WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.040 And if you've got a Bible open there, please 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:07.299 keep it open at Ephesians 3. Let's pray. Heavenly 00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:09.259 Father, we thank you that you love us. We thank 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:12.980 you that you care for us. Please help us to see 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:16.699 that you are wise, that you are good, and that 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:19.640 you are in control of all things. And we ask 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:24.980 this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, we've all got 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:28.199 guilty pleasures, don't we? One of my guilty 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:33.070 pleasures has to be heist movies. I don't know 00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:35.090 if you're into heist movies. I love a good heist 00:00:35.090 --> 00:00:38.969 movie. Things like The Sting, The Italian Job, 00:00:39.310 --> 00:00:42.009 and one of my favourites, Ocean's Eleven. The 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:44.570 sequel's not as good, but the original? Excellent. 00:00:45.710 --> 00:00:48.869 And what happens in a good heist movie? Well, 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:52.390 in a good heist movie, it looks like everything's 00:00:52.390 --> 00:00:55.549 going wrong, doesn't it? Something bad tends 00:00:55.549 --> 00:00:58.770 to happen and you think, oh no, they've planned 00:00:58.770 --> 00:01:01.869 this amazing heist and it's all falling apart, 00:01:02.229 --> 00:01:04.969 it's all going wrong and then it turns out there's 00:01:04.969 --> 00:01:07.930 a twist that everything going wrong was actually 00:01:07.930 --> 00:01:11.859 all part of the plan. I mean, spoilers, if you've 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:14.560 not seen Oceans 11, just put your fingers in 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:18.000 your ears now. There's a great scene near the 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.760 end of Oceans 11. They've broken into the big 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:23.200 vault. They're taking all the millions and billions 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:25.900 of dollars in the casino, and there's a SWAT 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.379 team there to get them. And you think, oh, no, 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:32.719 it's over. It turns out the robbers are the SWAT 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.980 team. It's cool things like that. Sorry if I've 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:37.819 spoiled Oceans 11, but it's been out for a while. 00:01:37.819 --> 00:01:41.079 You should have watched it by now. Anyway. Now, 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.519 when the first time you watch that, you feel 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:47.019 this tension, don't you? You feel this stressful, 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:51.500 because you don't know what the plan is. But 00:01:51.500 --> 00:01:54.480 the second time you watch it, you go, I'm as 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.420 cool as a cucumber, because I know exactly what's 00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:00.200 going to happen. And it's the same for the characters. 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:03.500 You know, as they're doing it, they put on that 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:06.000 they're very upset and scared, but actually, 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:08.750 you know, deep down, they're really calm. because 00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:13.590 they know the plan. Knowing the plan changes 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:17.009 everything, doesn't it? It's the same for us, 00:02:17.009 --> 00:02:20.270 isn't it? If we know the plan of what's going 00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:24.310 on in our lives, it takes the sting out of things. 00:02:24.949 --> 00:02:27.490 It stops us from panicking. It stops us from 00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:31.030 getting downhearted. I mean, think of some hard 00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:35.509 things in life. When you lose a job, when someone 00:02:35.509 --> 00:02:39.870 you love dies, When a relationship ends, you 00:02:39.870 --> 00:02:42.490 know, think of a particular challenge or tragedy. 00:02:43.930 --> 00:02:48.389 That sort of pain hurts. I think it always hurts. 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.949 But if you know there's a plan behind it, it 00:02:52.949 --> 00:02:57.889 stings far less. You're able to be calm. It's 00:02:57.889 --> 00:03:02.129 less overwhelming. It's also true for churches. 00:03:02.770 --> 00:03:06.349 You know, churches go through hard things. A 00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:09.610 church could get booted out of a building. People 00:03:09.610 --> 00:03:11.750 in the church could be criticised and attacked 00:03:11.750 --> 00:03:15.490 unfairly. A church leader could be cancelled, 00:03:16.509 --> 00:03:20.229 especially in this day and age. And that hurts. 00:03:20.849 --> 00:03:23.990 It hurts when things like that happen. But it 00:03:23.990 --> 00:03:26.990 doesn't hit you for six. It doesn't knock you 00:03:26.990 --> 00:03:29.430 out of the park if you can see that it's all 00:03:29.430 --> 00:03:33.530 part of the plan. Now that's a similar situation 00:03:33.530 --> 00:03:36.909 for the Christians that Paul is writing to in 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:41.729 Ephesians. Take a look at verses 1 and 13. In 00:03:41.729 --> 00:03:44.270 verse 1, Paul says, for this reason I, Paul, 00:03:44.590 --> 00:03:47.189 the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of 00:03:47.189 --> 00:03:49.729 you Gentiles. And he goes on this little sidebar, 00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:53.009 this little side quest about what does it mean 00:03:53.009 --> 00:03:56.150 to be a prisoner of Christ Jesus and his stewardship 00:03:56.150 --> 00:03:59.610 of the gospel to explain to them his suffering. 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:03.930 And he finishes by saying this, I ask you therefore 00:04:03.930 --> 00:04:06.330 not to be discouraged because of my sufferings 00:04:06.330 --> 00:04:11.189 for you, which are your glory. Now put yourself 00:04:11.189 --> 00:04:15.810 in their shoes of these Christians. Paul is their 00:04:15.810 --> 00:04:21.470 apostle and he's in chains, most likely under 00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:25.610 house arrest in Rome. But they'd be thinking, 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:29.430 well, this can't be. Paul is our apostle. He's 00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:31.170 the one who's taking the gospel to the world 00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:34.509 and saying Gentiles can come in. And was Paul 00:04:34.509 --> 00:04:38.110 wrong? You know, why did God let this happen? 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:41.050 Is God really with Paul? Maybe the Gentiles aren't 00:04:41.050 --> 00:04:44.949 included. Maybe we're not saved by grace. You 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:47.949 could imagine the doubts, the despair, the confusion 00:04:47.949 --> 00:04:53.870 that Paul's chains would bring to them. But Paul 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:57.759 seeks to show them that it's okay. that it's 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:01.199 all going according to plan. Actually that everything 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:07.079 that is happening is for their glory. So how 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:08.920 are we to make sense of this? How do we make 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.519 sense of things when everything is going wrong? 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.720 Well, here's the main point that we see in our 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:20.060 passage today. When everything is going wrong, 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:25.399 it's actually going according to plan. When everything 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:28.980 is going wrong, it's actually going according 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:32.779 to plan. And if you know there's a plan and roughly 00:05:32.779 --> 00:05:34.839 what the plan is, it keeps you calm, it keeps 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.480 you at peace. And that's whether you're going 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:40.720 through personal trials and challenges like Paul 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.579 was, you know, him being in chains, or whether 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:48.399 your church is facing a crisis that breeds disappointment 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.560 and doubt, just like the Ephesians were going 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.019 through. The key is we need this narrative in 00:05:55.019 --> 00:05:58.199 our head. We need to see that this is the truth, 00:05:59.420 --> 00:06:03.660 that everything is going according to plan. So 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:05.279 what's the plan we need to see? Well, that's 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:09.060 what Paul lays out in this section. Three things 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:13.779 we're going to see. God's secret plan has now 00:06:13.779 --> 00:06:17.500 been revealed. God's secret plan is to bless 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:22.279 the nations and God's secret plan displays God's 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.620 wisdom. That's what Paul wants us to understand. 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:28.649 about God's plan. So here's the first thing we're 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:31.750 going to look at. God's secret plan has now been 00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:33.910 revealed. If you've got your Bible there, come 00:06:33.910 --> 00:06:38.290 with me to verse one of chapter three. For this 00:06:38.290 --> 00:06:40.889 reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, 00:06:41.009 --> 00:06:44.509 for the sake of you Gentiles, surely you've heard 00:06:44.509 --> 00:06:46.529 about the administration of God's grace that 00:06:46.529 --> 00:06:49.990 was given to me for you. That is the mystery 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:53.089 made known to me by revelation as I have already 00:06:53.089 --> 00:06:56.139 written briefly. In reading this, then, you will 00:06:56.139 --> 00:06:58.579 be able to understand my insight into the mystery 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:01.079 of Christ, which was not made known to people 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:04.399 in other generations, as it has now been revealed 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.019 by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.959 So Paul's saying, the other apostles, and he's 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:16.180 saying, I think here New Testament prophets, 00:07:16.540 --> 00:07:18.000 because if it was the Old Testament prophets, 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.819 well, he's saying this hasn't been revealed to 00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:22.800 people in other generations, but you can debate 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:25.970 me on that later if you like. But he's saying 00:07:25.970 --> 00:07:28.449 the other apostles and New Testament prophets 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:31.850 and himself, they're preaching the gospel. And 00:07:31.850 --> 00:07:34.269 he's saying this is a very significant moment 00:07:34.269 --> 00:07:38.430 in salvation history within God's plan. Because 00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:44.750 God's mystery, his secret was now to be revealed. 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:48.329 That word mystery really means secret. It's a 00:07:48.329 --> 00:07:51.370 bit like my middle name. Hands up if you know 00:07:51.370 --> 00:07:54.420 my middle name. Okay, there's a few. Good on 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:58.779 yous. You know, these guys up the front who know 00:07:58.779 --> 00:08:02.040 my middle name, they only know it because it's 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:04.100 been told to them. It's not a mystery. It's not 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:06.980 like that they sat down, you know, in their nice 00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:09.699 couch at home and went, I'm going to ponder the 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:13.220 deep mysteries of the universe and work out Brendan's 00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:16.759 middle name. No, it's not that sort of mystery. 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:19.120 It's a secret. That's what the word means. It's 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.019 a secret. It's a hidden thing. that needs to 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:23.920 be revealed, just like my middle name. It's James, 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:28.079 by the way, if you wanted to know. Now, in previous 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.480 generations, Paul's saying that secret was hidden. 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:35.360 We got some sneak peeks, we got a bit of a foretaste, 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:39.659 some previews in God's promises. But no one had 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.840 seen the whole plan and how the plan would come 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:47.740 together. The secret had not yet been revealed. 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:53.830 And that's Paul's job. is his job is to go and 00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:58.590 reveal that secret to people, to tell them God's 00:08:58.590 --> 00:09:02.730 plan. Think of when Apple do a product launch. 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:05.590 You know, they've planned and developed a new 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:07.710 product, you know, the eye toaster or whatever's 00:09:07.710 --> 00:09:12.429 next or, you know, some other iPhone. And it's 00:09:12.429 --> 00:09:15.460 all kept under wraps, isn't it? No one knows 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:17.580 what's going on. No one knows about it. There 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:20.200 might be hints, you know, there's a product launch 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:23.399 coming up on this day. Make sure you tune in. 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:27.980 But no one knows what's happening. And then finally, 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:32.460 it's launch day, where the new product is unveiled 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:34.779 and, you know, Tim Cook did it okay, but no one 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:37.500 does it better than Steve Jobs with his turtleneck 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:41.019 thing and he's great with that. But the secret 00:09:41.019 --> 00:09:45.200 would be revealed. Oh, it's the new eye toaster. 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:47.240 Look at it. It's amazing. It butters your toast 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:49.480 for you. It does all the things. And then what 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.759 would happen? Once the secrets revealed, the 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.899 marketing guys would work hard to spread it out. 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:56.659 Hey, we're going to tell everyone about the eye 00:09:56.659 --> 00:09:59.779 toaster and, you know, everyone wants to buy 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:03.259 in. Now, Paul is saying it's a bit like that. 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:06.960 God has appointed him as the head of marketing 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:11.940 for the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul's job is 00:10:11.940 --> 00:10:15.720 to blab the secret to the world, to tell the 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:19.080 world that the secret has been revealed and you 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:24.100 need to know it. But now that Paul's in chains, 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:28.379 it brings his credentials into question. The 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:32.460 doubts are growing. Can Paul be trusted? Is he 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:36.779 really sent by God? And in verses two to three, 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.960 Paul's trying to say to them, you know my story. 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:44.389 I was an enemy of Jesus. And then I experienced 00:10:44.389 --> 00:10:49.490 God's grace. Jesus revealed himself to me. And 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:52.029 now I'm promoting him, which is an amazing thing 00:10:52.029 --> 00:10:55.809 because Paul's message is of grace, but he's 00:10:55.809 --> 00:10:59.929 also the medium as one who was against Jesus 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:04.370 now on Team Jesus. The medium is the message, 00:11:04.470 --> 00:11:07.629 isn't it? Paul's the perfect person to be talking 00:11:07.629 --> 00:11:10.879 about God's grace to the world. And in verse 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.779 four to five, he's saying, look at my content. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.659 It's good. It's beautiful. It's true. And it's 00:11:16.659 --> 00:11:19.000 not totally unique. It's actually consistent 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.399 with Jesus and the other apostles and with the 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.820 Old Testament promises. What Paul is saying is, 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:30.240 yes, you can trust me. I am God's spokesman. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.679 Just because I'm getting persecuted doesn't mean 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.220 that what I'm offering is fake or phony. It doesn't 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:41.600 mean that God's not in it. Now, how's this help 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:47.000 us? Well, picture the uni student doing an arts 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:53.039 degree. And you get some uni lecturers who love 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:57.659 to bag out Paul, don't they? Oh, Paul, he was 00:11:57.659 --> 00:12:01.120 a sexist, misogynistic dinosaur. How can he be 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:05.519 from God? See, they can't lock Paul up today, 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:10.110 so many try to silence him in other ways. You 00:12:10.110 --> 00:12:12.169 can imagine that uni student, when he hears the 00:12:12.169 --> 00:12:15.070 lecturer doing that, it'd be destabilising. There'd 00:12:15.070 --> 00:12:17.590 be doubt and discouragement that would start 00:12:17.590 --> 00:12:23.750 to grow. But if they've read Paul, if they know 00:12:23.750 --> 00:12:28.070 how Jesus used Paul to include the Gentiles and 00:12:28.070 --> 00:12:31.970 revolutionise the world, if they know that ministry 00:12:31.970 --> 00:12:35.769 in the Bible is cross -shaped, that it's suffering 00:12:35.769 --> 00:12:42.600 now and glory later, They won't be thrown. It's 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:46.440 the same for any of us. When people try to cancel 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:49.500 Paul, if we know those things, we won't be thrown. 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:52.700 We'll actually go, oh, that's right. It's all 00:12:52.700 --> 00:12:57.820 going according to plan. And it's not just seeing 00:12:57.820 --> 00:13:00.860 Paul in God's plan that guards our hearts and 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:03.940 keeps us from discouragement. It's seeing us 00:13:03.940 --> 00:13:05.600 in it too. And that's the next thing we need 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.679 to see. God's secret plan has now been revealed. 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:11.379 That's Paul's job. He's the marketing spokesman 00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:15.259 to the Gentiles. But what is the plan? Well, 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:19.340 God's secret plan is to bless the nations, is 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:23.340 to bless the Gentiles, is to bless us. Have a 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:28.299 look with me at verse six of chapter three. This 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:32.779 mystery, this secret is that through the gospel, 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:35.440 the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:39.419 Members together of one body and sharers together 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:42.460 in the promise in Christ Jesus. Together, together, 00:13:42.539 --> 00:13:45.519 together. Jews, Gentiles, everyone together in 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.120 Christ. And Paul says, I became a servant of 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.500 this gospel by the gift of God's grace given 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:54.899 me through the working of his power. Although 00:13:54.899 --> 00:13:57.919 I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:02.500 this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:06.759 the boundless riches of Christ. and to make plain 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:09.799 to everyone the administration, the stewardship 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:13.480 of this mystery, this secret which for ages past 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:16.980 was kept hidden in God who created all things. 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:20.940 So the big secret, the secret plan that Paul 00:14:20.940 --> 00:14:24.639 is revealing is that all the promises for Israel 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:29.340 have now been given to Gentile Christians. Jesus 00:14:29.340 --> 00:14:32.419 died to pay for our sins so that anyone could 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:36.220 be included into God's people and so that anyone 00:14:36.220 --> 00:14:39.919 could receive the boundless, unsearchable riches 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:45.159 of Israel's Christ, the Messiah. Now, what are 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.600 those boundless riches? We looked a little bit 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:52.799 in chapter one. It's forgiveness. It's redemption. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:58.269 It's an inheritance. It's God's spirit. It's 00:14:58.269 --> 00:15:00.509 all those Old Testament promises for Israel. 00:15:00.669 --> 00:15:03.809 They've been given to us who follow Jesus. No 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:05.970 matter who we are, no matter what we've done, 00:15:06.210 --> 00:15:09.970 no matter where we're from. And that was always 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:15.570 God's plan. Now sometimes I don't think we realise 00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:19.730 what we have in these riches. It's a bit like 00:15:19.730 --> 00:15:22.169 a family in New York that I read about a while 00:15:22.169 --> 00:15:26.200 ago. They went to a garage sale and they purchased 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:29.259 an antique bowl. They thought, yeah, that looks 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:33.139 really nice. We might get that. But they became 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:36.860 curious about its origins and took it to an assessor. 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.039 Turns out it was crafted in the Northern Song 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:43.779 dynasty and is very rare. They ended up selling 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:46.360 this thing they picked up at a garage sale. They 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:51.720 sold it for $2 .25 million. That's why it pays 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:56.139 to go to garage sales and thrift shops. But they 00:15:56.139 --> 00:16:00.940 were rich and they didn't even know it. It's 00:16:00.940 --> 00:16:05.320 like that for us, isn't it? We're rich, but often 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:09.539 we just don't see how rich we actually are. But 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:12.080 when Christians see what they have in Christ, 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:15.000 what they have now, what it means to belong to 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.019 Jesus, and what we will have when Jesus returns, 00:16:20.009 --> 00:16:24.429 When we see that, we can thrive in the midst 00:16:24.429 --> 00:16:28.529 of all sorts of stress, pain, and uncertainty. 00:16:30.169 --> 00:16:34.049 Because when you see God's plan, when you see 00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:37.289 what you have because of it, what you will have, 00:16:38.409 --> 00:16:41.710 you don't sweat the small stuff, do you? And 00:16:41.710 --> 00:16:43.970 then you look around and you go, actually comparatively, 00:16:44.750 --> 00:16:47.190 compared to what I have in Jesus, it's all small 00:16:47.190 --> 00:16:51.799 stuff. Now I say, it's easy for me to say that, 00:16:52.059 --> 00:16:55.919 but I struggle. I easily get stressed out. I 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:59.620 easily get preoccupied with problems. And so 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:03.159 I need to keep doing that thing of seeing the 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.660 riches I have in Christ, seeing what I really 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:11.319 have in Him. And when I do, it helps me so much. 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:13.880 And so what do I do? I try to set up rituals 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:18.079 and habits that remind me of what I have in Christ. 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.200 So I'm having an anxious thought. What do I need 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.859 to do? Okay, look up. God's got a plan. God's 00:17:24.859 --> 00:17:28.359 got this. I may not know all the intricate details, 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:31.359 but I know He's in control and He's working out 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.480 His good plan of bringing me to glory in Christ 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:38.920 Jesus. If I'm facing disappointment, you know 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:41.539 what? I need to sit down and write a list of 00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:44.859 things that I'm thankful for. Actually, literally 00:17:44.859 --> 00:17:49.900 count my blessings. Pause and do it. So that 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:52.359 I can see again what I have in Christ. I mean, 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:54.319 I've got lots of great things in my life anyway, 00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:01.779 but to see what I have in Christ again And when 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:03.539 you know, I'm there in the shower and feeling 00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:08.000 a bit blue to think to myself I'm rich beyond 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.779 comprehension because of the cross and to just 00:18:12.779 --> 00:18:16.109 think about those riches and whether it's a good 00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:18.369 day or a bad day, to try and think about that 00:18:18.369 --> 00:18:22.750 in the rhythms of my day. Is that what you're 00:18:22.750 --> 00:18:28.849 doing? Do you take time to reflect on God's plan, 00:18:29.490 --> 00:18:32.829 to reflect on the riches you have in Christ Jesus? 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:41.109 Is that part of your daily rhythms? But to keep 00:18:41.109 --> 00:18:43.750 our hearts from discouragement, there's also 00:18:43.950 --> 00:18:47.210 One other thing we need to see. We need to see 00:18:47.210 --> 00:18:51.329 the purpose of God's plan. God's secret plan 00:18:51.329 --> 00:18:56.109 displays God's wisdom. That's why God did his 00:18:56.109 --> 00:19:00.390 plan. God's secret plan displays God's wisdom. 00:19:01.430 --> 00:19:06.049 Come with me to chapter 3 verse 10. His intent, 00:19:06.190 --> 00:19:10.009 God's intent, was that now through the church 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.099 The manifold wisdom of God should be made known 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:15.319 to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.759 realms according to his eternal purpose that 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:22.319 he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:25.660 him and through faith in him we may approach 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:30.619 God with freedom and confidence. Now isn't God 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:35.779 amazing? He planned all this plan back in eternity 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:40.890 past. And he did so to show his multi -faceted 00:19:40.890 --> 00:19:45.049 wisdom in the heavenly realms. So all the spirits 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:47.009 and demons and everyone in the heavenly realms, 00:19:47.069 --> 00:19:51.809 they see how awesome God is. They see how glorious 00:19:51.809 --> 00:19:56.130 and wise and amazing God is because of his plan. 00:19:57.190 --> 00:20:00.430 And God showed by Jesus and by his death on the 00:20:00.430 --> 00:20:05.430 cross, how great he is. But get this, also by 00:20:05.690 --> 00:20:11.150 The church. Now the cross I get, I can see how, 00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:14.269 yeah, God's plan is awesome by the cross. I mean, 00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:17.869 it was supposed to be defeat, but it was actually 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:23.369 salvation and victory. Brilliant plan. But the 00:20:23.369 --> 00:20:28.410 church? How does that display God's amazing wisdom? 00:20:29.970 --> 00:20:32.349 Sometimes the church looks more like folly, doesn't 00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:39.069 it? I mean the Satanic spiritual forces, they 00:20:39.069 --> 00:20:41.589 look quite shrewd a lot of the time. They get 00:20:41.589 --> 00:20:44.250 people within the church to rebel and divide 00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:48.829 and there's just problems, horrible things that 00:20:48.829 --> 00:20:53.630 happen within the church. And yet God created 00:20:53.630 --> 00:20:58.230 a new humanity in Christ. Reconciled to God, 00:20:58.890 --> 00:21:04.809 reconciled to each other. the existence of saved 00:21:04.809 --> 00:21:08.049 sinners, with very little in common a lot of 00:21:08.049 --> 00:21:13.250 the time, yet united in Christ, it displays to 00:21:13.250 --> 00:21:18.930 the cosmos that God can't be outsmarted or outplayed. 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:24.029 It shows the universe how great God is that He 00:21:24.029 --> 00:21:26.750 would take something so weak and frail and vulnerable 00:21:26.750 --> 00:21:33.039 and hold it together and unite it together. That's 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:37.420 a great plan, isn't it? I used to love playing 00:21:37.420 --> 00:21:40.819 chess with my grandad. I don't think I ever beat 00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:44.099 him. And I think part of the reason is, I mean, 00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:47.579 he was very smart and me less so, but part of 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:50.339 the reason is he would just see my moves before 00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:53.099 I did. Maybe it's my ADHD and I just sort of 00:21:53.099 --> 00:21:55.039 want to move all the time, but he would just 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:58.609 sort of see things way ahead of me. And sometimes 00:21:58.609 --> 00:22:01.130 he'd even go, oh, yeah, you know, I'll start 00:22:01.130 --> 00:22:03.609 without a queen so that you can just, you know, 00:22:03.710 --> 00:22:07.130 have a chance. Oh, thanks. Thanks, Pops. And 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:10.230 he'd still smash me. No matter what I did, he 00:22:10.230 --> 00:22:13.930 was always just too good. I could never beat 00:22:13.930 --> 00:22:19.269 him. Now, God's like that with his plan, but 00:22:19.269 --> 00:22:23.470 infinitely greater. He's planned it all out. 00:22:24.309 --> 00:22:27.539 And he's done it before eternity passed. He's 00:22:27.539 --> 00:22:31.779 so glorious, wise and unparalleled. When you 00:22:31.779 --> 00:22:34.000 look at the church, when you look at what he 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.720 did in Jesus and in the church, you can go, wow, 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:42.400 God is great, God is awesome. And if you believe 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:45.319 God's like that, and can I just say there is 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:50.180 plenty of proof that he is, it changes the narrative 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:56.099 in your head when things go wrong. One church 00:22:56.099 --> 00:23:00.200 I worked in, in WA, we had a narcissistic pastor 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:03.940 who burned me and many other people. He had an 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:06.980 affair and it just sort of spiralled down after 00:23:06.980 --> 00:23:11.519 that. It was awful. It's easy to think, why would 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:13.680 God let that happen? Has God been outsmarted 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:18.700 here? I think of a friend who, he was at Bible 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:21.779 college with me. He ended up doing ministry for 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:23.900 a while and then heading to China as a missionary. 00:23:24.719 --> 00:23:28.240 And just before he was about to go with his family, 00:23:28.779 --> 00:23:33.099 he got cancer and died. And it's easy to think, 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.180 God, you know, have you been outsmarted? I thought 00:23:35.180 --> 00:23:37.319 he was going to go and do great things in China. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:42.420 I think of a Christian group at a uni in Perth 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:44.700 I know of, for a while they were unable to hold 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:49.430 meetings. They made some comment in one of their 00:23:49.430 --> 00:23:51.190 growth groups. I think they had little Bible 00:23:51.190 --> 00:23:53.190 studies meeting at the uni. Someone made a comment 00:23:53.190 --> 00:23:57.490 about homosexuality. They got shut down and then 00:23:57.490 --> 00:24:01.569 monitored for quite a while. Why God? I thought, 00:24:01.710 --> 00:24:07.109 you know, aren't you with them in that? Now, 00:24:07.109 --> 00:24:08.970 I don't know what was going on with the plan 00:24:08.970 --> 00:24:14.329 in each of these scenarios. I'm not God. In the 00:24:14.329 --> 00:24:16.509 rear -view mirror, I can guess. Sometimes I can 00:24:16.509 --> 00:24:22.130 see, but often I can't. But we know the broad 00:24:22.130 --> 00:24:26.250 plan, don't we? We know the one who is the planner. 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:30.170 We know enough of the plan, even though we don't 00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:34.809 know all the intricacies, to remain calm, to 00:24:34.809 --> 00:24:39.609 remain confident, to remain joyful, even when 00:24:39.609 --> 00:24:45.180 things go wrong. for us individually and things 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:47.380 for our church won't always go well. We need 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:51.880 to expect that. But it doesn't mean the ultimate 00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:55.740 outcome has shifted, does it? God's not fallen 00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:59.420 asleep at the wheel when things go wrong. And 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:01.619 we shouldn't let that throw us when things go 00:25:01.619 --> 00:25:05.440 wrong. It may suck, it may be horrible, it may 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:08.480 feel awful, but it's not pointless and it's not 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:16.339 random. In Acts 8, After Stephen is martyred, 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:19.839 persecution in Jerusalem for Christian ramps 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:25.019 up massively. The church in Jerusalem is scattered. 00:25:25.539 --> 00:25:28.319 And you'd think, what a disaster! What's going 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:32.920 to become of the church now? No, it was God's 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:36.660 plan. Because what happens? I mean, they'd all 00:25:36.660 --> 00:25:40.430 been sitting in Jerusalem for ages. They were 00:25:40.430 --> 00:25:43.470 told to go out to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and 00:25:43.470 --> 00:25:45.650 the ends of the earth. Well, God got them going, 00:25:45.730 --> 00:25:50.990 didn't he? The gospel goes out to Samaria and 00:25:50.990 --> 00:25:56.029 beyond because they're scattered. I think of 00:25:56.029 --> 00:26:00.890 a lady in Geraldton that I knew. She had a miscarriage. 00:26:01.309 --> 00:26:05.329 It was tragic. It was awful. And I don't want 00:26:05.329 --> 00:26:07.509 to take away from the pain of that horrible experience. 00:26:07.529 --> 00:26:12.119 That would have been so hard. But God used that 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:18.559 to bring her to faith in Jesus. I think of times 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:22.539 where I've had burnout. It sucks, it's awful, 00:26:22.539 --> 00:26:25.980 but it was good for me because it forced me to 00:26:25.980 --> 00:26:28.279 face immaturity in myself that I needed to deal 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:33.569 with and how to run my life better. There are 00:26:33.569 --> 00:26:36.450 awful things that we go through and yet God is 00:26:36.450 --> 00:26:39.549 wisely orchestrating them for a good purpose. 00:26:39.609 --> 00:26:43.230 It's all going to plan. We may not always see 00:26:43.230 --> 00:26:45.690 what the plan is, but we know there's a plan. 00:26:47.210 --> 00:26:50.329 And there is great comfort in knowing there's 00:26:50.329 --> 00:26:55.069 a plan. But the hard part is remembering that 00:26:55.069 --> 00:26:57.490 there is a plan when everything is going wrong. 00:26:59.009 --> 00:27:01.289 How are you going to remember that there is a 00:27:01.289 --> 00:27:06.250 plan when things are hard? Memorising scripture 00:27:06.250 --> 00:27:09.630 has helped me. You might have come across one 00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:12.049 of my favourite verses, I think it should be 00:27:12.049 --> 00:27:15.410 one of everybody's favourite verses, is Romans 00:27:15.410 --> 00:27:20.150 8 .28. You know that one? We know that in everything 00:27:20.150 --> 00:27:22.329 God works for the good of those who love him. 00:27:24.569 --> 00:27:26.930 That's one you just want to drill deep into your 00:27:26.930 --> 00:27:32.210 heart. You know, sometimes it's even worth pausing 00:27:32.210 --> 00:27:36.089 and just picturing your pain as part of a blueprint. 00:27:36.869 --> 00:27:38.930 Oh yeah, okay, God's got his, yep, there's a 00:27:38.930 --> 00:27:41.670 plan and my pain's here, but it's actually part 00:27:41.670 --> 00:27:45.549 of something bigger. Oh, he's gonna bring glory 00:27:45.549 --> 00:27:48.130 to himself through the church, through Jesus. 00:27:50.650 --> 00:27:56.130 Sometimes it's crying out to God. Father, I don't 00:27:56.130 --> 00:28:00.000 get it. But help me to trust you have a plan 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:06.180 here. What are you going to do to remind yourself 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:10.559 of God's plan when everything is going wrong? 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:16.019 Well, let's wrap up. We saw three things today 00:28:16.019 --> 00:28:19.859 about God's plan. God's secret plan has now been 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:23.039 revealed. God's secret plan is to bless the nations 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:26.640 and God's secret plan displays God's wisdom. 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:30.640 So what are we meant to think when things go 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.519 wrong? We're meant to see that everything is 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.240 like a heist movie. Here's the big thing from 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:39.380 our passage. When everything is going wrong, 00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:44.579 it's actually going according to plan. And the 00:28:44.579 --> 00:28:49.460 clearest proof of this is the cross. People's 00:28:49.460 --> 00:28:54.660 sin was so evil that Jesus came into the world 00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:56.440 and what did they do? They went, we're going 00:28:56.440 --> 00:29:00.349 to murder him. He's the the perfect righteous 00:29:00.349 --> 00:29:02.730 son of God the author of life. What are we going 00:29:02.730 --> 00:29:04.490 to do? Let's murder him because we don't like 00:29:04.490 --> 00:29:10.289 what he's saying And yet it wasn't random It 00:29:10.289 --> 00:29:14.549 wasn't that evil won the day it was God was in 00:29:14.549 --> 00:29:17.230 total control that was always his plan that his 00:29:17.230 --> 00:29:20.609 son would die on the cross and bring salvation 00:29:20.609 --> 00:29:25.440 to the earth And it's the same with anything 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:29.319 else. Just because Paul is suffering doesn't 00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:32.059 mean that God is not with him or has abandoned 00:29:32.059 --> 00:29:36.700 him. Paul's suffering was, did you see in verse 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:42.680 13, on our behalf. It was for us. Paul was suffering 00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:45.900 so that many Gentiles could be saved. His sufferings 00:29:45.900 --> 00:29:48.920 reflected Christ's suffering because that's what 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:50.799 happens when you're on about the things of God. 00:29:50.900 --> 00:29:53.369 You're going to be... persecution from a hostile 00:29:53.369 --> 00:29:56.849 world. His sufferings were not a sign of God's 00:29:56.849 --> 00:30:00.589 displeasure that God was not with him. His sufferings 00:30:00.589 --> 00:30:06.309 authenticated his ministry. Everything was going 00:30:06.309 --> 00:30:10.529 according to God's plan. Actually, think about 00:30:10.529 --> 00:30:13.869 this. His imprisonment is why we have this letter. 00:30:15.430 --> 00:30:19.789 God's got a good plan, isn't it? Paul wrote this. 00:30:19.930 --> 00:30:22.809 so we'd know the plan and so it would soothe 00:30:22.809 --> 00:30:27.670 our doubts and disappointments. But what's this 00:30:27.670 --> 00:30:31.710 mean for us? Well, today I'm trying to prepare 00:30:31.710 --> 00:30:35.329 you. Because there are going to be hard times 00:30:35.329 --> 00:30:38.769 ahead for us both individually and as a church. 00:30:39.829 --> 00:30:43.730 I can't know what they are. Persecution, sickness, 00:30:43.950 --> 00:30:48.369 division, sin, disappointments of all kind. They 00:30:48.369 --> 00:30:52.869 will happen at some point. Now, if you're not 00:30:52.869 --> 00:30:54.769 a Christian here today, I want to say to you, 00:30:54.769 --> 00:30:58.269 where do you turn? Where are you going to find 00:30:58.269 --> 00:31:02.130 answers? If it's not God, then the world is just 00:31:02.130 --> 00:31:07.690 one scary random place. Come have a chat. I'd 00:31:07.690 --> 00:31:09.529 love to have a coffee with you and talk about 00:31:09.529 --> 00:31:13.470 it. Show you how knowing Jesus is so much better. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:20.019 But for the Christian, when the pain hits and 00:31:20.019 --> 00:31:23.220 the doubt floods in, there's a better narrative 00:31:23.220 --> 00:31:28.019 we need to tell ourselves. Yes, we feel the pain. 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:31.500 But then we need to remember when everything's 00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:34.440 going wrong, it's actually going according to 00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:38.859 plan. Our infinitely wise God is in control. 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:46.440 Say you lose your job. Especially because you're 00:31:46.440 --> 00:31:48.960 following Jesus. You're acting with integrity. 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:51.940 You won't do things that are wrong. You won't 00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:54.220 lie. You won't cover things up. And so you lose 00:31:54.220 --> 00:31:59.339 your job. Say your family won't talk to you because 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:01.579 you share Jesus with them and they don't like 00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:04.220 that. They hate that you would share Jesus with 00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:09.079 them. Say there's a change of policy here at 00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:11.019 the school and I'm not expecting this to happen, 00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:13.740 but hey, anything's possible. Say we get booted 00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:18.559 out. Many things in life can go wrong for us 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:22.819 in our church. I'm sure you can think of things 00:32:22.819 --> 00:32:24.859 that have gone wrong in your life or that could 00:32:24.859 --> 00:32:30.200 go wrong. But if things go wrong, what will you 00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:36.960 do? What will we do? Be easy to freak out. It'd 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:39.819 be easy to go into our shell and become risk 00:32:39.819 --> 00:32:41.839 averse. No, we don't want to share Jesus with 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:45.099 anyone. That's going to be hard. It'd be easy 00:32:45.099 --> 00:32:48.259 to get down and depressed. It'd be easy to jump 00:32:48.259 --> 00:32:51.220 into fixing things, you know, thinking we can 00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:56.200 do it in our own strength. But first and foremost, 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:58.140 what we need to do is tend to our hearts, isn't 00:32:58.140 --> 00:33:04.299 it? Feel the pain, reframe it, see that when 00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:05.839 everything's going wrong, it's actually going 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:10.059 according to plan, and pray. And support each 00:33:10.059 --> 00:33:16.019 other in that. See, for God's people, life is 00:33:16.019 --> 00:33:20.119 like a heist movie. Even when it's going wrong, 00:33:20.579 --> 00:33:25.059 it's all going according to plan. The hard part 00:33:25.059 --> 00:33:32.660 is remembering that. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly 00:33:32.660 --> 00:33:35.900 Father, we thank you so much that in the chaos, 00:33:36.059 --> 00:33:40.980 the pain, the randomness of life, we know that 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:45.210 you have a plan sitting behind it all. We thank 00:33:45.210 --> 00:33:47.890 you that it is a Christ -centred plan, a cross 00:33:47.890 --> 00:33:51.789 -centred plan. We thank you that it is a beautiful 00:33:51.789 --> 00:33:56.369 plan that includes your church, that in all our 00:33:56.369 --> 00:33:59.190 weakness, in all our failures, in all our pain, 00:33:59.529 --> 00:34:03.089 we thank you that you are bringing about wonderful, 00:34:03.289 --> 00:34:05.490 beautiful things, that you are displaying your 00:34:05.490 --> 00:34:08.449 wisdom to the universe and bringing glory to 00:34:08.449 --> 00:34:12.599 your name. Thank you that you've created us to 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:17.619 be one. Thank you that you are bigger than our 00:34:17.619 --> 00:34:21.619 bad moments and our failures. Thank you that 00:34:21.619 --> 00:34:25.239 you are using everything to bring about your 00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:30.440 good purposes. And when things are hard, when 00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:33.219 things are painful, when we are tempted to doubt 00:34:33.219 --> 00:34:37.500 and be discouraged, help us to remember again 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:42.860 your good plan. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:44.039 Amen.