In this church, we study God's word, verse by verse. It's called Lectio continua or reading continually through the Bible, and we've been in a series on the book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians is an epistle. It's a letter written by the Apostle Paul. Who was a very, very devout Jew. His name was Saul originally, who had a radical conversion experience.

And you can read about this in Acts chapter nine, particularly at verse uh six. You can see his conversion and then later his name was changed, uh, to Paul and God used Paul to not go back to his people, which would seem very natural to us, a Jew, then preaching the gospel to the Jews. Now that was Peter's responsibility.

Paul was called to go to the Gentiles, to go to the nations. It's as though Paul, with all of his confidence to be able to preach the gospel to Jews. Jesus says, I want you to minister out of your weakness and go to those people who are different than you. He lived for three years in a city called Ephesus during his missionary journeys, and he wrote a letter back to the people of Ephesus in the year 60.

And this is the first century letter to the Ephesians. And we are now in chapter three of his argument, he started out telling us about all that God has done before the dawn of time about how God called his people to himself. In chapter two, he talks about how he though we are dead in our trespasses and sins, he has made us alive in Christ, that God is at work in your heart long before you ever recognize it, and that he has done something.

Miraculous. He has brought people together who otherwise hated each other, Jew and Gentile. They butted heads through history and he brought down the dividing wall of hostility. This is chapter two, verses 11 through 22, and he made them one in Christ. And in two weeks ago you heard us talk about the first six verses of Ephesians chapter three, where he says There is a mystery.

Oh, and Paul is a steward of the mystery. And what is that mystery? The mystery of the gospel is that people who have otherwise nothing in common are bound together by the blood of Jesus. Jew and Gentile have become heirs of the covenant promise. All that was promised in the Old Testament to Jews now is also for the Gentiles through Jesus who died to win all those who are his.

And I wonder if you recognize that you are also covenant heirs of that promise to O Trinity. As different as we might be, though we live in the same geographic area, you are heirs of the covenant promises he gave even to Ancient Israel. And one of these days we pray that you're with us forever, but you may move to a different place.

You may even decide to live across the ocean. And there are people who are bound together by the blood of Christ and they become. They become your brothers and sisters. And so again, if you're new to Christianity, and when you hear the word brothers and sisters, it's referring to those who not are of the same family by blood, but they're fellow Christians doing life together.

So if you're willing and able, let's stand as you read. Ephesians, uh, chapter three. I'm gonna read beginning at verse one of chapter three. And then I'm gonna go down through verse 13 and we'll particularly focus on verses seven to 13 this morning. Please give your attention to God's word. Men and women have died to have it translated into English.

Let's not take it for granted that we hear it in our mother tongue. For this reason, I Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus. On behalf of you, Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you. How the mystery was made known to me by revelation. As I have written briefly when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body. And partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. Through the gospel of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone.

What is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. The grass withers and the flowers fade where the word of our Lord stands forever. And this is the word of Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Please, father, would you take these moments that we have together and open our eyes to the beauty of your word.

Change us by it, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

If you've ever visited Branson, Missouri, then you know it is a city famous for its theaters. Three story, LED displays, animatronic characters, live animals, beautiful velvet curtains that raise for performances that are nothing short of amazing. Anybody here been to Branson? I wanna take your imagination.

To another stage, but I want you to imagine something even bigger, even grander, even larger than anything that Branson has to offer. The lights are brighter, the scope is infinitely wider, and on this stage, actors are not merely entertainers. They are the living church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the audience.

It's not just simply families on holiday or tourists passing through, but they are the rulers and the authorities and the heavenly places. They are angels, both holy and fallen in intently observing every movement, every motion on the stage, but even beyond this, the story of the church. Is that we are called to enact not just a drama for our present age.

We owe church are called to enact of drama. That is the great unfolding of God's plan to unite all things in Christ and the Lord Jesus having redeemed his people, Jew and Gentile, bringing them together in his church. He has subdued all of his enemies and one day Jesus will present the entire restored creation to his father as an act of perfect praise and love.

And on that day, the curtain will not simply fall, but it will rise on a new creation. And the triune God, father, son, and Holy Spirit will be glorified forever in worship of a reconciled universe. This is the cosmic scope of the church's calling, and this is the astonishing context that Paul invites us into in Ephesians chapter three.

He teaches us that the church that, that our lives together and our ordinary frailty in the passing of our parents and our struggles with cancer and our suffering through job loss and the joys of celebrating our life together is a cosmic presentation to the arrayed might of angels, both holy and fallen as they crane their necks to see the beauty of grace.

At work. And so this morning I want to invite us to step behind the curtain with Paul, and I want us to see afresh, what it means to live as God's display so that both earth and heaven might behold the rich tapestry of his grace. And I wanna do it in three movements, the identity of Paul's circumstances, the identity of Paul's calling, and then the identity of Paul's confession.

So lower your eyes to the Bible and look with me. First at verse one of chapter three, it says, for this reason, I, Paul, whenever you see the words for this reason in Ephesians, Paul is about to launch into a prayer. And so Paul says, for this reason, I Paul, a prisoner, the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of you, Gentiles, and he's about to pray.

And then you see that little dash in the ESV, that means that there is a parentheses in his argument. And he's about to pray and he stops because he gets sidetracked, holy sidetracked, to encourage the church of his main argument of praying, which he picks up later in verse 14, which says in verse 14, for this reason, I bow my knees.

He continues, he picks it up. Same word for this reason. And so in verses one of thir of chapter three all the way through verse 13, it's a parenthesis in his main argument For this reason. On your behalf. Oh, Gentiles. And then he says, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace, that was given to me for you.

But notice it says, for this reason, I Paul a prisoner. Now the circumstance of Paul's life at the time was he was a prisoner. But notice what he does not say. He does not say that I'm a prisoner of Rome though it. Was a Roman guard who watched over him. He doesn't say that I'm a prisoner of injustice, though.

He was unjustly detained. What does he say? He widens his scope in the midst of his circumstances and he says, I'm a prisoner of whom of Jesus Christ. Now, isn't that astounding that Paul would say in the midst of my circumstances, I'm not a prisoner to Rome. I'm a prisoner of the Lord. Even in his circumstances, he was drawing his affection, he was drawing his attention into something far bigger, far more cosmic in scope.

And for Paul, Paul is trying to teach these Ephesians that though his circumstances have put him in prison, he says in verse 13, I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is. For your glory, his hardship, his confinement, his trials, his pain are in the mysterious wisdom of God. The means by which God is glorifying himself.

They're not only purposed, but they are planned and they're intentional.

So Trinity, how often do we view our own difficulties through our own circumstances in life? Through the narrow lens of self-pity,

how often do we even worse say in the midst of our hard circumstances? Why has God forgotten me?

Friends, no matter how deep the valley of the shadow may be over you and your circumstances. The gospel tells us that it is God's great cosmic grand design to say that there is purpose in every act of suffering you ever experience. And it's important for us to learn this now before we're in the midst of that suffering, so that we can remember the hope of the gospel when we're in it.

And just because you can't explain the purpose of your suffering now, doesn't mean there's not a purpose for it. In fact, eternity will help us recognize how plain it was. But what Paul gives us now is he gives us the confidence to know that it is all for God's. Grand glory in the unfolding story. And this is not all that he says, Paul later says, so that through the man the church, the manifold wisdom of God may might now be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Do you see that in verse 10? Paul is saying that your life together. Not singular your life together as the church, the way that you love each other, hope for each other. There are angels who were watching this church pray over Elroy and they were craning their necks to see what is it like to be a people in such need of grace that they come around each other like that.

You live your life in the midst of the cosmic array of God's angels. He says the authorities and the heavenly places. And so I wonder what your circumstances this day say to you, and the temptation for us to wallow in self-pity amidst of our circumstances, and the only way you can cut through those as a Christian is to be able to see the piercing hope of the gospel, which says that Jesus says, Hey, I got you.

I'm not gonna let you go. Just as Paul longed, just as he said, I'm a prisoner not of Rome. I'm not a prisoner of injustice. I'm a prisoner of Christ, even in the midst of my chains. Oh, your savior wraps his arms around you and says, do you see the church you're part of making her spotless and beautiful so that I can present you together with all of my people to my father, redeemed, precious, beautiful for my glory.

JI Packer. Perceptively writes, not until we have become humbled and teachable. Standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty, acknowledging our own littleness and distrusting, even our own thoughts and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours? And I don't know why, but the Lord uses the tool of suffering to cast.

Our thoughts into the grand cosmic purpose of the world, to glorify him and to enjoy him forever, and why he chooses suffering. I long to ask him because it hurts almost more whenever it's your friends who are suffering. But friends, our job as the church, your holy responsibility as covenant members is to walk alongside those who are suffering, to give and care and pray and grieve.

Rejoice together with those who rejoice it and grieve together with those who grieve. You see through your circumstances to see this cosmic drama that is being displayed in one Corinthians uh, chapter four, Paul writes that we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels. And to men. And the word for spectacle in Greek is the word for theater.

We have become a display for the angels, the world, and men. Do you know that the way that we love each other, the way that we interact, the way that we sacrifice for each other, can't be done on our own strength. It's only done because of Christ's. Justifying power in our life, the fact that Jesus died for us and he gives us his righteousness, and when he does that, we are fueled with the ability to love each other through thick and thin, but deeper than the circumstances.

Paul says, I have a calling, this is where you pick up in verse seven, he says, of this gospel, I was made a minister. This is his calling. The identity of calling Paul was made A minister beneath his circumstances is a driving calling, and for Paul, it means that he was to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles.

Every one of us in this room has a calling, whether you recognize it or not. And generically, yes, it is to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus in a thousand ways. Some of you through engineering, some of you through doing, building incredible bridges, some of you through, uh, food service industry, some of you through law, some of you through medicine, all of us have a calling.

But beneath your vocation is a deep sense of this is how the Lord has used my personalities, my talents, and my skills to extend his kingdom, not only in the field in which I work now. But it runs throughout the course of your life. And since I was probably, you know, 13, 14, or 15 years old, the thing that I enjoyed doing the most was equipping God's people to use their gifts for God's glory.

I. I couldn't articulate it that way when I was a teenager, but nevertheless, my decisions to, to turn and change plans in the midst of college and to pull to go into full-time vocational ministry, which was not even on the table for me at the time, was all for the part of helping equip God's people to use their gifts for his glory.

And that drives everything I've ever done. And for some of you, you have a calling that's beneath your. Employment. It's deeper than that. What is it? Because that's where you find your deep joy in how you serve the kingdom. Yes. It's through evangelism. Yes, it's through the ethics of operating in your field with integrity of heart, but it's also through the experience of enjoying your calling amidst your job.

It's also by sharing the gospel, it's also by doing the best work you can possibly do. Paul says of this gospel, I was made a minister. That was his calling beneath his circumstances, his holy calling. And Paul says this is, this is important because each of us have a unique grace that is given to us. It wasn't earned.

It says, administer according to the gift of God's grace, which he has given me. The way that you're wired is not earned. It's given to you. And so some of us need to recognize that we are living another person's life and to lean into the ways that he's uniquely. Gifted you. And Paul says, not only am I called, but lastly he says, there's an identity of my confession.

My circumstances go deeper. You see Paul, verse seven, his calling, you go deeper still. Look at what he says in verse eight. To me, though, I am the very least of all the saints. Isn't that interesting? His calling is to be a minister, but his confession is, I'm the least of the saints. And what's astounding to me about that dynamic is that each of us as the church can learn from the way that Paul understands himself.

Paul, early on in his ministry, you may remember he said that I am the least of the apostles in one Corinthians chapter 15. That's about 80, 56 or 57. Several years later when he is talking to the Ephesians, he says that I am the very least of all the saints. He makes up our word. He says, I'm less than the leasts.

It's a word he makes up in Greek in order to communicate how low he feels he is. And then by the time he writes a couple years later as an older man, he writes to Timothy and he's encouraging this younger son in the faith. How does he describe himself, this mentor to this young minister Timothy? How does he describe himself?

He has the audacity and the confidence, the self-awareness, and the humility to say that I am the chief of sinners. Do you notice that Paul's self-awareness as a young man? I'm not worthy to be an apostle. I'm the least. Of all of the saints, and then he says, I'm the chief of sinners. Do you see how he's growing in his humility as he gets older?

Isn't that remarkable? How can you do that? The only way you can do that is by seeing the gospel in the heart of the heart of the heart of every passage of scripture that reminds us that you need the gospel now more to today than you did when you first believed, because you recognize the depth of your need.

For God's grace. This is not false modesty for Paul. This is Paul's confession so that it would supremely magnify Christ's sufficiency. He wants to preach to the Gentiles. Verse eight, the unsearchable riches of Christ. And so our confession is not that we're weak and needy, merely, it's that Christ is infinitely rich and he has poured out his riches into the lives of those who are once far from him.

Hallelujah. Do you know this wealth? Oh, friends. Do you know this gospel dynamic that drives you to be able to grow humbler as you get older, older men in the room, the younger men in this church need you Step up. And help these younger brothers recognize their need for grace. I know you're busy. But wouldn't it be amazing if we could be the kind of church where the angels and indeed they do crane their necks to look at the way that Trinity Presbyterian Church sacrifices, serves, gives of their time, their talent, and their treasure for one another because the gospel animates the whole of our life, and it will make you a deeper thinker.

It will make you someone who enjoys work more. Why? Because you don't see your lives separated into the sacred and the. The, uh, secular, you see your life integrated as you're a member of his church pushing back the darkness together. Every person in this building needs each other, and so may the identity of our circumstance not define us, may we be aware of our identity of calling, which stays with us throughout the whole of our life.

Even as Paul stayed with him, as he preached the gospel to the Gentiles and it ultimately died. So doing, and may we confess our identity by growing in humility as we grow older and older. Why? Because we are empowered by the spirit of one who did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he made himself nothing.

Taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. So let us, as Paul exhorts us, not underestimate the significance of our life together as a people so that through the church, not through your HOA, not through your soccer team, it is the unique role of the church to manifest the manifold wisdom of God.

To the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places and in Christ, we have a boldness, verse 12, because we have access with confidence through what our obedience, our Bible knowledge. No, through our faith in him. And so this morning, as you prepare to come to the table, may you think of Branson, Missouri, and then may you get.

Even more cosmic in your scope with brighter lights and larger curtains. And may you see it peel back as we are a foretaste of the wedding supper of the lamb. One day when we will feast in the new Jerusalem and we will enjoy his presence forever. And you are now a foretaste of that. So brothers and sisters let us prepare our hearts for the table knowing that we have an identity of our circumstance.

But deeper than that, we have an identity of our calling. And deeper even than that, we have an identity of our confession. Hallelujah. Let's prepare our hearts for the table. Father, I pray that you would help us to live as your cosmic display together until the final curtain when all creation joins and prays to you.

Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sins of the world. And Lord, I pray that you would help those of us who are new to the gospel or new to Christianity as we observe this sacrament, oh Lord, would you even open their hearts to believe now that they could be part of a story far bigger and more grander than they could ever imagine that you, Lord Christ, died for us and rose again on the third day that you might display your glory through your church.

Whom you are sanctifying making more and more holy day after day, week after week, and may we come now to your table to experience together. Just that we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sermon transcript is computer generated.