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Remain standing for the reading 
of God's Word. 

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I certainly appreciate singing 
the doxology before I get up to 

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read the Scriptures because 
everybody's awake, OK? 

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But we hopefully we're awake to 
him. 

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All right, let's listen to His 
word. 

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Found in Ephesians chapter 2, 
verses 4 through 10. 

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But God, being rich in mercy 
because of the great love with 

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which He loved us even when we 
were dead in our trespasses, 

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made us alive together with 
Christ. 

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By grace you have been saved, 
and raised us up with Him, and 

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seated us with Him in the 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

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so that in the coming ages He 
might show the immeasurable 

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riches of His grace and kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. 

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For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that is not 

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of your doing. 
It is the gift of God, not a 

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result of works, so that no one 
may boast. 

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For we are His workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus for good

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works which God prepared 
beforehand that we should walk 

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in them. 
This is the word of the Lord. 

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You may be seated This week. 
A wonderful, enriching movie has

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been released in Dallas, 
prepared in background by what 

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is called the Discovery 
Institute. 

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It is. 
It is entitled The Story of 

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Everything. 
The story of everything, 

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everything that science has 
revealed continues to confound 

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scientists, Christian, non 
Christian and other, that there 

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is a mind behind creation. 
That all the scientistic 

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disciplines such as cosmology, 
biography, chemistry and others 

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reveal the design in everything,
down to the smallest thing that 

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they can see with an atomic 
microscope. 

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Today there is design. 
One after another these 

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disciplines have been forced to 
come to the one conclusion. 

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There is a designer. 
Now many will not admit it at 

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that point because they're 
blinded, but they can't get away

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from it. 
It's there. 

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There is no religion or 
evangelism in this movie. 

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It is simply the sheer facts of 
what honest science has 

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revealed. 
How do you get around this? 

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And it leads to this 
unexplainableness that there is 

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a design which is the story of 
everything. 

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I think there also needs to be a
movie called The Story of Grace 

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that is Behind everything you 
see. 

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Grace explains everything that 
explains the why of creation, 

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the purpose in its design. 
Grace reveals everything we need

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to know about God. 
There is grace seen in creation,

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the free gift to a plant, the 
free gift of life to creatures, 

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the free gift of beings like 
heavenly beings, angels. 

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There's grace in humans because 
we have been amazingly given to 

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be made in the image of God. 
There's even grace revealed in 

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the fall of mankind or mankind, 
and there's grace shown now in 

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the history of God's people 
throughout all of the Old 

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Testament, through the New 
Testament, through Israel and 

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the church. 
And there's grace still yet in 

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the future of Jesus Christ 
Kingdom on earth. 

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Grace is the goal, which is the 
glory of God and praise to God, 

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and it began long before the 
earth was ever created. 

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It has been carefully and wisely
revealed through God's plan for 

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mankind. 
Today's passage is a powerfully 

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significant passage, and to 
grasp it again, even as Rob last

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week went back through very 
masterfully, The first chapter, 

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and I just want to recap it 
because it puts the whole 

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context on this foundation of 
what is going to be revealed in 

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these verses in chapter 1, is 
all about the work of the whole 

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Trinity on our behalf. 
The Holy Father creates a plan 

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to bless us with every spiritual
blessing that's available for us

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in the heavens, designed to make
us holy in character and 

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blameless in action. 
It is a plan that He started by 

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predestining us to adoption into
His divine family. 

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And the Holy Son accomplishes 
this plan by redeeming us and 

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forgiving us and giving us a 
future inheritance and what is 

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yet still to come. 
And then we're told the Holy 

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Spirit is the one that actually 
makes all of this come to pass 

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because he seals us in these 
blessings. 

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Paul then finishes that first 
chapter with this magnificent 

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prayer that we would be able to 
grasp the multitude of the 

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riches of grace and the power 
that has been made available to 

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us for daily use of the riches 
of grace. 

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He praises God for the very same
resurrected power that raised 

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Christ from the dead and seated 
him in the heavenly places. 

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And he says this is actually the
same power that has been done 

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for us in the same way. 
When we come to chapter 2, Paul 

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then turns and asks the very 
obvious question. 

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And the question is this How in 
the world can we be included in 

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this great and awesome plan that
God has set forth? 

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How can we be included, He says,
when we were dead, to all things

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spiritual and divine? 
None of our actions are 

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blameless. 
Our sin nature eliminates us 

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from being holy. 
We willingly walk like zombies 

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under the influence of this 
world and Satan. 

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We justifiably deserve the grace
of God. 

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Why shouldn't we just be sent to
hell? 

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We have no excuse. 
There is nothing we can claim 

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for the proof of mercy, much 
less the power to receive it. 

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We're spiritually dead. 
And that is why I verse 4 is the

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incredible turning point in the 
story of grace. 

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But God, after all of that, but 
God. 

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On earth we're helpless, but by 
God's grace we're highly 

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favored. 
On earth we're incurable, but by

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God's grace we're made whole. 
On earth we are irreparable, but

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by God's grace we are restored. 
All of this because God, who is 

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rich in mercy, sets aside our 
sinful deadness and because of 

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his, as he says, exceedingly 
great love flows from him. 

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He has chosen to focus his grace
on each one of us. 

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Amazing. 
Paul even echoed that in the 

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book of Romans chapter 5 when he
said, But God there it is again,

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demonstrates this love, His own 
love toward us, and that while 

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we were yet sinners, still in 
that condition, Christ died for 

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us. 
By grace. 

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God knew we would still be in 
our sins, and yet He planned for

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our hope through Christ again, 
even when we were dead, He made 

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us alive. 
It's staggering to believe that 

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He loved us in the very same way
and did the very same thing for 

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us that He did for His Son. 
Notice in chapter 1 Paul said 

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that he raised Christ from 
physical death and in this 

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chapter he raises us from 
spiritual eternal death. 

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In chapter 1, Christ is seated 
at the right hand and of God in 

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the in heaven, but now he seats 
us at the banquet table and even

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in the throne room itself. 
Revelation says in heaven we 

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have been given a place setting.
Have you ever been to a banquet 

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and then searched for your name 
somewhere? 

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And if there hadn't been a 
guide, you have to walk all over

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the place, don't you? 
Oh, there's my name. 

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I have a place. 
You have been given a place 

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setting in heaven that 
guarantees in advance you will 

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be there. 
And so notice in each case what 

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he says here is that we've been 
made alive with Christ. 

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We've been raised in Christ. 
We have been seated with Christ.

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You see, what he's trying to 
tell us is we are fully and 

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permanently united to Christ. 
All of this saves us by grace 

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alone. 
This is amazing enough. 

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And yet now comes a truly a big 
surprise. 

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As Paul even says to us, that's 
not been revealed until now. 

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And it creates a question that 
again begs us to answer. 

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And that is, why has all of this
been done for us? 

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Why has all of this been done 
for us? 

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Couple of weeks ago I preached 
the sermon on the riches of 

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grace, and I had a little card 
out there of counting 33 things 

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in the New Testament that grace 
has done for us at salvation. 

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Just at the moment of salvation,
these 33 things become true of 

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you. 
The moment you yield your life 

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to Christ, it's all poured out 
on you more than you can even 

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imagine. 
But this verse 7 reveals a 

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bigger purpose for the grace of 
God. 

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It points to a mystery, Paul 
says, and expands on this in 

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chapter 3. 
We'll see in a minute that has 

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been kept from us until now, at 
least in this writing. 

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Verse 7 begins with so that you 
notice in your reading follow 

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the the the the very correct 
grammar that in the English, but

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it's following what the what the
original language is doing but 

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God and then you come down to 
seven so that and then you have 

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two more for this and for this 
and next week Sam will open up 

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to us what that number 10 for is
and what it means this so that 

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is a very unusual word in the 
original language. 

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The word is he not, but they 
call it the Heena phrase because

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in the Greek language it means 
red flag. 

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Pay attention, this is 
important. 

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This is summary. 
Whenever that phrase is used and

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we translate all this stuff that
we've just read about what 

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Christ has done for us and his 
grace is done for us, He's 

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saying so that here's its 
purpose, but it's an unusual 

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statement. 
Look what he goes on to say. 

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He says in this summary purpose 
statement of what has just been 

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stated. 
Paul not only uses it to expand 

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on it here, but then in the next
chapter. 

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But let's look at these things 
that this verse opens up for us 

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so that in the ages to come 
there's still yet something that

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is to be revealed to us. 
It means in the future Kingdom 

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of God on earth so that in the 
ages to come he might show the 

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surpassing riches of his grace 
or in this translation in the 

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immeasurable riches of of his 
grace. 

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What he's saying here in the in 
the kindness of Christ toward 

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us. 
Notice that being in the future 

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that he might show all right, 
not meaning if, but because 

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something is set so that he will
show something that is 

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surpassing of great value and 
it's going to be done in 

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kindness toward us. 
Again, as he said, those who are

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in Christ. 
The aim is to exalt grace in the

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future. 
Be more on this in just a 

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moment, but let's can you fall 
Paul's thoughts here about what 

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grace does next? 
We have the two most famous 

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verses in all of scripture in 
the ones that we quote from 

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Ephesians all the time, verses 
8:00 and 9:00. 

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For by grace you have been saved
through faith. 

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Everyone of you can probably say
this without even even looking 

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at it. 
By for by grace you have been 

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saved through faith, and that's 
not of yourselves. 

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It's the gift of God, which is 
His grace. 

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Not as a result of works that no
one may post. 

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All of God's, the Father's plans
for all eternity, or 

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accomplished by His grace. 
That alone is the reason for our

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salvation. 
It's not His love that saves us,

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but it's His unconditional grace
that sets that in motion. 

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A willing choice that He has 
made to provide the grace that 

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saves us. 
You see, His grace is what moves

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His love toward us. 
It's His grace that enables us 

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to have faith to receive it. 
And He is making a huge point in

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this little section here about 
it. 

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And verse 9 again emphasizes 
further, we have no basis 

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ourselves to claim it. 
There's nothing within us that 

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can claim it. 
But then grace enables us to do 

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a lot of things. 
I can't wait to hear what Sam's 

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going to give us next week on 
that. 

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00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:52,880
But now let me examine what 
God's plan to do because of His 

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grace. 
Three times in these 6 verses, 

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grace is emphasized, emphasized,
emphasized. 

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It's almost out of place in some
places, isn't it? 

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You don't kind of need it, but 
there it is. 

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He keeps pushing that thought 
toward us. 

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There's something more that He's
wanting us to realize. 

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So in verse 7, here's the 
question. 

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What does it mean that He might 
show the riches of His grace in 

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the future? 
All right? 

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Why for all eternity has He 
chosen us to be holy and 

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blameless? 
Why has He made us acceptable? 

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00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:41,600
Why has He made us alive from 
the death we deserve and raised 

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us up and seated us at a place 
of honor in the heavenly realm? 

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The keyword here is show. 
It gives us a hint at what it 

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means. 
It's a very unusual word and it 

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00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:05,280
means to publicly demonstrate or
make a point of something. 

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To publicly demonstrate and make
a point of something. 

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And so here we have the thank 
that God has got something 

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planned in eternity future for 
us that He wants to publicly 

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00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:29,160
before everything in the 
heavenly realms to demonstrate 

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and that is his grace. 
He wants us to see something. 

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Now if you would, you can, but 
I'm going to read the whole 

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passage. 
It's not long, but in chapter 3,

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Paul picks this up and gives us 
an expanded understanding of 

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what he's saying here in opening
in verse seven of two. 

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Here's where Paul expands our 
understand the richness and 

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purpose of grace me read this to
you. 

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This is chapter 3 verses 8 
through 11. 

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Paul says to me the very least 
of all the Saints. 

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Notice the emphasis, this grace,
this grace was given to preach 

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to the to the Gentiles the 
unfathomable riches of Christ, 

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the grace that Christ makes 
available and to bring to light 

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what is the administration or 
the working out of the mystery. 

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There it is, something we 
haven't unknown or understood 

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before, which for ages has been 
hidden in God. 

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And He says, who created all 
things? 

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It's interesting, He adds, this 
word created. 

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He's taking us back to the very 
beginning of creation itself to 

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remind us this mystery was set 
in place back at the beginning 

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of creation. 
Here we have another HINA 

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clause. 
Why? 

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So that all right, here's 
purpose, the manifold wisdom of 

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God in the words, the many ways 
he has unfolded or provided his 

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grace to build his people and 
his church. 

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And then he says that it might 
be made known through the church

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too. 
Now, if you're not looking at 

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it, I'm glad because I want to 
ask you this question 

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rhetorically. 
Who is it going to be revealed 

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to? 
We're in the heavenly places in 

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the future. 
Now, who is it going to be 

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revealed to? 
Us? 

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Well, that would be a good a 
good guess. 

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The whole world. 
That would be an even better 

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guess. 
But surprise, here's what he 

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says. 
It will be revealed through the 

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Church to the rulers and 
authorities in the heavenly 

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place. 
Now think about that for a 

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moment. 
God has a plan for grace in the 

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future to be revealed to the 
rulers and authorities in the 

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whole spiritual realm. 
All right, now whenever that 

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phrase rulers and authorities is
used, as we will read further, 

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if when we read into Acts 
chapter 6, verse 12, our 

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struggle is not against flesh of
blood, but it's against rulers 

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and authorities and principles 
and spiritual places. 

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All right, God is doing 
something quite unique at this 

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point with grace, both holy 
angels and unholy angels. 

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Angels are created beings. 
We're told that Scripture, I 

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think it's Psalm one, O 3, 
speaks when God created the 

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angels. 
They are not omniscient, that 

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they do not know everything. 
As a matter of fact, we will 

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speak of what they do not know, 
but we're told that they are the

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messengers and ministers of 
God's service to the lack, the 

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holy angels, and that they long 
to look into what God is doing 

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on earth. 
That's what Peter tells us. 

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The angels long to look into 
what God is doing on earth. 

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This passage goes on to say, and
This is why I say this is a big 

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picture, verse 11. 
This was done in accordance with

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the eternal purpose. 
It's the only place in 

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Scriptures that's used, that 
phrase is used which he carried 

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out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in
whom we have boldness and 

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confident access through faith 
in him. 

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Where's God plan for all 
eternity to do something for all

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eternity? 
He planned to do something in 

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eternity past for all of 
eternity. 

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Future. 
One writer put it this way. 

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God intends to make a grand 
display of His wondrous grace 

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before all the angels and Saints
in heaven, that all may see the 

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majesty and the glory of God. 
This is the part of His eternal 

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plan for grace. 
One day you in heaven, the Lord 

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is going to turn in front of all
created beings because He hasn't

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pronounced judgment yet on the 
unholy beings yet. 

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Alright, He's coming, but he's 
going to say look at what I did 

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with that one. 
Look at what my Grace did for 

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that one and stand up, Sir. 
Look at what my Grace, all of 

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you angels and Saints, look what
my grace did for that one. 

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In the movie series The Chosen, 
which some people like, some do 

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not, James the Lesser, not 
James, the brother of Jesus, is 

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shown to have a limp. 
That was a little bit of the 

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understanding of what the lesser
meant. 

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He had a infirmity, but he was 
sent out like all of the other 

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apostles to heal. 
And he did. 

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He healed other. 
And one day he's standing before

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Jesus and he says, Lord, why 
haven't you healed me? 

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What a question and the Lord 
says James, you will be healed, 

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but your your need for healing 
right now displays my grace And 

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you see God is doing something 
amazing. 

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Angels can see the power of God.
They can see his beauty, his 

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creation of the stars and the 
universe. 

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Even job in in the last chapter 
it says there was a time when 

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all of the angels saying about 
the glory of God in creation, it

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was before the fall. 
But the one thing they could not

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see was his heart. 
Only his grace could reveal. 

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00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:32,240
Now this doesn't save the unholy
angels, but it will let them 

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know what they turn their backs 
on in Christ and to serve Satan.

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And Paul adds this amazing 
statement clarifying this 

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thought in Colossians. 
And he says this Colossians 

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00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:58,920
chapter one, one day Christ, 
who's the head of the body, the 

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00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,840
beginning of the first born of 
the dead, will come himself to 

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have first place in everything. 
For it was the Father's good 

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00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:14,840
pleasure for all the fullness to
dwell in him and through him. 

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Now listen to this, to reconcile
all things to himself, having 

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made peace through the blood of 
the cross through him. 

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I say I make it this, whether 
things on earth or things in 

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00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:37,480
heaven, see God's grace as a 
continuing work. 

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He's ultimately going to make 
everything reconciled. 

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And as I said, that isn't save 
Satan. 

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They deserve their judgement, 
but it's the beautiful picture 

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00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:58,040
of all of grace for us. 
This is the only way that Christ

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could dwell in our hearts 
through faith, the only way that

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00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,920
we will be able to comprehend 
with all of the Saints the 

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00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:16,000
breadth, the length, the height,
and the depth to know the love 

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00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,520
of Christ which surpasses our 
knowledge, so that we might be 

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filled up to all the fullness of
God. 

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00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:33,040
This is the story of everything 
but God by grace alone. 

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00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:41,920
Let's pray our great and 
magnificent Father, how 

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00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:49,240
astounded we are, even Paul 
himself, realizing the 

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00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,800
incredible things that have been
revealed to him and seeking to 

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00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:58,280
reveal them to us and they're 
seen and understand alone. 

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By the power of your Holy 
Spirit, which your grace is 

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00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:09,000
given us, would you bless us 
this day with awe, with awe, and

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00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:15,200
how great and deep and wide for 
every possible thing your grace 

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00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,440
is. 
And we pray this in Jesus name, 

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00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:19,400
Amen.