Well, did you notice that was a Norwegian melody?
Not bad, huh? That was great. It's a wonderful
hymn. A few weeks ago I mentioned to you an accident
of a friend of mine who's a missionary in Mexico.
His name is Bruce Bell. I want to bring you an
update and let you know that Bruce is remarkably
recovering. He sustained severe brain trauma
as a result of an accident. He is now in the
Dallas Rehabilitation Center and will be there
for a number of months, up to a year, in therapy.
But the good news is that his speech is returning,
bodily functions, abilities are returning, and
the doctors figured that in that course of time
he should be able to regain full use. of his
faculties. And so we thank the Lord for that.
It's a marvelous answer to prayer, and I encourage
you to keep praying for him in the upcoming months.
For the last two weeks, I have been on jury duty
in Ramsey County, and that has been an experience.
Every day we check in early in the morning and
get out late in the afternoon. and I've learned
an awful lot about our legal system, I assure
you. I'll be sharing some of that in days ahead,
but if I seem like I'm a little out of it this
morning, it's because I am. And I've got to go
back tomorrow, but I think tomorrow we'll get
it finished up. I hope. Our text today is in
Ephesians chapter 3, and we're looking at the
subject of the mystery of Christ. We've already
read part of our text, but I'd like to back up
to verse 8. Would you join me, please? Follow
along as I read the word of God in Ephesians
3. To me, the very least of all saints, this
grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the
unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to
light what is the administration of the mystery
which for ages has been hidden in God who created
all things. in order that the manifold wisdom
of God might now be made known through the Church
to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly
places. This was in accordance with the eternal
purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus
our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident
access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask
you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your
behalf, for they are for They are, rather, your
glory. We are told that people need three things
to be happy in this life. One is someone to love,
then something to do, and finally, something
to hope for. Isn't it marvelous that in Jesus
Christ, God has provided us all of those? In
someone to love, we have preeminently our Savior.
And then beyond that, other believers, and then
the world itself for whom Christ died and whom
God desires to save. As far as something to do
is concerned, we have the knowledge of God's
will. We have a purpose in our being here. And
then something to hope for? Well, we anticipate
the soon return of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and our being gathered together with
other believers in glory. That's a lot to hope
for. The Apostle Paul, likewise, enjoyed all
three. Someone to love, he loved the Lord Jesus.
And it was for that reason that he was a prisoner.
Notice that he calls himself in verse 1, the
prisoner of Christ Jesus. He was not a legal
prisoner of Rome so much as he was a love prisoner
of Jesus Christ. And as far as something to hope
for? Well, the apostle is the one who writes
to us about that coming of Christ that we anticipate.
As far as something to do is concerned, that's
what the apostle is talking to us about in these
verses. Paul was God's specially chosen messenger
to proclaim the mystery of Christ to the Gentiles.
He says he is the prisoner of Jesus Christ for
the sake of you Gentiles. And then in verse 2,
if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of
God's grace, which was given to me for you. And
then in verse 8, he says that this grace was
given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ. So the Apostle Paul was God's
specially chosen messenger to reveal particularly
to the Gentiles This mystery of Christ that we
have been looking at for the last few weeks,
how we should appreciate this man of God who
suffered personally in a great way so that the
gospel of Christ and this mystery might be proclaimed.
He endured a great deal so that people like our
ancestors Those of us who are Gentiles might
have this mystery proclaimed to them and to us
today through the book that he has written to
the Ephesians. We've examined something of the
meaning of the mystery as it is summed up in
verse 6 where it says that the believing Gentiles
now share equally with believing Jews in the
unfathomable, the unsearchable riches of Christ.
No longer is there any separation between Jew
and Gentile. In Christ, the two are made one,
one new body or entity. In fact, all earthly
distinctions are abolished at the cross. Oneness
in the body of Jesus Christ demands that there
be no prejudicial or divisive spirit among us.
whether it be for cause of race, social standing,
economic standing, whatever it be, there is no
reason for any separation between believers,
no biblical reason. That is why the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace is to be guarded
and preserved by us, according to chapter 4,
verses 1 through 3. Did the church, this mystery,
this unity that we're talking about, happen by
accident? Was it a chance that it came into being?
Or, on the other hand, is it possible that there
is in the church a divine plan that is being
carried out? Well, today we're going to examine
something of the mission of the church. and discover
that in fact there is in this age, in the calling
out of Jew and Gentile alike to be a part of
the church, a great plan of God that is being
carried out in the world. Remember as we talk
about this topic of the mission of the church,
that we are talking about something that is related
to you, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ.
For you are part of the church. So as we talk
about God's great plan for the church, this mystery,
we're talking about God's great plan for you
personally. Now as we look at the context today,
there are at least four facts that come to us
about the mission or the purpose of the church.
In the first place, its purpose is rooted in
eternity. That's fact number one. God's creation
of the church was an eternal purpose of His.
We live in a day when there are a number of other
ideas that float around about the church. These
ideas are either incomplete or totally incorrect.
I will list three of them for you briefly. There
are some, for example, who see the church as
but a continuation of Old Testament Israel. To
them, the church is not a new entity, but it
is rather a sequence. It is a development or
another stage of the divine plan of God for Israel.
That is an incorrect definition of the church.
They speak about the church in the Old Testament
and the church in the New Testament to differentiate
between the two bodies. But my friend, there
was no church of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.
If there were, then why would Paul underscore
in this chapter that the church was hidden by
God in the past? That it is now revealed, now
made known to the apostles and prophets and to
us through their writings. Such an idea that
the church is but the continuation of Israel
is incorrect. And then there are some, a few,
who see the church as the body of Christ, but
they say Israel is the bride of Christ. Have
you ever heard that? That is the teaching of
E .W. Bullinger. There are still what are called
Bullingerites around today, although they have
other names than that particular one. The Bollinger
taught during his life that the church could
not be the body of Christ and the bride of Christ
at the same time. That did not make sense to
him. He changed his mind before he died, but
some of his followers still carry on his early
teaching. That is an inadequate view of the church.
Then there are some who see the church as a backup
plan of God. The idea is that somehow God failed
with Israel, and Israel failed God. Therefore,
God had to put into action a backup plan. He
had to think up plan B, another plan for this
age, when Israel failed because of unbelief.
So you see, their idea is that the church is
sort of a backup idea. That it was not God's
original purpose, but he went to this because
his first plan collapsed on him. That, again,
is a woefully inadequate, if not incorrect, understanding
of what the church is all about. Actually, the
creation of the church was a part of God's eternal
purpose. And that is important for you to get
a hold of. In verse 11, it underscores that when
it says that what he's talked about in these
previous verses are in accordance with the eternal
purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus
our Lord. That word purpose means a deliberate
plan, a scheme. My point is this, that the church
is not plan B. The church is not a continuation
of Israel from the Old Testament. The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is a part of a divine
plan which God ordered to come to be in time.
A plan which he put together before the creation
of the world. It's an eternal purpose. This is
elaborated upon. from a little different viewpoint,
but the same basic truth is in sight in Romans
9, 10, and 11. I'd like you to turn back there
with me if you would. We're just going to summarize
each of these chapters so you can see what the
Apostle is saying in this book. In Romans 9,
he talks about Israel's election. Romans 10,
Israel's rejection. And Romans 11, Israel's restoration.
That's the progress of thought in these chapters
that deal with the sovereignty of God. In chapter
9, he talks about Israel's election. Israel was
indeed God's chosen people. They had all of the
benefits and privileges that are mentioned in
verses 1 through 5. Now go down to verse 11.
It says, For though the twins were not yet born,
and had not done anything good or bad. Now the
twins are, as they were later called, Jacob and
Esau. They are now, as verse 11 speaks here,
in the womb of Rebekah, their mother. They had
not yet been born. In order that the God's purpose,
according to his choice, might stand, Not because
of works, but because of him who calls. It was
said to her, the older will serve the younger.
Just the opposite of the way it normally was.
Before the boys were born, before they had done
good or bad, so there were no works on their
part involved, God made a choice. And God said,
I choose this one who will be second born. talking
about Jacob. And Esau will be in subjection to
Jacob. And this is further confirmed just as
it's written in Malachi, Jacob I loved, but Esau
I hated. Now God did not emotionally have malice
toward Esau. That's not the point here. Esau
had done nothing wrong at this point. He was
still in the womb of his mother. God loved Jacob
in the sense that God chose him. It's the love
of election. So that his choice might stand irrespective
of their works. He chose before they were born.
The second born is the one I choose, said God.
And God hated Esau only in the sense that he
overlooked Esau and did not choose him as the
avenue of his redemptive purpose. for mankind.
God chose Jacob and his descendants, the Jewish
nation, as his means of bringing about the redemption
of mankind. It was through those people that
the Savior, the Christ, would come. That was
God's sovereign choice. God chose Jacob. God
chose the nation of Israel. Not because they
were better than anybody else, but that was just
his purpose and choice to do so. But Israel became
proud. Rather than responding in faith and obedience
to God, the nation eventually collapsed and failed.
Because the nation of Israel went about to establish
its own righteousness through its works. A law
righteousness, a legal righteousness, which God
could never accept. And they rejected the righteousness
that God offered to them through faith. We come
now to chapter 10 where it talks about the rejection
of the nation. And it says in verse 3, for not
knowing about God's righteousness. That doesn't
mean that they were ignorant, that they'd never
been told. But what it means is ignoring God's
plan of salvation, overlooking God's righteousness.
and seeking to establish their own. The word
establish means to establish as a monument. They
wish to establish as a monument their own personal
righteousness. It says they did not subject themselves
to the righteousness of God. And the result of
that was that God rejected his chosen people.
God set them aside. In verse 21, Here is God's
attitude. As for Israel, he says, all the day
long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient
and obstinate people. That has been the history
of the Jewish nation through this whole age.
God has held out his hands to them. But the nation
of Israel has rejected the righteousness of God.
God therefore has rejected them during this time.
But is God through with them? Is God finished
with the Jewish people? Well, there are many
who say yes. They say that the existence of the
nation of Israel and the world today is just
freakish, that it has no particular purpose.
How is it that a nation can be subjected to other
peoples for almost 2 ,000 years and then suddenly
emerge as a political entity and to say that
that's a chance? To say that there's no particular
work of God in that, that's foolishness. God
has preserved the Jewish people, and he's done
it with purpose. Because, you see, God is going
to restore the Jewish people, and that's what
chapter 11 talks about. Verse 5. In the same
way, then, there has also come to be at the present
time, that is in this age of grace, a remnant
according to God's gracious choice. That is,
there are Jews who are saved in this age. Not
all Jews are rejected. Those who come to faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ are, of course, accepted,
made a part of the body. It's a remnant, though.
It's just a part of them. It says, if it is by
grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.
Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. What then?
That which Israel is seeking for? What does that
mean? Righteousness? It has not obtained. But
those who were chosen obtained it. The rest were
hardened. They were allowed to go in their own
direction and hardened in heart. Now go on to
verse 11. I say then, they, the Jews, national
Israel, they did not stumble so as to fall, did
they? He says, did they stumble never to rise
again? He says, God forbid, may it never be.
But by their transgression, that is their false
step, their blunder, salvation has come to the
Gentiles to make them, the Jews, jealous. You
see, one of the reasons God is calling us out
in this age is to make the Jewish people jealous.
And it says in verse 12, Now if their transgression
be riches for the world, and their failure be
riches for the Gentiles, the riches of salvation,
how much more will their fulfillment be? You
see, there is a fulfillment coming for Israel.
He says, But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles,
and as much then as I am an apostle of Gentiles,
I magnify my office, if somehow I might move
to jealousy my fellow countrymen, the Jews, and
save some of them. For if their rejection be
the reconciliation of the world, What will their
acceptance be but life from the dead? That's
yet in the future. And if the first piece of
dough be holy, the lump is also. And if the root
be holy, the branches are too. The first piece
mentioned here and the root refer to the patriarchs.
Because the Jewish people today are the descendants
of whom they are descendants of, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. Because they are part of that root,
because they are part of that lump, they today
still have purpose. God is going to fulfill his
promises to those patriarchs. But if some of
the branches were broken off, and you, Gentiles,
being a wild olive, were grafted in among them
and became partaker with them of the rich root
of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward
the branches. Now here's a warning to Gentiles.
He says, if you are arrogant, remember that it
is not you who supports the root, but the root
supports you. How it is possible for a born -again
Christian to be anti -Semitic, I do not know.
Because you see, as born -again Christians, we
are a part of God's promises to Abraham. We are
a part of that root. We have, out of our wildness,
been grafted into this cultivated olive tree.
speaking about the promises to Abraham. He says
the root supports us. He says you will say then
branches are broken off so that I might be grafted
in. Quite right. They were broken off for their
unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not
be conceited, but fear. For if God did not spare
the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
Behold then the kindness and severity of God
to those who fell, But to you, God's kindness,
if you continue in his kindness, otherwise you
also will be cut off. And they also, if they
do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted
in. For God is able to graft them in again. For
if you were cut off from what is by nature a
wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to
nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much
more shall these who are the natural branches
be grafted into their own olive tree. He's talking
about those branches that have been cut off being
grafted back in. In other words, God still has
a future for the nation of Israel. God is not
finished with them. He says, For I do not want
you, brethren, to be uninformed of this, what?
Mystery. A number of times in the New Testament
you will find this word mystery. It always refers
to the same basic definition, but the mystery
in its fullness has different aspects. It's like
links in a chain. They all fit together. They're
not all precisely the same, but they fit together.
These truths do. In Ephesians chapter 3, it is
the mystery of the church composed of Jew and
Gentile now equal in Jesus Christ. Here the aspect
of the mystery that is exposed is that this occurred,
the church occurred, because of Israel being
set aside. Nowhere in the Old Testament do you
see this truth revealed, that God was going to
set aside Israel and graft in a group that is
predominantly Gentile. It is a mystery. It has
not been exposed before this. He says, don't
be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise
in your own estimation. He says a partial hardening
has happened to Israel. It's partial in two ways.
It's partial in terms of time. It is not for
all time, but it's for this time. Even now there
is a remnant of grace, as we saw earlier in the
chapter in verse 5. But the nation of Israel
has been set aside for a time. It's a partial
hardening. And it's partial not only in time,
but it's partial in numbers. As I said, there
are some Jews who are saved. Now it goes on to
say, A partial hardening has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Now that is an interesting phrase. What does
he mean by this? Well, he's talking about what
God is doing right now. God is calling out a
people for his name's sake, a people composed,
as we've said over and over, primarily of Gentiles,
but including some Jews. God is right now completing
the body of Christ, the church, calling out a
people that has been his purpose through this
whole age of hundreds and hundreds of years,
almost 2 ,000 years now. God is putting together
a body of people. composed primarily of Gentiles.
Now there is an elect number to this body. Those
who compose the body of Christ, the number of
them is not an accident. It is known to God.
That is why in Ephesians chapter 1 it says that
He chose you in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Before the foundation of the world,
God not only designed this whole plan of Israel,
then the church, and Israel being restored, but
he also chose every person who's a part of the
church. It is no accident that you are born again.
That's been God's eternal plan for you, to be
saved when you've been saved, where you've been
saved, and placed into the body of Christ. And
one day, the elect number of Gentiles will be
completed. And the fullness of the Gentiles will
be done. It will come in. And when that occurs,
it is my conviction, based upon the word of God,
that the church, the visible church, will be
taken out of the world to its heavenly destiny.
Because when the church is completed, when the
fullness of the Gentiles has come in, it goes
on to say, then all Israel will be saved. The
idea is that God is going to turn back to the
nation of Israel and begin dealing with them
once more. When it says all Israel will be saved,
it doesn't mean every individual Jew, but it
means as a nation, as a unit, they will be saved.
He quotes from the Old Testament proving this,
and then he says in verse 28, From the standpoint
of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.
But from the standpoint of God's choice, they
are beloved for the sake of the fathers, that
is, the patriarchs. The gifts and calling of
God are irrevocable. For just as you once were
disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy
because of their disobedience. So these also
now have been disobedient in order that because
of the mercy shown to you, they also may now
be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience
that he might show mercy to all. This is one
of the greatest texts in the Bible for Jewish
evangelism. They have been disobedient. They
have fallen. They have stumbled as a nation.
They have been rejected by God during this age.
Because of their national unbelief, only a remnant
of grace among the Jews have been saved. That's
the mercy of God. And the mercy of God, because
of their disobedience, has gone to your ancestors
and mine, to Gentiles, people like us, who are
cut off from the covenants of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. God's mercy has embraced us now and
has implanted us into that root. of the promises
to Abraham, the promises of salvation. We are
now a part of that because of God's mercy and
Israel's unbelief. However, God says now, you
Gentiles, you show mercy to those who have been
disobedient. You preach the gospel to them, even
though many of them will reject. Indeed, most
of them reject. Preach the gospel to them. Show
them mercy. I am convinced that these are the
greatest days for Jewish evangelism for this
reason. Even though a Jewish person may not respond
to the gospel now as he hears it, God is planting
that gospel in his heart, and I believe personally
the rapture of the church is so close that we
are so soon going to be taken out of here that
some of those Jewish people who hear the gospel
now and reject it, after the church is taken
out, will then believe it. We'll then believe
it and become a part of the great core of evangelists,
numbering 144 ,000 according to Revelation, who
will go throughout the earth preaching the gospel
in the tribulation period. It's exciting to think
that now we are planting seed, maybe, which is
going to bear fruit not just in this age, the
church age, but after we're gone. God is going
to bring some of those dear Jewish people to
faith in their Messiah. They will come to him
and then eventually be restored and God is going
to set up the kingdom of our Savior. Here's my
point in going through all this. It is this,
that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, far
from being an afterthought, far from being plan
B, has in fact been the centerpiece of God's
eternal purpose of redemption. That means just
what I said earlier, that you have been a part
of God's centerpiece, God's master plan since
before the foundation of the world. You are not
born where you are of the parents that you were
where you were by accident. God has designed
all of that so that you might come to faith in
his son and be a part of the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You see, beloved, you are a part
of something that is far bigger than you can
possibly imagine today. There is no way for your
mind or mine to get around these facts and encompass
them and understand them fully. These things
are part of a mystery that God has exposed to
us, but we grapple with them, we wonder with
them at the immensity of these truths. That was
the second fact that I want you to see. The purpose
of the church is intended to reveal God. God
created all things. He likewise created the church.
And the reason that he created the church is
to reveal himself. Notice what it says here in
verse 10. In order that the manifold wisdom of
God might now be made known through the church.
God is a God who desires to reveal himself to
mankind. He does not want to remain unknown.
He wants to be known for who he is. You see,
God is a teacher. Those of you who are teachers
are in a profession that is as much like what
God is like as any profession can be. It is a
wonderful and privileged profession to be a teacher.
God is a teacher. God is an instructor. Now the
lesson that God wants to teach right now is his
wisdom. I would define his wisdom as God's skillful
use of his knowledge, his intellect, his understanding,
his prudence. God is not only omniscient, knowing
all things, but he is omnisapient. He knows how
to use what he knows. to accomplish his perfect
purposes. His wisdom is here described as manifold.
You see that word? It literally means multicolored.
It was used in that day of embroidered cloth
that was embroidered with different patterns
of colors or fields of flowers, many colors involved.
We might call it the many -splendored wisdom
of God or the iridescent wisdom of God. It's
like a rainbow. this wisdom of God that he desires
to display. And notice that God, the great instructor,
has an illustration of his wisdom. He has an
object lesson that he uses, and that object lesson
is the church. You see that in verse 10? God
is making known his wisdom, himself, through
the church. You and I, are God's illustration
of his wisdom in the way that he saved us through
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is
foolishness to the world. It's weakness and foolishness
to talk about the world finding salvation through
the death of one person in history 2 ,000 years
ago. That is unreasonable and illogical to our
world. But that foolishness of man is the wisdom
of God. God has saved us through the cross. But
also I believe that the wisdom of God is being
evidenced in choosing people like you and me
to proclaim that message. Because you see, we
are not the people that would, humanly speaking,
be chosen. to proclaim the message of the cross.
Why, if you or I were planning this, we would
select the powerful people of the world. We would
select the kings and the presidents and the people
who had a lot of money and those who could influence
vast crowds of people. But according to 1 Corinthians
1, God rather has chosen the base and the despised,
the foolish and the weak. I'm sorry if that offends
you, but that's how we are. God has purposely
chosen most of his people among that strata.
Why? Because that's his wisdom to do so. Now
who are the students in God's classroom? Please
notice that it's not us. We are the illustration.
Amazingly, it says here that God is making known
his wisdom to the rulers and the authorities
in the heavenly places. In other words, the angels.
You see, watching us every moment of every day
are angels. Now, some people find this a little
spooky. God doesn't intend it to be that way.
But the facts are, that we are the objects of
intense observation by spirit beings. When you
and I think we're alone, we're not alone. For
gazing upon us are multitudes of angelic creatures
described here as the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places, the realm of spiritual
things. The application is obvious. That you
and I need to live so as to make God's lesson
plain to the angels. This gives us a little insight
into some other rather strange and mysterious
phrases in the New Testament. Let me give you
a couple of them. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter
4 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians 4, 9. Paul says,
I think God has exhibited us apostles last of
all. last in the line, coming at the end, as
men condemned to death because we have become
a spectacle to the world, both to angels and
to men. Paul is saying that in this cosmos around
us, in this order of things, there are two kinds
of creatures, intelligent living creatures, mankind
and angels. And he says, as apostles, that they
were spectacles both to men and to angels. Now
there's another phrase found in 1 Corinthians
chapter 11. We don't have time to go into the
context here. Somebody's going to ask me after
the service, well, then are women supposed to
wear hats? I don't believe so. The particular
context here dealt with a situation that existed
in that day. But there's a basic underlying principle,
and it's the principle of submission. As the
man is to be in submission to Christ, so the
woman is to be in subjection to the man. And
he says in verse 10, Therefore the woman ought
to have a symbol of authority on her head because
of the angels. Now there are other little passages
like this. that remind us that we are being observed
by extraterrestrial beings, the angels. And what
they are learning by watching us is the wisdom
of God. I am sure there are times they must scratch
their heads. I am sure there are times when the
lesson doesn't come through in my life like I
wish it would. But the fact is that God is working
in your circumstances and mine, using us as illustrations,
as objects, to teach the angels about his wisdom.
You see, angels don't know everything. They have
to be taught, and God is teaching them through
us. And so the second thing that we see here
is that the purpose of the church is to reveal
God. The purpose of the church, thirdly, is realized
in Christ. That's an important fact to notice
at the end of verse 11. He says this eternal
purpose he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice it's in a past tense as we would say it.
The church of the Lord Jesus Christ came into
being because of Christ Jesus our Lord. His work
at the cross, the empty tomb. It all focuses
back on that. The thing that has brought the
church into existence is Him. The thing that
causes all of God's promises, all of the fullness
of God's purpose to be guaranteed to be fulfilled
is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of
God's eternal plans are fixed upon His Son. Therefore,
how foolish of any of us to try to live independent
of Him. To try to live ignoring Christ. One does
that to the peril of his soul. And then fourthly
and finally, the purpose of the church is filled
with blessing. The reason that God has brought
the church into existence is that he might bless
people. In verse 12, we have boldness and confident
access through faith in Him. You see, before
Calvary, God had to distance Himself from sinful
man. That separation was absolutely necessary
because of His holiness. But now, through Christ
Jesus, God has opened the way to Himself. The
veil in the temple was rent as a picture of that.
Whereas before God had to say, keep your distance,
now God can say, come to me. And God reaches
out to embrace us, to receive us to himself,
to hug us, as it were, because he loves us. God
has brought about the church so that he might
bless mankind. so that he might receive us to
himself and give us two rights. And notice what
they are. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
has guaranteed two rights for the believer. Number
one, the right of free speech. We have boldness,
literally freedom of speech. You and I can come
to God and directly talk with him. We do not
need someone to go between us and God. We can
directly call him Father. And besides the right
of free speech, we have the right of confident
access. Before, only that high priest could go
into the Holy of Holies. Now all of us can go
right in. God says, come on right into me. Why?
Because the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has
been shed. These are wonderful purposes. To be
happy, a person needs to have someone to love.
We have Christ. We need to have a hope His soon
return. And we need to know that there's purpose
to our existence. And I hope that this passage
today shows you that you have purpose, not just
for time, but for eternity as a believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's grand plan in saving
you is to glorify Himself by writing His message
in your life. You see, you're a unique person.
There's nobody else like you in all of history,
and nobody else can ever be like you. God has
saved you so that he might write into your life
a unique stanza in his poem of redemption. Is
God able to write in your life the way he wants
to? Or is the paper dirty? Is the paper wrinkled
and unfit? God has saved you that he might display
you forever as an object of grace and use you
to teach the angels about his wisdom. Is that
lesson coming through in your life, the way you're
living it? That's what God wants. God has saved
you, my friend, for a purpose. Regardless of
how important you may be in this world, no matter
how much or how little money you ever make, no
matter whether you're a success in the business
world or whatever field you've taken up, putting
all of those things aside, don't miss the purpose
that God has for your being here. You can know
that purpose and fulfill it by giving your heart
to Jesus Christ and making him Lord of your life
every day. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that
you've called us to be channels, instruments,
Object lessons. Forgive us when our sins, our
rebellion, our ignorance. from writing into our
lives the message that you want. And we say to
you as a people, and I hope each of us says individually,
write in our lives that stanza of your poem that
pleases you. We surrender ourselves to you as
fully as we know how. Glorify yourself. And may
your eternal purpose be realized in our existence.
Channels only, blessed Master, but with all thy
wondrous power flowing through us, thou canst
use us. every day and every hour. Would you stand
with me, please?