An Unexpected Messenger

0:16Thank you for listening to the Sermon Audio Podcast for Crossroads Bible Church in Rockdale, Texas. Crossroads Bible Church is a Reformed Confessional Baptist Church that meets every Lord's Day at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church and for directions, you can find us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Good morning again to you all. Please turn with me, if you would, to the book of Ephesians. We are in chapter three still and covering again, as we did last week, a larger section of the text, verses seven through verse 13. It was difficult to find a good place to break in these verses, unless I did three or four full sermons on these verses, and I am not talented or gifted enough to do that. So we're taking them all together in one go, verses 7 to 13. I'll begin then before we read our text to point out how Paul begins this section in this passage. And in my translation, starting in verse 7, he begins by saying, of this gospel. Your translation may say, if you have an older translation, wherefore. But it's all really pointing back to the same thing. The mysterious good news that we covered last week. That by his grace, the triune God has opened up the riches of his inheritance. To us. And that is all whom he would call to himself by grace through faith. And that message was first really preached by Peter at Pentecost. Acts 2, verse 39, Peter says, For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And so we know that this was then always the good news. This was always God's plan. He didn't pivot midway, but rather in these last days. And after God spoke the full and final revelation of his plan of grace through his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of the world, he is calling his own to himself. And he calls his own to himself through the Lord Jesus, this Son who is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature, Hebrews says. The Son who upholds the universe by his power, the Son who possesses an unsurpassing name and greatness that not even the innumerable hosts of angels in heaven could ever hope to compare to. Consider then, as we look at our text, two things that we'll summarize together. What kind of power? What kind of authority does it take to uphold the universe? What kind of power and what kind of authority does it take to uphold the universe? I don't know about y'all, but on on my place, if I leave a patch of ground unattended, it turns to chaos in a month. It's unfathomable to think how much power, how much authority, how much divine attention it takes to maintain order and harmony in the whole of the universe. Secondly, what is it that the triune God does with that kind of power? To what or to whom are the subjects of this unspeakable power? Those are the questions, Lord willing, that we will answer in our text. As we look not only to the wonderworking power of God, but also to the unexpected messengers of this power. So let's stand then as we read our text together. Chapter 3, starting in verse 7. 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 least, 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 to with the authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he 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. This is the word of the Lord. It is in the name of Christ that I pray.

6:54Amen.

7:25Because this is the same power, that power that upholds the universe, that power that created all things, is the same power that is at work in our passage today. Everything in the world and in the universe that God has created is an energy exchange or a use of power. I'm not going to get into the laws of the conservation of energy. Perhaps Brandon could teach this a little better since he is our physics man. But we do know by the wisdom and insight and observation given to us by God that energy cannot be created or destroyed. This is the law of the conservation of energy. All the energy that is presently in the universe is the energy that always was. And everything we do from the food that we eat, things that we do, is an exchange of energy or a use of that energy which is there. We don't create energy. So interestingly, with that thought in mind, physics confirms a universe in which the power that drives all things is an uncreated constant. And Holy Scripture reveals to us a creator who himself is the uncreated source of all life and power.

9:13We have this answer.

9:17And understand that we're not talking exclusively, though, about a spiritual power. We're talking about all power. All the power that burns within the, who knows, trillions of sons out there. All the power that is stored within the fossil fuels that we convert to electricity that power our homes and our cars, all of that exists and was brought forth by our Creator, by God. All of that power is within the scope of the triune God. That is a lot of power. According to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. This is the same power from the same God that gave life again to the lifeless body of Christ. Our Lord and our Savior. The same power that sends lightning from the heavens is the same power that struck you and awakened your dead heart to life. How much power does it take to awaken a dead heart with no affection to God? How much power does it take to awaken a heart that is not apathetic to God, but opposed to him? How much power does it take to awaken a dead heart that does not seek God? And a heart that does not seek God, not because it does not know him, but because it does know him and hates him. See Romans chapter 1. How much power does it take to turn that heart around and awaken that soul to new life? I don't think we can quantify it, but I can describe it for you. Colossians 1, verse 11 says that it is in his glorious might that we have been given a share in eternity, and by that same glorious might we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light. So his power can rescue us from darkness. His power can transfer us into his light. Colossians chapter 2 says that we were raised with Christ through faith in the powerful working of God. His power raises the dead, gives life. Romans 6 says that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life be raised, as he was raised by his power. Ezekiel 36, we see that the power and the grace of God is what gives us a new heart, what takes out our heart of stone. Gives us again a heart of flesh and a new spirit within us. Certainly we could think and say that Paul has all that in view when he says to us this morning that he was made a minister of this great and glorious gospel. That great and glorious and mysterious gospel that we unpacked last week. He was made a minister of this gospel by the grace of God. And this ministry of Paul, given by grace, was given by the working of the great and mighty power of God. The same power that created the universe. The same power that exists now and has existed since he created it, the same power that holds all things together, the same power that gives life and breath to you, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This great and awesome power working through grace transformed Paul and gave him his ministry. And that brings us then to Paul's unworthiness. We are made aware then in the next verse of the humility of Paul in his honesty about who he was. Which was given to 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. He calls himself the very least of all the saints. And in no way do I think this is fake humility from Paul. He is not fishing for a compliment here. Nor is he putting on a mask of superhumility. He knew himself better than anyone but God. He knew the degree to which he was hostile to Christ. He knew the degree to which he hated the followers of Christ. He knew how much he wanted to squash the Christian uprising. He knew himself, Paul, and he knew how utterly unworthy he was to be a foundation layer of this gospel of grace that he is now preaching. This man who was perhaps one of the most violent opponents to the gospel of grace became one of its most zealous stewards. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 9, for I am the least of all apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. And he continues, but by the grace of God I am what I am.

16:17And his grace towards me was not in vain.

16:24So we come back again to God's grace. And it was God's power that transformed Paul, but how can such a dramatic change happen? How can, practically in an instant, a persecutor become such an unexpected messenger of grace? Doesn't that seem impossible? We can confidently say that Saul becoming Paul is equally as dramatic and equally as impossible as a dead man suddenly being awakened to life again. Further, we must see in light of Paul's unworthiness the immense power and unfathomable grace it takes to transform the unlikely Saul into Paul. I saw a video from Sproul this past week, and it was probably recommended to me because I've been watching a lot of sprawl videos, and you know he never misses. But he was answering a question, and the question that he was answering is, why is it that we cannot see the true depths of our own sin? And in true sprawl wit, he answers that we cannot see the depths, the true depths of our own sin, because the true depths of our own sin. But he elaborates and he goes on to say that if God were to allow us to see the true depths of our own sin, if he were to show us at one time every transgression that we had ever made against God and man, if he was to reveal to us the true wickedness of our hearts, every foolish word or deed, if we were to truly see how infinitely far we fall short of God, the depths of our sin was made fully known to each of us. This is my interjection to his words, we would be turned to dust. Could not survive such an experience. But I think that thought experiment does show us the incredible power that it takes to overcome such comparatively comparative wickedness and unworthiness. Man does not. Read Acts. No, Paul sees, as we should see, that he is the least of all the saints. He is unworthy to be called an apostle. He wasn't seeking God. He was in rebellion against God. He was undone. He was lost. He was a man of unclean lips in the midst of a people of unclean lips, see Isaiah chapter 6, as far separated from God as a dead man in the grave is separated from life. But in grace, in the mighty power of God, it fell upon him. And for us, when the grace of God fell upon us, our unwort our unworthy souls woke up. Our eyes were opened to see his glory. So each of us then this morning can confidently say, as Paul said, I am what I am, as unworthy as I am, his grace.

20:10And through his power.

20:15And through grace and with that power, Paul was commissioned then to do two things that our text says. This is the second half of verse eight. The first of those is to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. That is, the riches of everlasting life, the riches of eternal inheritance, the riches of paradise restored, the riches of having every tear wiped from our eyes, the riches of having every ache and pain taken away from us forever. The riches of the day when all sorrow will cease, the riches of eternal fellowship and communion with God. These riches come through the only name under heaven and earth by which men are saved. By the grace of God and the power of God, Paul was transformed to go and tell the Gentiles, that is to tell us, that salvation is real and that this promise is for you. And this promise is found in none other than Jesus Christ. So stop looking anywhere else. Put down your idols. Stop your striving for such things that have mouths but cannot speak, that are shiny but do not last. This is found in none other but Jesus Christ. The other thing Paul is commissioned is to bring to light what is this mysterious plan that God has hidden for ages but is now revealed. I'm not going to spend too much time here. This is what we stressed last week with respect to the ministry of the mystery of the gospel. And that is this great plan that God had and was hidden in types and shadows in the old, and that was brought full light through Christ. That God Himself would provide the Lamb for the offering. That by His grace a just and righteous sacrifice, namely Jesus Christ, would be given, and that salvation then would come to all who believe in Christ. And the mystery that the people of God, that is his church, was not a particular nation, but a peculiar people, brought forth by grace, through faith. And that brings us then to the final point is the church's humility. The church's humility. Verse 10, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. We're keying in then on the power of God, working in and through the unexpected messengers. And that certainly includes the church. Which Paul, an unexpected messenger himself, says, is the messenger of the manifold wisdom of God. Look at that again in the text. I want you to see it. Verse 10, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavenly places. That is, the wisdom and the mysterious plan of God would be communicated through the church to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavenly places. But who are those? And there's some scholarly debate as to precisely what is meant by the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places, but regardless of whether that is intended to communicate just the evil spiritual rulers and authorities, or it means a whole host of the spiritual cosmos, it seems clear that Paul is getting at a spiritual or a cosmological argument here. Because he uses the same exact language in chapter 6 that we will get to at some point when he says this for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, against the physical things, but against the rulers and against the authorities and against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. It's the same language he uses there. So what Paul is saying in our text today is he is saying that through the church, God is communicating his power and his purpose in Christ to the cosmos. So to think that the church, the bride of Christ, is a man-made human-devised institution is to miss the nature of the church and the biblical witness about the church. As unexpected as it is for us to hear, and I'm sure as tough of a pill as it is for Satan to swallow, the church is the cosmic announcement to the spiritual realm, the manifold wisdom of God. God, in all his wisdom and in all his power, he chose to communicate his divine purpose and his grand plan of redemption to the whole universe through the church. Talk about an unexpected messenger. God could have communicated his wisdom and his power and his character any way that he wanted, right? But God in his wisdom, he decreed that the best way to communicate his wisdom and his plan for all ages was through a redeemed church, with Christ as the head and we as his body. A church, a people redeemed by grace through Christ, is the communication to the cosmos what God has been up to for all eternity, what his plan has been. A people, a church redeemed by Christ, which has always been the plan and the purpose of God. And in that wisdom, God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. In light of our text, then this morning, we can say that the wisdom of God, and in the wisdom of God, he chose the weak and the foolish and the unexpected, to put the arrogant and the boastful in their place, to bring to ruin those things that are, or think that they are, so that no human, no angel, no demon, no Satan, no Antichrist, nothing in the whole cosmos, nothing seen or unseen will ever boast in the presence of God. The power of God is made perfect in weakness. As mysterious as that is. And to his power, and to his wisdom, and to his authority, and for his glory, church, we are the unexpected messengers of his grace. Amen. We confess to you, Lord, as from the testimony of Paul, that we are unworthy. You have received your grace. You have received the power that has saved us, Lord, from you, but we thank you.

34:46We confess that we are unworthy. To be your messengers, Lord.

34:55We pray that we are and know that we are and confess that we are prone to shrink back, Lord. Prone to fear. Would you strengthen us in the gospel? Would you strengthen us in our resolve to be the messengers to all? Stewards of grace. Bearers, Lord, of this good news, this mysterious gospel that you have so graciously given to us. For it is this gospel, your gospel that is the power to save. Let us be bold in our proclamation of it, Lord. And never wavering from it. We thank you, Lord. We ask all these in the name of Jesus. Amen.