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If you take your mind back to 
the 12th century and the Middle 

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Ages, they used to categorize 
all of the knowledges, all the 

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arts, all of the virtues. 
They would put these, organize 

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them into hierarchies. 
And if you lived in the 12th 

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century, the scholars would have
said that the highest of all the

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00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,640
hierarchies belong to 
philosophy. 

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It was the crown of all 
knowledge, and they believed 

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that human reason governed and 
ordered all sciences. 

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You Fast forward 100 years to 
the scholar Thomas Aquinas in 

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the 13th century. 
He said that theology is a 

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science defined as a systematic 
body of knowledge, a complete 

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00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,400
body of knowledge. 
And he said it's a science 

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that's higher than philosophy 
because it draws all of its 

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principles from divine 
revelation rather than human 

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reason. 
And so not only was theology 

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greater than philosophy, but it 
united all forms of knowledge 

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under itself. 
Astronomy and mathematics and 

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medicine and metaphysics and 
physics and philosophy and and 

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logic. 
And he says it's because only 

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theology explains why all of 
these others exist, and what 

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they exist for unites everything
under itself. 

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And so for this reason, Aquinas 
said, theology is the queen of 

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the sciences. 
As you begin to go through 

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history, this moniker queen gets
applied to other things. 

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The the Rose would become the 
queen of the flowers, and poetry

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would become the queen of the 
arts. 

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And it's not the king. 
Kingship's a symbol of power and

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dominance and rule, but it's the
queen symbolizing beauty and 

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centrality and majesty and 
excellence and maybe most of 

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all, elegance. 
And so the church began to apply

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this to the New Testament. 
As they read through the 

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Scriptures, as they read through
their own New Testament, they 

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saw the elegance and the majesty
of the book of Ephesians, and 

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they designated it the Queen of 
the Epistles or the Queen of the

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letters. 
The king is Romans. 

36
00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:07,200
Romans is the king of the 
letters. 

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It's the first in prominence. 
It's the first in order of the 

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books. 
It's a systematic presentation 

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of doctrine, comprehensive in 
scope, logically rigorous, 

40
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complete and orderly. 
But Ephesians is the queen 

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because you read Ephesians, you 
see it's elegant and subtle in 

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its composition, and it's 
theologically rich, and it's 

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exalted in its subject matter. 
And we confess it's soaring in 

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its style, meaning it's 
emotional and awe inspiring. 

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So there's very little as you 
draw into this book. 

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There's very little that's 
taught in Ephesians that's not 

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taught somewhere else in the 
Bible. 

48
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And so we confess the glory and 
the power and the majesty of 

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00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,760
Ephesians is not in its unique 
teaching and insight. 

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And we say the same is true. 
Scholars all agree that it's the

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most beautiful of all of Paul's 
letters. 

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00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,960
But the power and glory does not
come from its rhetorical 

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00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:00,560
flourish or it's exalted style. 
It's power and it's glory come 

54
00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,800
from several places and if you 
want to write these down, the 

55
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,720
1st is on its focus. 
The focus of Ephesians is on 

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00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,720
Jesus Christ and his exaltation 
as Lord. 

57
00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,640
And so if if theology is the 
queen of the scientists because 

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it brings all other science 
under itself, then we say the 

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00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,880
Ephesians is the queen of the 
epistles because it unites all 

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things under Jesus Christ. 
It brings all things in Christ. 

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00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,480
That's why it says 35 times. 
We're going to say it over and 

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00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,280
over through the book. 
Everything is in the Beloved, in

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Christ, in Christ Jesus, united 
in him, in him, in him. 

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00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,520
It's subject matter, it's focus 
is exalted. 

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00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,280
It's power and glory come from 
it's cosmic vision of the 

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00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,880
church. 
It's comprehensive it gives more

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of our purpose as a local church
than anywhere else in the New 

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00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,320
Testament. 
This is what we are to be and 

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00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,040
this is what we are to do. 
It's it's comprehensive and that

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00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,800
it displays everything from the 
Holy Spirit and eternity past, 

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00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,880
how we became united in him to 
the Holy Spirit uniting us for 

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00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,680
eternity future. 
It presents a vision of local 

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communities and believers 
through which Christ displays 

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his wisdom and power to the 
world. 

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00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,240
And through it, he he shows us 
to the rulers and the 

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00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,760
authorities in the heavenly 
places, the the power of our 

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Lord. 
And it's powerful because it 

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transforms all the individual 
yous or eyes of this room. 

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And it it bakes all of the wheat
into one bread. 1 lump. 

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00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,160
And we are truly now we there's 
no I anymore. 

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00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,240
When you read Ephesians, it's 
you, it's us, you all, it's us. 

82
00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,840
And you see this we is the 
fulfillment of the prophets like

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Isaiah and like Jeremiah who 
envisioned a church that would 

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be from every tribe, tongue and 
nations and all for them would 

85
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not mean everyone but all people
indiscriminately. 

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00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,160
That to bring God enough glory 
He wants believers from every 

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tribe, tongue and nation, from 
every people group. 

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The descendants of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob and the 

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descendants of heritage Church, 
which we confess as you've seen 

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00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:05,840
today are many power and glory 
comes from its subject matter. 

91
00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,640
It glorifies not only Jesus is 
the Son of God, but it exalts 

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00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,200
the Father and it exalts the 
Holy Spirit and includes all 

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creation for all time. 
Again, it begins in eternity 

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past with the election and 
predestination of God the 

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Father, redemption in time, the 
Holy Spirit sealing us for 

96
00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,720
eternity future guaranteeing us 
the inheritance until we acquire

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00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:27,720
possession of it. 
It says to the praise of his 

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00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,760
glory. 
It's, it's all-encompassing and 

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00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,400
it extends not only to this 
exalted subject matter of the 

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Holy Spirit for all eternity, 
but it doesn't neglect the 

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00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,440
individual responsibilities of 
husbands to their wives and 

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wives to their husbands and, and
individuals to their employers 

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and children to their parents. 
It gets down and it's 

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applicable. 
It's theology and practical 

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00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:53,280
living because theology is 
practical. 

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00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:57,400
Theology is a way of life. 
It's not just for study, it's 

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for living, and it contains 
deep. 

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00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,160
This book contains deep and 
unsearchable theological truths 

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and advice for how to live our 
Christian life. 

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And you see it in Ephesians one,
as we're going to be in a 

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minute. 
But you go to Ephesians 2 and it

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includes powerful statements 
such as this one on your 

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justification by faith alone. 
It says by grace you've been 

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saved through faith, and this is
not your own doing. 

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It's the gift of God, not of 
work, so that no one can boast. 

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00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,200
And you move into Ephesians 3. 
There's this great prayer of 

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Paul that according to the 
riches of his glory, he may 

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grant you to be strengthened 
with power through his Holy 

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Spirit and your inner beings, so
that Christ may dwell in your 

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hearts through faith. 
To him be glory in the church 

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and in Christ Jesus throughout 
all generations, forever and 

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ever, Amen. 
And there's so many named 

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passages and Ephesians, they get
nicknames because they're so 

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famous and powerful. 
You come to the the seven ones 

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of chapter 4, there's one body, 
there's one spirit just as you 

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were called to 1 hope that 
belongs to your call 1 Lord, 1 

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faith, one baptism, one God over
all you. 

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The core value of this church in
Ephesians 412, the purpose of 

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the pastors to equip the Saints 
for the work of the ministry so 

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that it's not the pastors and 
the elders and the deacons that 

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do the work, but you were to do 
the work and we equip you to do 

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this works. 
What Paul says, you move to 

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chapter 5, the household code, 
the instructions to parents and 

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children. 
The most comprehensive 

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discussion in Scripture on 
marriage comes in Ephesians 5. 

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And then what's in Ephesians 6? 
The armor of God is, is there 

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another named passage? 
Our defence against cosmic 

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powers in the darkness of this 
world. 

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So the power and the glory of 
this book come from its focus on

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Jesus Christ, from its exalted 
subject matter, from its cosmic 

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vision for the church. 
But it also comes from its 

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style, as we've said, it is 
beautiful, it is elegant, it's 

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rhetorically powerful, it's 
poetic, it's beautiful, it's the

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queen of the epistles, it's 
worship and praise. 

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And if I were to draw a diagram 
of your inner person, you know 

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00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,760
the top of that, your heart, as 
truth permeates and enters into 

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00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,840
your heart, the top of that 
diagram would be your mind, 

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because all truth has to enter 
into your mind. 

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00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,720
And Ephesians isn't just about 
reaching your mind. 

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It wants to go deeper into your 
heart, and even below your heart

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would be your will, what you 
want to do in this life and 

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below that your affections. 
That's what you love. 

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And Paul, as he writes 
Ephesians, says, I want to hit 

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all of it. 
I'm going to hit your mind. 

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I'm going to, I'm going to add 
this rhetorical flourish and 

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this authority that I have as an
apostle. 

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00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,440
And I'm going to drive all of 
this truth so that it transforms

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your life, what you love, what 
you want to do. 

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It's aimed at the deepest parts 
of yourself. 

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It's devotional, it's 
convicting, it's encouraging, 

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and it's inspiring. 
And we say this is exactly what 

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you would expect from a letter 
that was super intended by the 

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Holy Spirit of God. 
We expect nothing else. 

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This is why Samuel Coleridge 
calls it the divinest 

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composition of man, the most 
beautiful book ever written. 

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00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:55,880
So with that, that's what we're 
looking toward. 

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00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:57,800
This is our book until next 
April. 

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00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,560
And when we want to stop and ask
the question, yes, it's 

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00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,160
beautiful. 
Why did Paul write this book? 

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00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,920
What was his purpose in writing?
Ephesians commentator Nils Das 

171
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,200
says that this book bears all 
the marks of a catechism for new

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believers. 
That's not the only reason he 

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wrote it. 
But we confess as pastors, 

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that's why we picked it, because
there's so many new believers, 

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young and old, in this church. 
And we want to go back to the 

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fundamentals of the faith. 
And we want to be like the 

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legendary football coach Vince 
Lombardi. 

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00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,600
He used to always hold out a 
football every season and say, 

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you know the illustration, 
gentlemen, this is a football 

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and we want to come back and say
church. 

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This is the apostle Paul. 
This is what an apostle is. 

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This is what the local church is
for. 

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We want to go back to the basics
to hit the fundamentals of the 

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faith. 
Peter O'Brien, another 

185
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,200
commentator, says the essence is
identity formation. 

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You have a whole new identity 
once you are put into the 

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church, Once you are baptized 
into this one baptism, 

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everything changes. 
And so we want to say that is 

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not the only thing, but it is a 
major theme. 

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00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,760
There is identity formation that
has to come in your new walk, 

191
00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,680
but we have to as a church agree
with Clinton Arnold who says 

192
00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,920
it's not just one theme. 
You can't boil it down to 1 

193
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,240
theme. 
There's 4 themes that are kind 

194
00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,720
of knit together in this book, 
threads that run throughout the 

195
00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,120
book. 
And he puts it together in a in 

196
00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:18,000
a wonderful purpose sentence. 
It says this Paul wrote this 

197
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,000
letter to a large network of 
local churches in Ephesus and 

198
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,000
the surrounding cities to affirm
them in their new identity in 

199
00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,720
Christ as a means of 
strengthening them in their 

200
00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,240
ongoing struggle with the powers
of darkness. 

201
00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,640
To promote a greater unity 
between Jews and Gentiles within

202
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,560
them and among the churches of 
the area, and to stimulate an 

203
00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,200
ever increasing transformation 
of their lifestyles into greater

204
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,160
conformity to the purity and 
holiness that God has called 

205
00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,840
them to display. 
So to boil that down and to make

206
00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,280
it and state it simply, 
Ephesians is written to affirm 

207
00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,400
your identity. 
Your identity isn't in your 

208
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,440
gender or who you're attracted 
to. 

209
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,440
Your identity is being found in 
Christ. 

210
00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,560
That's the purpose of Ephesians 
one, one and two, it's written 

211
00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:05,080
to strengthen you in your 
ongoing battle against the 

212
00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,920
cosmic powers and authorities 
that surround us, the powers of 

213
00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,480
darkness that the third he 
writes to promote greater unity 

214
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,240
between you and all of the other
weirdos in this church that are 

215
00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,080
completely unlike you. 
There's, there's a very unique 

216
00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,800
body here and the one thing we 
have in common is that we are in

217
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,320
Christ. 
He's promoting unity among our 

218
00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,840
diverse membership. 
And finally, it's stimulating an

219
00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,000
ever increasing transformation 
of your lifestyle. 

220
00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:35,600
And as you move through the 
book, we're going to make much 

221
00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,000
of this in the coming weeks. 
There's, there's two parts to 

222
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,520
this book. 
There's chapters one to three 

223
00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,040
and then chapters four to six of
the six, chapters one to three, 

224
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,520
we confess our doctrinal or 
theological interpretations. 

225
00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:53,400
And four to six are ethical and 
moral applications or practical 

226
00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:55,000
applications. 
And to say it another way, 

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chapters one to three are the 
calling of the church. 

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Chapters 4 to 6 are the conduct 
of the church. 

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Say it another way. 
Chapters one to three are the 

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00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,720
setting apart of the church. 
Chapters 4 to 6 are the set 

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apart lifestyle of the church, 
the application of all the 

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doctrines that we're going to 
study in one to three. 

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And we'll confess they are 
profound. 

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00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,640
And you can't forget Paul's 
writing a letter to a collection

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00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,200
of churches. 
And it begins as any other 

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00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:23,880
humble ancient letter would 
begin, turn to Ephesians one. 

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00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,600
This will be the first of many 
times we say that together. 

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Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians
chapter one, verse one, and 

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00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:31,720
we'll start this together. 
Read with me. 

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00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:38,000
Paul begins this way. 
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus

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by the will of God to the Saints
who are an Ephesus and are 

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00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:46,360
faithful in Christ Jesus grace 
to you and peace from God our 

243
00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,760
Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

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00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:49,920
That's as far as we'll make it 
today. 

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We're going to introduce the 
book as stand on the foundation 

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we're going to lay today about 
and the foundation is your 

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relationship is in Christ. 
Your identity is found in 

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Christ. 
And we're going to go next week.

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You're going to see how you came
to have that lofty identity. 

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00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,600
And again, it is incredible. 
But your your text will say it's

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00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,920
it's written to Ephesus, but for
a whole host of reasons. 

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00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:15,480
We know that this was written to
a collection of local churches 

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that were in the region of 
Ephesus. 

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This is written to to many 
churches. 

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And of all Paul's letters, it's 
the least situational meaning. 

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00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,000
We don't know the background. 
He doesn't say that he's he's 

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00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,360
writing argumentatively like he 
does in Galatians and Romans and

258
00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:31,920
2nd Corinthians. 
He's not formulating an 

259
00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,480
argument. 
He doesn't have these false 

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00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,080
argumentative partners that he 
often invents and argues 

261
00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,160
against. 
And he's not addressing sinful 

262
00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:40,080
issues or questions that are 
asked of him. 

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00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,080
That's what he does in First 
Corinthians. 

264
00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,200
And he's not addressing 
addressing questionable theology

265
00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:48,040
like we saw him do in 
Thessalonians. 

266
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,960
And so if he's not writing to 
help with pastoral concerns, 

267
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,960
he's not forming an argument, if
there's nothing that is 

268
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,520
demanding A pastoral response, 
then why is he writing? 

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00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,440
It's an important question. 
And we we say he's writing 

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00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,120
because he's in prison. 
And, well, he has time to write 

271
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,800
there. 
He's writing because he's in 

272
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,440
prison. 
And these churches are in his 

273
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,440
mind and in his heart. 
And he's writing because he has 

274
00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:14,560
time. 
And his context is that he's in,

275
00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,440
he's under house arrest. 
And so he's chained to a 

276
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,080
rotating prison guard. 
Or if you know Paul, the prison 

277
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,280
guard is chained to him as he's 
sharing the gospel. 

278
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,480
And he writes them because he 
loves Jesus and he wants to 

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00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,680
communicate something about him 
to them. 

280
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:34,880
And he's writing because he 
loves these churches and he 

281
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,400
feels a sense of responsibility 
to him because he planted them. 

282
00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,000
He's their church planner and he
can't go to them physically. 

283
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,880
And so he writes an encouraging 
pastoral letter to them in his 

284
00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:45,640
absence. 
That's all it is, an encouraging

285
00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,320
pastoral letter. 
And so he teaches them, he 

286
00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,320
encourages them. 
He reminds them of their 

287
00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,720
identity in Christ, maybe most 
powerfully for us. 

288
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,360
He reminds them of their 
resources in Christ, all of the 

289
00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,880
things that they can shepherd 
and Marshall to, to fight 

290
00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,400
against cosmic powers in this 
world, to live faithful 

291
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,480
marriages. 
He, he shows them the path 

292
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,280
forward toward victory and 
greater faithfulness. 

293
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,840
And he writes this letter, he 
says, and he gives it to a man 

294
00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:15,720
named Taikikus to take to and 
circulate around these Ephesian 

295
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,680
churches. 
And it's, it's kind of a 

296
00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:19,640
sobering thought if you're 
Taikikus, because it's at the 

297
00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,880
same time he writes Philemon, he
writes Colossians and he writes 

298
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,560
Ephesians and he binds them up 
in a satchel and he gives them 

299
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,600
to Taikus to deliver. 
And so you think three books of 

300
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,760
our Bible at one time in the 
hands of one individual, that's 

301
00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:36,080
that's a sobering 
responsibility. 

302
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:37,760
That's the thing where you're 
going to you're going to check 

303
00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,360
both ways before you cross the 
street when you're carrying 

304
00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:41,880
this. 
This is this is how he's 

305
00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,480
delivering these letters. 
And in chapter 1, this is our 

306
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:47,880
context. 
He's going to instruct the 

307
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,040
Ephesians regarding how they 
came to be in Christ. 

308
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,480
And he begins the chapter in the
book with this inscription that 

309
00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,040
describes both the the writer 
and the reader and you as a 

310
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,560
local church from the standpoint
of your relationship to God in 

311
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,600
Christ. 
That's what he wants to to 

312
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,360
emphasize and highlight here, 
your relationship to God in 

313
00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,280
Christ. 
He he doesn't say, look at verse

314
00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,720
1. 
He doesn't say Paul the Roman 

315
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,320
citizen and he doesn't say Paul 
the Greek educated scholar. 

316
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,120
And he doesn't say Paul the 
Pharisee, the the expert in 

317
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,120
Jewish law and tradition and 
theology. 

318
00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:24,720
And he was all of those things. 
Those were not important here. 

319
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,400
The most important thing about 
Paul, he says, is that he was an

320
00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,360
apostle of Christ Jesus by the 
will of God. 

321
00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,440
And we just read Acts 91 to 19 
and you see it was by the will 

322
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,240
of God. 
He struck him blind on a road 

323
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,480
and he has to open his mouth and
confess, who are you, Lord? 

324
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,680
And he says, I will show you 
what you must do. 

325
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,320
I will show you how much you are
to suffer. 

326
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,720
He takes him from this path and 
he says you're on a new path 

327
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:49,640
now. 
Your identity is now in me. 

328
00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,720
You're not a persecutor, you're 
a worshipper. 

329
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,960
And so he he turns his readers 
and he addresses their 

330
00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,640
relationship to God in Christ 
again before he reminds them of 

331
00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:00,640
the glories of how they came to 
be in that relationship. 

332
00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,520
He turns to the church. 
He writes in verse one to the 

333
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:09,079
Saints, the the holy ones who 
are in Ephesus and are faithful 

334
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,280
in Christ Jesus. 
This is the word hagios. 

335
00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:13,680
You are a hagios. 
You're, you're a holy one. 

336
00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,400
But the emphasis of this word in
the New Testament, the beauty of

337
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,440
the word is it's almost never in
the singular. 

338
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,079
It's always in the plural 
because the emphasis of 

339
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:26,400
Christians is not on you. 
The emphasis of the local church

340
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,240
is on us. 
He gave the authority to us. 

341
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,640
We are to encourage and shepherd
and counsel one another, a 

342
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,600
visible and local body of 
believers. 

343
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,440
We are the faithful ones in 
Christ. 

344
00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,000
It's going to be demonstrated 
powerfully in a minute when we 

345
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,000
come together. 
We've already sang as one man 

346
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,280
and we're going to come before 
the Lord under 1 confession, 1 

347
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,520
Lord, 1 faith, 1 baptism and 
take the Lord's Supper together 

348
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,600
as one individual. 
So you see, the emphasis is on 

349
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:55,560
us, not you. 
It comes again in chapter 1, 

350
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,760
verse 2 where he says grace to 
you. 

351
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:00,640
It's helpful again as the 
foundation of our faith to to 

352
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,080
remember this you is plural. 
When we when you read this book 

353
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,640
in your bed, it's easy to see 
grace to you and say Paul's 

354
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,960
writing to individual believers,
but it's grace to you all. 

355
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,960
And so we're studying this book.
We're reading this book exactly 

356
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:14,920
as we were intended to as a 
local body. 

357
00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,280
Grace to you all and peace from 
God the Father. 

358
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,400
And there's even more emphasis 
that comes in the New Testament 

359
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,760
with its emphasis on the word 
Christ. 

360
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,760
You may have seen in our text 3 
times, even going into verse 

361
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,160
three he says it again. 
The emphasis is on Jesus Christ.

362
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,880
The word Christ is the New 
Testament equivalent of the Old 

363
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:36,520
Testament word. 
What? 

364
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:42,320
Anybody know Messiah? 
Christ is the Messiah. 

365
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:44,640
And so the foundation of this 
expression comes all the way 

366
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,120
back in Acts 236 when we were 
all baptized with the Holy 

367
00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,000
Spirit and the church was born. 
We formally became one. 

368
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,680
And Peter preached a sermon on 
that day just over 2000 years 

369
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,240
ago, and he said powerfully, let
all the House of Israel 

370
00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:02,080
therefore know for certain that 
God has made him both Lord and 

371
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,520
Christ. 
This Jesus whom you have 

372
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,360
crucified. 
Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is the 

373
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,320
Christ and this has been the 
confession of the church from 

374
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,040
the very beginning, from its 
conception. 

375
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:18,080
Jesus is Lord and Messiah. 
Jesus asked Peter famously, who 

376
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,280
do you say that I am? 
The world says that you're 

377
00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,400
Elijah. 
They say that you're a prophet. 

378
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,880
They have all of these things, a
madman, legend, liar, lunatic, 

379
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:31,120
who do you say that I am? 
And Peter confesses you are the 

380
00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,400
Lord and he said you are the 
Christ, the Son of the living 

381
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,240
God. 
And Jesus response, he blesses 

382
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:37,960
him. 
Blessed are you, Simon, for 

383
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,600
flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father who 

384
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,040
is in heaven. 
So church, the most important 

385
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,600
thing about the apostle Paul is 
his relationship to God in 

386
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,760
Christ. 
And the most important thing 

387
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,520
about you of all the 
relationships that you have that

388
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:53,720
we're going to explore next 
week, the most important thing 

389
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,800
about you is your relationship 
to God the Father in Jesus 

390
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,120
Christ. 
And look at how he starts his 

391
00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,320
letter. 
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus

392
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,200
to the Saints who are faithful 
in Christ Jesus grace to you and

393
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:10,120
peace from the Lord Christ Jesus
of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

394
00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:13,440
Verse 3, he's even going to say,
blessed be the God and Father of

395
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,040
our Lord Jesus Christ. 
And so the endowment of 

396
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:18,760
spiritual gifting that he was 
given. 

397
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,800
Was that of an apostle and Paul 
says it wasn't by my will that I

398
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:24,800
became an apostle. 
I didn't desire this. 

399
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,560
My will was overridden by the 
will of the Father who said you 

400
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:33,000
will now be an apostle. 
And I was once discipling a new 

401
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,400
believer and we went to probably
should have started with the 

402
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:37,120
gospel. 
We didn't. 

403
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,120
We went to one of the letters 
and I thought we would read 

404
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,440
together over an hour, you know,
a book or a chapter at least of 

405
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:43,480
the Bible. 
And we would go through a 

406
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,440
chapter together. 
And we got to the first words, 

407
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,680
Paul and the this individual 
stopped me and he said, hold on,

408
00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:50,920
who's who's Paul? 
I was like, OK, here we go. 

409
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:52,560
This is Paul. 
This is the apostle Paul who's 

410
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,040
this is who he was. 
And as we kept reading, this is 

411
00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:56,800
Paul an apostle. 
And he said, wait, hold on, 

412
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,840
what's what's an apostle? 
So we had to stop and, you know,

413
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:01,720
this is what an apostle is. 
And before we know that was our 

414
00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:03,960
time. 
That was as far as we made it on

415
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,240
a morning discipleship. 
And so this this is one of those

416
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:09,480
opportunities in the book of 
Ephesians, we can have a Vince 

417
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,840
Lombardi moment. 
And I want you to say, how would

418
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,360
you answer that question if you 
were stopped and somebody asked 

419
00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:18,120
you, what is an apostle? 
What is apostleship? 

420
00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:22,880
How would you respond? 
And this goes back to the an 

421
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,520
absolute elementary principle of
our faith and our understanding 

422
00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,480
of Scripture. 
An apostle in the broadest sense

423
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,160
is one who is sent. 
It literally means a sent 1A 

424
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,680
messenger. 
It's a, a, a delegate or a 

425
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,440
herald or an ambassador that the
emphasis of it comes from you 

426
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,400
are sent with the authority of 
somebody else and you are sent 

427
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:47,960
representing someone else and 
you are sent accountable to 

428
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,000
someone else. 
If a herald goes with the 

429
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,120
message of a king and he gets 
the message wrong and he comes 

430
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:54,640
back before the king, it's not 
going to go well for him. 

431
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,120
So you're going as a 
representative accountable to 

432
00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,360
them. 
And when Jesus after his 

433
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:01,240
crucifixion, he comes to his 
disciples. 

434
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,840
There were 11 and he said, I'm 
sending you, you are my 

435
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,600
apostles. 
And the church replaced Judas, 

436
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,360
who hung himself with another. 
And then we've already read 

437
00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,080
today there was one other, there
were 13 apostles because God or 

438
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,120
Jesus Christ called the apostle 
Paul from heaven to be his 

439
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:20,320
apostle to the Gentiles. 
And so they were chosen and 

440
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:21,480
sent. 
That's the word that's 

441
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,000
emphasized. 
They were sent by the Lord Jesus

442
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,360
Christ with his message, his 
authority. 

443
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,840
It's often compared to a power 
of attorney today because they 

444
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,360
would go with the power and 
authority of the one who sent 

445
00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:36,720
them. 
And scripture says to reject the

446
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,680
message of the apostle is to 
reject the message of the one 

447
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,280
who sent that apostle, which has
great implications for the book 

448
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:44,600
of Ephesians. 
Some would say, well, it's not 

449
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,600
written by Jesus so it's somehow
not as important. 

450
00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,880
No, Paul was sent by Christ. 
His words are super intended by 

451
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,200
the Holy Spirit. 
It's he comes with his 

452
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,560
authority. 
So we can't understand Paul's 

453
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,800
apostleship and you potentially 
can't even understand your own 

454
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,920
apostleship without 
understanding first the original

455
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:06,720
apostle, the apostleship of 
Jesus Christ, because in Hebrews

456
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,880
chapter 3, verse one, the author
of Hebrews commands us to 

457
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:15,360
consider Jesus the apostle and 
the high priest of our 

458
00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:18,080
confession. 
So when we speak of Jesus, he is

459
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,800
the apostle. 
He's the sent one of God. 

460
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:22,440
And it's imperative that you 
understand this. 

461
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,360
When Jesus goes through the book
of John, there's a couple things

462
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,480
you need to know. 
He says you have to know that 

463
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,240
I'm the Son of God. 
You have to know this, I come 

464
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,360
from God the Father. 
And he says, second, you have to

465
00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,240
know that he sent me. 
Sometimes we'll include this in 

466
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,960
our baptismal formulas because 
it's, it's so important to 

467
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,240
Jesus. 
And if it's so important to 

468
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,160
Jesus, it has to be important to
us. 

469
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:45,120
He says in John 316 For God so 
loved the world that he gave his

470
00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:47,520
only begotten Son, that whoever 
believes in him shall not 

471
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,480
perish, but have everlasting 
life. 

472
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,360
For God sent his Son into the 
world in order that we might be 

473
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:58,800
saved through him. 
He was sent into the world. 

474
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,280
John 536 It's the Father who 
sent me. 

475
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,360
John 629. 
This is the work of God, that 

476
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:06,840
you believe in him whom He has 
sent, John 657. 

477
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,360
As the living Father has sent 
me, John 716 I have not come of 

478
00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:14,880
myself, but of him who sent me. 
John 816 The Father sent me. 

479
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,240
John 1142 That they may believe 
that you sent me in the high 

480
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,800
priest. 
A high priestly prayer, that 

481
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:22,640
great prayer before Jesus goes 
to the cross. 

482
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,040
This was His emphasis. 
Verse 3, verse 18, verse 21, 

483
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,480
verse 23, verse 25. 
God, God sent me. 

484
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,560
Jesus is the apostle, the great 
apostle, the sent one. 

485
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,120
And as you get to the end of the
book after the resurrection, 

486
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:43,040
something interesting happens in
John 20 verse 21, where Jesus 

487
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:48,480
says, as the Father has sent me,
Even so I am sending you. 

488
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,720
And there's that transfer of 
authority even as the Father has

489
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,520
sent me, so I am sending you. 
That send is the verbal form of 

490
00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:01,200
the noun word that's showing up 
in your Ephesians 11 apostle. 

491
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,200
He he's sent your apostling. 
And so Ephesians is going to say

492
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,440
in chapter 2, the foundation of 
our faith was laid by the 

493
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,320
apostles and the prophets, but 
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone.

494
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,560
Another way to say that is he is
the the capital capital, a 

495
00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:18,560
apostle, the first apostle. 
And then he sends these sent 

496
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,160
ones with his authority as the 
capital, A apostles. 

497
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,680
He says it again in John 1718. 
As you sent me into the world, 

498
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,240
so I have sent them into the 
world. 

499
00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,160
And a beautiful thought comes 
again when you come into the 

500
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:32,400
book of first and second 
Timothy. 

501
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:36,320
By the way, where was Timothy 
pastor in Ephesus? 

502
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,440
Paul commissions and sends 
Timothy by the laying on of 

503
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,880
hands, he solemnly charges him, 
right, I solemnly charge you in 

504
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,120
the presence of God and Christ 
Jesus. 

505
00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:45,400
He was judged of the living and 
the dead. 

506
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,880
And by his appearing in his 
Kingdom, it's, it's formal. 

507
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,840
He tells him, I give you the 
authority to preach the word, 

508
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,880
reprove, rebuke and exhort with 
great patience and instruction. 

509
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,520
So he, he takes this authority 
that God gave to the Son and 

510
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,160
that the Son gave to the 
apostles. 

511
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,440
And now you see the apostles 
like Paul are putting that 

512
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,200
authority squarely in the local 
church. 

513
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,000
This is a theology of 
apostleship. 

514
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,200
And he's going to tell Timothy 
and instruct him to appoint 

515
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,720
other faithful men. 
And so we recognize that Timothy

516
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,640
is formally passing 
authoritative Apostolic 

517
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,320
preaching into authoritative non
Apostolic preaching. 

518
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,560
And from this moment you're 
going to have the capital a 

519
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,680
apostles. 
They don't start another's 

520
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,440
second generation of apostles, 
capital a apostles. 

521
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,400
It's not what you see the 
apostles doing. 

522
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,360
What they do is they start a 
second generation of little a 

523
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:38,720
apostles and you start to see 
that churches begin under the 

524
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,240
inspiration of the Holy Spirit 
to send out missionaries. 

525
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:45,080
And it says in Scripture that 
they are little a apostles. 

526
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:49,040
And he even says as a matter of 
emphasis, Paul passed this 

527
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,320
authority and this 
responsibility on first Timothy 

528
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:56,000
1/3 in Ephesus. 
He says in that verse, remain at

529
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:57,920
at Ephesus. 
So you have Jesus the great 

530
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,480
apostle. 
He commissions 12 capital a 

531
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,080
apostles who then commissioned 
the local church with the 

532
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,080
authority to preach God's word 
to send out disciples. 

533
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,080
And we say they are little a 
apostles. 

534
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,160
This is this is displayed 
beautifully in Acts 13. 

535
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,240
If you want to see a living 
illustration of how this works 

536
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,680
out in a local church in Acts 
13, it tells you kind of a 

537
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,320
little bit behind the scenes. 
It says that the Holy Spirit set

538
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:25,720
aside or set apart consecrated 2
individuals to go out and be 

539
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,400
missionaries. 
And so the church then 

540
00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,320
recognizes those two 
individuals. 

541
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,080
That church lays their hands on 
those two individuals and sends 

542
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:35,720
them out, which by the way, 
that's why we do that. 

543
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,240
Any time that we send out 
missionaries or we send out 

544
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,080
church planners or we, we bring 
pastors into this church, what 

545
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,320
do we do? 
We lay hands on them because we 

546
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,320
recognize the Holy Spirit has 
set them apart. 

547
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,320
Now we set them apart. 
And when we send them, look at 

548
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:54,000
this in Acts 13, it says 
afterwards, so being sent out by

549
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,480
the Holy Spirit, they went. 
So the Holy Spirit sets them 

550
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,800
apart. 
The church recognizes it, the 

551
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,560
church sends them. 
And then when they are leaving 

552
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,520
the church, it says, and now the
Holy Spirit sent them. 

553
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:10,720
Do you see how it works? 
There's this two fold sending. 

554
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,680
They are now little apostles. 
In that context, they are called

555
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,760
the the apostles, Paul and 
Barnabas, Little A. 

556
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,080
Now Barnabas is an apostle in 
the same sense as Paul is as 

557
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,840
missionaries of a local church. 
Do you see how it works? 

558
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,880
This is a theology of 
apostleship. 

559
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,120
And so by the way, when we if 
somebody asks you what is an 

560
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:35,720
apostle, do you now have an 
answer? 

561
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,600
So when he comes to you and says
what is apostleship, what is an 

562
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,880
apostle? 
I hope that you'll have an 

563
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:42,520
answer. 
That is Paul and his 

564
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,240
relationship to God in Christ. 
He's already introduced the 

565
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,440
recipients and their 
relationship to God in Christ. 

566
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,280
And so as you move into verse 2,
Paul greets them with his 

567
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,720
standard greeting, a beautiful 
greeting, rich in theology. 

568
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,800
He says grace to you and peace. 
I love this grace to you and 

569
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:04,240
Shalom, peace. 
This is the highest focal point 

570
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,280
of salvation. 
This is what salvation is about,

571
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,200
is peace with God. 
And this is what we lost in the 

572
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,520
garden when we were sent out. 
We were separated from God. 

573
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,320
We became his enemies. 
We were no longer his sons. 

574
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:16,520
And this is what salvation's 
about. 

575
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,560
You can think of any metaphor 
for salvation that that you can 

576
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,640
think of justification being 
declared righteous, adoption 

577
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,320
being a son of God, 
propitiation, his wrath being 

578
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,640
turned away, redemption being 
bought with as a as a slaver, a 

579
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,360
prisoner of war with the 
precious blood of Christ. 

580
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,440
All of these metaphors are 
pointing toward one thing, peace

581
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,000
with God, that that's what it's 
about. 

582
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,480
This is what your salvation is. 
You were once an enemy and now 

583
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,600
you're his friend. 
We confessed it and we sang it 

584
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,880
earlier. 
You were once a foreigner or you

585
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,560
are far from him, and now you 
are his Son. 

586
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,600
It's relational harmony with God
the Father. 

587
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,040
And peace was obtained, Paul 
reminds us, because of the grace

588
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:58,200
or the unmerited favour of God. 
And so Paul's purpose as an 

589
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,560
apostle, if you could sum up his
whole purpose of apostleship and

590
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,640
coming to the local churches, he
tells you what it is. 

591
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:09,040
In Acts 2024, he says I'm called
to testify of God's grace. 

592
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,520
And in that context, in Acts 
2024, he calls all the Ephesian 

593
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,840
elders to himself, and speaking 
to those pastors, he says to 

594
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,920
them, I do not account my life 
of any value or as precious to 

595
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,120
myself, if only I may finish my 
course in the ministry that I 

596
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:27,160
received from the Lord Jesus. 
What was it to testify to the 

597
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:32,360
gospel of the grace of God? 
So he's commissioned by God to 

598
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,160
teach grace and he comes to them
in the grace. 

599
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,560
He comes to these Ephesians in 
that same grace. 

600
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,320
And that's why we humbly confess
as a church that we are saved 

601
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:46,960
sola gratia meaning by grace 
alone, through faith alone, by 

602
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,080
Christ alone, to the glory of 
God alone. 

603
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,080
And the Puritan Thomas Goodwin 
defines this grace. 

604
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:55,840
He says grace is more than mercy
and love. 

605
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,320
It's super adds to them. 
It denotes not simply love, but 

606
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,520
the love of a sovereign, 
transcendent superior, one that 

607
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,560
may do what he will, that he, he
may wholly choose whether he 

608
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,440
will love or not. 
Now God, who is an infinite 

609
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,080
sovereign, who might have chosen
whether he would ever love us, 

610
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:14,040
for him to love us. 
This is grace. 

611
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,800
End Quote. 
Grace and peace from God the 

612
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,920
Father and our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

613
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,240
Our source of new covenant 
blessings is from God the Father

614
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,840
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Or we might even confess from 

615
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:31,040
the Lord God through Jesus 
Christ, we experience his peace 

616
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:32,960
being the recipient of His 
grace. 

617
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,080
And now he begins to unpack this
wonderful message to us. 

618
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,160
Ephesians 3/4. 
He says when you read this, you 

619
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,880
can perceive my insight into the
mystery of Christ. 

620
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,480
From this point on, we will 
received the mysteries that were

621
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,880
hidden in previous ages but now 
are revealed to us in Christ 

622
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,280
Colossians 1/26. 
It was hidden for ages and 

623
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,840
generations, but now is revealed
to us his Saints. 

624
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,640
And so I hope that you 
understand that as we stand here

625
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,480
at the end of verse 2, you stand
at the threshold of something 

626
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:07,120
very deep and very profound. 
It's vast. 

627
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,240
And you see here that the most 
important part about you is your

628
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,080
relationship to God and Christ. 
And as we come for the next 

629
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,440
three weeks together, God's 
going to reveal to you how you 

630
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,320
came to be in that relationship.
And it's sobering. 

631
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,520
And you're going to realize that
the story is much bigger than 

632
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,640
you. 
And this is a story that's much 

633
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,520
bigger than us. 
We are part of a cosmic 

634
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,360
reconciliation that's happening 
between God and this world. 

635
00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:35,120
The cosmic significance of Jesus
Christ and his grand vision for 

636
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,880
us in the world. 
And as we get ready for that, 

637
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,000
let's pray that God would bless 
our time together. 

638
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:46,640
God, Lord, help us understand 
this, this queen of the 

639
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,160
epistles, this divinest 
composition of man. 

640
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,600
What a what a privilege to get 
to look into things that angels 

641
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:56,720
long to look in and we need your
Holy Spirit to to reveal this to

642
00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:58,520
us. 
And we're, we're excited, Lord, 

643
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,600
that we can come together as you
intended it in a, in a gathering

644
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:07,040
of a local body to hear the word
as Paul wrote it, to be 

645
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:11,280
encouraged by it, to see exactly
how we came to be in you and, 

646
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,000
and the cosmic significance of 
that God, we're humbled. 

647
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,280
And again, we thank you for our 
salvation. 

648
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:21,720
We thank you for your, for your 
grace, for the peace of God, 

649
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,800
which surpasses all 
understanding that we have No 

650
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,000
Fear of judgement, No Fear of 
wrath. 

651
00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:27,920
The cup has already been poured 
out. 

652
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,040
And Lord, we take up our cup of 
joy even now as we look toward 

653
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,560
communion, remembering all that 
you did from us to put us in 

654
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,400
this state. 
We remember what was required, 

655
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,320
and we thank you. 
And we do this in Jesus name, 

656
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,560
Amen. 
Thanks for listening. 

657
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,240
To learn more about Heritage 
Church or if you'd like to 

658
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,680
respond to this sermon, visit 
our website at 

659
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,280
www.heritageshawnee.org.