Ephesians 3 v 7 thru 13

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

As we look this morning in Ephesians 3, we're going to begin in verse 7 to go through verse 13 today. The church at Ephesus is really learning one of the greatest truths that has ever been revealed in all of the history of redemption. And that is that in Christ, God is gathering Jews and Gentiles into one redeemed people, and He's doing that for His glory. And Paul has already explained the mystery of the gospel that Gentiles are now fellow heirs, members of the same body, that they are partakers of the promise of Christ through the gospel. We looked at that last week in verse 6 specifically. And now in verses 7 through 13, Paul turns his attention and it is, he's now speaking personally. He's speaking about his own calling as a minister of the gospel. And even speaking about himself, Paul's focus is not self-exalting, but he's exalting God's grace in his calling. And so he magnifies the sovereign grace of God. He magnifies the glory of Christ. He magnifies the purpose of the church and the eternal wisdom of God that is displayed in redemption. And this passage really reminds us that salvation is not man-centered, but it is God-centered, and that ministry is not about human ability, but about divine grace. And the church is not an afterthought, but it has always been part of God's eternal plan. And so in that, suffering for Christ is not meaningless. Rather, it is glorious. So let's look, beginning in verse 7. Paul says, 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. Let's pray. Father, we thank you again for your word today. Lord, we pray that it might enlighten our minds and cause us to be more like Christ, to be more humble and thankful and grateful and in awe of your glorious grace. For your glory we pray in Christ's name. Amen. So Paul begins this section, and we have a minister that is made by grace, not by any kind of human merit. And he says in verse 7 there, of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace. The word minister comes from the Greek word diakonos, and it means servant. It's the the English word deacon, which is a servant, an attendant, or a messenger. And it is the word from which we get that term that we use within our local congregation of deacon. It's a servant. And Paul does not present himself here as some sort of religious celebrity. He's not saying, look at me. Rather, he presents himself as a servant who was made a servant by the grace of God. And notice that Paul says here, I was made a minister. He didn't make himself, he didn't appoint himself a minister. He was not ultimately made a minister by Gamaliel, his teacher, the greatest teacher in Israel of that day. He wasn't put in that position by the Sanhedrin or by some human ordination. Rather, he says, God made me a minister. God called him to that. And this is the language of divine sovereignty. God is in charge of every aspect of our lives. And Paul understood that every aspect of ministry flowed from God's grace. That that is the starting point. And the same grace that saved him is the grace that also commissioned him as an apostle and as a preacher. And it is profoundly humbling when we remember who Paul was, educated by the greatest teacher. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He had all the pedigree and the credentials that you would want. And I guess I'm grateful that here it reads when you all decided to call me as your pastor, that you didn't say, well, what Bible degree do you have? And what seminary degree do you have? And uh, you know, jokingly, often we refer to uh seminaries as cemeteries because people go there and they become brain dead anyway, uh, and they come out all kinds of liberal craziness. Uh but um there are good seminaries out there, don't get me wrong, but that was not the approach. The approach was I had filled the pulpit for Mike a few times while he was on vacation or even while he was going through some of his treatments. And then if you remember, those of you who were here, the Ascension Quartet sang here one Sunday. And Jerry stopped me afterward. He said, Hey, are you guys singing next Sunday? We need someone to fill the pulpit. And I never left. So um it is that kind of calling. God opened. I I wasn't necessarily looking to quit traveling and singing, but when the question was asked, I knew in my heart immediately, yes, this is what I'm supposed to do. Uh, and so um that's that's how it happened. And, you know, you have you take Paul's credentials, and then you add to that what we find out about Paul uh in the book of Acts when he was called Saul, he was not a nice guy. He was out persecuting Christians and and giving approval by the religious leaders to kill Christians, holding the coats while Stephen was being stoned, keeping an eye on their coats so that they didn't, you know, tear them or get them dirty as they're stoning Stephen to death for his faith. But the reality is that God's sovereign grace intervened. And Paul is traveling down the road to Damascus, just going about his own way, thinking he's doing his own thing, and all of a sudden this light brighter than the sun appears, and he's struck blind, and a voice speaks from that light and says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And next thing we know, he can't see. And the voice, which is Christ, tells him, Go into Damascus and go to a place on Strait Street, seek out this man and stay with him. And then all of a sudden, a few days later, these things that look like scales fell off of his eyes, and he was a new creation. He understood it was entirely by the grace of God. He didn't choose any of that. God did that. And so Christ conquered Paul not just inviting him, but calling him effectually is the term. It means to call with the result you desire. And that's how it worked. And Paul says that his ministry came by the working, by the working of his power, God's power. The Greek term there for working is energy, and it's it's the word we get the English word energy from, and it refers to an active, operative power. It's not anything passive in any way, it's not potential power, it is effectual power, power in action. And the same divine power that raised Christ from the dead, in fact, back in Ephesians 1, 19 and 20, is the same power that transforms Saul, the persecutor, into Paul the apostle. It is that power, it is that grace, and and this is the theology that is plainly described in Scripture, that God's grace is not some weak assistance along with our human intuition and desires. That is not what God's grace is, it is effectual. God calls us. Isaiah writes about it in chapter 55. He says that my word shall not return to me void, but it will accomplish the purpose for which I sent it forth. God's word will do what God has designed it and desired it to do in every situation. And so God accomplishes by his grace what he intends to accomplish. Augustine of Hippo said that give what thou commandest and command what thou wilt. Give us what you command, and you command whatever you want, God. Because you're in charge. Augustine understood that God must sovereignly grant whatever it is that he requires. If he requires something of us, he either gives us that thing or the ability to do that thing. He doesn't call us to do something and then go, figure it out. He gives us everything we need to accomplish that. And Paul's conversion illustrates for us the irresistibility of God's grace. Because Christ didn't just try to persuade Paul, he called Paul to salvation by grace and mercy. Jesus said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, John 6.44. He also said in John 6.37, also that the Father give all that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will lose none of them, but will raise them up on the last day. God is in charge of our salvation. And so Paul's ministry is magnifying that grace that saved him as the same grace that then called him to be an apostle, that it wasn't based on his own human free will. Everything he had and was was a result of God's grace. Every true ministry is birthed, it is sustained, and it is empowered by God's grace. Then we have this idea that the greatest servants possess the deepest humility. Paul continues in verse 8, to me though I am the very least of all the saints. This statement is astonishing. I mean, Paul is an apostle. He's not just your run-of-the-mill church pew occupier. He's an apostle. He's receiving divine scripture that is being written down. And he is planting churches all throughout that part of the world. He defended the gospel, yet he says, I am the very least. The Greek construction of this sentence really is unique and it's almost awkward grammatically, because what Paul essentially says is he invents this comparative expression that means I am more least than the least. He says, I am less than any other believer. There's no pride in that statement. This is not some sort of false deprecation where Paul's just trying to pretend that he's humble. Paul is expressing, I am saved and called as an apostle by the grace of God, and has got nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with God and his grace. And aren't we glad of that? Because if it had to do with any of us, we'd all be doomed. Every one of us. When he says that in the New Testament, he's saying, look, I had all the qualifications that the world wants, but in spite of that, God used me anyway. God used Paul, he called Paul and used him really in spite of all of those qualifications, because all of those qualifications turned him into the guy who was out there giving authority to execute Christians for being Christians. So it's this picture that the closer a believer grows to Christ, the more aware we become of our own sinfulness. The more in awe we are of the grace of God. Because we understand I could never ever deserve this. In fact, I deserve his wrath and his punishment. But thanks be to God, he poured that out on his own son on my behalf. You talk about awe that is crushing because you understand, like we just sang, it was my sin that held him on the cross. My sin, your sin, held him on the cross. The sin of every person who had ever looked forward to the coming Messiah before he came, and every person since that time who has put their faith and trust in him. Our sin nailed him to the cross. But lest we think, wow, I must have some power, Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53, it was the will of the Father to crush his son on our behalf. So God put him there. And then there were the humans who actually nailed him to the cross. They put him there. It all came together to accomplish God's will. And the reality is that immature Christians often think pretty highly of themselves. I must be pretty amazing that God wanted me. The more we grow in Christ, the more we understand. I don't know why God wanted me, but boy, I sure am glad he did. I sure am grateful that he called me by his grace to be saved. Paul, I mean, we have we have statements here that Paul has made throughout his life in Scripture, and we can compare them early in his writings in 1 Corinthians 15 9, he says, I am the least of the apostles. Least of the apostles, those called to a specific office. Later here in Ephesians 3 8, he said, I am the very least of all the saints. And near his death, as he's writing it to Timothy, he says, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost or the chief. I'm the biggest sinner of them all. So the closer he got to seeing Christ face to face in glory, the more he understood how he, in and of himself, in his flesh, was wretched, vile. The holier Paul became, the lower he viewed himself, the less he thought of himself. And it's the opposite of worldly leadership. The world celebrates self-promotion. You want that new job? Go tell them how great you are. You want the promotion, you want the whatever, tell them how awesome you are. Anybody had a job interview in the last, I'd say 20 years. I've probably I've heard this question come about where they say, Well, tell me what your strengths are. And you don't want to sound like a braggadocious jerk who's full of himself. But then they follow that up with, what about your weaknesses? Well, you don't want to sound like you're a useless doof. So I think that's those are the two dumbest questions ever in a job interview. Why? Well, because I'm going to make myself sound pretty good. I'm going to come up with a weakness that kind of maybe sounds like weakness, but I'm still going to sound pretty good. But when it comes to our walk with Christ, there's no pretty good. There's no any good. It's all grace. And that's what Paul is laying out for us to see in this. Christ exalts humility. Christ exalts humility. Jesus said, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted, Matthew 23, 12. So John Chrysostom, early church father, he said, the truly humble man is not he who speaks humbly, but he who is humbled by the greatness of God. That's true humility. Because we understand you all hear it all the time. My favorite Jonathan Edwards quote the only thing I bring to my salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. That's it. I don't bring anything positive to my salvation. I bring the need for salvation, the sinfulness. That's what I bring to salvation. That's what anyone brings to salvation. Because salvation is all of grace. It is all of grace. Paul's humility was not some artificial self-hatred. It was the reality of the gospel. It was an understanding of the gospel. He knew what he deserved, and so he knew what grace had done for him. If you're here this morning and you're in Christ, I hope you realize what grace has done for you. It's brought you from death to life. It has transferred you, Colossians 1 tells us, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's beloved Son. It's made you a new creation. It's changed your eternal destiny. That's what grace has done. Spurgeon said, the lower a man lies before God, the higher he will rise in grace. Because we become less and less self-reliant. We become less like Pharisees. Look at my robe with the long tassels and my phylapteries with all the scriptures I know and I love to walk through the. That's why when people ask me, well, should I call you pastor? It doesn't bother me if you call me pastor, but my name's Daryl. Okay? It's that simple. And if you say, good morning, pastor, I'm not gonna be offended. But I'm also not gonna go, well, yeah, yeah, I am the pastor. Why? Pride comes before the fall. And the minute I start to get full of myself, I'm gonna find myself flat on my face. Because I'm gonna fall. And that's true for any of us. True gospel ministry cannot coexist with pride. Because our motives are wrong. I led so-and-so to Christ. No, you didn't. You presented the gospel, but the Holy Spirit drew them to Christ. I've heard that phrase my whole life. It always used to crack me up. We had Tuesday nights at Parkcrest Baptist Church, and I'm not knocking Parkcrest, that's the church I grew up in in Springfield. Tuesday nights was visitation, and they would go soul winning. And I always thought. How do you do that? I mean, I get you're sharing the gospel, but you're not winning anybody. You can't make the gospel attractive enough to genuinely bring anyone to saving faith in Christ. I encourage you to come to Sunday school as we're studying this book called. Hard to believe. And it's about the true biblical gospel and why it is offensive to people. But we can't back away from that because that is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1 tells us. For everyone who believes. So gospel ministry can't coexist with pride. Why? Because I have nothing to offer you that will bring about salvation in your life except for the gospel, which has nothing to do with me. Except that I need it desperately every day. And so do you. Sure about that? I look at me in the mirror every morning. And I thank God for the grace of the gospel. Because I know me. And I know apart from that, every day in my life, I would be doomed. That's the attitude and the mindset that Paul is expressing here because pride steals glory from Christ. It makes us think I got saved because I'm just so awesome. No, I got saved in spite of me. In spite of my mindset, in spite of my thoughts, in spite of my deeds, in spite of my attitudes, God called me to saving faith in Jesus Christ. End of story. End of story. Because humility magnifies grace. Again, the only thing I bring to my salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. That's it. I have nothing positive to interject there. And then the central message of the church Paul talks about next, and that is the unsearchable riches of Christ. The middle of verse 8 down through verse 9, he says that this grace was given. Why? To preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's Paul's calling. That's Paul's purpose in life. It's the heart of Christian ministry. It's not politics, it's not entertainment, it's not self-help, it's not moralism. We can teach kids to obey all these rules and laws and don't do this and don't do this and don't do this and don't do this. But if we're not teaching our kids the gospel, which is the power of God and the salvation, we have failed them as parents. Because you cannot do all the things in the world. But if you don't have saving faith in Christ, you're going to not do those things right into the gates of hell. That's why we have to share the gospel. It's not about keeping rules. Are there things we should not do? Absolutely. There's a whole bunch of them in this book that says, don't do this. This is not how. In fact, here probably just a couple more weeks, we're going to finish this chapter and we're going to turn the page to chapter four, where Paul finishes who you are in Christ and what you have in Christ. And he says, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. And do that with all humility. So here's who you are in Christ, here's what you have in Christ, here's who you are in Christ, here's what God has done for you in Christ, here's what you've got, here's what you've got. God's checkbook. God has written this incredible check and he's blessed us, as he says back in chapter 1 and verse 3, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So he tells us for half of this letter, he tells everyone who reads it, here's who you are in Christ, here's what you have in Christ, here's what God has done for you. Now live this way because of the effects of all of those things, because of the effect of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is how you ought to live. And that's a very common theme in Paul's letters. Here's what God has done for you, here's what he's provided for you. So live this way. Because this is a life that shows honor to God and to Christ. It's a life that shows you are transformed. The church exists to proclaim Christ. And Paul describes the riches of Christ as unsearchable. It means it's unfathomable, it's untraceable. Here we go. It's impossible to fully explore. We can't get to the depths of it because it is so profound and so astonishing that we will never fully grasp it until we see him face to face. Christ's riches are inexhaustible. His grace cannot be measured, his wisdom cannot be exhausted, his mercy cannot be depleted, his glory cannot be fully comprehended. And Paul is saying that throughout eternity, redeemed sinners will never reach the bottom of the riches that are found in Christ. Here are just a few of those riches. The fact that we are justified, declared righteous in God's eyes, that we are given the spirit of adoption, Romans 8, as sons and daughters, that we are redeemed from the slave market to sin. That we have union with Christ. Sorry, I forgot adoption or justification, Romans 5. I know some of you are taking notes. Adoption, Romans 8, redemption, Colossians 1.14, union with Christ, Galatians 2.20. Eternal life, John 17, 3. Peace with God, Romans 5.1, and inheritance with the saints, 1 Peter 1.4. Those are just some of the riches that we have in Christ. And believers possess infinite spiritual wealth because we are united to Christ. And God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. If Christ rules all things, then his riches are limitless. And Paul's calling also, he says, was to bring light for everyone. What is, bring to light to everyone? What is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God? The mystery hidden for ages has now been revealed. What is that mystery? That Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ. That we are one in Christ. This was always God's plan. Verse 9 says this mystery was hidden in God. Then what does it say? Who created all things. The God who planned redemption is the creator of the universe. And so redemption is not plan B. Redemption is not, uh-oh, now what? The church is not an accident. The cross was not some divine reaction to, oh, we didn't know Adam was gonna fall. It's not anything other than the fact that God ordained redemption before the foundation of the world. How do we know that? Acts 2.23 on the day of Pentecost. Peter says these words this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Before God spoke the universe into existence, the plan for redemption was already set. There was no cosmic. Uh-oh. Now what do we do? These idiots we created spit in our face and turned against us and did the one thing we told them they couldn't do. Don't eat of that tree. Eat of any other tree you want, but don't eat of that tree. This tree, Lord? This one? This one right here? I can't quite touch it, but this one had one instruction to not do, right? One thing. It said you can do anything else, but don't eat of that tree. Almost like they're talking to teenagers. I can't do that one thing. You want to bet? I was a teenager once. I know. I loved all the don't do this when I was a teenager. Because you can rest assured that was the first thing I was going to figure out how to do. God told Adam, don't eat of that tree. And the day you eat of that tree, you will surely die. Hey, Eve. Go eat off of that tree. I think, I think, I mean, obviously Satan was there. He twisted God's word. Has God said, You can't eat of that tree? And what did Eve say? Oh, yes, we can't even touch that tree. God didn't say that. God said, don't eat of that tree. Is it a good idea to touch things that you shouldn't be getting that close to because you're going to be tempted even more? No. So maybe it was a good idea she didn't touch the tree, but God never said that. So what Satan does, he twists God's word. That's what false teachers do. They twist God's word. And they try to make it say something that it doesn't say. So it's important we understand all of that happened, and God wasn't up in heaven. Gosh, didn't see that coming. Now what do we do? Before he spoke this universe into existence, the plan for redemption was already set. It was already determined what was going to happen. It's referred to as the pre-eternal council. When the members of the Godhead determined this is what's going to happen. We're going to create this universe, we're going to take some dirt, we're going to create man, we're going to knock him out, take a rib, and create a woman, and then those two geniuses are going to turn their back on us and do the one thing we tell them not to do. So we need a plan. And they created us all anyway. I've told you all before, there's not a person in this room that I would give up any of my three sons or my daughter for. Not one of you. But God created us knowing that his perfect, sinless, spotless, undefiled Son would have to die for our sin. That's grace. That is absolutely grace. So then the church displays the wisdom of God to heaven itself in verse 10. And this verse really is staggering, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. So the church is God's cosmic display case. We are the reflection of God's glory in this world. And even angels behold the wisdom of God through the redemption of people. Rulers and authorities, those are classifications of heavenly beings, of angels. And Peter says that in 1 Peter 1, he speaks of things into which angels long to look. Why? Because angels will never know the redemption in the way that we know redemption. Because those who remain faithful to God, two-thirds of them, never needed to be redeemed. And those who followed Lucifer and fell, they are not in a state of being able to be redeemed because they are still cursing God and trying to be God in and of themselves. And so the word manifold, he says that through the church, the manifold wisdom means a multicolored, multi-sided, infinitely varied wisdom. All wisdom, all kinds of wisdom. The wisdom of God is displayed in countless dimensions through the church. So at the cross, we have justice and mercy coming together. We have wrath and love converging. We have holiness and grace harmonizing together. Satan thought the cross was victory. Instead, the cross was his defeat. And so the church then becomes a testimony to even heaven itself that God's wisdom is perfect. John MacArthur wrote, the church is the classroom of the angels because they get to witness the glory of redemption in the body of Christ. The redeemed people of God display his divine wisdom to the universe, which really gives a profound significance to the church. And I don't mean Reed's Baptist Church or First Baptist Church of Carthage or, you know, First Assembly of God in Joplin, or I'm talking about the body of Christ, all of those around the world throughout history who are in the body of Christ by grace through faith. Because the church is not a social club. It's not a human organization. It's not a religious hobby. It's not any of those things. The church is God's redeemed people who were purchased by Christ's blood for his eternal glory. That's the church. And then verse 11, redemption flows from God's eternal purpose. Paul says this was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. Everything in redemption rests upon God's eternal decree. God said, this is how it's going to happen, and that's how it's going to happen. It's one of the clearest affirmations of God's sovereignty in salvation. God did not improvise redemption. It wasn't, as I said earlier, some afterthought or reaction to the fall. He eternally purposed redemption. It was his plan always, and he purposed it before creation, before the fall, before history began. God ordained salvation in Christ. Ephesians 1:4, even as he chose us in him from before the foundation of the world. Revelation talks about those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life from before the foundation of the world. So Romans 8 reveals what is called the golden chain of redemption. It talks about those whom he foreknew, he predestined, and those whom he predestined, he called, and those whom he called, he justified, and those he justified, he glorified. And those are all spoken of in the past tense because God has declared and decreed it, and so it's as good as done. The certainty of salvation doesn't rest on human will, but on God's divine purpose. That's the certainty. John Calvin wrote, Our salvation flows from the fountain of God's free election. That's why you see through the New Testament the term elect. Peter. Peter, an apostle, to the elect of God. That's how he begins the letter. So the elect of God, it is God choosing us. We would never choose God if he did not first choose us. I love him because he first loved me, 1 John tells us. So this doctrine doesn't diminish evangelism. Well, if that's the case, if God's just going to save who he wants to save, why do we do evangelism? Why do we share the gospel? Because we're commanded to. And because in reality, the fact that God is sovereign over salvation guarantees evangelism because it guarantees that when we share the gospel, there will be some who God will call to salvation. It's not a robotic thing. And because God has chosen a people, the gospel is going to bear fruit. The gospel will see people come to faith in Christ because Christ purchased his sheep. They will come. Jesus said in John 10, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. When we were studied John's gospel, chapter 10, we were probably in that, I don't know, nine and a half, ten years ago. The picture is out in the countryside, they have these big pins that are set up. And the shepherd will sleep across the threshold, the doorway. And when they get up, the sun comes up in the morning, they get up, they get ready to move. Each shepherd, there's multiple shepherds with their sheep in there, and each shepherd goes to that threshold and calls for his sheep. And the rest of the sheep don't move, but his sheep go to his voice. And then he begins to walk, and his sheep follow him. But those who are not his sheep don't listen to his voice, and they don't follow him. And that is the very picture of Christ and his church. That's why in his high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus says, I don't pray for the world, but I pray for those you've given me out of the world. It is his own that Christ died for. Verse 12, believers possess bold access to God through Christ. Paul says, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. Because of Christ, we can approach God in prayer without fear of his wrath. Under the old covenant, access was restricted. We talked about this last week. One day out of the year, the high priest only could enter into the Holy of Holies, into the place where the ark sat that represented the presence of God. But he had to offer up sacrifices for his own sins first to make sure he was pure and right before God so that he could on that one time a year enter in through the curtain into the Holy of Holies. Because there was a veil that separated sinners from the Holy of Holies. But when Christ died, Matthew 27, 51 says, Behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And now, as the writer of Hebrews says, we can approach the throne of God with confidence or with boldness because of Christ. So we possess boldness, we possess access to God, and we possess confidence in that. And it's not because of our own personal righteousness, rather, it's because of Christ's righteousness, which is given to us as a gift at the very instant we place our faith and trust in Him. I don't know, on our behalf. That verse. Why? Because it's the gospel in a nutshell. He takes our sin upon himself and gives us. His righteousness, therefore, we are perfectly clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and perfection is the only way we get to heaven. So it has to be something outside of us because we can't perfectly obey God's law. Christ is our mediator, and the idea of access carries the idea of being brought in and introduced into the presence of a king. So we have access to the king of kings, we have access to the God of the universe because of Christ. He is our mediator. 1 Timothy 2.5 says, For there is one God and there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Spurgeon said, prayer is the autograph of the Holy Spirit upon the renewed heart. Because we are united to Christ, and in Christ we have continual access to the Father. Finally, verse 13. Suffering for Christ is not defeat, but it is glory. Paul says, So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Paul's writing this from prison. That's what he's talking about, what I am suffering for you. But he doesn't ask for pity. He tells them, those in the church in Ephesus, you don't lose heart. I'm the one that's in prison, but that's not the focus. I want you to not lose heart. Why? Because suffering for Christ is not meaningless. There's always a purpose and a point to it. And Paul's imprisonment was advancing the gospel. How do we know that? You remember a little story about Paul and Silas? They were in jail. They started singing praises to God. And all of a sudden the cell doors swung open. The jailer, what happened? He was asleep. Uh-oh. He wakes up and he sees all the doors open. Draws his sword to kill himself because that would have been the punishment when the prisoners had escaped under his watch because he fell asleep. And Paul says, Do yourself no harm. We're all here. We haven't gone anywhere. And the jailer looks at him and says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And what's Paul's response? Walk an aisle and pray this prayer and get dunked in water and sign the card. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and your household. Paul wasn't guaranteeing that all of his, that his wife and all of his children would be saved, but what he's saying is the influence of the father in spiritual matters. I know it's Mother's Day, but dad's our influence over our household, dads, is vitally important. Not that we're perfect, but that we're willing to go and say, hey, I blew it. I didn't react well. I said something I shouldn't have said. I was harsh in the way I said that. Not that I didn't need to be, but I didn't need to be as harsh as I was. We need to be willing to go and say, I blew it. Why? Because our leadership as the shepherd of our home is vital to how our family responds to the gospel of Christ because we're giving them a picture of someone who is a new creation. That wasn't in my notes, it was free. God sovereignly uses suffering for his glory and the good of his church. And nothing is wasted, nothing is accidental, nothing falls outside of God's decree. Romans 8.28 is true. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. Augustine of Hippo said God would never permit evil if he could not bring good from it. Why did God allow sin? So that he might show his grace through redemption in Christ. Because it brings glory to God. Even Paul's chains in prison here become instruments of grace in the hands of God's sovereign providence. So this passage gives us a breathtaking vision of God's redemptive plan because we see grace that calls sinners, we see humility that's produced by the gospel, we see the infinite riches of Christ. We see the glory of the church. We see the eternal decree of God. We see bold access through Christ, and we see purpose and suffering. And at the center of all of this stands the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the focal point of all of this. Our message is Christ. Our treasure is Christ. Our confidence is Christ. And our glory is Christ. Charles Spurgeon said, I have a great need for Christ. I have a great Christ for my need. May we never move beyond the unsearchable riches of Christ. Because they are our only hope. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word today. Lord, I pray that you would be.