WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.319 This morning we're going to be in Ephesians chapter three. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.000 If you have your Bible, shout out. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:05.919 You're more than welcome to turn there. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.000 I am reading out of the NIV translation, but if you have a different one, that is totally okay. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:13.599 We also have the scripture on the screen if you want to read along. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:15.359 Starting in verse one. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:25.280 For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.920 That is the mystery made known to me by revelation. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:43.280 As I have already written briefly, in reading this, then you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit of God, by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:53.679 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.200 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:15.040 Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:27.439 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:32.319 In him and through faith, in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:37.840 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:39.599 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.319 Father God, thank you so much for your word this morning. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:48.480 We are so thankful that we're able to gather together free of persecution, that I ask that this word would sink deeply into our hearts. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:50.159 And would you bless Blake? 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:53.359 Would you let his words be your words, God, and not his own? 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:54.640 Jesus name I pray. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:56.640 Amen, amen. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:58.000 Can we give it up for Abraham? 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:03.040 All right. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:04.719 Ready to go? 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:05.840 Let's do it. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:06.799 Let's have fun. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:20.080 On December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked, killing over 2,400 Americans, sinking or damaging 21 ships, and destroying 188 airplanes. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.919 As a result of this, President Roosevelt's hand was forced and America entered the war. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:27.039 And this would be the turning point of World War II. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:37.039 The whole nation looked on, and there were thousands of, specifically young men, who were inspired by this moment to voluntarily enlist to represent the United States in World War II. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:44.080 And one of these men was a 5'8, 130-pound 21-year-old in Lynchburg, Virginia, named Desmond Dawes. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.560 There was only one problem for Desmond. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:57.520 He was a pacifist, also known as a conscientious objector, meaning that he refused to carry a weapon, fire a weapon, or take a life rooted in his strict belief in the Ten Commandments. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:58.960 He was a Seventh-day Adventist. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:03.520 And he even refused to take combat knife, like he took no kind of weapon. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:11.120 And so this shipyard worker turned noncombatant medic, enlisted in April 1942. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:23.520 Desmond faced severe bullying and ostracism by his peers, yet proved his bravery by consistently volunteering for the most dangerous frontline rescue tasks in the fiercest combat zones from Guam to Leyte to Okinawa. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:31.520 And in April 1945, the war had come to a head at the Maida Escarpment, also known as Hacksaw Ridge. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:33.759 May be familiar with the movie. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:49.680 It was a 400-foot vertical cliff in Okinawa, Japan, and the 77th and 96th Army Infantry Divisions had to scale this heavily fortified cliff during the Battle of Okinawa because this was the key to Allied forces being able to advance and secure the island during the final major battle of the war. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:55.199 And once they scaled the mountain, they faced a fierce counterattack from the Axis powers, forcing them to retreat. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:07.280 And night fell, and all that was left upon this 400-foot mountain were wounded American soldiers, enemy forces, and one small man. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:09.120 Desmond Daws. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:22.800 And while American troops were regrouping and recuperating at the base of the mountain, bodies of wounded soldiers just began to be lowered from above on top of this mountain. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:29.360 And troops were looking up at this mountain as bodies were began to be lowered by these ropes. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:32.319 And there was one body, and then there was two, and then there was three. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:40.240 And over and over again, bodies of wounded troops were being lowered down to the ground below. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:51.519 And what was happening is little Desmond Dawes was running alone into enemy territory under fire to tend to wounded men, pull them from the wreckage, and then lower them down to safety. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.959 And he did this all night long. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:03.920 Even after being wounded by a grenade blast and sniper fire, until he eventually lowered over 75 soldiers to safety. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:11.279 Interestingly enough, he he even lowered enemy soldiers who needed who needed healing. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.079 He even lowered them down over the mountain. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:20.240 He would eventually be evacuated due to his injuries, but the Allied forces would take Hacksaw Ridge, ultimately leading to the end of World War II. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:29.600 And just six months later, on October 12th, 1945, President Truman awarded little Desmond Dawes the highest honor of our military, the Congressional Medal of Honor. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.000 And he also earned two bronze star medals and three Purple Hearts during his service. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:44.160 And so this small man from a small town became one of the most impactful and highly decorated soldiers of the entire war without ever even carrying a weapon. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:49.759 When Desmond was being interviewed, he was asked, How did you do it? 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.079 What kept you going all night long in the face of darkness, violence, and enemy attack? 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:02.560 And little Desmond Dawes simply responded, I was praying the whole time, and I just kept praying, Lord, please help me get one more. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.480 Man, we love these kinds of stories, don't we? 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:12.319 Ordinary people being placed in extraordinary circumstances and accomplishing extraordinary things. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:14.800 These are the stories we make movies about, right? 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.759 From Hacksaw Ridge to Miracle to Rocky. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:23.120 We love it when amazing things happen in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds through ordinary people. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.319 And why do we love these kinds of stories? 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:37.600 Because they inspire us, they move us, they stir us, and I believe almost convict us and lead us to ask questions like this Could God do something meaningful through me in my life? 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:43.759 Could something extraordinary actually happen through me in my life? 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:50.639 Because we all long to be part of something extraordinary, to overcome our own limitations and do something that truly matters. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:52.240 Every single one of us long for this. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:07:00.720 And when we get a glimpse of it in a book or in a movie or on a show or whatever it may be, or even in real life, if we're lucky enough to see moments of greatness, they stir us. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:07.759 So let me let me summarize what Abraham just read out of Ephesians 3:1 through 13 for you, real quick. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.959 It's simply this God has a dream. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:12.800 God has a dream. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.000 And for a long time it was a secret dream. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.079 No one else could see it but God. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:22.959 But all of human history was ultimately moving towards God's dream. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:31.120 And God's dream has now been made known through Christ and the apostles to the church, and God wants to accomplish his dream in and through you. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:36.240 And everyone is watching, both on the earth in this physical realm and in the heavens in the spiritual realm. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:37.920 This is what Paul is saying. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:39.600 He's saying that God has a dream. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.160 And for a long time, only God knew about this dream. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.959 Only God ultimately had this vision and knew what he was up to. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:52.480 But slowly over history, he has been making this dream known, and ultimately it's been made through it's been made known through Christ and through the apostles. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:59.680 And now his dream is ultimately coming to fruition, but it's only going to come through for it's only going to come to fruition through you and me, through the church. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:02.560 And this is what Paul is saying. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.519 And so here's ultimately what I want to get into our hearts today. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:09.600 Really, these three things is that there's an extraordinary mission. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:16.240 We are in extraordinary circumstances, and we are ordinary people, and God wants to use us. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:18.399 This is what I want to get into our hearts over the next few minutes. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:19.759 Is that there's an extraordinary mission. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:29.279 God has an extraordinary mission that's unfolding in human history, that we are in extraordinary circumstances, and that we are an ordinary people that God wants to use. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.240 So the first thing I want to talk about is the extraordinary mission. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:43.360 Once again, as we just painted the picture that sometimes ordinary people are placed in extraordinary moments to accomplish extraordinary feats, but ultimately it's because they're a part of something extraordinary. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:49.200 And Paul highlights a few different things in this text that kind of highlight this extraordinary mission that we're in. 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:54.960 The first thing that he continues to that he consistently says is that there's a mystery of Christ in the sovereign will and intention of God. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.039 He words this multiple times throughout this paragraph. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:07.200 He says, he keeps talking about like there's this secret thing, there's this mysterious thing that's been unfolding that God has kind of kept to himself throughout history, and it's his sovereign will and intention. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:11.279 And he said, man, throughout human history, people have tried to kind of peg down what God is up to. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:17.039 He's saying, He said, man, throughout history, people have tried to figure out who God is and what he's like and what he's really up to in the world. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:22.559 And there's been there's been these shadow moments where they kind of got glimpses of it, but they never really figured out the whole story. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.879 And Paul's going, now we understand the whole story. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:28.240 On this side of Christ, we really get what God's been up to this entire time. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.000 And he sums it up in verse six. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.480 He says, the mystery is this, this is what God's been up to. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:45.840 That through the gospel, the Gentiles, and when he says this word Gentiles, he's meaning all non-Jews, and he's talking about the whole world, are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body and shares together in the promise of Christ Jesus. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:46.799 He's saying this. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:54.960 He's saying that, man, throughout human history, God has been at work trying to redeem the whole world, trying to get the whole world to be his people. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:02.720 And and Paul consistently is saying throughout this paragraph, he goes, he he goes, man, people had people had glimpses of it, but they didn't really understand it. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:13.440 And so it wasn't that God was just choosing the nation of Israel and he always wanted to just have the nation of Israel, but the nation of Israel was meant to be a conduit through which God's glory was made known to the whole world. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:20.000 But then they got too obsessed with simply being God's chosen people that they forgot ultimately what God was trying to do. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:22.240 He's trying to redeem and renew all of creation. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.440 And then he said, Christ is ultimately the fulfillment of this. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:31.279 Christ steps into the story and he shows them, he reminds them what God's been up to throughout human history. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.279 And you know who this really made angry? 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:34.879 The people who couldn't see it. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.559 The people who didn't want to see it. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.320 It really made the Pharisees angry. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:48.240 It really made the Jewish people who were who whose identity was rooted in their Jewishness rather than having a relationship with Yahweh, rather than having a relationship with God. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:11:02.480 And so Jesus had to come against and in the midst of so much enemy rejection and resistance in order to come and make known once again this is what God has been up to. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:04.240 This is what God has been up to. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:10.960 And so he says that there's the mystery of Christ and the sovereign will and intention of God that God's been trying to do this the whole time. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:19.840 He's been trying to, you can see from the beginning of the garden, when God creates humanity, He initiates that relationship and says, I want to be your God, I want you to be my people, and this is what I want. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.600 I want you to expand my glory to the whole earth and to all of creation. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:28.480 And then sin enters into the picture and division begins to happen. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.000 Wreckage begins to take place. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:34.720 And this is why this is coming right on the heels of what Paul is just talking about at the end of chapter two. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:42.559 When he says, when he says, This is the beauty of the church, Gentile and Jew, coming together, every nation, tribe and tongue, coming together as one new humanity. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:47.440 And he's and Paul is building on that, saying, Therefore, because of this, this is what I need you to understand. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:49.440 God's been wanting to do this the whole time. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:51.840 God's been wanting to do this the whole time. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:12:02.720 I mean, there's that that we cannot, we cannot show the glory and the beauty of God alone in and of ourselves, as one nation, as one tribe, as one tongue. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:03.679 You can't do it. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:15.120 God's multifaceted beauty, the mosaic of the beauty of God's nature and character and who he is can only be exemplified through the fullness of his body and the fullness of his people, every nation, tribe, and tongue. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:17.840 And Paul's saying, this is what God has been up to. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:28.000 And he says, he says, not that this extraordinary mission is not just in the mystery, in the story of the sovereign will of intention of God, but it's also exemplified in the mission and ministry of Jesus Himself, right? 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:35.200 That we see this in the mission and ministry of Jesus Himself, that he came to fulfill the law, the old covenant, and initiate the new covenant through his blood. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:37.200 And what does Jesus do during his time? 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.279 He launches a missional movement. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:40.559 That's what he does. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:48.720 He begins to pull people to himself, people that no one ever expected or thought would ever be someone that the Messiah, that the chosen one of God would choose to come to him. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:56.320 And yet he picks this ragtag group of people and he begins to form them and shape them to help them understand the story that God is writing and what he's doing. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.240 They see Jesus actually accept and do ministry to Gentile people. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:06.879 They see Jesus cross boundary boundaries of gender and race and all kinds of different things in order to in order to bring those people to himself. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:13.679 And every single time they reject it and oppose it, and Jesus has to has to rebuke them and say, No, you don't understand what God's doing. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:18.320 Because he's doing something different than they thought. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.440 And yet it's been the thing he's been doing all along. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:24.960 And so he launches this missional movement through the church. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:29.519 Jesus tells us in Luke 19 that he's come to seek and to save the lost. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.679 To seek and to save the lost, those who are disconnected and away from him. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.039 Who is that? 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.679 Everyone who doesn't have a relationship with him. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.960 Not one nation, not one tribe, not one tongue, but the whole world. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:45.120 And here they thought that Jesus was coming to be the king of the Jews, and Jesus goes, No, no, no, I'm the king of the whole world. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.360 My kingdom is all-encompassing. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.840 The kingdom of heaven invading the earth, redeeming the whole world. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:58.159 And he when he sends them, when he commissions them in Matthew chapter 28, known as the Great Commission, what does he say? 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:01.759 Go and make disciples of all nations. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:02.480 All nations. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.519 The word there in the Greek is this word ethne, it's where we get ethnic groups from. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.000 He's not talking about countries and nations with governments. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.120 He's talking about every nation, every tribe, every tongue. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:18.799 Whether they're in the unknown places and mountains in the Himalayas, or whether they're in the deepest parts of the woods or the deepest parts of the jungle, it doesn't matter. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:22.720 Every nation, every tribe, every tongue, he loves them, they're made in his image, he longs to redeem them. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:28.240 And he sends his church out and he says, You're the movement that I'm gonna use in order to reach all of these people. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.759 And then Jesus ascends to the Father, and what does he do? 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.120 He sends the Holy Spirit. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:34.879 He says, Look, you can't do this by yourself. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:40.720 I can give you a command, I can give you a calling, but if you don't have power and you don't have gifting, it doesn't matter, you're not gonna be able to do it. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:52.480 And so he sends his spirit and he fills his people, and he gives them everything that they need in order to pursue his mission in the world, and yet they do what we're always tempted to do. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:15:01.679 We saw this in the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament, where all the people chose to try to get together and huddle together and try to make themselves great. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:11.519 And we see the same thing happen in the book of Acts that the Spirit is poured out, so many people begin to come to faith in Christ, and they begin to huddle together and try to form this mega thing. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:12.960 And then what does God allow? 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.840 He allows persecution to come against the church and then they spread. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:16.960 They spread. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:26.240 And that's how the gospel begins to spread to every nation, tribe, and tongue is through persecution because God is consistently saying, Go, more people lost, go get them. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.759 So he says, we see this in the mission and ministry of Jesus Himself. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:33.519 And then Paul starts to talk about himself. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.279 He starts to talk about the unique calling of Paul and the apostles. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:46.080 Paul says, I was uniquely chosen and positioned in this moment and this place in history to make known the mystery of God and to and he ultimately sets the trajectory of the church for the future. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:54.559 And so this isn't because Paul himself was some other type of greater form of human. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:01.679 It was just Paul's unique calling at a specific moment in history to say, look, the church has been birthed and God has given us revelation. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.240 He's literally saying that this is something that God has been doing, but you couldn't see it. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:20.000 But God has made it known to me, and I can now see it, and now I'm here to tell you what it is God is doing. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:25.440 And so he's making known the mystery of God and he's setting the trajectory of the church for the future. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.039 And what was Paul's unique calling ultimately among the apostles? 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:30.639 What did he do that no one else did? 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:35.440 He took the gospel to non-Jewish people, he took the gospel to the Greeks. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:46.399 And so we see three missionary journeys that Paul goes on, and the church that he's currently writing to, Ephesus, that's a modern-day Turkey, was planted in his third missionary journey that we read about in Acts 19. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:59.360 And so Paul is the one who's on this journey saying, Look, I'm showing you through my own ministry and mission that God's agenda is not just one subplot of people, but he's trying to redeem the whole world. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:01.279 He's trying to reach all people. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:06.000 NT Wright in his book, The Vision for the Ephesians, says this. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:13.519 Paul's point is that the direct reason for his imprisonment is precisely his carrying out of the apostolic vocation. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.319 So Paul's writing from prison in this letter. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:17.519 He tells us that in the very beginning. 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:18.559 He's writing from prison. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:26.559 And Paul writes at the very end of this that we read, that Abraham read at the very end, he's talking about his suffering, and he's saying that my suffering is for your glory. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.480 What's he saying when he's saying that? 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:39.039 He's writing to a group of people, he's writing to these churches, and he's saying, look, I'm suffering as a result of my ministry and vocation that God has called me to, but don't feel bad about this. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.279 I'm suffering because I'm fulfilling the purpose that God put out in front of me. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:54.640 You know, there's this thing that that can happen, I think, often with us, is that we think if I'm in alignment with God's will, if I'm accomplishing his purpose for my life, then I'm not going to experience suffering. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:01.119 And what Paul actually says is I'm experiencing suffering because I'm being faithful to what God's called me to. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:11.839 That I have a unique calling that he's placed before me, and that's to take the gospel to people who don't yet know Christ and places that don't yet want Christ, and that's going to result in a lot of persecution. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.880 And this is what God has called me to. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.319 This is what I'm meant to do. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:20.240 And T. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:21.039 Wright continues on. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:27.839 He says, He's teaching these young churches the paradox which the first Christians had to go on learning that God's power is made perfect in weakness. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:38.880 Paul's vocation was to stand at the sharp end of the sudden unveiling of God's age-old plan, to bring Judean and Gentile, every nation, tribe, and tongue, the whole world together into a single family. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:42.079 That was why these churches even existed. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.599 But it was also the direct reason for his imprisonment. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:51.200 The reason for Paul's persecution is not then that he has fallen out of God's plan. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:56.960 He is where he is precisely because he has been faithful to his calling. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:05.680 He has been establishing, as God intended, these strange, subverses, subversive, boundary-breaking new communities. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:16.400 And Paul is in prison, not because he's read the signals wrong and is out of line with God's plan, but because he's read them right and is at the sharply focused center of that divine purpose. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.960 So Paul is right in the middle of God's will and God's purpose. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.480 He's experiencing persecution. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:25.279 And this is why he tells the churches he says, Look, don't feel bad about this. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:27.119 This is for your glory. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:29.839 I'm enduring this for your glory. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:38.319 I'm doing exactly what God's called me to, and it happens to be hard, and there happens to be resistance, but don't feel bad about me because this is for your glory. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.960 And then Paul goes on to describe the purpose and calling of the church, what we now live in. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:20:08.720 He says in Ephesians, in the verse 10 and 11, he says, His intent was that now, his intent, his purpose, his will was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God, this word manifold literally just means this multifaceted, like that God's God's got this multifaceted, beautiful wisdom that from every angle has different ways of beauty. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:20.880 Have you ever, if you've ever gone diamond shopping and looked at diamonds and they say, look at it from this angle, look at it from this angle, and you see every little kind of angle has different facets and different beauties that you kind of get to get to look at and see. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.079 And he's saying, This is what God's wisdom, God's plan is like. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:31.839 It's beautiful, it's multifaceted, has different colors and different and different aspects from every angle that you look at it. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:44.000 And he says, the church exists to make his manifold wisdom known to the rulers and authority in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:50.799 So we're meant to make known what God's been up to, not only to the earthly powers, but also to the heavenly realm, more on that later. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:58.640 Nsie Wright goes on to say the present filling of the church with God's own powerful life is the sign of what God is going to do for the whole creation. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:05.279 The very existence of the church is thus in Paul's mind, even if it's hard for us to comprehend it, the sign of hope for the world. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:09.519 And God has indeed begun and will complete the new creation which heaven and earth are summed up. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:11.359 And so I don't know how this hits you. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:12.640 I don't know how this hits you. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:30.880 I don't know what your experience with church has been in the past, but when you but when you hear NT Wright say, and when he's explaining what Paul's saying, that the church, the church is meant to be a window in, that people are meant to be able to walk into the church, experience what God's doing in the church, and see it as a good and beautiful thing that God is going to do for all of the new creation. 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:41.440 And for so I don't I don't know what your experience experience is, but I don't know how many people step into the church and experience something that they go, I hope God does this for everybody. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.759 I hope God does this everywhere. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.200 But he's saying, he's saying that's what the church is meant to be. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:58.400 The church is meant to be a window into God's multifaceted, beautiful wisdom of what he's doing, his plan and his will for all of the world that he's ultimately unfolding throughout new cre throughout and building and restoring a new creation. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:21:59.759 And he's saying that, man, we're meant to be so. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.920 A window of that, a tangible expression of that, that people should step in and go, I hope he does this everywhere for everyone. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:16.799 And Paul is trying to speak to these little house churches multiplied out of his ministry and at the church of Ephesus. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:28.079 And he's going, Man, when people step into your home, when people step into this living room, when people step into the temple courts, when people step into your gatherings, they should see something and go, Wow, God is building this, and I hope he keeps doing it everywhere. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:38.640 And what's amazing about this is that Paul says, in one way, this has always been God's plan. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.319 He's been doing this from the very beginning. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:41.519 This was always God's plan. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:45.920 And at the same time, he's saying, But it's new, and no one's ever seen this before. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.640 In Ephesians 3, the church is both the new project and the age-old plan. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:59.039 Jamie Davies said, God has acted shockingly, suddenly, and disruptively as he always said he would. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.799 I love the way he breaks that down. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:02.480 God's, this has always been God's plan. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:03.920 He's always been saying this. 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:09.680 And yet in this moment it feels shocking, it feels sudden, it feels disruptive to what everyone thought. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.240 And so ultimately, what is this, what is he trying to say for the church? 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:16.319 What is God's will and intention for the church in this moment? 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:17.599 I think it's really simple. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:20.640 We reach the loss, wherever they are. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.279 Luke 19, 10, Jesus came to seek and save the lost. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:26.400 He says, Man, that there's lost people of every nation, tribe, and tongue, and they're everywhere. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:28.079 And he's saying, Man, you got to reach these people. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:30.640 In the Great Commission, Jesus says, make disciples of all nations. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:33.039 So he says, reach the lost, make disciples of all nations. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:40.400 And ultimately, this is expressed through what Paul is experiencing and doing right here, that they plant and multiply churches in all places for all people. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:49.599 The reason this is important for us to know is because people need to understand the story that God is writing and the mission of the church, because if not, we're going to want the church to be what it's not supposed to be. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:50.240 Right? 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:59.920 That a lot of times we step into the church and we're trying to form the church and make it into what we want it to be or what we wish it would be rather than what Jesus has in mind and has intended for the work of the church. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:10.160 And so if we understand that what Jesus is trying to do in the church is that he's trying to reach lost people, make disciples, and plant and multiply churches in all places for all people, it simplifies what we're trying to do and why we're here. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:26.079 And that we're meant to be an experience of the new humanity, that people are meant to look at us as a community and the impact that we're having in the streets around us and see a glimpse of God's redemption that he's ultimately going to do when Jesus returns to make everything right. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.759 We should be that kind of community making that kind of impact. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:33.359 We feel sleepy today. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:46.240 What Jesus is inviting is for each and every single one of us to be conduits of his power and his redemptive and restorative plan in the world. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:59.119 Like that you can actually be filled with the Spirit and invited to partner and co-labor with Jesus in his redemptive plan in a way that actually transforms everywhere that you go, everyone that you interact with, and the streets that are around us in our city. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:00.480 Do you think our city could use that? 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:02.799 Could your family use that? 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.680 And so he says, Man, this is an extraordinary plan. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:09.680 There's an extraordinary mission. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.119 Like, like, man, I promise you that there's one thing. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:19.200 I don't I don't know if our church is ever going to be big, but I can tell you this our church is always, Lord willing, Jesus, please help us. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:26.480 Our church is always going to keep the mission of Jesus and the intention of his heart for the church for front and center. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.240 Like that's what we want. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:30.880 Jesus didn't say, I want to come back and find a big church. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.759 He said, I want to come back and find the church doing what I left it to do. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.279 And so that's, Jesus, may you find us faithful. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:39.359 May you find us faithful. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:53.680 So this is an extraordinary mission that has been unfolding throughout human history, that Jesus exemplified in his own mission and ministry, that now Paul is setting the trajectory of the church for, and that you are now invited to now be part of. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:56.160 This is the plan. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:56.960 This is the mission. 00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:01.039 So extraordinary mission, extraordinary circumstances. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:06.240 So there's an extraordinary mission, but we are in or under extraordinary circumstances. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:20.079 So first and foremost, to set the stage for who Paul is writing to, kind of remind ourselves again that in Paul's third missionary journey in Acts chapter 19, where you can go read about this, he goes to Ephesus. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:24.799 He starts out in the Jewish synagogue and he preaches there until they kick him out. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.720 And then he begins to start a discipleship school. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:43.200 And out of this discipleship school that we that we see in Ephesus, there's such a work that begins to happen that within two years, within two years, Paul never stayed this long anywhere else, but he stayed this long in Ephesus because there was a great window of opportunity. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:51.279 And he said, For two years I stayed there, and over the course of two years, all of that region had heard the good news of Jesus. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:52.559 The whole region. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:27:02.720 Now, the reason I love I love this book, and this is one of the reasons we we wanted to preach through this so early on in the life of our church, is Ephesus is very similar to our city. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:04.319 Very similar to our city. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:10.880 And so and so, as Paul is writing this letter to this group of, once again, when you think about this, he's not writing to megachurches. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:19.119 He's reading to, he's writing to local churches comprised just like this of communities that have now spread and immersed themselves into the life of the city. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:43.839 And it's now been spreading out of the city of Ephesus to the entire region, and they're beginning to see such an impact happen in this region that Acts 19 actually says that people who created and made the idols that they worshipped in Greek culture rioted against Paul and the church because people stopped buying their idols, turned the economy upside down in this region, and now they're gathered together, and Paul is writing to them this letter. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:45.279 Just like this. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:49.440 And there's people who were born and raised Jew in there. 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:54.880 There's people who were who were worshiping Athena and Artemis a few weeks ago who have been transformed by Jesus in this space. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:28:01.279 There's every nation, tribe, and tongue, and they all come from different crazy families, and all kinds of things have happened in their past and in their history. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:09.680 Justin Martyr, we read this quote last week that there were people who had who had gone from trying to murder them to now sharing the table with them. 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:12.559 You think there's some stuff going on? 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:18.640 And so he's writing to these people and he's going, This is what God is up to, this is what he's trying to do. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.599 These are extraordinary circumstances that this church is under. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:25.599 And so you've got Greek, you've got Roman, you've got Jewish cultures. 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:27.920 Man, what's his name? 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:29.680 I'll post it in our email. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:33.039 But there's a book that is coming to mind right now that I read not long ago. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:36.559 And he called Christianity the third way, the third way. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:47.359 And he said, he said that ultimately the first way was the Jewish way, the second way was the Greek or Roman way, and then the third way was this church, this new humanity, this new way that was beginning to burst forth. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:29:03.839 And he's saying, like, man, ultimately these people, right, are now the new humanity, this new people creating something that has never been seen before, that people are very resistant to, and they're experiencing deep and horrible forms of persecution because they're they're rocking the boat. 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:06.240 And now they're saying Jesus is Lord. 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:15.599 And now they're not just saying Jesus is Lord from some dark corner where they're isolated, they're saying Jesus is Lord in the streets, and they're trying to get you to respond and say Jesus is Lord as well. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:20.960 But if you say Jesus is Lord, you lose your family and you lose your community to now go be part of this new humanity. 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:25.359 And so these were extraordinary circumstances. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.480 And so we see the circumstances of the culture, we see the circumstances of the Ephesian church. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:34.960 And then we see the circumstances of our modern cultural moment. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:38.079 We are in extraordinary circumstances. 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.960 We are in extraordinary circumstances. 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:48.559 There's a few things that kind of mark the cultural moment that we're in that's really just this hot spot of things that we've never really experienced in this same, in this way before. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:50.319 I don't know if you felt this. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:51.279 There's a few things. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:53.359 First and foremost, there's increasing secularism. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:59.119 And the idea around secularism isn't that there's just this evil demonic force that's taking over everything. 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:01.839 Secularism just tries to get God out of the picture. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:10.799 It just tries to just tries to get spiritual life out of the picture to where everything that exists and all you focus on is what you can feel with your senses. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:11.440 That's it. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:12.559 That's all that's happening. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:18.880 And they try to they try to kind of get God out of the picture and really kind of shame people when they believe in anything, anything spiritual. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:20.720 And so there's this increasing secularism. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:24.160 I once heard John Tyson refer to this as a reverse exorcism. 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:32.240 He said that when Jesus or in the gospels or throughout the New Testament, when when they would when they would cast out a demon, they would tell it to come out and never enter here again. 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:38.720 And he said, what secularistic culture is now doing is they're going to everywhere that they can find God and they're telling him to get out and never come back here again. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:41.759 So he's saying that ultimately what's happening is there's reverse exorcism. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:44.960 They're not trying to get you to be evil or try to or maybe try to do all these things. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:46.079 They're trying to get God out of the picture. 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:49.599 And what results out of that when you get God out of the picture is chaos. 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:52.720 There's no, there's no foundation for morality. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.640 There's no, there's no agreement on what good is or what evil is. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:02.880 And according to George Barna, we don't have data for the kind of revival or renewal that's required in the United States. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:05.359 We are statistically past the point of recovery. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:08.079 And what he means by that is not that God cannot do anything. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:12.880 What he means by that is that is that there's no man-made methods that can bring about the kind of renewal we need and long for. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:21.440 We're genuinely going to have to experience a move of God and an outpouring of his spirit and a and a revival within the church where we actually begin to do the things that he set out for us to do. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:27.440 The second thing is that along with increasing secularism, there's also religious decline. 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:35.440 Specifically in our backyard, 76% of our city is unchurched, at best, disconnected from church and at worst disconnected from Jesus. 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:46.720 There's about a quarter of a million people within five miles of where of where we are, which 76% of that would make it 190,000 people that are disconnected from Jesus and disconnected from the church. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:52.319 Of those who attend church, only 20% attend weekly, while 40% attend monthly. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:56.240 Nearly 60% of Americans are seldom or never in religious service attendance. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:05.039 And their point here isn't that the Sunday gathering is the end-all be-all of Christian, but they're just saying it's it's actually kind of the low bar that they kind of measure. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:12.559 And they go, the odds that someone is attending is not attending on Sundays, but really active in all these other ways is usually not the norm. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:20.400 Regular church attendance has steadily declined since the turn of the century, and 40% of millennials, which is the largest living generation in America, are religiously unaffiliated. 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:23.279 And so there's just religious decline or religious disinterest. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:25.279 Thirdly, there's a heightened skepticism. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:35.759 Pastors and ministry leaders at 32% rank below chiropractors, dentists, police officers, and engineers, veterinarians, and doctors in terms of who the public trusts and deems as people with integrity and honesty. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.000 It's tough, you know? 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:43.359 Or if you honestly paid attention to the past couple years, nobody trusts anybody. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:44.640 It don't matter. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:45.680 Right? 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:50.960 Sometimes I'm like, I'm like, man, some of these lower than them. 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:51.519 Okay. 00:32:54.319 --> 00:33:02.640 And ultimately what they're saying is that people are less likely than ever to assume the church or pastors have an answer to their problems or can actually help them. 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:09.279 And so they are likely to turn to the world suggestions for their uh heaven-sized problems. 00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:16.000 But then the last thing, and this is what's giving a lot of hope, is that there's a spiritual openness or opportunity. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:22.319 And what we what we want to make clear by this is that spiritual openness does not mean revival. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:24.799 Spiritual openness means openness. 00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:36.079 That I think as a result of kind of this like secularistic movement and people kind of being detached from anything spiritual, I think people are starting to feel the weight of that and go, there's gotta be more than this. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:39.200 You hear so many people say things, there's gotta be more than this, there's gotta be something other than this. 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:43.440 And that's what it's creating is an openness to say, what is that something else? 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:52.559 Now, this openness has led to a growth across all kinds of different religious beliefs and spirit and spiritual movements, from New Age to Eastern meditation and some different things. 00:33:52.640 --> 00:34:00.240 And so it's not necessarily leading to revival within the church, but it's just there's an openness that people didn't have a generation ago. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:07.920 Gen Z has been called the open generation, which is one of the reasons we've we have seen uh kind of the movements that we've had. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:14.639 But however, the reality is that Gen Z will likely belong to whoever pursues them the hardest and has answers to their problems. 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:22.960 And so if culture or other religions pursue them the hardest, or if Silicon Valley pursues them the hardest, they will likely win. 00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:24.320 But they don't have to. 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:25.840 They don't have to. 00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:33.679 But then the last thing Paul hits on is that there's extraordinary circumstances, and he calls them of the heavenly realms, the heavenly realms. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.800 When he's talking about the heavenly realms, he's talking about the spiritual realms. 00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:40.960 So he's not talking about what maybe some people think when they think of heaven where God resides. 00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:44.000 He's talking, he's talking about just the spiritual realm. 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:46.880 And ultimately he's talking about the powers behind the powers. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:54.639 He's saying that, yeah, there's things that we can see, feel, and experience here, but there's also a realm beyond that where there's another war that's being waged. 00:34:54.719 --> 00:35:06.719 This is why in Ephesians 6, Paul is going to spend a lot of time talking about spiritual warfare, because he's saying you not only, you're not only going to experience persecution or battle here in the flesh, but you're also going to you also need to be prepped for warfare in the spirit. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:15.280 And in in 1 Peter, Peter actually writes, he says that the angels long to look into these things that is happening through the church. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:26.880 And so when Paul talks about that we have to, that we have to profess or that we're there to give to give witness to the heavenly realms, ultimately what he's saying is we got to let them know what God's up to. 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:30.880 And the the beauty of this is that is that we get to let we get to let the angels know. 00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:35.039 They get to see and marvel at what God is doing among humanity, but we also get to let demonic powers know. 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:41.199 Did you know that one of the reasons that we gather and that we preach is because we need to tell the devil and the demons their destiny? 00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:43.039 We have to remind them. 00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:48.800 I don't know if you know this, but Satan and demonic powers are not omniscient, meaning they don't know everything. 00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:55.519 I think a lot of times we stress out about the enemy and about demonic forces because we believe that he has a power that he doesn't actually have. 00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:03.360 We actually put him kind of on the same level with God, and God consistently makes it clear throughout scriptures that the enemy is below his feet, that he doesn't, he doesn't have what he has. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:04.480 He's created. 00:36:05.199 --> 00:36:13.280 And so he wants you to know that there's there's actually responsibility that we have to speak to the enemy and to speak to demonic forces because he doesn't know things that he needs to know. 00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:26.320 And one of those things that he needs to know is ultimately that his destiny is secured, that he's that Jesus is going to trample over him, and that he and his demonic forces are not gonna have any power, authority, rule, or influence over anything ever again because death has been defeated, and so have they. 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:29.280 And so when we stand, we get to preach boldly and confidently. 00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:30.079 That's why he finishes. 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:38.639