart
until it
shapes
who you
are by
conforming
you to
the image
of the
bridegroom.
And these
verses give
us one
important way
that it
changes us.
One important
way.
We're going
to see more
changes as we
go through
the rest of
Ephesians.
But
verse 6,
to the
praise of
his glorious
grace.
Verse 12,
for the
praise of
his glory.
Verse 14,
for the
praise of
his glory.
When
you have
every
spiritual
blessing
through
Jesus
in
Christ,
you don't
just
assent to
believe that
in your
mind.
It
becomes
glorious
to you.
It
becomes
praiseworthy
to you.
In other
words,
you move
from
praising
and seeking
the glory
of self
and your
egocentricity,
working for
that,
and you
turn beyond
yourself to
praise his
glorious grace.
God
in other
words,
what it
means is
as
God
looks at
his
church,
the bride
for his
son,
and says,
it is
beautiful
to me,
you
look to
God
and his
son and
you say,
he is
beautiful
to me.
He
has
captured
my
heart.
He
captures
my
imagination.
You
praise
his
grace,
you
lift
your
voice
and
you
sing.
You
see,
this is
not just
evidence
of having
received
every
spiritual
blessing,
but it's
also the
way that
every
spiritual
blessing
works its
way into
your
life.
Praising
the glory
of his
grace
in every
aspect of
life.
Is there
nothing more
beautiful?
Is there
nothing more
captivating for
the human
heart?
Nothing
more glorious?
Nothing
more powerful?
Nothing
more moving?
than someone
giving their
life for
others.
It's
in whatever
culture you
come from,
that is the
most powerful
narrative of
life.
We're
amazed by
the acts
of those
who intervened
at grace
risk to
their own
life to
save others
in the
recent
Bondi
massacre.
I'm amazed
by those who
jumped in the
water,
bloody water
to rescue
a shark,
attack
victim.
Amazed
by those
people who
do those
things.
And what
Jesus done
for us
to bless
us,
it was
not a
rush of
adrenaline.
It wasn't
a thoughtless
act.
It was
planned
before the
creation of
the world.
There is
no more
powerful
narrative
structure,
there is
no more
powerful
moral
beauty
than
sacrificial
love.
Especially
a patient
plan flowing
from the
heart of
God in
what Jesus
done for
us before
he even
created
anything.
Jesus
did all
of it
to secure
us for
the
eternal
blessing,
glory,
and love
that is
his,
that we
might share
in it.
And those
blessings
change the
driving center
of your
life.
It will
move you
so that the
things you
used to find
captivating no
longer drive
you,
no longer
captivate
you.
His
glorious
grace will
captivate
you,
capture
you,
it will
lift your
heart to
praise.
And you
will start
to see that
his plan to
work all
things through
his church
is beautiful.
And you'll
start to see
his church,
his bride,
in a
different way.
It will
become beautiful
to you in
such a way
that you'll
give yourself
to it.
Now one
gift the
Lord Jesus
has given
to his
body,
his bride,
his church,
was what we
call the
Lord's
Supper.
And in
the Lord's
Supper,
what it
does is it
reminds us
of the
cross of
Christ as
the place
of deliverance
for us,
the place
of redemption
for our
sin,
our death,
and from
hell.
It reminds
us of
God's
loving
plan
for us.
I'm going
to invite
those who
are serving
to distribute
that now
as I
continue.
You see,
when Jesus
celebrated his
last supper
with his
disciples,
what they
were celebrating
was the
Passover,
which God
had instituted
in the Old
Testament for
his people
to continue
celebrating.
and the
Passover
meal was
about
temporal
redemption,
temporal
deliverance
from captivity.
The
Lord's
Supper
in Jesus
points to
eternal
deliverance.
The
Passover
lamb had
to be
slaughtered
every year.
The
Lord's
Supper
points us
to the
Lord Jesus
who died
a sufficient
death for
all people
for all
time to
set us
free.
And so
what the
Lord's
Supper
does is
it radiates
with the
glory of
Christ
in his
flesh and
his blood.
And what it
does is it
causes us,
his bride,
to reflect
back to
when our
sins were
atoned
for
by our
bridegroom,
God's
spotless
lamb,
while also
looking forward,
causing us to
look forward
to the
great
marriage
supper of
the lamb
when we
shall
bask
together
in the
resplendent
glory of
the Father.
And these
simple elements
of these
wafers and
the juice
that we're
having this
morning,
as we
participate in
this and
as we
remember
Christ,
they become
a beautifying
influence on
us as it
demonstrates the
importance of
our remembering,
the importance
of our loving,
and the
importance of
our examining.
The Apostle
Paul repeated
the words of
Jesus when he
instructed the
Corinthian church
in the
Lord's
Supper,
do this
as often
as you
drink it
in remembrance
of me.
In other
words,
the supper
becomes a
path to
congregational
beauty as
we come
together and
remember our
bridegroom.
people.
And he
reminds the
Corinthians
again,
because there
is one
bread,
we who
are many
are one
body,
for we
all partake
in the
one bread.
What the
early church
did,
which we've
sort of
shut down
since COVID
unfortunately,
but what the
early church
did was they
passed around
one loaf of
bread amongst
the church,
and each
would pinch
off a small
piece of
bread to
celebrate the
Lord's
supper.
And through
that physical
representation,
the Apostle
Paul was
reminding you,
you are one
body, and
your body is
connected to
the bread of
life, Jesus,
your bridegroom.
And for this
type of mutual
love and
reconciliation to
be present in
the life of
the church,
that's what
we're doing as
we participate
in Christ.
And also,
it's also
calling us to
examine ourselves.
When he said
to the church
of Corinth,
whoever
therefore eats
the bread or
drinks the
cup of the
Lord in an
unmerthy manner
will be guilty
concerning the
body and blood
of the Lord.
So let's just
spend a moment
to examine
our hearts.
And I wonder
whether the
quote of Spurgeon
might be helpful
here once again.
Nothing in the
world is dearer
to God's heart
than his
church.
Therefore,
being his,
let us belong
to it,
that by our
prayers, our
gifts, and our
labours, we may
support and
strengthen it.
Is God's
plan in his
church beautiful
to you?
And is that
reflected in
your life?
Is his
church beautiful?
Thank you.